Happy Wednesday!
Sorry for switching days on you. It’s all fair game when it comes to deadlines. I’ve insisted on working from bed all day today so what better opportunity to send a ISMLFT?!
Of course, I must also take the time to remind you that CONCRETE PIGS opens soon in Adelaide (12 - 16 March!) and then in Melbourne (27 March - 21 April) and Brisbane mid-May! You can buy tickets here and I would love you forever if you bought a friend. My friends have insisted on constantly moving to places far away from me, so I rely on the kindness of adventurous strangers (and treasured acquaintances) willing to take a chance on something new and unproven.
I can also hint that those who come can get their hands on a limited edition zine for FREE, which is a form of counter-culture and print media that I believe to be making a comeback (Also not just me, article on zine culture in The New Yorker here).
Thanks as always for subscribing, or if you haven’t you can click the button here and I’ll be thrilled to have you, or you can follow me on Instagram. I’m chill and easygoing and just happy if you’re happy.
Wayfinding, it’s a sign.
It’s easy to not think about what you use to find your way somewhere. It’s probably Google Maps most of the time - but we need some cues to help confirm that the app isn’t taking you for a ride as well. No one wants to be the idiot who follows the GPS straight into a lake. Also, what do you do if you just want to take an aimless stroll, perhaps even without your phone? And what happens when you reach that point where you are ready to scream into the sky for someone, anyone to show you a sign?
This is where ‘Wayfinding’ comes in. Wayfinding encompasses all the design choices that are made to help you navigate through a building or urban environment - usually a mixture of signage, paint and ground treatments. It is the practice of helping you find your way. A good sign is a special thing. The sign at just the right time so you know you are heading in the right direction. It’s like the things we signpost in a story to let you know it’s important and we’ll come back to it later - except more literal and in real life.
But why must our urban signage be limited to just the most practical information (also why is there never good information on where north is)? I’d love a sign like this that would tell me where was a safe space to cry, which lamp posts would be good for spinning around in ecstasy (not yet happened but a gal can dream) and where you could let out a good scream without frightening those passing by. Perhaps then life would be less of a harried shuffle between endless errands and engagements. I know artists like Richard Tipping have been making playful signage as public art pieces for ages. When do we admit that it is more than just a bit of fun, but a good idea? Are we just being put off by the fact his website is using the font Papyrus?
Beyond the urban realm, there are certainly signs in my online world when things are going a little bit off course. I would say the four horsemen of the apocalypse for my own internal crises are:
Start seeing a lot of ‘near miss dashcam’ footage on my feeds and watch it to feel angry
A real deep dive into what is happening astrologically (curse you Virgo full moon!)
Inbox cleanse - I’m clicking here to unsubscribe on the daily. Time to cleanse the mind with a new newsletter roster (don’t unsubscribe from me please).
EVEN MORE TABS THAN USUAL. 50,000+ tabs open on Chrome, and those tabs are groups, with more tabs grouped within the tabs. It would take some sort of digital archeologist to figure out where I started.
Anyway, all of this is to say that a little help with finding my way would be welcome at the moment. It’s hard to have your head down working and not know if you’re on the right track. Sorry to turn this into another reminder to buy tickets to my show (which IS funny!), but a few more sales would certainly be a positive sign right now. The guide has just been released today for Melbourne as well so I have to go figure out how you buy a print newspaper in 2024.
Links
My current read is Finding Freedom in the Lost Kitchen, and I love it. I’m not sure why chefs are so good at writing memoirs - do they lead more interesting lives? Or just make more mistakes? Hoping it’s as good as my favourite - Blood, Bones and Butter.
I know I say this every time but this is my dream house, oh to be able to complain about how hard it is to decorate all my ‘vast blank walls’.
For anyone stuck in the cross-section between creativity and self-promotion - I loved this article on why ‘everyone is a sell-out now’ (and why it creates some hectic burnout)
I’m never sure about the format of this article - but read/watched this piece on how Taylor Tomlinson put together her closing joke for the new special regardless. Kind of felt it was a bit of self-justification for not choosing the funniest joke, but hey, that’s a trap we’ve all fallen into.
Love everything about this house except for the hideous floral wallpaper
I’ve watched Bottoms and No Hard Feelings recently - good to feel like the big studio comedy is making a comeback! Now for Rom Coms with quirky girl leads (sorry, not you Sydney Sweeney)
This is the newsletter! Please if you liked it, share it with a friend! Also I’d love to hear your own personal four online hoseman of a crisis.
Love you! See you soon my Prudes xx