It's a bit warm, isn't it? I know it's way too warm somewhere. It's cooler here now, but may be warm later.

How's that for a smalltalk?

Now, here's what happened this week.

Art: Ed Ruscha

Ed Ruscha worked as a graphic designer in an LA ad agency before he became an artist. I went to see his works at Tate collection display because they're fun and because I've ran out of my art budget for June.

Ruscha's work is marked by bold matter-of-factness. He invented a simple font based on the Hollywood sign and painted random phrases on generic nature backgrounds. Nothing today's Tumblr artists couldn't do in Photoshop – but bigger and on canvas. Kind of impractical by today's standards.

He did some books, too: Every Building on the Sunset Strip, Twentysix Gasoline Stations, Various Small Fires, Some Los Angeles Apartments. Every picture in every book perfectly aligns with the announced theme. It's nice to look at an artwork and know exactly what the artist wanted to say.

He wanted to say: "Look!"

But my favourite thing on display is the series called From Los Francisco to San Angeles. Those are map-like drawings of impossible intersections: a street in Los Angeles runs into one in San Francisco. I love this idea and I'm absolutely stealing it asap.

Vaccination

Vaccination,

Takes a part of me

I can't help it, got to use her

Every time, vaccination comes around

– David Bowie, Vaccination

On the day my age group was invited to get the covid jab, I took to the NHS website immediately. For me, vaccination was as medical as it was religious. It meant a chance of getting my life back. For the past 18 months, I've spent most days at home, and never went outside London.

'You are number ten thousand something in the queue,' the site told me, 'Wait a bit or maybe just chill out and come tomorrow?' I was determined to seize the day, so I waited till i was number three thousand. Then I went to make some breakfast. Upon my return I was number ten thousand again.

When I finally got to the front of the queue, the site kept freezing and reloading. Some minutes later, it looked like I got it booked. I saved a screenshot and decided I was sorted.

When the day came, I announced it to everyone – including my flatmate's parents, who just happened to stop by: 'I am getting vaccinated!'

In my world, it was as major as 'I'm going to Harvard!' or 'I'm having a baby!'.

Then I rushed myself to the place.

Then I stepped through the doors.

Then the lady asked me what my reference number was.

I didn't have one.

She looked up my surname.

Nothing came up.

It could be just the spelling. Let me fix the spelling.

Nope.

Nope?

'I'm so sorry,' she said, 'you had to get your appointment number'

'It's okay, thinks', I said, and walked back to the entrance.

'You should've got the number!' echoed the security. 'Yeah,' I said, and broke down crying.

It was supposed to be a good day, but it wasn't, and It upset me the way that no other day in the past 18 months managed to. I got on the bus and went off, weeping into my mask.

I came home and booked another appointment in seconds. Three days later, I did get vaccinated, but it still felt like an anticlimax.

Macbook

Two months ago, there's been an OS update on my now ex-macbook, which completely messed it up. I waited a month in total to get it fixed, but the Apple people might've as well fed it to tigers. Here is your ex-macbook, they said, it's broken because of reasons! It'll be £600 to fix it – or, you might chill out for a bit and get a new one.

That's a leitmotif for you.

I got a new one. The strange thing is how unexciting it was. I had a bath mat and a macbook arriving on the same day, and maybe because the boxes were the same size, the excitement was the same level. Ten years ago, It would've made my week, now it just about compensates for vaccination fail.

I'm a Doge turned Chims.

(Not) Getting Paid To Do What You Love

This is a book about self-branding. I decided to read it, because I'm doing research into how class, gender and cultural background affects the way people make money on the internet.

I’m concerned about sincerity on social media. Because you know, I am a blogger, and I’m worried what might happen to me once I hit 17 subscribers.

So I’ve been reading a book called (Not) Getting Paid To Do What You Love. The following is my interpretation of some key points.

Breaking into professional blogging is based on the good old “fake it till you make it” principle. You’ve got to play the part to get the part. Can’t be sincere while faking it to success. Gotta to be cold and calculating.

Then, say you made it, and you don’t have to fake it anymore. You now can live the life that you imagined for yourself – or at least for your account. It grows and people start really enjoying it.

Then, if it becomes really successful, you start getting cash and gifts.

“You’re so real! We love it! Can you be just as real emphasizing our egg cutter?”

You get paid for loving things. The more that repears, the better off you become, the less room there is for sincerity. Because it’s all about running a self-brand now, why be creative if it messes with the metric? Fake it after you make it! Or, quit.

Blogging might not be the most sustainable business model.

~ BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE! ~

Another theory that builds on this: your success also depends on your chosen theme and your initial capital.

Look: if you write about low-budget homemaking, you can forget about partnering with the likes of Crate&Barrel.

But, even if you do get money partnering with Aldi, you’d have to stick with the low-budget gimmick. Because people are relying on your expertise in this sector. They didn’t get rich with you. Welcome to potentially patronising poor people while concealing your wealth.

Actually, not sure you’ll ever hit the numbers the top models are making on their blogs. Probably not.

On the different end of the spectrum, if you come into blogging from upper class, you’d be a lot more likely to a) get sponsored by high-end brands b) stay in the game – if this is your baseline income level, and there’s less faking going on.

Moral.

1. Class is an important factor in a blogger/creator’s success, and it often gets sidelined to present social media as a free meritocratic platform.
2. I get very few likes sometimes. I think everyone should like me, and only some people do. Internet is rigged.