[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":11},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-slippers-the-freelancers-best-friend":3},{"_type":4,"body":5,"bodyHtml":6,"excerpt":5,"featuredImage":5,"publishedAt":7,"slug":8,"tags":9,"title":10},"blogPost",null,"\u003Cb>I love you, Bridget!!!\u003C/b> This morning the postman rang the bell and I rushed downstairs - tripping over the bits of lining sticking out of my delapidated slippers - to find a mysterious box from a \u003Ca href=\"http://lastfootwear.com\">Brighton shoe shop\u003C/a> waiting for me. Look at these babies, aren't they gorgeous? My other slippers have done me proud, but they must now go to that place where old slippers go to die. \\r\n... Hehe, I kind of like the photo on the left, it reminds me of those black-and-white posters of worn-out ballet slippers that were obligatory wall decor of every ballet studio in the '80s. I suppose these are my own particular tools of the trade, and it is fitting that they are both called slippers, even if I don't have to walk on my tippy-toes.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/slippers-c97435f4c5.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThanks, \u003Ca href=\"http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/undertheneedle/\">Mike Lewis at \u003Ci>The Seattle PI\u003C/i>\u003C/a>, for sending me \u003Ca href=\"http://proof.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/20/snow-dope/?ei=5070&emc=eta1\">this \u003Ci>New York Times\u003C/i> link\u003C/a> to a beautifully drawn comic by \u003Cb>Dean Haspiel\u003C/b>, \u003Ci>Snow Dope\u003C/i>.\\r\n\\r\nThat reminded me to click over for a look at the latest \u003Ca href=\"http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/horsey/\">political cartoons\u003C/a> by \u003Cb>David Horsey\u003C/b> in \u003Ci>The Seattle Times\u003C/i>. If you haven't seen his work, it's well worth going over to have a look. My parents are big fans and sent me links whenever he drew Sarah Palin.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cb>Marc Ellerby\u003C/b> (\u003Ca href=\"http://burnt_jamb.livejournal.com/\" class=\"lj-user\">burnt_jamb\u003C/a>) does a 'Best of the Year' round-up \u003Ca href=\"http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/?p=10727\">over here on the Forbidden Planet blog.\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\nAnd congratulations to \u003Cb>London Underground Comics\u003C/b> for their exciting year of running a stall in Camden; \u003Ca href=\"http://londonundergroundcomics.com/?p=384\">here's a video\u003C/a>  commemorating their final day at the market.\\r\n\\r\nFunny thing, I was standing in the supermarket checkout on Saturday and, while idly leafing through the display rack, came across a book called \u003Ca href=\"http://www.wearewhatwedo.org/news/display.php?id=1419\">Teach your Granny to Text\u003C/a>. Since I recently got a practice text from Glasgow Auntie, whose granddaughters were teaching her this essential skill, I picked it up, wondering if that title might have been their motivation. I was very surprised when the book fell open to a big double-page spread by the DFC's own \u003Ca href=\"http://www.thedfc.co.uk/writers-artists/jim-medway/\">Jim Medway\u003C/a>! And it all sort of fit together, because \u003Ci>Crab Lane Crew\u003C/i> is one of the granddaughters' favourite strips in the DFC. I must confess, I started out not particularly liking \u003Ci>Crab Lane Crew\u003C/i> but it's really, really grown on me. I think it's gotten better (as have many of the strips, we're all learning) but it's also something about the story's warm, friendly atmosphere. When I met up with \u003Ca href=\"http://www.thedfc.co.uk/issues/30/sausage-and-carrots/\">Simone Lia\u003C/a> a few weeks ago, we had a girly fan session discussing our fave Medway cats.","2008-12-22T08:43:00.000Z","slippers-the-freelancers-best-friend",[],"slippers, the freelancer's best friend",1776628725842]