Illustration, The Universe and Everything

Whoa. Where has the summer gone? Or rather, why didn't the summer turn up in the first place? That said, today and the previous five days have all been glorious. I expect that summer will now stretch right through September and it'll probably still be near 20 degrees come October.

I'm not really a fan of summer. OK, I like the golden evenings with long shadows and hazy clouds, and the fresh, crisp sunlight through the curtains first thing in the morning, but I'm not a hot weather person. August, even though it's my birthday month, has now come to mean loneliness coupled with a desperate desire to see the back of it. Lovely Jon has just returned form his third August in Edinburgh. I never went up there myself this year, so today was the first time in three weeks that I have seen him. Right now he's asleep. He didn't manage to make it to bed last night as he was frantically cleaning his Edinburgh flat on his lonesome, as all the other flatmates had already gone back home. I keep sneaking down there just to look at him, or to stroke his face, just to check that he is really is there.

This August hasn't been too bad, though, really. I've just spent the previous two weeks with my mum and sisters (one week of them here, the second with me there) and I had a great pirate-themed birthday and some fabby presents, including these excellent Converses:



(Now is the plural Converses? Or Converse, like "one sheep, lots of sheep"? I prefer Convi, meself.)

And some mega-inspiring craft books:



I have to say I'm feeling more positive right now than I have for a long time. It's amazing what a new hair-do and being able to fit into a pair of jeans in your regular size can do for you!



I also have a meeting tomorrow with a local publisher. I'm not getting myself het-up about it or over-excited. If no work comes of it, then that's OK, but I think it'll really help my confidence in my work just to have someone else look at it. I'm planning to send out a new promo card by the end of this month, too, and the prospect of creating something new is really exciting. Who knows, I may even get some of that bounce-out-of-bed-because-my-job-is-great enthusiasm back!

For me, September is New Year. I still like to work on an academic year basis. Right now it's that shiny shoes, new pencil case feeling of a new term that's getting me all powered up and ready to work. Let's go!