Following

Do you begin and end your day with the world framed by a window or windscreen? Maybe it’s your own or perhaps it is the fingerprint smeared one of the bus or train. Do you run? Or cycle? Do you stare ahead, focussed on the point of horizon, enjoying the sensation of the landmarks flying past you? Or do you walk? Head dead ahead. Music sounding. Telephone chattering. Daydreaming.

Have you walked or driven the same route for as long as you can remember? Have you one day, for whatever reason, looked up and seen something that surprised you? A building above a shop perhaps? A blue plaque? A piece of graffiti impossibly high up? A flag. This blog is about what you can see when you tilt your chin and see a different view of your everyday world.

Look up.

You might enjoy it.

You might see something good.

@lookupblog

Wednesday 20 June 2012

A hand up



I'm not entirely sure which building this is but it's at the back of the Southbank. Furthermore I don't know what it's made of or what it's doing there, but I very much like it.




Tuesday 19 June 2012

Three Cups


A lovely view of an old shop sign above the shopping area in Colchester. Below it is a high street fashion shop so I can't imagine that it is connected in any way to this trio of cups. I wonder what it was before.











































Thursday 14 June 2012

Suspended sentences



Yet another London find. I was back there this weekend just gone, but only passing through. Last Saturday I took a pretty miserable journey back to where my parents live. It was to see my Granddad, who has been ill for a while now, is in his last few months with us. As if this is not gutting enough, my stepfather has also just been diagnosed with cancer, they are hurriedly trying to locate where it is coming from as it is in its secondary stage, eating away at his neck. It was a rubbish trip back to be honest. My mum and I hadn't been on the best of terms (as we frequently have not been in the past) but it seemed like a time to put everything aside and just get on with it. Our family never seems to get on. There is always one feud or another blazing and I try on the whole to stay well away. It was weird therefore that at a time like this everyone seemed to drop their weapons and try and solve our collective problems. Filled with tears, apprehension and perhaps a little guilt for the things that I could have done better I made my way across London, across the Waterloo bridge and towards the station. As I descended the steps from the bridge these huge letter cubes, like giant children's building blocks, hung above me. The first collection of words I saw with the phrase 'Ask Why' and at that point I promptly burst into tears. Any other day and it would have meant nothing, I would have though, cool idea and of course taken a picture, it being high up and all. But in my overly emotional state I just thought there is no why is this scenario, there's no point questioning illness, or mortality, or death; it just is. And we all have to deal with it because no matter how much we search for an answer, no one is ever going to really bloody know.

Friday 8 June 2012

Stationers Delight


I spotted this old shop sign on my way through central London a couple of days ago. I've got a bit of a special love for stationary and any from of letter writing paraphernalia. Nothing, in my mind, is more lovely than getting something in the post and it is arguably even more lovely to post something yourself. I always find letters very therapeutic to write. It's a format that we don't seem to use very much nowadays and the action of putting pen to paper makes you order your thoughts and think clearly about what has been going on in your life and any plans you have for the future. I always look out for postable things to slip into the envelope. Funny articles, origami animals and tiny brooches are favourites of mine. Anyway, I'm rambling...here's a lovely, post themed shop sign :)

Sunday 3 June 2012

Happy Diamond Jubilee!



Hope everyone is having a lovely four-day weekend! In true British style the weather has let us down but I'm sure we'll power through- the extra gin will keep us cosy no doubt! I felt it was relevant to take a couple of pics of the bunting which seems to have been strung up everywhere in the last week. I think it all looks lovely, I just wish BNP didn't use the union jack as their 'symbol' so much. Its a shame that  lines of this lovely red, white and blue makes you feel that there's some sort of racist rally afoot. Maybe the jubilee will encourage us to take the flag back! Have a lovely time celebrating!