It’s been a persistent wish of mine to list those things that make me smile and those which make me despair.
I’m rather curious to see whether your likes and dislikes are similar to mine, so do comment with your own list below.

This is intended to be a constant work-in-progress so check back regularly as I intend to grow this list slowly:

The White List of things I like :)

1. The sweet smell of rain.
2. Great design which goes beyond the mere ‘good’ and which leaves me in awe of its craftsmanship.
3. Heavy blue skies with deep blue hues and the occasional stray sun beam breaking through.
4. Anything made of chocolate, yet especially the Tortino di cioccolato fondente caldo con gelato al zabaglione.
5. Polaroids & Laughter.
6. The zangy sound of my guitar with a set of new D’Addario strings.
7. A long forgotten smell, sound or sensation which unexpectedly carries me back to my childhood – almost like a time machine.
8. Soulful music that transports you beyond ‘everydayness’
9. Warm rikotta pastizzi from Cordina on a Sunday morning with FT Weekend as their backdrop.
10. That creative fever which forces me out on the street to take pictures, paint, write or make something.
11. Calligraphy and typography: the beautiful aesthetic of the written word.
12. Those grainy, somewhat vintage, warm contre-jour portraits that spring out of rickety film cameras (when you least expect it).
13. Things organised neatly, in lines, possibly by colour.
14. The smell of a new book and the crisp sound of its whizzing pages.
15. The magical moments of silence in Keith Jarret’s Koln piano concert.
16. Ink, pens, pencils, paints, copics and sketch books.
17. That ‘aha’ moment after hours of research to solve a technical problem.

The Black List of things I detest :(

1. Eastern European electronics which come with shoddy English manuals you can’t quite understand.
2. The mangling of Maltese & English into atrocities like ‘il-parents’ or ‘il-bagit’. Grrrr.
3. Blokes who talk during movies (especially those with a compulsion to explain the movie to their neighbour – in real time).
4. Speakers who read-off their text-heavy power-points giving their audience a great view of their bottom rather than their face.
5. Goons who insist on driving at a snail’s pace on the outer lane.
6. Captchas which are impossible to understand and which leave you staring at your screen as though you’ve seen Casper.

"I prefer drawing to talking. Drawing is faster, and leaves less room for lies" Le Corbusier