I've recently decided that every single day I should acheive something. I fully admit that on certain days, getting up will fall into that category, but if I write something, design something, clean something, sort something or just something something then I can look back and say the day wasn't a washout. This weekend there was a lot of somethings done. I managed to design six DVD sleeves for HLWW, work on the design for another possible project that I hope to hear more about this week, finish an article for Impact, get things packaged for ebay and also sort some more stuff for the local auction house. Go, me!  Let's put it this way, this weekend I earned my bloody Jaffa Cakes (and what would I do without them?)

And watching the news, Jade Goody has died. Don't get me wrong, her story is tragic and stripped down to the story basics, any young mother who dies of cervical cancer in her mid-Twenties and leaves behind a grief-stricken family is heart-breaking in that respect. But in broader strokes, she was an uneducated, casually racist non-entity who was made a celebrity by an attention-seeking reality show (twice-over) and the angle-searching fickle tabloids celebrating the very things about her which were once to be derided. ("Roll up, roll up, see her demonstrate her lack of understanding, hear her insult ethnic minorities, laugh as she cries... yes, REAL tears!"). They laughed with, not at her and she barely noticed. She became famous for being famous and famously thick. She was the media's plaything to be prodded out on slow news days and the only savvy thing she ever did was let her advisors play to those weaknesses to make sure she at least got some of the profit the papers made from her. She chose to die publicly and in a way that would ensure the blood money went to her children to support them when she was gone. But before she's even buried, everyone's picking over the corpse. Listening to Radio Five Live's fluffy navel-gazing coverage this morning they asked the public what they thought of their Goody coverage. Tellingly, around 45% said they didn't like Goody, 40% said  the BBC coverage had been out of proportion and 15% said they liked her a lot. They  then interupted the tepid defence by the head of programming and his excuse that Goody was a valid news-story for millions of vultures listeners (and 'hey hadn't people appreciated the coverage of Natasha Richardson earlier in the week, dammit!'),  to go over to the *breaking news* from a reporter outside the Goody residence that....yes, flowers being left for Jade outside her house and let's take the chance to talk to a fan.

This afternoon, reports are being readied for tomorrow's tabloids that confirm that Jade Goody will remain dead for the forseeable future (barring reruns). Irony on the other hand is alive and well and already after a finders fee.