Dan Howarth

@danhowarth.bsky.social

290 Followers 285 Following

Ally in training. Generally curious. Rookie dad. Into hills, indy mags and #designjustice. Content strategy and IA in UK gov.

A mis-shapen, off-white balloon on a lawn.
Still from a video in which a wolfhound, walking along a path in a park is relentlessly attacked by a swooping wagtail. Thought to be oblivious, on closer inspection, the hound snaps at the bird, nearly catching it. But the bird escapes unscathed, to continue its assault.
‘Work as if you live in the early days of a better nation’, emblazoned in silver foil blocking with 4 stylised thistles, against a dark green canvas. On the cover of Gray’s book, Poor Things (beneath the dust jacket).
Gray’s famous quote, ‘work as if you live in the early days of a better nation’, embossed in capital letters on white stone, in a parallelogram shape, against the grey wall of the Scottish Parliament building.
One of Alasdair Gray’s murals in the Ubiquitous Chip, a restaurant in Glasgow. It’s a painting of 2 women (Linda Morrison and Kay Scott), next to a peacock with fanned-out tail feathers, a stream and a blossoming tree. The peacock is standing on a book with the inscription, “et in Arcadia ego”, a reminder of the inevitability of death. There’s a skull at the bottom with some teeth missing and a quizzical expression, with butterflies flying around it. Above the mural is Gray’s famous quote, ‘Work as if you live in the early days of a better nation’. In red capital letters on a mustard background.