my college run a work shadowing programme. which basically means somebody who doesn't really know you looks at your course choices then assigns you to someone who you follow around for a day and apparently learn about their profession. last thursday in college i was told that i had to go to the careers officer's room, i knew what it was about so it didn't come as much as a shock to me. i was hoping that i'd be assigned to do something interesting like a fireman or a police officer. but. i got told i was told that i was to go a local solicitor's office who i was to follow around all day whilst they did their job. the careers officer didn't offer much insight as to why i was to go there, but apparently it matched my studious nature, and out of all the possible options, it was apparently the best one for me. Ok. yesterday i started there. luckily i didn't have to dress in a suit, just 'smart'. so i left my house lucking smart. at the moment there's roadworks around my normal bus stop, so i have to walk about half a mile to the next one. this trek takes me through a woodland area with all these really huge evergreen trees that just seem to reach to the sky letting very little light through. the only way to really know where you're going is to follow a little dirt path that had been forged over time as people have trekked here before. but yesterday, it snowed again. not major snow but enough to cover the route so it took me twice as long to find my route as it usually did, and by the time i'd finished i'd managed to lose twenty minutes which meant that i missed my bus. so for the next half an hour i was sat on the cold steel seat of the bus shelter whilst the wind blew snow all over me. i didn't have my gloves with me either so my hands were tucked into my pockets and my head bowed towards the floor. i didn't have my hat either, so my ears were cold and stiff which meant my earphones actually hurt me. but my reluctance to take my hands out of my pockets and adjust them meant that i had to endure it for half an hour. Still, i'm glad i did. when i have my earphones in it's great. it always seems as it's not just me listening to the music, but everyone is too. i always think that everyone is hearing what i am. that's why i couldn't understand why everyone was looking so glum, i know everyone had to stand in the snow but still, how can you frown if you're listening to belle & sebastian? the bus eventually arrived, bringing it's electrical heating and comfortable seats and dropped my off at a stop where it was a further fifteen minute walk in the snow to the solicitor's office. i eventually got there, and the secretary took great pleasure in pointing out the obvious and informing me that i was indeed 40 minutes late. i of course blamed the weather and the bus, but she still felt the need to tell me that if this were a real job i would have to be dealt with. i felt like telling her that this wasn't a real job, and possibly the most inconsequential thing that i have done in a while, but i didn't. instead i apologised and smiled. eventually i was introduced to the person i would be following. "lee", who's apparently one of the best in his field and has been a solicitor for quite some time. lee also had a crippling handshake, one of those that make you wonder what you've done to receive such a greeting. after the initial greeting, i was ushered into his office where he told that he was working on a case that was about land dispute. basically, this family live in such a prestigious and affluent area where all the houses are so great and magical that even if the family grow in size they're not allowed to extend their house to suit their needs because if they did, one house on the street would look different from all the rest and this would cause the prices of one house to be higher than the others which means that all the other people on the street would have to go to bed at night knowing that their houses aren't the most expensive on the street. naturally, this means that the world would end. now the family who want to extend their house are putting a case together to the other residents explaining why they should be allowed to extend their house. granted, this isn't the most interesting of legal cases but i reasoned with myself that i'd at least have something to do. which i didn't. instead i was sat in the corner of the office for about 6 hours whilst lee did nothing more than read documents, occasionally go to the filing cabinet and briefly tell me some lame joke which was obviously taken from the “big book of politically correct jokes aimed not to offend a particular sex/race/age/hair colour”. this was quite possibly the most boring thing i have experienced in a while. if i had my sketchbook i would have at least been able to keep myself amused, but the only thing i had to draw with was some paper that had been bastardised with crappy letterheads and a pen that you had to put all your might into to make work. however, i did devise some games to keep myself amused such as: how-long-can-you-keep-a-digestive-biscuit-in-a-cup-of-tea-before-it-crumbles -in-half? and how-many-seconds-is-it-between-each-breath-that-lee-takes. eventually the eternity that seemed to be my time there came to an end as the clock finally dragged it's way to 4.30 and after another excruciating handshake and lie about how much i enjoyed my time there came to an end and i went home. on my way home i think i saw the strangest thing ever. is it possible for the sun to set, rise again then set once more? it probably isn't but i swear it did. perhaps my boredom made me delusional but i'm sure the sky changed colour on more than once. this morning, for a change i was actually glad to be back at college and once more i was summoned to the careers officer's room. here i was given feedback about my time there. apparently lee found me a polite, hardworking and attentative person and thoroughly enjoyed having me there. i of course have no idea how he managed to think this as all i did was play games with tea and count his breaths, but i suppose i should be thankful for the praise. oh yeah, apparently if i want, i go back there for some extra hours... ...hmm. --- my tickets for brixton finally came last week, sadly though not delivered personally by the band. just my normal postman. who's ace and has royal mail issued shoes that are reflective. he even has this wee trolly thing on some days if there's too much mail and he can't be arsed carrying it. hannah brown mentioned "dancer in the dark" which for some reason is on of my favourite films ever. i don't know why, perhaps it's my obsession with Bjork, but still. if you haven't seen it i recommend it. it is depressing. sort of. i suppose it depends on how you look at it. someone told me to listen to sigur ros, and i did again for the first time in ages. so i thank them kindly. take care, nafees. p.s. the new boards of canada album is ace. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. 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