Desktop Publishing

'I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he or she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.' - Maya Angelou

So true, Maya Angelou. So true.

We think you can also tell a bit about a person from what they keep on their desks.

Herewith, a photo essay from the House of Onion:

All this talk of desks has put us in mind to revisit the world's first unmanned flying desk set.*

*And as an added bonus, you'll know how to say 'world's first unmanned flying desk set' in Spanish, because we couldn't find a clip that didn't have subtitles. That should come in handy. But don't let it detract from the pathos of the moment. Oh Todd. Oh Neil. *sob*

Up, Up and Away!

Has it really been a whole week since we last posted?
How time flies when you're busy making books and preparing to send your publisher and rights team to an overseas book fair.

Sometimes when you've had your head down and your blinkers on you need to take a break and look at things from a different angle; you need a new perspective, a new horizon.

Herewith, a photo essay from an airborn Onion:

Ladies and gentleman... hot-air balloon is the only way to travel.

The House of Onion from above.
If you compare this with our blog banner, you'll see it's basically the reverse view (only with fewer giraffes, elephants and punctuation-mark deliveries).

The MCG! The MCG! The Hallowed Turf. And the new soccer stadium in progress. You can just see St Pat's Cathedral, but not quite The House, on the far far right edge of the picture, just above the edge of the basket.

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Back on the ground again:

Me - 'I'm back from ballooning.'

Colleague E - 'Ooo how was it. Did you think about Lee Scoresby?'

And that conversational gambit right there is one of the main reasons it's such a pleasure to come to work at the House of Onion.

So...

• Lee Scoresby
• Phileas Fogg
• Derryn Sharp
  
• (Perhaps best not to mention Ian McEwen's Enduring Love at this juncture, as that particular ballooning expedition ended rather badly.)

Who are other great aeronauts in literature?*

* and how many of you learned the word aeronaut from Charlotte's Web?