cross curricular >> different thinking

never mind the london olympic logo have a look over at for some great opinions and ideas davidthedesigner and noisy decent graphics. am fighting with my own design demons to create something that will hold the attention of 14 year olds for the best part of a year. it is part of a large cross curricular project. I am currently making a flash movie these here a couple of images from the as yet unfinished film.
the idea/premiss is a good one, drawing together the disciplines of product design, food technology, textile design, graphics, ICT, resistant materials, systems and control, & new media. to make a complete marketable package for a healthy, fast food restaurant/diner food chain.
I think we have a lot of work ahead to get it right.

found a nice pencil >> what do you always carry with you?

a few weeks ago my friend davidthedesigner posted on his blog a picture of his favourite pen a 20 year old rotring. at the time I wanted to respond with a picture of a muji pencil (silver, right) that I thought was my favourite, but at the time couldn't find it. in a way I am pleased that I didn't because the fact that I couldn't find meant that I wasn't really using it. it wasn't very comfortable to write with but it looked so good. since then I have found the bic mechanical pencil in the photo (below black/silver) which I have now replaced as my favourite. it is a budget mechanical pencil but it is just so nice to use and it looks good as well.

I got to thinking in this world of technology and digital applications why is it that I still am excited about a cheap mechanical pencil?
I have a pda, and a mobile phone that is with me almost all the time.
I thought about what I always carry with me whether working or not. I consider the glasses I wear when needed a piece of clothing, as I do my watch (as these are a given rather than considered). I though it would be interesting to find what others cannot be separated from.
I have to add that my real job is that of an ICT & enterprise teacher so I work with computers (& students) all day. with so much of my work automated it would be easy to not write anything by hand.
I could probably have one flash drive with me (as some colleagues do) and still be able to function well in my job, moving between different computers.

the picture (bottom) shows what goes with me everywhere. my filofax (I did use a pda every day for a year or so but I really missed writing on paper), the bic mechanical pencil, a 1GB flash memory drive, for documents and animations, presentations etc, and a 2GB flash memory drive for images and video.
now I realise no matter how much technology I have around me I still want to be able to write with a pencil on paper sometimes. that's why I will alway carry one with me, along with filofax (for me an 80's throwback) and my 'geek sticks'.

what do you carry with you every day?

presentation? >> its not over

it will all make sense, it is still presentation. as used in teaching and learning. here is just a little look at some little things.

I promised to watch the rugby RBS six nations with my (8 year old son) ben today rather than spend it here, so please come back for a look later.

different >> but all linked

It has been a long funny kind of day, long in the sense that I have been awake for a long time, funny (I don't mean full of jokes) but I had to see a few people to discuss stuff as well as contact people who are making decisions that could effect my future.
oh yes and teach!

just a normal day you think for most of you I would expect. but I also spent some time talking to students and their parents who are currently making decisions that will at least make a difference to the next 2 years of their lives (probably more), if not the whole of their lives.

amongst all this I was sending and receiving emails and even twittering a little.
I received a very interested email, fully work related and I will hopefully attend some of the events that were documented in the email. it had a list of interesting links with it I thought of adding all the links but to put them all on one post would have been too much information would be too much so I have added just 4.

I am posting them out of context but I don't think that really matters have a look you might well find some interesting I did.

kurator
pirate university
signwave
andy pink

3 things from the kichen >>

I have been trying perhaps too hard to be inventive, informative and or complex in the last week or so in this blog.

but after a very interesting conversation this afternoon which ranged from barcelona to goudi, creativity to starbucks, ICT and the performing arts, I realised that sometimes you can try just too hard.

in the so called creative/design world things/images are so often not that good, it's more the explanation or intellectualisation of them that convinces you that it is good.

so I thought i would go it my kitchen a photograph 3 things that I liked for no other reason other than I liked them for some reason. Some cake, left over from carols birthday, a waitrose espresso tin (I just liked the red), and some chilli plants that we are growing as I like chilli's.
as I was thinking in 3's I have included in no particular order and for no particular reason 3 blogs that I looked at and enjoyed today that I wanted to pass on art design by, urban fonts and idealist, none of them new to you all I'm sure, but never the less still worth a look.

oh yes I ordered the (what if) 'sticky wisdom', book as well a good day all in all.