1st January 2026
I got this website about 3 years ago cos I wanted to start writing a newsletter. So here it is. I have noticed that I line up my ambitions in a way that if I want to complete one task, I line up a second more juicy task in front of it, so that I then procrastinate about THAT task thus completing the first task in an act of self-sabotaging so effectively on brand that I self-sabotage my own self-sabotage. I’ve been invited to do a BBC maestro course on this method but I’m unfortunately needing a second task to come along to allow me complete that job as well so you will just have wait if ur keen to learn the second-task method. A key element is that you don’t enjoy any of it.
So right now it’s boxing day and there are some mad bastards who spend the day eating ham and watching telly, and I thought, I'll write that January newsletter from 2024 now. Second-task method. And now it's New Years day and I want to just watch tv and not do any work. Second-task method.
2025 ROUND ROBIN
January newsletters are usually looking ahead, but I find that too terrifying so I thought that I would do a round robin of 2025, focussing on failure. I was taken with people on instagram who listed their successful and non-successful applications so I thought I would have a quick look at mine in my 2025 folder in my mac, hang on.
Ok - so I have been strict about only things I applied to in 2025 so its looking a bit grim but don't worry I like to say that art is a human activity rather than a profession but unfortunately u don't automatically get £340 a day for human activities. Ok so the answer I THINK is 9 applications and 9 rejections. That's not great really is it, except from a perspective of uniformity and consistency. I do roughly believe in a rule that if you apply to 10 things u get 1, so basically it's my fault for forgetting about the 10th successful app. I think we should leave the Round Robin at that really. Maybe I should improve my application writing, or maybe I should stick at my day job selling fish and be more overt about art being a human activity or should we say, hobby.
FISH
Talking of fish, in order to pay my bills, I work 2 days for a friend of mine who sells frozen fish in containers to customers around the world. The specifics of the fish are salmon, chopped up into heads, tails, spines and bellies, as well as mince, trim and offcuts. This job has enabled me to keep making art although it has un-enaabled me to enjoy eating meat and fish. ALSO: you cannot feel completely bohemian when you sell fish 2 days a week, and maybe that's for the best as I have a dangerously wavering ego which can inflate at speed at the slightest compliment about my lifestyle. QUESTION: Are the bohemians all in fact bourgeouis, and is selling fish the really bohemian thing to do in 2025 as an artist? I couldn't possibly say. Here is a picture of some salmon skins. I peeled the plastic wrap off 23 pallets of them this summer. If you think that’s niche I used to be the shoemaker for Shrek(s) the waxwork(s).
ASTROLONOMY
Getting down to brass tacks this whole blog is really a pre-amble to my new concept of astrolonomy. I think 2 of the most polarised groups in society are definitely astronomers and astrologers, and theres really no need for it. So this section is simply me, breaking down barriers. Or potentially pissing both of them off. I thought I would look at some different parts of the sky through both tubes of the telescopes (binoculars) and see if we can't move closer to a centrist position of space. The only thing we are not including in this is Katy Perry or Lauren Sanchez Besos.
Unfortch for the astronomers, the astrologers have nailed a certain aspect of the sky - tie-ing in a sky feature to the gregorian calendar. This was a smart move for sure, as it means you have a place to start as its a day of the year every day and so for the purposes of this column, we will take the constellation to study from the date of the blog. 1st January means Capricorn and so without further ado here we go:
Astrologers believe that the skies can be read to relate to things on Earth. The term is actually a pretty wide ranging, and can be traced back to 2 millennium BC. More info to come in Februarys newsletter once I bone up on it. I guess for these purposes we are talking about the zodiac and from that we would be saying natal astrology, where your DOB relates to the stuff which is interpreted. I’ve also found a branch called mundane astrology which is impressive for its humility. The idea the stars connect to us on Earth makes sense, and doesn’t. So whaddabout Capricorn eh? A goat. I like to guess the characteristics from the symbol in a reverse engineering type of way so let’s go, here are what capricorns are like: charismatic, zippy and nifty, annoying but loving, pebble-y dry shits, eccentric, changes direction at pace, lively. How did I do? Is that capricorns? I love goats. So if ur Capricorn happy Jan guys. Enjoy some grass and jumping up a hill.
Astronomers believe in science. Lol. But we invented the scientific research method in order to test our beliefs. Probs cos some people were happy to believe and some folk got wound up by that cos it was more tricky for them to just be happy with the belief. I get that. And I get the first type too. Dreamers and Doers, drinkers and drawers. Need both. I read astrology provoked the field of astronomy and that makes sense.
So Capricorn: it’s a real constellation of stars. I just had a wee look and the brightest star is called Delta Capricorni and it's an eclipsing binary star system. Which means it's not one star its two stars orbiting each other. The eclipsing bit means means that from our POV we can see the 2 stars in the system eclipsing, which gives us things to measure using the differences in the light which reaches us. Here is a wee gif of an eclipsing binary star system similar to Delta Capricorni.
SO that's that. See you on the 1st of February 2026, unless you unsubscribe, and I wouldn't blame you.
Morv xxxx