Eighties Lightning Bolt

Greetings from the Caribbean. i am currently somewhere heading towards St kitts. supposedly its really poor there.

so good to hear that we now have a home in glasgow. yes, that was a we. whats yours is mine and all that. i cant wait to find you housewarming gifts. please call i have a toy box and a dressing up box in your house. i dont know why im asking. im going to have a toy box and a dressing up in our, yes our, home. so there!

I CANT FUCKING WAIT TO COME HOME!!! arrghgghghghg im so excited. im trying desperately hard to find out my flight details. im pushing for glasogw and then im going to make Alice pick me up from the airport and deliver me to you. then i shall stay for a few days and then come back for jas etcs birtjhdays and then again for new year. then i go to india and then ill be back. but you should come and stay with me too. yes that is the truth. the gods honest ham sandwich truth.

so i have been taken off shooting weddings today. the captain was annoyed that i wore a brown belt with black trousers (better than the rainbow sparkly one that ive worn everyother wedding, but obviously not). he was also annoyed that my hair was not tied back (it was tied back) and that my flashgun was too noisy... what a silly captain. i thought i would be upset, but im not, im not at all coz i just want to get the fuck off this ship!! im so ready to have my freedom back. i cant even tell you how much i crave a normal life. im very stuck as to what i should do next year, lots of fretting about said issue but i really dont want o go back to sea so i need some seriously help or i have to go back to a ship i february... i really dont want to. DONT MAKE ME!

anyway i need to run to bed as i have an early start where i need to beg people to let me take their photos first thing in the morning... what a stupid stupid idea...

what else to say. ive been watching star wars oh and im ready the curious case of the dog in the night. it is so so good. what a winner.

send love to all the popples. yay for home soon. 4 weeks mother fucker!

x

To my dearest Larissa Moran,

A thousand apologies for not being in touch recently, life has been a hectic cavalcade of excitement and time pressured tasks...much like the Crystal Maze with Richard O'brien. Luckily i think i've got my head back above water for the first time in a while. Currently sitting in my new flat which is most pleasant and cozy, its at the end of napierhall st, so about 3 mins walk from great western rd and about 8 minutes walk from the Halt bar. My room is tiny but i don't mind as we have a delightful lounge and a whole extra room for storage and larks.

This is only step one of getting myself back on my feet however as i'm still unemployed and now in need of housing benefit to go with my unemployment benefit. Gotta collect em' all as sir Walter Scott once said. On the upside despite my financial strife i'm actually feeling all sorts of creative i'm learning lots of stuff because i talked crap to my uncle and said i could design him a website. Its the best way to learn anything really. Say you can do something and then force the knowledge into your brain in a stressful frenzy of learning. Im going to do a web design course though as i think its about time i tried to make graphic design at least a healthy percentage of my income instead of doing it in a sort of half arsed manner. Im currently searching through an ikea catalogue for a desk however as working on my bed is not good for motivation...im frightened of becoming a grown-up with such things though. i feel dirty searching for furniture.

Im also trying to find some free time to get back to making visuals for Equalised, as im over flowing with good time ideas and just cant seem to find a spare moment to make any of them. I think things are going well though generally. Iain fell out with me for a good chunk of time which all got a bit dramatic to be honest but i cant be bothered going into it anymore as im bored of talking about it. Im enjoying all these Glasgow sorts but now that im in my own space once more would like nothing more than a few days with just that Hippy to lounge around drinking beer and talking of memories past. He's a dreamdate to be sure.

Right this is a quik update as my internet is about to vanish. Ill write again soon though. Hope life at sea is treating you well, i miss your face. Please come stay here around christmas time and we'll find some sort of exciting adventure to go on.

Euan x x

right im feeling well out of it. i need updates from home real bad. i dont want to just get totally sucked into cruise life so please give me something real to think about!!

fed up of ships today. well knackered and i want to be on land. pretty much 20 sea days in a row coming up. not looking forward to the cabin fever that is already setting in.

met another scottish person on board. i looked around the crew bar and could spot 4 others beside myself. made me feel so much better. we are just a completely different bred. i believe we are genetically better in every way. hitler much....

please make people tell me about their lives. i crave some sanity.

hows home? i miss you guys

hello from Vigo in Spain where I am sitting in a cafe listening to Spanish Simpsons. I saw an ugly dog earlier and some old men walking around playing in a medieval band. i hope that is what i will do as an old man.

so i have officially defered uni for a year and I feel so much fucking happier it is unreal. i am going to go on some mad adventure. not sure what i am going to do yet but i am going to go so many places some how on no money. i want to have like a crazy year. this year i wanted to focus on photography and getting better at sales and i have managed to do both. next year i am focusing on visuals and projections. im not sure where this will take me or how it will work yet but it is definately what i need to do. actually want to be in britain for a bit as well so think i will be in britain december, india in january, then home for feb for birthday and 6 nations and then go off somewhere in march come back in septmember, then move to london in october to get set up for uni in january. that sounds like a plan to me that makes a lot of sense. i am then giving myself time to apply for funding get everything sorted and look for a job that is going to let me work and travel. i want to live somewhere for a bit, like 5 months and then travel for 2, im thinking prob asia. i have my mate who lives in Hong Kong having a think for me to see if i can get work there. otherwise im applying for holiday resort photogrpahy jobs, in asia or in mexico type places. i dont know what to do but i feel really good about taking it on... in a much better head space now, have just been so fucking stressed and not enjoying work or anything and feeling guilty for not getting things sorted all the time, its not been healthy in the slightest, ive mad a very positive and necessary step, i think its all going to pay off really well.

got a really good team at work and all the departments are getting on much better and theres a totally good atmosphere in the crew. its really nice. we have a big party tonight and then are staying up for Lisbon sail in at 5am, then i have to be out on the gangway shooting photos at 7.30am, its going to be deadly! going to Lisbon for the first time though so really exicted.

got a new man friend type thing as well i think so thats quite fun.

how are things with you? i need to hear tales of your life. i want to spend some time with you doing work next year. i am mising working with you so fucking much by the way. lets do a project in december. take a day and just create some photo shoot or something in one day and get it all edited and stuff... i dont know what but we need to do something. like just meet with no ideas and just do something mad.

got a fucking mad scottish boy called euan on the team now, he is a fucking nutcase rocket and is amazing. burps make him feel sick so i have been blowing all mine in his direction in memory of you.

i miss you dude

i am so sospsososososososos excited i cant even pee!

i am currently in gibralta which is a shit hole and it just like britian but warmer and not britain as i am not on a fliught home. 3 days. waaaaa it is dragging. i cant wait to go home. i wish i ahd a month at home and then was coming back because there is just too much to do in 2 weeks. i need to find £7,800 worth of funding for uni, see the family, see the friends, hang out with my newest ex-ship friends. luckily i am combining hanging out with you and them at the same time as you will fucking love them and they will love them and then we can ease them in with everyone else. you know what our friends are likea bout strangers you see.

they are coming across for the monday reunion that i am having with everyone and i have a feeling that a few people will be like, why ahve you broguht other people, you should be spending time with us... you know what people are like. i cant be bothered with this if they ar. i hope they dont. cat are si are fucking bad ass as hell and you wil love them. we will have such a good weekend adventure. oh yes! can you pick up supplies in glasgow if possible??

oh my i cant wait. can you tlel that im excited?? i am ! i am so so so excited!
right i have been siting trying to find funding for ages and i am not getting anywhere and im getting stressed so i need to rememdy this. there is only one way to relieve stress as you well know, i need to go buy tat. and luckily i am in the kingdom of tat sol im off to spend my hard earned money that i should be saving and putting towards my unsailable uni feess.. oh well, tat it is!

love
xxx

so change of plans. this is what you are doing

friday 21st aug you are coming to edin and we are going to do some festivaling until the last bus when we will head to the borders

sat 22nd aug we are going to sleep in then go for a hill trek walk adventure and then come back for a bbq and get awfully wheeliebinned and then party like it was 19,20,2994,20984 (your job to sort out the dustbin man in glasvegas)

sun23rd sleep and throw up

so this is your mission, friends of mine may come up but probably not, you will fucking love them though. our sort of people and your furture wife, his name is simon.

i love love love love you. keep that weekend free. its ours!

xxx

yes i cant fucking wait! i laughed so much at your last post. thanks for that pal!

come to the borders on 18th aug if you want for the night. i have stuff to do the rest of the time until the 24th but it would be banging to see you away from the madding crowd. i am busing it down to london i think as i need to make a stop off in manchester for a night or 2. need to see izo on the 29th to give her some love, shes having a hard time so i need to give her some ris magic.

i cant fucking wait to see you bastard face.

glasgow party on the 24th yes yes oh yay, we are going to have such a good time and no mistake. i have sent an iain gallery on the halt. wait to you see all the beautifuly iains, you are going to have a joy embalism. a truely gorgeous gallery it is. there are also other amazing old friends. god i love my access to old friends. ther are so many great ones whereever you look.

i really want to own a studio lighting kit so that we can do proper shoots when im back. it would be so good to get a studio set up. thats maybe not a bad idea actually. maybe we should do it in a bit if you want to move down to london. share a studio space... could be the start of the warehouse. i think we should do it actually. that makes so much sense. think of the prop and dress up cupboard! oh yes oh yay. all we need is 4 lights, poles, soft boxes, brolllies, gels and a good lens or 2. it would actually be so easy to do...

what else then eh. going to croatia this cruise. im so fucking excited!

i fucking love photography by the way. i cant wait to show you my stuff. going to be a belter in glasvegas and no mistake.

right my loverly old euan face i need to go to work now. love love love you
xxx

Hey Findus Crispy Pancakes,

Sorry i've not got back to you sooner, ive been meaning to send you a delightful update for a good week now but everytime i sat down to use the internet, it either didnt work or i was wholeheartedly distracted. Im now back in Melbourne so in an internet cafe once more...anyway enough of all that. I leave here on the 8th of August, spend a few days in Korea (south), then im back in scotland for the 12th, ill be doing shit in Ayshire till the 14th then i i think im free to do whatever i damn well please...this may well include coming to see you in the sunny borders as id like to see your sauncy visage as soon as possible. Although i also have to go to London so maybe we could share a flight down. I've got to go and slap that Jonathan Boyd in the chops. No matter what the plans i figure going on a bender for a few days is nice healthy way to catch up.

Im so very pleased photography is working for you, i need to learn lots of studio stuff so your gonna show me how...ill pay you with McCoys crisps and pictures of the elderly. Ive finally got rid of all that grey area apathy i had towards arty things and feel like a new man, im filling up sketchbooks again, getting far too over excited about things and dreaming about cardboard robot parades (Which i couldn't document because both my cameras had broken...in my dream). Im looking forward to getting back now though, my month of galavanting round Australia did me a lot of good but im pretty tired of travelling now and want nothing more than to be back home. I got to see the Great Barrier Reef on my last day of travel though and it was pretty fucking awesome...so much so that i vomitted off the side of the boat as we were sailing back...that was pretty great too, i was nearly sick on a dolphin...take that mother nature, you whore.

Im sending you a parcel tomorrow so maybe you will get to open it when you get back...im cheap though so you will probably get it in a few months. I also have a few postcards, about ten letters for Euan which just contain parts of toys in specimen bags with no explanation, and various other things. Packing up my room has taken me 3 days so far. My whole living out a bag plan fell apart long ago.

Anyway ive written all this far to quickly,

I Miss you terribly,

Euan

cunto what date are you home? i am home for a bit in august - the last 2 weeks to be exact but i am splitting my time - 1 week in edin/borders, a couple of days in glas, a couple of days in manchester and then a day or so in london. will you come to see me in the borders and then we can go to glas for a bender? please please please. i need to know your dates so that i can work out what to do!

i cant fucking wait to see you you dizzy bitch you. WHEN DO YOU GO HOME! we need to do a serious photo shoot. i fucking love photography by the way. i may love it more than film... im shooting so well and getting good whereas with film i am kind of a little bit mwah about... dear me.

god i need to talk to you. where are you? when will isee you. you have to come see me cunt boy.

so i have seriously bad cabin fever. i need to get off this ship. 7 days without proparly getting off. i have been working so goddamn hard as well! ariikjnviuhs

so i am starting these white background studio shoots this cruise. its going to amazing stuff. like seriously amazing. i get to shoot cutie babies and kids and my portfolio is going to be so fucking shit hot its unbelieveable. shot another wedding today and i feel pretty good about it. still having issues getting the perfect exposure and lighting all the time but coz im really learning everything through trial and error rather than being proparly trained its not really surprising. my wedding couple today were an awesome irish family though so it was bang tidy.

i have put in a secret leave request for 2 weeks at the end of august. keep it to yourself, and pray for me getting it!

love love
xx