It’s
old news but it’s big news. And the world, for me, feels like it’s ricocheting
between super slo-mo and light speed. Today I’m going through a bit that feels
fast, like this all happened just last week. So this is my new old news.
I’ve
moved. I’m currently writing to you from the north. A long way from where I
was. But not a long way away from where I’ve been. What I mean to say is I
spent 8 years in the north before I returned to my original home – the
Midlands. So in a weird way this feels like a homecoming too. Except
everything’s different. I’m living in Leeds again, but in the city, so it’s
another side of the place I'm seeing. I’m working in Sheffield – place I’ve never been
before. But there’s a connection I’ve made between here, the new, and where I
was before, the familiar. Many will know the Midlands' link to tales of Tolkien, but this place, this place has its very own Lord of the Rings connection too. It’s not a recognized one, more an observation. Can it be an
observation though when the observation is a sound? I digress, it’s a sound
I’ve noticed. This place actually sounds
like he insides of Mordor. The bowels of towering black forges boom, clang
reverberating Mordor rhythms across the basin in which my new place of work sits. Plus Peter Jackson works in the building opposite. No jokes, he catches a bus from the bottom of the road. Most alarming when you pop out for
some fresh air and hear that or see him. I keep expecting to see Orcs.
Enough
of where I am now. The post title refers to what’s got me here, so I probably
should get on to that. It’s the end of an era – my first job in advertising.
Just over three years spent at Cogent Elliott. A lot of friends made and still
missed. Plenty of fun had. And work done. Hard work sometimes. The two things
I’m about to share though probably won’t reflect that.
The
first was a parting gift to the agency. The second their parting gift to me.
Mine made them laugh. Theirs made me cry. Yep, the dying minutes of my last
days and my response to their video was tears, followed by a leaving speech
riddled with swear words and me playing Celine Dion’s ‘My heart will go on’ to
them, naturally.
Anyway
enjoy. I know I have. Not every second of those years, but an awful lot of it
and I’d like to thank all those folks who made it special. A special thanks has
to go to Vinny (Jason Vinceguerra) for being a star and Case & Si for their
video though.
