the latest contract in blood to be added to my ever-thickening file comes of von's long-time interest in typography. for my birthday, he informs me, he will design and have letterpressed for me a set of calling cards, which will be “delightful. and very, very severe.” he tells me this early so i can stop hankering after colours now. (me, sadly: oh won't they be able to tell i'm a woman from looking at the card? what about a pretty colour, but so dark it's almost black? so that it will pass as conservative but i will secretly rejoice in the fact they're really coloured? v: you have rubbish taste.) i think i might die of heartache, but i'm cheered up enormously by him saying he will set it in bembo, because it reflects my early modern literary roots.