tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74725087527425152202024-02-07T22:03:01.293+11:0012,000 miles from Bondi...The adventures and general musings of a Bondi girl gone London* (gone back to Bondi...)Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058567889421181565noreply@blogger.comBlogger245125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7472508752742515220.post-28181206606705085012014-03-07T22:11:00.000+11:002014-05-04T13:37:06.040+10:00After the storms?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Sydney has seen some epic storms lately - both of the literal kind (see above) and then of the inner turmoil variety. I'm not sure what to say really apart from, well, things have been tough. It's been four months since we left London and it's hard not to wonder if we made a mistake coming home when we did.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>The lack of a job has not helped, nor a disappointing series of meetings and conversations that have left me feeling as if dressed foolishly in the Emperor's new clothes; my London experience invisible and seemingly without material value. It seems if I want to find my dream job (whatever that is now) I'm going to have to conjure it myself and honestly, I'm not sure I have the tenacity, confidence or passion to do that at present. I'm exhausted and soggy in a profound sadness I can only really describe as grief.<br />
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It's almost as if the ferociousness of my feelings has conjured these very real storms from some deep pit in the universe. I can only hope that after this rain comes some sun. The outlook remains uncertain but I'm grateful for dear friends and family and a Lovely Boy to contemplate the storms with while we reflect on our new place in the world and figure out what the fuck we're going to do now that we're here.<br />
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<br />Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058567889421181565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7472508752742515220.post-11670665754804502202014-02-14T14:36:00.004+11:002014-05-04T12:44:04.787+10:00Missing..... Martin CreedI'm going to do my best not to be that whiney person who never gets over the fact they had an incredible overseas adventure only to move somewhere else in search of other adventures. No one likes that person. Not really.<br />
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That being said....<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Martin Creed, <i>Work No.200. Half the Air in A Given Room, </i>1998</td></tr>
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What I wouldn't do just for a day in London to you know, see the Hannah Hoch exhibition at Whitechapel Gallery before popping over to Southbank to see the Martin Creed survey at the Hayward. My Instagram feed is only feeding one thing at the moment - my insane jealousy.<br />
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I'm not sure how much I knew of Creed before I left for London and my MA but my first encounter with his work came courtesy of a <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2008/10/culture-fatigue.html" target="_blank">school trip</a> to Ikon Gallery in Birmingham, part of a bigger trip up through the North of England to the Liverpool Biennial. Even then I was struck by his gently surreal style of questioning the point of things with sculptures made from Blu Tack rolled and squashed to the wall or balls of scrunched paper afforded their own plinths. There was something both elegant and odd about these works, simplified expressions of banality and beauty, with a dash of frivolous humour thrown in to the mix too. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Martin Creed, <i>Work No.79, </i>1993</td></tr>
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Later encounters included an Easter date with Lovely Boy to Sketch in Mayfair, when he was commissioned to re-envision the dining space as a <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/martin-creed-crush-and-date-to-sketch.html" target="_blank">complete work of art</a>. God I loved that. Replacing every piece of furniture, cutlery and crockery with something unique and one-off to the space. In the pantheon of Memorable Meals I had the privilege to eat during my five years that one is definitely a top ten.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Martin Creed, <i>Work No.1343, </i>2012</td></tr>
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And now there's Creed's survey at the Hayward. And I am in Sydney.<br />
<br />Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058567889421181565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7472508752742515220.post-14567840748874314872014-01-29T10:40:00.000+11:002014-04-06T11:30:19.156+10:00Wylie's Baths<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It's a fairly undisguised fact that I'm really not hugely happy at the moment, between the London homesickness, the loneliness and the lack of employment opportunities currently being afforded to me. It's been the ultimate exercise in mindfulness really; just trying to be in every moment and not go screaming off the rails with anxiety, or worse, regret. </div>
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Which is why I've been getting back in the water, seeking ablutions for my head as well as my body. </div>
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Up at Avalon, it was here, slalom swimming amongst the bobbing grannies, looking out towards the surfers:</div>
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Now that we're in Coogee, it's here, at Wylie's Baths...</div>
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I went for my first swim here yesterday and I'm hoping it's just the first of many. Because this place is something truly special. It's been at South Coogee since 1907 and is now classified by the National Trust of Australia.<br />
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It's like swimming in the most life affirming aquarium you could imagine.<br />
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If I have to be unemployed, I may as well be unemployed here, chasing fish up and down the pool.Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058567889421181565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7472508752742515220.post-49344483915960081962014-01-27T17:02:00.000+11:002014-04-06T09:48:24.646+10:00There's no place like.... Coogee<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
So we're now officially residents of Coogee. It's the Australia Day long weekend which means, like all self-respecting Australians, we spent it trawling Ikea for random bits of shit we thought we'd packed but clearly ditched because 27 boxes was enough.</div>
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<a name='more'></a>I think the inevitable arrival of all our boxes a couple of weeks ago, like a weird and belated sentimental Christmas, was really the push I needed to find somewhere for us to live - ahead of schedule and without the necessary funds. And so I lodged an application for our (ok, ok, my) dream apartment and in the face of all the Sydney shrieking about real estate and rental markets, we were approved and given the keys.<br />
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As much as I loved living up on the northern beaches in the sanctuary that is parental paradise, even my inner cranky Londoner was quietly having to concede that it was less living and more hiding. Whether we like it not, we live in Sydney now. So best get on with it, I suppose. </div>
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And thus last weekend we moved to Coogee. </div>
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Pictures still need to be hung and there's probably another trip to Ikea on the horizon somewhere but otherwise we're largely moved in and despite the uncertainties of Everything Else About Sydney, I feel like we finally have a little place that is definitively ours. And having so many tangible traces of our London life around us again feels pathetically reassuring - that no matter how far away we get from our time there, we have proof that it happened.<br />
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27 boxes of proof that now decorate the loveliest of apartments in Coogee.<br />
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Sydney might not feel like home but this little flat does.<br />
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<br />Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058567889421181565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7472508752742515220.post-60555139407805752512014-01-12T20:56:00.000+11:002014-03-13T23:26:44.035+11:00Stalking art heroes<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 1.625; margin-bottom: 1.625rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 1.625;">So I went to Carriageworks on Friday and hovered, as expected, awkwardly and mostly alone by the buffet. When I wasn't hovering by the food making blind date awkward eyes at people I thought I once knew, I had the huge privilege to take in the extraordinary work of Christian Boltanski, whose work I've always admired. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 1.625;"><span style="font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 1.625;"><i>Chance</i> was first shown at the Venice Biennale in 2011 (the one I didn't manage to get to...) but this is it's first Australian outing and it's a hugely contemplative experience and </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 1.625;">yet another deft expression by Boltanski of the randomness of life.</span></div>
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<a name='more'></a>Made up of three distinct but deeply emotionally threaded works, the most significant piece is the enormous <i>Wheel of Fortune</i>, where reels of black and white photographs of the squished faces of Polish newborns, taken from newspaper announcements, stream through an enormous metal structure like a factory assembly line. The inconsequence of these independent ‘miracles’ when thrown together en masse is made all the sharper when a bell rings and the projector shudders to a halt, highlighting one random baby, which, perhaps not ironically, looks much like the next. Is this one human, singled out, destined for greatness? Notoriety? History? Or will the filmstrip crank back to life and commit them to obscurity once more?<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 1.625;"> </span><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 1.625; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Wheel of Fortune </em><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 1.625;">indeed. It would be cruel if it wasn’t depressingly true.</span><span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilL56hea0gFIIv9DfTsu6roOgElo3t0F6PBzPjZZAcTv2A7_xlre0S7ZrpnOaTSLzoyWgkkvbXLXCA9XhovgCojJq3tOhTidtvKYtIRYieR01CfebgdN6CkZH6f4PLo4mfULOQNZ0Pwqi4/s1600/IMG_1712.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilL56hea0gFIIv9DfTsu6roOgElo3t0F6PBzPjZZAcTv2A7_xlre0S7ZrpnOaTSLzoyWgkkvbXLXCA9XhovgCojJq3tOhTidtvKYtIRYieR01CfebgdN6CkZH6f4PLo4mfULOQNZ0Pwqi4/s1600/IMG_1712.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christian Boltanski, <i>The Wheel of Fortune, </i>2011-2014</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 1.625;">Other elements that make up </span><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 1.625; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Chance </em><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 1.625;">include</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 1.625;"> </span><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 1.625; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Last News from Humans, </em><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 1.625;">two huge scoreboards at either end of</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 1.625;"> </span><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 1.625; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Wheel of Fortune. </em><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 1.625;">These counters are constantly ratcheting up huge numbers in red and green respectively. How Boltanski has got his hands on these statistics I don’t know but the flux of life is brutally quantified by this livestream of numbers totalling all the deaths and births taking place around the world in that moment.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicRlA3_JO9O-ubsTlgj26V-LaLJyZVoml9OQKOjSBwVGMPhIKVkLgeoecnKDWSp6b0sFd1JEjZF66Np3m0zbk0A9OATvMjYgnBcCW1jKEfwKdqukG8rWhgKxg8soxP88o1tK4oFgnYP8E3/s1600/IMG_1710.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicRlA3_JO9O-ubsTlgj26V-LaLJyZVoml9OQKOjSBwVGMPhIKVkLgeoecnKDWSp6b0sFd1JEjZF66Np3m0zbk0A9OATvMjYgnBcCW1jKEfwKdqukG8rWhgKxg8soxP88o1tK4oFgnYP8E3/s1600/IMG_1710.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christian Boltanski, <i>Last News from Humans, </i>2011-2014</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 1.625;">And lastly there’s </span><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 1.625; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Be New. </em><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 1.625;">This work reminds me of his earlier work </span><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 1.625; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Les Suisses Morts, </em><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9rem; line-height: 1.625;">where identikit faces are assembled from the photographs of dead Swiss. Here the dead Swiss are intercut with the Polish newborns, their foreheads, eyes and mouths flickering like fruit in a slot machine. It’s up to the visitor to hit stop and thus create their own unique portrait – one of a possible 1.5 million combinations.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christian Boltanski, <i>Be New</i>, 2011-2014</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">All these works have enormous potential to be quite morbid and certainly depressing but Boltanski himself describes all his work as a desperate attempt to preserve life and there <i>is</i> something beautifully epic about these narratives of life and chance and in/significance that is quite humbling.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Anyway, I'm glad I went. Because not only were the sandwiches delicious but I got to clap eyes on Christian Boltanski, the man himself. </span></div>
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<br />Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058567889421181565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7472508752742515220.post-29204512160788312112014-01-09T22:32:00.000+11:002014-03-13T23:03:16.005+11:00A big weekI can't believe it's been two years already since I sauntered through my Mum's garden and <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/love-letter-to-sydney-and-to-love.html" target="_blank">married my Lovely Boy</a>.<br />
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More than that - I can't believe it's been a year since we celebrated our first wedding anniversary in a <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/redefining-memorable.html" target="_blank">Mexican emergency room</a>. </div>
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Please can we hit the pause button for a minute?? For reals, if things move any faster, I can see myself, cartoon-like, slipping off the back end of the treadmill that is Life. </div>
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It's been a big week. And it's only Thursday.<br />
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On Monday Lovely Boy started his new job.</div>
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Yesterday I may have gone to look at a flat to rent in Coogee...</div>
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Last night we went for a low-key but lovely anniversary dinner at Vini in Surry Hills that didn't end in hospitalisation.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last year's anniversary meal. </td></tr>
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Yesterday I lodged an application for the aforementioned flat in Coogee (LB, who hasn't even seen it yet is just embracing the philosophy 'Happy Wife, Happy Life')</div>
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Tomorrow it's LB's birthday and so we're off to have drinks at the Beresford. I'm also going to the opening of Christian Boltanski's new exhibition at Carriageworks which I'm looking forward to, despite the imminent and awkward"I know no-one at this party" dance around the finger sandwiches tray.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soon to call Coogee home.</td></tr>
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Saturday we're picnicking at Neilson Park for LB's birthday and hopefully, before that, I can show LB where I've decided we're going to live....</div>
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It's been a big week emotionally. I'm exhausted. </div>
Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058567889421181565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7472508752742515220.post-81141455843620733062013-12-31T17:48:00.000+11:002014-02-17T23:37:24.279+11:002013. The year that really, really was.<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Well 2013 has definitely been one for the
books. As its final moments eek away I’m still grappling with everything that I
saw, did, ate, accomplished, learnt, discovered and appreciated. I’m really not
ready for 2014 to start and feel like I’m being dragged along, heels firmly
entrenched, towards Getting On With Things when I’m still not ready to let go
of London. So, really, New Years Eve is the perfect excuse for some indulgent
looking back. And there’s a lot to twist the neck for….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><b>January:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">The year began in cold but beautiful <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/good-evening-westleton.html" target="_blank">Suffolk</a> but really <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/redefining-memorable.html" target="_blank">puked, I mean, peaked in Mexico</a> celebrating all things birthdays and
wedding anniversaries….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><b>February:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Mercifully uneventful and best remembered,
looking back, for the <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/a-trifecta-of-treats.html" target="_blank">dazzling LIGHT exhibition</a> at the Hayward and that
net-a-porter sample sale spent in the company of a hangover so vicious I still
can’t look at tequila without a deep, nauseous pit forming in the bottom of my
stomach.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><b>March:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">More art (including a <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/first-thursday-fail.html" target="_blank">failed First Thursday</a>), more cocktails and a pop up restaurant that <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/just-desserts.html" target="_blank">only served desserts… </a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><b>April:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Saw us drive 1252km through some of the
prettiest, most memorable parts of the UK. <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/easter-bits-with-walking-and-biking.html" target="_blank">Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, Peak District</a>, <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/easter-pemberley-and-other-bits.html" target="_blank">Pemberley, Snowdonia</a> – we tackled it all in a compact two-door Fiat500. Snow,
sunshine, walking, gin & tonics, small town hospitality, it all amounted to
one of the most memorable, beautiful holidays we’ve </span>ever had.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-SaFtFz7qtfagbslPgvM58nh5Fy_gqKG0sLDAprJd0jKT_qCe_H4-bRVFK4bknUQoROP4D6QsZ53t8mCXowITKc8cKgGkaDOriyOlofUr6pzCqDHEO0-I_sAoPoAE6tYjyorqkKPS8VEq/s1600/keswick.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-SaFtFz7qtfagbslPgvM58nh5Fy_gqKG0sLDAprJd0jKT_qCe_H4-bRVFK4bknUQoROP4D6QsZ53t8mCXowITKc8cKgGkaDOriyOlofUr6pzCqDHEO0-I_sAoPoAE6tYjyorqkKPS8VEq/s1600/keswick.JPG" height="179" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><b>May:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Was, frankly, brilliantly mental. We saw
<a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/kate-nash-and-whine-about-weather.html" target="_blank">Kate Nash in concert</a> and I had a <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/from-paris-to-provence.html" target="_blank">Parisian flirtation</a> with Mum before we kicked
off our European Grand Tour Avec Le Parentals with <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/provence-and-my-200th-post.html" target="_blank">a week in Provence</a>. What’s
French for “<a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/food-porn-et-paul-cezanne.html" target="_blank">Can we go back and do it again</a>, like, <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/lets-go-to-arles-darls.html" target="_blank">now</a>?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtnrLKTaxx55zbA7uQjUXLFTwEB5oZIf9ozprH-I20UPaLfL_gL5esmtvx6Ps-cGe2VfV1Lfe6NCWJyzW-uz6lv9c-mu_FZYADmJzaOKLGgsZ1WDP-PTr2n8ggf7RUFFD_9Hlc33A_M7A_/s1600/DSC00147.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtnrLKTaxx55zbA7uQjUXLFTwEB5oZIf9ozprH-I20UPaLfL_gL5esmtvx6Ps-cGe2VfV1Lfe6NCWJyzW-uz6lv9c-mu_FZYADmJzaOKLGgsZ1WDP-PTr2n8ggf7RUFFD_9Hlc33A_M7A_/s1600/DSC00147.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxVTetqHYOnQt4oElfuw2M1AQdKSZdQh6KDNAIMLCNzINF6QcE374KZGttB0_uuw9TwoMhD63PuQeZjSxLPDfOo9AY4F_f8xNakLIe5K8wW0RI1hgx9L9LyA9odcXzb6A3TtjE6H0mc9fG/s1600/DSC00091.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxVTetqHYOnQt4oElfuw2M1AQdKSZdQh6KDNAIMLCNzINF6QcE374KZGttB0_uuw9TwoMhD63PuQeZjSxLPDfOo9AY4F_f8xNakLIe5K8wW0RI1hgx9L9LyA9odcXzb6A3TtjE6H0mc9fG/s1600/DSC00091.JPG" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><b>June:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Continued the Franco-Italian love affair
with <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/lunch-with-leger-or-why-nice-is-nice.html" target="_blank">a stay in Nice</a>, some <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/mantua-mouthfuls-and-lesson-about.html" target="_blank">ambling around northern Italy</a>, the small matter of
lunch at Osteria Francescana and four art-sodden, <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/sunshine-and-look-back-at-venice.html" target="_blank">bellini-drenched</a> days at theVenice Biennale. Oh, and my <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/goodness-me-im-thirty-three.html" target="_blank">rainy 33<span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span> birthday</a> spent literally <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/all-i-want-for-my-birthday-is-f-ing.html" target="_blank">smelling the roses</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5a5-3-sDkZdUhEzPg7eq3Ht0LOyhVaXvw2Rb0JuOZV6T7z3jl16FMKSlavR-tpY48KI9yM_5x1TfXTRmSgka-alY4OK7l1ZjxsucciVPz9KdeuvHpsfNOSmfmfI1yNBJtPXnL5W0jOvtd/s1600/Palestine.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5a5-3-sDkZdUhEzPg7eq3Ht0LOyhVaXvw2Rb0JuOZV6T7z3jl16FMKSlavR-tpY48KI9yM_5x1TfXTRmSgka-alY4OK7l1ZjxsucciVPz9KdeuvHpsfNOSmfmfI1yNBJtPXnL5W0jOvtd/s1600/Palestine.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji8MjRYmqkgmFc68ieRGCwHO6T8j5pYhTVEVSJp3MA7Kqi6a5Onhyphenhyphenaz0MM-p-avrzmgdJZamagYgdI-z7yEuiUzCodSkdc1HJIn-0PLgqLl-smJXGrV4rXpbpKERlfpOYnpHGsMbrTbcnL/s1600/IMG_0463.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji8MjRYmqkgmFc68ieRGCwHO6T8j5pYhTVEVSJp3MA7Kqi6a5Onhyphenhyphenaz0MM-p-avrzmgdJZamagYgdI-z7yEuiUzCodSkdc1HJIn-0PLgqLl-smJXGrV4rXpbpKERlfpOYnpHGsMbrTbcnL/s1600/IMG_0463.JPG" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><b>July:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Was all about the weekend jaunt. You know, whale watching in <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/reykjavik.html" target="_blank">Reykjavik</a> one week, picnicking in <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/the-pleasure-that-is-paris.html" target="_blank">Paris (again) the next</a>, a <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/the-art-of-peckham.html" target="_blank">staycation in Peckham</a> the one after that. I also made my <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/lido-love.html" target="_blank">swimming debut at theParliament Hill Lido</a> and saw some more great art, this time Michael Landy’s
<a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/sunshine-and-saints-alive.html" target="_blank">violent saints</a> at the National Gallery. What a well-rounded month you proved to
be July.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvXdF0Vvvb1CYLjMLKFZyMTFuZRq-dxWje3GUEuigspTM18JiKoeVfTEGIVKcHJCaVfUPjVjv9vPO3X4jJTLI5-BzsdveZilGz5xpRNEiZOO1hqKgx-CAGvSFteIh1tS6sD-fxgrBZPGX4/s1600/DSC01089.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvXdF0Vvvb1CYLjMLKFZyMTFuZRq-dxWje3GUEuigspTM18JiKoeVfTEGIVKcHJCaVfUPjVjv9vPO3X4jJTLI5-BzsdveZilGz5xpRNEiZOO1hqKgx-CAGvSFteIh1tS6sD-fxgrBZPGX4/s1600/DSC01089.JPG" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><b>August:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Blergh. We <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/panic-and-pink-post-it-notes.html" target="_blank">started to contemplate packing</a>
in August but were thankfully distracted by a long weekend in <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/ode-to-berlin.html" target="_blank">my beloved Berlin</a>
and two days cruising the Thames with dear friends on their <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/golden-thistles-and-weekends.html" target="_blank">beautiful, beautiful house boat</a>. Swings and roundabouts I suppose. On balance I really won’t
complain about August.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYE4YFGq5OhzwG0REavQiowzWz7-n9-kLAU_vQu32Fp68lwd9DGyy9cnPBxRB0Hp96WzGbwJTsoI7otFktB2kx_7TgGRfNyDUp9pE02bGXd_XI3lPniize8GPd_YKTZW0NsIWv_we4Y1wC/s1600/DSC01438.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYE4YFGq5OhzwG0REavQiowzWz7-n9-kLAU_vQu32Fp68lwd9DGyy9cnPBxRB0Hp96WzGbwJTsoI7otFktB2kx_7TgGRfNyDUp9pE02bGXd_XI3lPniize8GPd_YKTZW0NsIWv_we4Y1wC/s1600/DSC01438.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZnmZvsU3ZsJvA0LvLrptUUMHOdLjohFkCR3Wxzjkl9pdx7aJoRkMnpTZOyZvCkG2Znyx7hZHjPSAuRvKkTeb6e0zZKEVy9JBDStxuZzgBnaNq5C_2orlaE9JCiHWZOmtnaKah6xCdAMNT/s1600/DSC01519.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZnmZvsU3ZsJvA0LvLrptUUMHOdLjohFkCR3Wxzjkl9pdx7aJoRkMnpTZOyZvCkG2Znyx7hZHjPSAuRvKkTeb6e0zZKEVy9JBDStxuZzgBnaNq5C_2orlaE9JCiHWZOmtnaKah6xCdAMNT/s1600/DSC01519.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><b>September:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">In September I <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/art-liquor-laughs-and-boxes-of-tears.html" target="_blank">clambered around an old building site</a> in the name of site-specific art and bought shed-<a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/amsterdam-or-my-last-european-adventure.html" target="_blank">loads of amazing crap</a> at Amsterdam’s biggest flea market. Oh, and an antique kimono from a
tattoo parlour. Loved me some September. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFq8rVZ4wWWlASfsneQT-kz8djR_G0tXcuk4MpMNlGz5_h8AaVmg4eltxU7zcOBo6kPmZVIoIvFJVT6HwgPZ1O22WrgxPrDIgft3ksMaOzcLKmiJ0yvtnz3SdvmXG35IjQWrJ6XM_TaezJ/s1600/DSC01641.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFq8rVZ4wWWlASfsneQT-kz8djR_G0tXcuk4MpMNlGz5_h8AaVmg4eltxU7zcOBo6kPmZVIoIvFJVT6HwgPZ1O22WrgxPrDIgft3ksMaOzcLKmiJ0yvtnz3SdvmXG35IjQWrJ6XM_TaezJ/s1600/DSC01641.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnDs7nVW0oSmbblbA86e4Mkf8o3YGoFr1okIpskRKrwz8dwtSMv6JWe9jsb9DXg8GNTWicx5Mn46zD7-qzVveIaOKMCCSKqSbOh8d06ZtW5EZCDjlDPHKLq_jUkrlgBXTtpHHVcy7ZpsLE/s1600/DSC01696.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnDs7nVW0oSmbblbA86e4Mkf8o3YGoFr1okIpskRKrwz8dwtSMv6JWe9jsb9DXg8GNTWicx5Mn46zD7-qzVveIaOKMCCSKqSbOh8d06ZtW5EZCDjlDPHKLq_jUkrlgBXTtpHHVcy7ZpsLE/s1600/DSC01696.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><b>October:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Was basically just a lot of tears with some
cameo appearances by high tea, <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/sookiness-and-sadlers-wells.html" target="_blank">ballet dates to Sadlers Wells</a>, an <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/the-last-weekend-and-several-last.html" target="_blank">art piñata, Elmgreen & Dragset, lunch at the Ledbury</a> and <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/comings-and-goings.html" target="_blank">dinner at the Shard</a>. Oh fuck,
and a book I wrote that <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/21st-century-portraits.html" target="_blank">finally got published</a>. I knew I forgot something. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRNZVd5iJATWT5vltYvpeggtHSk3vu6eYseP4tdIqXNUh1jNbm83HTafOkQw3e1IYeeNSOlCBhEAjhVKM7ysYAWOtY4MyQ_UTyAij4XGCCWJXkINxUDpFREMawZB1ish6LFJRFUWoi0uz_/s1600/DSC01326.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRNZVd5iJATWT5vltYvpeggtHSk3vu6eYseP4tdIqXNUh1jNbm83HTafOkQw3e1IYeeNSOlCBhEAjhVKM7ysYAWOtY4MyQ_UTyAij4XGCCWJXkINxUDpFREMawZB1ish6LFJRFUWoi0uz_/s1600/DSC01326.JPG" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">And then, well, I stopped accounting for
the year because I’m tired and anxious and haven’t really been ready to embrace
2013 version 2.Sydney<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Whether or not I’m ready for 2014 Sydney-style
remains to be seen. But either way it will be seen soon, like, literally, in a
couple of hours soon. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">I feel so grateful for this last year, for
the last five years really, and feel overwhelmed when I chalk up all the
experiences I’ve had the privilege to enjoy. I even started a list because in
thinking back over the last half-decade (fuck it sounds long when you quantify
it like that) I realised that: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">I’ve met three Turner Prize winners including
<a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2011/11/poultry-and-pottery.html" target="_blank">Grayson Perry</a> (with nods to Mark Wallinger and Jeremy Deller)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJZBLdBs6LX48e6Elimi3yryJP4-Qqll_d2ex68quSNgwS622HkTaslpiKySK_womcJsMEluhk5XC3A9A4DjCg7Am312k5O2_TAPXOby9fRziEi1vzPuM5BqR30CYFICajpiuySkWIKHts/s1600/IMG_0581.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJZBLdBs6LX48e6Elimi3yryJP4-Qqll_d2ex68quSNgwS622HkTaslpiKySK_womcJsMEluhk5XC3A9A4DjCg7Am312k5O2_TAPXOby9fRziEi1vzPuM5BqR30CYFICajpiuySkWIKHts/s1600/IMG_0581.JPG" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">And also met artists met Pae White, Ryan
Gander, <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/pop-up-invite-and-very-posh-dinner.html" target="_blank">Elmgreen & Dragset</a> and not-quite-met-but-clapped-eyes-on Yayoi
Kusama (<a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/it-would-be-stretch-to-say-i-got-to.html" target="_blank">which totally counts</a>)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbZYOfq69eJndy77zWs8gEZNkdxv0stLG9Az8FEZEQeQ3iAdeMWg-GSrS-E1IREVIf4VSmznwdEUj3uGx09WehOnGJZKqbBTbKsdz6DNsXJD2bF4xVDhRfrTt9MCbpR9q8uehJjbwqvqit/s1600/IMG_0770.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbZYOfq69eJndy77zWs8gEZNkdxv0stLG9Az8FEZEQeQ3iAdeMWg-GSrS-E1IREVIf4VSmznwdEUj3uGx09WehOnGJZKqbBTbKsdz6DNsXJD2bF4xVDhRfrTt9MCbpR9q8uehJjbwqvqit/s1600/IMG_0770.JPG" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">I’ve seen five Fourth Plinth Commissions
(including Antony Gormley’s <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2009/08/some-ish-and-some-art.html" target="_blank">totally bonkers work replete with cherry picker</a>)
and experienced four Turbine Hall commissions including <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2011/10/be-dress.html" target="_blank">Tacita Dean</a> and <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/tino-at-tate.html" target="_blank">Tino“dance with me” Sehgal</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-_9T3xv5dry3SOBdAo9Mvwol0-iRnkdTwBnkxkk2c57XYeu5hPGx6BHtS6HDwd5pmcBY2khAGDKkVhxFMemsCwcVCssrNxrehbpqH0GhuQSKAH33YZwP-eac087bbIiilYhq-UvnELQZv/s1600/IMG_3315.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-_9T3xv5dry3SOBdAo9Mvwol0-iRnkdTwBnkxkk2c57XYeu5hPGx6BHtS6HDwd5pmcBY2khAGDKkVhxFMemsCwcVCssrNxrehbpqH0GhuQSKAH33YZwP-eac087bbIiilYhq-UvnELQZv/s1600/IMG_3315.JPG" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I’ve visited two <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2009/06/venice-and-art-of-gelato.html" target="_blank">Venice Biennales</a> and one
<a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/two-days-at-documenta.html" target="_blank">documenta </a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I’ve had <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2011/08/fat-duck-tuesday.html" target="_blank">one meal at el bulli</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMjB5Bv-wDP-XfEPUz8HxGbZ5fTeskTG5mZKEOBox7TxtL8dchlGheDCFC8-QkoNwUtKfzIkWZuV1DKkCQLnvGoAC84p_E7gmho7Rkvq55mvhzh-CnVPB25u2gTKq4HvzxcpaevKq-Hsql/s1600/IMG_3259.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMjB5Bv-wDP-XfEPUz8HxGbZ5fTeskTG5mZKEOBox7TxtL8dchlGheDCFC8-QkoNwUtKfzIkWZuV1DKkCQLnvGoAC84p_E7gmho7Rkvq55mvhzh-CnVPB25u2gTKq4HvzxcpaevKq-Hsql/s1600/IMG_3259.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Another at Fat Duck<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And another at Osteria Francescana rounding
out in haphazard fashion the at-one-time-or-another top three restaurants in
the world<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5u8azggCDSAGVUJ2KCBm02cY16BjpoEdbYm9w_JQ9xq2178T8zheYnavk5F3U_IMQeUQ9ZqScnJdwmoVN1qLZtoOsfwKRn-uSWJnwgFiuNzxg_J800nISpl40Y3Zlm6ey63PMTJ-rpBPb/s1600/IMG_0316.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5u8azggCDSAGVUJ2KCBm02cY16BjpoEdbYm9w_JQ9xq2178T8zheYnavk5F3U_IMQeUQ9ZqScnJdwmoVN1qLZtoOsfwKRn-uSWJnwgFiuNzxg_J800nISpl40Y3Zlm6ey63PMTJ-rpBPb/s1600/IMG_0316.JPG" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/i-wrote-book.html" target="_blank">I’ve written one book</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2009/11/schooooooools-out-forever.html" target="_blank">Completed one MA</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNICDDn2p2j6ifBK95UDe-vAh9796Aqo2iWIUVlh4JHj9MOxqaqHJt6RLWoT3Y4wGoU7rppxikgagElsxIP2bxg9i4WtXBCwmCbKNmON0lBMpO3L-A3YLlRudisTSKfvgRn6fzxWXdDh4J/s1600/Jo's+Graduation+026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNICDDn2p2j6ifBK95UDe-vAh9796Aqo2iWIUVlh4JHj9MOxqaqHJt6RLWoT3Y4wGoU7rppxikgagElsxIP2bxg9i4WtXBCwmCbKNmON0lBMpO3L-A3YLlRudisTSKfvgRn6fzxWXdDh4J/s1600/Jo's+Graduation+026.JPG" height="320" width="222" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And found and married <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/love-letter-to-sydney-and-to-love.html" target="_blank">one very lovely husband.</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmot8AT-6k_psdeWMp_knf4zV3EMRc5OHVaqcHzwtMF-bJ587_J01EJzV3Q5-1ZCWuckmEiKEu6wD24CzzT1DXqWOMqlv5yTVQefoI2sQNf74fG00Gbn64-aN1lx6avWHX6JN0KuuNXRRy/s1600/JT213.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmot8AT-6k_psdeWMp_knf4zV3EMRc5OHVaqcHzwtMF-bJ587_J01EJzV3Q5-1ZCWuckmEiKEu6wD24CzzT1DXqWOMqlv5yTVQefoI2sQNf74fG00Gbn64-aN1lx6avWHX6JN0KuuNXRRy/s1600/JT213.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Not a bad innings, really. You can see why
2014 has a lot to live up to.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058567889421181565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7472508752742515220.post-38014177672325687172013-12-26T18:31:00.000+11:002014-02-14T14:33:19.905+11:00Crafting Christmas<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">So it rained on Christmas Day. My sardonic
inner Londoner appreciated the nod to all things internal winter of discontent
and/or Christmas 2012. My outer trying-to-be-literally sunny Sydneysider
however, was a little concerned the downpour would ruin her decorations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Someone has been channelling their angst
into craft. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiyMrSj12xeX3A45dewPpm6KXSE-Gshh1PA-WRHM9AhQE2d3TAVxu-anbINiZOWAXj8UPfyRV5BTKXZ60rbamFzHAarnx42Ye6YtVXbWJ2AwnrYBDvFNNxHjlKJNwEwvi8_tUogDZRVwcm/s1600/photo+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiyMrSj12xeX3A45dewPpm6KXSE-Gshh1PA-WRHM9AhQE2d3TAVxu-anbINiZOWAXj8UPfyRV5BTKXZ60rbamFzHAarnx42Ye6YtVXbWJ2AwnrYBDvFNNxHjlKJNwEwvi8_tUogDZRVwcm/s1600/photo+3.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Despite the near-constant downpour it was
just so lovely to be back amongst the family and made busy mascerating five
punnets of ripe raspberries into a heady cocktail liquer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmTu_lofholh0RjlaqNlFP2W8HhR41-50f4rBvzLuc-NvXxAjWtLSRE38y5af-61fdF7yEDI9WKWb7IHDdlWzIsYvMQGP8hN8S-ADQsHeOBdXvw1Q8W46DGg1baI-3gLumkcQtmdE1W7CZ/s1600/photo+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmTu_lofholh0RjlaqNlFP2W8HhR41-50f4rBvzLuc-NvXxAjWtLSRE38y5af-61fdF7yEDI9WKWb7IHDdlWzIsYvMQGP8hN8S-ADQsHeOBdXvw1Q8W46DGg1baI-3gLumkcQtmdE1W7CZ/s1600/photo+1.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Mum and Lovely Boy had spent the last
couple of weeks plotting recipes (see: respective playing to strengths. I do
alcohol and crepe paper, everyone else does everything else) and LB’s gravalax
was one of many highlights. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnofGgFNZdhg2DZ-e9CnMrxjlkYQTwfR-omDAmDozjgTUk5FnBjY2603I18LBbS38Rw4QqOsHFHqP0DRcf9NezzO36dlI63OoC_KXSjW9S2cCyx40RJykkSznI8j1IcdKyTrYUB0SuuPgu/s1600/photo+5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnofGgFNZdhg2DZ-e9CnMrxjlkYQTwfR-omDAmDozjgTUk5FnBjY2603I18LBbS38Rw4QqOsHFHqP0DRcf9NezzO36dlI63OoC_KXSjW9S2cCyx40RJykkSznI8j1IcdKyTrYUB0SuuPgu/s1600/photo+5.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The sun has been out today thankfully, as
has the extended family <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">en fulle force</i>.
Why have Christmas day when you can have Christmas festival, right?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It’s been good.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrRj6M4Yv6rHf973QxM6xx9MSvSZefcXvRTtGki-SjhJbK9b1sfAYLvQRosofm3Tth-crtteYXEwFMeTNepQQioeleaaLIvEeQciv5y0zlq8_mnJwpVvtmNCSup1NUPLf5VTFZaxJj8I4H/s1600/IMG_2661.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrRj6M4Yv6rHf973QxM6xx9MSvSZefcXvRTtGki-SjhJbK9b1sfAYLvQRosofm3Tth-crtteYXEwFMeTNepQQioeleaaLIvEeQciv5y0zlq8_mnJwpVvtmNCSup1NUPLf5VTFZaxJj8I4H/s1600/IMG_2661.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thinking back to last year's Christmas in also-not-sunny London</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja0fuHJb0abgyZH0evXqkifGF1a_ir8wy-R1SBRe3Pm9i5GFkWJuQ5k0V1c7D8xCunnaHuDpzYyB-EGFni-2u_M8xWKfpHbKUxR4XljhvN59Uz5T2vsX5EZH4CIVxIZAmiuFbjAfio_obG/s1600/IMG_2665.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja0fuHJb0abgyZH0evXqkifGF1a_ir8wy-R1SBRe3Pm9i5GFkWJuQ5k0V1c7D8xCunnaHuDpzYyB-EGFni-2u_M8xWKfpHbKUxR4XljhvN59Uz5T2vsX5EZH4CIVxIZAmiuFbjAfio_obG/s1600/IMG_2665.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The last ten days or so have actually been
pretty lovely. A very wise and gentle mentor talked me down from the work ledge
two weeks ago with a heavy dose of perspective and strict instruction to take a
holiday until mid-January because, even if there were things I could do
vis-a-vis work, no one is going to want to talk about anything except their
tans until February. So I’ve given myself permission to exhale. For now, at any
rate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhPQT0Ig0KZoT6jmWTxMtt6zqaX9sFuCcxU88iqS6zBodma2C7rF0EI3UEdqrRJDhTse_30la5bAMjcVvwNuxX7EdN50Ne8aIuNKagoHJxP_sTmzswFWSp5pMUZOsUnkMMkrI5O9bHS5iY/s1600/IMG_1963.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhPQT0Ig0KZoT6jmWTxMtt6zqaX9sFuCcxU88iqS6zBodma2C7rF0EI3UEdqrRJDhTse_30la5bAMjcVvwNuxX7EdN50Ne8aIuNKagoHJxP_sTmzswFWSp5pMUZOsUnkMMkrI5O9bHS5iY/s1600/IMG_1963.JPG" height="320" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From one year and colour theme to the next</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSEB_ZKTg2swXE4TUv5zPE2ZT9zSyv3s1J0sXDo5DicowbDcCa1BRaNIRoHcvABzhVMBkfc4mw7sePMbwmufGnczhlFI3jJ1lUCnLlUKdwebkHvz2cmJtU9Fxh7WiQqmq9CU6XCL7bMs2j/s1600/photo+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSEB_ZKTg2swXE4TUv5zPE2ZT9zSyv3s1J0sXDo5DicowbDcCa1BRaNIRoHcvABzhVMBkfc4mw7sePMbwmufGnczhlFI3jJ1lUCnLlUKdwebkHvz2cmJtU9Fxh7WiQqmq9CU6XCL7bMs2j/s1600/photo+4.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058567889421181565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7472508752742515220.post-40268450013285257472013-11-19T08:35:00.000+11:002014-01-13T10:14:17.865+11:00Phantom limbs<div class="MsoNormal">
I can’t really account for the last month.
I can’t quite believe it’s been a month. Four weeks sounds less scary. Closer
to London, not increasingly, terrifyingly, further away.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju2dGzkMqa4wO7C1lG_hP2bWqgeX7Y3nRTWkyI5nrCruxQqCMZblGGjXX2Ip3g5dghkxxkLTp6torsVoSxQFSzd2jDpcmBh0IuTNUcDKCROCzZj9lQ9pRVdpW0iyCoPjjMmVjlSPjqt-sS/s1600/image+(14).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju2dGzkMqa4wO7C1lG_hP2bWqgeX7Y3nRTWkyI5nrCruxQqCMZblGGjXX2Ip3g5dghkxxkLTp6torsVoSxQFSzd2jDpcmBh0IuTNUcDKCROCzZj9lQ9pRVdpW0iyCoPjjMmVjlSPjqt-sS/s1600/image+(14).jpeg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the ferry to Manly</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It’s good to be home, where home is a
moving feast of emotions attached largely to family members and friends. Sydney
is eluding me for the moment. Things familiar and comforting are the people who
know me best, who acknowledge the last five years and what they’ve
meant/involved/provided and who offer the proverbial gentle hand (and/or kick
up the arse) to start getting on with things here. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">But I ache for London. Like a crack whore
wanting one more dose of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">possibilities.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">From the shadows of jetlag and the general exhaustion
that comes with moving countries, strange shards of acute sensations and
memories of London have now begun to flicker constantly like a phantom limb. I
feel it there and it’s a part of me, but it’s just not there anymore, however
real it feels. However badly I want to scratch it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGoPnx62jKDZnYgpbbC1X0T-edLZTGQgCHIA0QSAtJtJh3WlJ5T9IPzllizAbumqXRvBBuBtMP1vwupI1LipijRRjtsByIfvK-AlmfLXwJeXJBBk7YW7tRUQAk9y6Q9yqDfMG6s-TZ4GYv/s1600/image+%252816%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGoPnx62jKDZnYgpbbC1X0T-edLZTGQgCHIA0QSAtJtJh3WlJ5T9IPzllizAbumqXRvBBuBtMP1vwupI1LipijRRjtsByIfvK-AlmfLXwJeXJBBk7YW7tRUQAk9y6Q9yqDfMG6s-TZ4GYv/s1600/image+%252816%2529.jpeg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Casual tourism</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The grey of Peckham Rd in November, the
crap entrenched in the mud of lowtide Thames, the irritation of having to wait
FOUR MINUTES for a tube (ha! Sydney buses take note), the quick pulsing joy of
passing through Trafalgar Square, the insouciance of a meal in Soho, trying to
walk in wedges on cobblestones, the soaring joy of a blue sky day, the
impossible vision out from a rainy, steamy bus, the shortcuts down narrow lanes,
the night buses, the Turbine Hall, the halloumi burgers at Borough, the misery
of a cold wind, the struggle of getting into tights and then into jeans,
hanging baskets of flowers, dingy pubs with dark, stale air, the houses of
parliament, grimy £10 notes, dark at 4pm, light til 10pm, the Eurostar,
exhibitions, bars, excursions, concerts, things to be discovered, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">possifuckingbilities.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYKIqokH69wPsy8pNy4jsbEiZu5EeSeGuBaEDvK4h9tWdmF3r0TOu50PtiXoX39t35WjsJ6rQ9Kti_2kLxPpcyQzUwcZ4Ggq_HFGnDXsQxJUzLQhUSZkQ98ed9T6vveZggeEbJN726XG91/s1600/image+%252815%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYKIqokH69wPsy8pNy4jsbEiZu5EeSeGuBaEDvK4h9tWdmF3r0TOu50PtiXoX39t35WjsJ6rQ9Kti_2kLxPpcyQzUwcZ4Ggq_HFGnDXsQxJUzLQhUSZkQ98ed9T6vveZggeEbJN726XG91/s1600/image+%252815%2529.jpeg" height="320" width="276" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clovelly granny</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">You’d never know I hated it when I first
arrived, how much of a slog it was to just exist there. Loving it was always
going to be something else entirely. It seems that quixotic mistress really
took my pulse in the end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And now we’ve left.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I still find myself momentarily breathless
when a wave of quiet grief tramples over me with peak hour Piccadilly line
rudeness. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t still occasionally having a small cry
about how suddenly I seem to have found myself here, even though it’s not a
surprise to me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Fuck, I don’t know. It’s just weird.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEyYtUmvTHsasVJNs9dmVnnYbRcoWfNAHypk6F0ZDgcuXXTIJNHTWhK9ZGhscFv95J2UmSAYUGiPNa9Py8SQX-Gse2MOcNaM7r3AyuqRVa-F4uc8Piiw8DGei6ChaxvI9iSMdBD8icVL3D/s1600/photo+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEyYtUmvTHsasVJNs9dmVnnYbRcoWfNAHypk6F0ZDgcuXXTIJNHTWhK9ZGhscFv95J2UmSAYUGiPNa9Py8SQX-Gse2MOcNaM7r3AyuqRVa-F4uc8Piiw8DGei6ChaxvI9iSMdBD8icVL3D/s1600/photo+4.jpg" height="320" width="319" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cockatoos overhead</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Made all the weirder by the sudden company
we’re keeping here in the paradise otherwise known as Sydney’s Northern
Beaches. Spider webs (replete with spiders), rare slugs, cranky possums, cockroaches
(oh how I’d forgotten about those giant bastards) the ants and let’s not forget
the kookaburras in the old gum tree.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWleoZz0ElrFqpHRtBtHrxC4yxaqlAwTW-BtUap29ZWxKAL3rO4sDBHCsjaB1pAwq_3Hpjn5f8H6P1E8-Dg2rL1c1yXN1KxDOijH6OxktwbTiQYyJOZd8dudKsZsPEsqYGxoc4j3Edcgo9/s1600/photo+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWleoZz0ElrFqpHRtBtHrxC4yxaqlAwTW-BtUap29ZWxKAL3rO4sDBHCsjaB1pAwq_3Hpjn5f8H6P1E8-Dg2rL1c1yXN1KxDOijH6OxktwbTiQYyJOZd8dudKsZsPEsqYGxoc4j3Edcgo9/s1600/photo+1.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spot the giant spider...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Despite things seeming to the contrary, it
hasn’t all been whiny self-indulgent navel gazing. There have been some
tentative outings – to the Opera House to hear Alan Rusbridger speak about
phone hacking and the Guardian – to the MCA to meet Liz Ann McGregor, to
Adelaide for a wedding and to Bondi, for breakfast. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Lovely Boy has managed to find himself a
job, which has the brilliant advantage of not starting until January and I am
meeting with people, lugging The Book around, and hoping to get some writing
work before the year is out. And in the meantime, we’ve just been eating cake.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCVcwVoTOAD3hiS07R1Z0n2nAgASZ8OD7y0cdKg6Pu46-LgwvzpvXL4eeMQuQYme99zAJ_46scKE2m3vYPeFjB-oEBldjNFZ0ii58WSuiBBjHWAXSCfWHYwVooZZLXLF0q-aadTh9oPBGG/s1600/image+%252812%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCVcwVoTOAD3hiS07R1Z0n2nAgASZ8OD7y0cdKg6Pu46-LgwvzpvXL4eeMQuQYme99zAJ_46scKE2m3vYPeFjB-oEBldjNFZ0ii58WSuiBBjHWAXSCfWHYwVooZZLXLF0q-aadTh9oPBGG/s1600/image+%252812%2529.jpeg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058567889421181565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7472508752742515220.post-16704449538247623422013-10-24T22:28:00.000+11:002014-02-17T17:03:15.729+11:00Comings and goings<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">So we’re back. And it feels….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Familiar.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And strange.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I’m just freewheeling with my emotions at
the moment – ignoring the stunned, slightly dazed feeling that comes from a
cocktail of jetlag, overwrought emotion, uncertainty and exhaustion – and
focusing on the minute to minute. And the truly genuine joy at being back
amongst the family.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcGS6ydnDD3gMPgE601JJT0b2eBoXqQxmyoIZykW2YAUHpXLe-xp2MwRZq25ejjPR1X_eF9bNxxz8F2RLNCPn8tfjk__6HRiNMrqdp0bkZxPbGdHNlvi5zRw2Evi3HAD0L58yQxwsNpQEG/s1600/DSC01735.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcGS6ydnDD3gMPgE601JJT0b2eBoXqQxmyoIZykW2YAUHpXLe-xp2MwRZq25ejjPR1X_eF9bNxxz8F2RLNCPn8tfjk__6HRiNMrqdp0bkZxPbGdHNlvi5zRw2Evi3HAD0L58yQxwsNpQEG/s320/DSC01735.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"></span></div>
<a name='more'></a>Our last 36 hours in London were really
pretty wonderful. Monday I made a first and last visit the Guildhall Art
Gallery to see the small but quirky Victoriana exhibition; had an impromptu
lunch with my friend Jen in Clerkenwell, and then spent the afternoon at
Central St Martins talking art journalism and professional development with a
large group of first year students in a very small room. <o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Some art, some lunch, some last ditch
creative and professional satisfaction. And then dinner at the Shard.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9IY-Uwy0Gi93pYzFPK1sKJbPNh3MA3VeRogbEkRgz_5XXLViPEDnl0i3NkVbko8Jrp-CocANwbXP8weBAblFvqmL_yQEvq2XU_PtRDo0Ih7w9p68km9R1azF-jzeO1vdtcFbv2Kmq9r8C/s1600/DSC01745.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9IY-Uwy0Gi93pYzFPK1sKJbPNh3MA3VeRogbEkRgz_5XXLViPEDnl0i3NkVbko8Jrp-CocANwbXP8weBAblFvqmL_yQEvq2XU_PtRDo0Ih7w9p68km9R1azF-jzeO1vdtcFbv2Kmq9r8C/s320/DSC01745.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Lovely Boy spent <i>his</i> last day quaffing
beers in olde pubs before pilgrimaging up to The Emirates Stadium for one last
spin through the gift shop. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOEuscQhGnaSr8IE5dJ8aOMCd2UlywAqcExPpAhBB1CDiEEHIUPDcrNBOoDS5RsJQY7eF-nQSpeOh3mbkGt2ADEja0zTAraOCPIEOdd4V8iimq9OaVkHE-KKT5Hz_3r_1aaRnm0aA2ww-3/s1600/DSC01739.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOEuscQhGnaSr8IE5dJ8aOMCd2UlywAqcExPpAhBB1CDiEEHIUPDcrNBOoDS5RsJQY7eF-nQSpeOh3mbkGt2ADEja0zTAraOCPIEOdd4V8iimq9OaVkHE-KKT5Hz_3r_1aaRnm0aA2ww-3/s320/DSC01739.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We reconvened at half-five and found ourselves a
prime corner position for a cocktail at Hutong on the 33<span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span> floor of the big spike.
The view from here was suitably panoramic for an occasion celebrating all that
London is and has been for us both over these last years. It was kind of
perfect actually. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0nBj5CcmdAtTbOdHv0ySUpL_GvfDnhcI6n5OhJXM6_GLiAF58RmmpB3_P5HYcCDaKDCjYPn7BlgnJj3i9KB6k9LM07BPb0Eb9Xd3mMiATtvvlD__3J7DVDsboXichW1WXgimJ9cgvU13L/s1600/IMG_1389.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0nBj5CcmdAtTbOdHv0ySUpL_GvfDnhcI6n5OhJXM6_GLiAF58RmmpB3_P5HYcCDaKDCjYPn7BlgnJj3i9KB6k9LM07BPb0Eb9Xd3mMiATtvvlD__3J7DVDsboXichW1WXgimJ9cgvU13L/s320/IMG_1389.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And Aqua, where we ate with Nina, Steve,
Katie and Ash was like something out of a James Bond film – all glass and
mirrors and dark lighting, with views from everywhere – including the loos. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Because why wouldn’t you want to look down over Bermondsey while you wash your
hands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhscjFM-rL_eOgoieOG2rHu9G5cly_pt5tD7m2gnYQk_PK-meYYUNi38RzbbghWOz-ehyLvI86d_gMf0PrYkzilxnd72Ts5HTdzBKHMAvX1PKjFYL5ltWghazeEpGmD3_CET_s34sBR_UjB/s1600/IMG_1398.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhscjFM-rL_eOgoieOG2rHu9G5cly_pt5tD7m2gnYQk_PK-meYYUNi38RzbbghWOz-ehyLvI86d_gMf0PrYkzilxnd72Ts5HTdzBKHMAvX1PKjFYL5ltWghazeEpGmD3_CET_s34sBR_UjB/s320/IMG_1398.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The service wasn’t quite as impressive,
still ironing out a few glitches I think, but the food was first class and for
our last night, it was amazing to sit up above the city in these glamorous
surrounds and watch it succumb to the evening. Tate Modern, St Paul’s, the
London Eye, Tower Bridge, all of it. The ultimate lesson in perspective really,
this magnificent city and our relative insignificance amid it all. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Denial,
liquor and dear friends is a wonderful combination.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmf7wYLW9CbtAAMmLbHXkBuZzKy-jt1Oz06Al5rnZD0Sj4oVOng7WRomCxkTyFl7laTVKyyX91oZKQ94j9wOP86GiqpUt1qDrOW9pGSx_x_L4sxTcmJcrkD-f0JT-FLQ6cl6nzLdY_XQTW/s1600/IMG_1402.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmf7wYLW9CbtAAMmLbHXkBuZzKy-jt1Oz06Al5rnZD0Sj4oVOng7WRomCxkTyFl7laTVKyyX91oZKQ94j9wOP86GiqpUt1qDrOW9pGSx_x_L4sxTcmJcrkD-f0JT-FLQ6cl6nzLdY_XQTW/s320/IMG_1402.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">On Tuesday we had lunch at Borough Market
before ambling along the Southbank trying to avoid the rain. LB granted me a
quick half hour to rush through the sensitive, beautiful, haunting Ana Mendieta
exhibition at the Hayward (because why wouldn’t you want to buy one last
exhibition catalogue to add to your 110kg) before one last schlep home on the
tube to finish our packing and head to the airport. In and of itself an
adventure… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihEyrWEe1ZJEjSu97iGTWQtQ5krMo-lbRdHMNH8Cn_4JA_iZqLw-6HnFcitC1-qBtJ3b8okergL0nt1fN5gIKajb3lXdAhMvzpCwfRv6UWoLCLzFvEyy8QdzraB_2m8q1fozR16xOddEDY/s1600/IMG_1407.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihEyrWEe1ZJEjSu97iGTWQtQ5krMo-lbRdHMNH8Cn_4JA_iZqLw-6HnFcitC1-qBtJ3b8okergL0nt1fN5gIKajb3lXdAhMvzpCwfRv6UWoLCLzFvEyy8QdzraB_2m8q1fozR16xOddEDY/s320/IMG_1407.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Thanks to my brother, who handily works for
Qantas, we managed to get excessive amounts of excess baggage and so flew back
to Sydney in the company of six suitcases and a guitar.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And now we’re here. And what that means I
don’t know yet but as I said to my lovely boy as we landed this morning, 'Don’t
worry my love. We’ll always be Londoners.' <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuav8pDrn6PTmQi2C9w5i0mXQnuipAiyhT5jd3sXgvxr8pMiGcG1NwTtOQrx2pEE06b9UfagGm3H_kf7w8LI-aJS_cZ8LhBm4UBsDTjA1hnD9gzg-M4gHT0b4aIUbvOPG48sfQ7VAl3o-y/s1600/IMG_1415.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuav8pDrn6PTmQi2C9w5i0mXQnuipAiyhT5jd3sXgvxr8pMiGcG1NwTtOQrx2pEE06b9UfagGm3H_kf7w8LI-aJS_cZ8LhBm4UBsDTjA1hnD9gzg-M4gHT0b4aIUbvOPG48sfQ7VAl3o-y/s320/IMG_1415.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLY9vfNaxQJf8gCAOX1bq3Mx3bBT-jztWvros4tiMsshOPTrjVlqI0ewD34F6lvkgunR0r9wSYhe9jZDTxxRhUhIFaKf7WFhbrvZJA_cPPt-8LlLfSRO99ts9DbI4LVZgDNvMTB2LteHfy/s1600/IMG_1423.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLY9vfNaxQJf8gCAOX1bq3Mx3bBT-jztWvros4tiMsshOPTrjVlqI0ewD34F6lvkgunR0r9wSYhe9jZDTxxRhUhIFaKf7WFhbrvZJA_cPPt-8LlLfSRO99ts9DbI4LVZgDNvMTB2LteHfy/s320/IMG_1423.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058567889421181565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7472508752742515220.post-43015863501632839862013-10-21T09:56:00.000+11:002014-02-17T17:29:12.596+11:00The Last Weekend and Several Last Suppers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It’s been an epic last weekend in London
with all the requisite factors – alcohol, tears, museum visits, high teas, posh
meals, public transport fails, contemporary art piñatas and pouring, sobbing
rain. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzSjLHTnBb2_2NfdoSPU89dalykJRg9SUPLuIvx-vZ2mSm19VVULDBD-xWapbvIb674_whyphenhyphen0IQC2uENJmDK8b71PlnqmyreaXolH1_OkUXIB5WyFD0gicZR-DQT6jGAAX2P4EVv9964b_n/s1600/IMG_1367.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzSjLHTnBb2_2NfdoSPU89dalykJRg9SUPLuIvx-vZ2mSm19VVULDBD-xWapbvIb674_whyphenhyphen0IQC2uENJmDK8b71PlnqmyreaXolH1_OkUXIB5WyFD0gicZR-DQT6jGAAX2P4EVv9964b_n/s320/IMG_1367.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I’m exhausted, a little overwrought,
foggily dazed and both dragging my feet and ready to pull the pin. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I might be
flexible but I don’t thrive in limbo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Friday was my last day at work and it was,
as to be expected, tearful. But it was also busy, stressful and perfectly,
thoroughly, weird. Frieze Art Fair has been on this week, which meant a brunch
for 300 on Thursday morning (with a side of pastries and opportune networking) and
then on Friday, a party for artist Oscar Murillo at a Colombian nightclub under
the arches in Elephant & Castle. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJjqnTdpn1nJ8deFlhc7XetbVu3b1N5HuZWCnPHtbF3x6uYYX5C3I1i69Vi8FUBFtkWgKLh3JNM1_Wq8iHD0Fyzqyj5Mio2uQ24kzFjXzplfPVP6-aRuhZn6cV4_YZThWgG_u3ePec-A87/s1600/IMG_1350.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJjqnTdpn1nJ8deFlhc7XetbVu3b1N5HuZWCnPHtbF3x6uYYX5C3I1i69Vi8FUBFtkWgKLh3JNM1_Wq8iHD0Fyzqyj5Mio2uQ24kzFjXzplfPVP6-aRuhZn6cV4_YZThWgG_u3ePec-A87/s320/IMG_1350.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One last cursory look back...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The culmination of one aspect of his
exhibition was a secret lottery with limited edition tickets and on Friday evening
art world luminaries, Oscar’s Colombian relatives, ticket holders and the
entire SLG gang gathered for the unveiling of the mystery prizes. How was the
lottery drawn? From a clear plastic tarpaulin above the dance floor, full of limes,
golf balls, tennis balls, ping pong balls, lemons and footballs that were
numbered and jumbled, before being ratcheted open with a razor and spilling
everywhere.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Because this is the art world, everyone had
to grab something from the floor before Oscar then picked several people at
random whose numbered lime or lemon would be the winner. Which was all well and
good until he chose a colleague with a dud number so I gave her mine, which, of
course, turned out to be the ticket number for his gallerist. Always a bit
awkward when the gallery director wins first prize and first prize happens to
be a trip to Colombia. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKxTX4HnYpvBSoYPfThvGg8J3MzHdaU2viLavHapQl86thylaoqZOGEgl-hwo4vloSI9ndts5XQXnPyUOODrLuZKqKJdHq2jkCIsMFNnCC0bnlnLCDAKOo1MnDVq1R9yRjW_vx_2CpshUT/s1600/IMG_1351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKxTX4HnYpvBSoYPfThvGg8J3MzHdaU2viLavHapQl86thylaoqZOGEgl-hwo4vloSI9ndts5XQXnPyUOODrLuZKqKJdHq2jkCIsMFNnCC0bnlnLCDAKOo1MnDVq1R9yRjW_vx_2CpshUT/s320/IMG_1351.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oscar Murillo's pinata-style lottery draw</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">By three glasses of cheap wine past 10pm I
was starting to get emotional and decided it was probably time to go. Honest to
god, I may as well have been dying the goodbyes were so traumatic. And it
wasn’t just me in tears. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Thankfully two of my lovely, dear, dear
friends-now-former-colleagues left with me and we all walked together to the
tube, me completely unable to compose myself. After saying goodbye to them I
then sobbed the entire Bakerloo line to Embankment and then the entire District
line to Parsons Green. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">SOBBED.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I felt ill and completely wrung out by the
time I got back to Hannah’s. I still feel a little dehydrated 48-hours later
frankly. Torrents of tears and cheap Colombian wine are a terrible combination.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPvJs6RuCqb49Z10IHOCdAjPpmXSsZ83Sa00YPJ_pjHqSJIGEvH1sq9tR0wLciTnx5EAWhHN1lwOqf9Tc8xH0tCXI6w5R4J163edN8i1eFUe4Ca5jGFMgUvLTP0OyHGuMD9_Xh3TMueVYt/s1600/DSC01721.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPvJs6RuCqb49Z10IHOCdAjPpmXSsZ83Sa00YPJ_pjHqSJIGEvH1sq9tR0wLciTnx5EAWhHN1lwOqf9Tc8xH0tCXI6w5R4J163edN8i1eFUe4Ca5jGFMgUvLTP0OyHGuMD9_Xh3TMueVYt/s320/DSC01721.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Yesterday had all the signs of being lovely.
On paper it was a perfect day. In the morning I was going to go to the V&A
to see Elmgreen & Dragset’s new installation <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tomorrow </i>before heading in to Mayfair to meet LB and his
lovely best mate Chris for a special high tea, Chris’s perfect British farewell
gift to us both. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Except that it was raining.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And fucking Chelsea were playing a home
game which meant a 15 minute bus trip took three times as long.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Which meant I had five minutes at the
V&A. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Which meant five minutes rushing through
strange galleries cursing the lack of decent signage and telling myself that
even if I could find it, this was frankly ridiculous and I was going to have to
come back. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwMILyywNS5360k9wi_jVHaHB8tYWwO_KyQuLij-vY3e_jvh0j8lnMkF6D5m1ZLhrDdb743ix7IX0OitWqHQTgyYhdQ6u0PfE0KIuGyBviLDwBavIevyDKpB6t2AyV0hi576RLFhfdkWsx/s1600/IMG_1366.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwMILyywNS5360k9wi_jVHaHB8tYWwO_KyQuLij-vY3e_jvh0j8lnMkF6D5m1ZLhrDdb743ix7IX0OitWqHQTgyYhdQ6u0PfE0KIuGyBviLDwBavIevyDKpB6t2AyV0hi576RLFhfdkWsx/s320/IMG_1366.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the less popular displays at the always amazing V&A</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Which, even cross and flustered, meant I
would though then have time to trawl the gift shop so was probably not altogether
a bad thing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And so I left the V&A and went to
Mayfair to meet a very tired, very hungover pair of boys. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">LB had had his own last day at work the day
before with requisite farewell that meant too many beers, too many Peking duck
pancakes and a bit of time lying on the bathroom floor feeling like shit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5PriulEl4ttdykVneLinvyluksro1p-zw4mdCC1DqipvP4r3hG-i0Wfv0-2Orzl2CdtUj69UPuTf4B4RryHW1B8F7m9pAJOJ-THADAjI9tLiLmg4RmUshc-gNrBnRnT2C2icWfJxLKdet/s1600/pbgreenwall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5PriulEl4ttdykVneLinvyluksro1p-zw4mdCC1DqipvP4r3hG-i0Wfv0-2Orzl2CdtUj69UPuTf4B4RryHW1B8F7m9pAJOJ-THADAjI9tLiLmg4RmUshc-gNrBnRnT2C2icWfJxLKdet/s320/pbgreenwall.jpg" height="192" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The famous green wall of the Athaeneum Hotel on Piccadilly</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">So we were all a little drained, a little
emotional, all very tired and all very happy to eat our feelings. Lucky for
those of us who prefer chocolate as our crutch, the very lovely Athenaeum on
Piccadilly had a chocolate themed high tea on offer, which meant hot chocolate
drinks and white chocolate scones and finger sandwiches with chocolate spread
and chocolate covered strawberries and all other kinds of chocolate concoctions
for every other kind of ailment. Add to that the pink champagne, the delightful
non-chocolate delicacies, the big comfortable chairs and the ease of old
friends, it proved to be the ultimate in Peter Pan happy places.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikft8q5FGbrfrUONaKrb4d40LIgus_B1rMCwdtokWwCRH-JtjOwcvU77y210ABq9qrVfYdv-VP9IL8hXpbSCGMUU0Er2wk7lbI7meeh2PZjET-269oXmbu7OrgfoTgR3DazfWnJnSBa_26/s1600/IMG_1364.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikft8q5FGbrfrUONaKrb4d40LIgus_B1rMCwdtokWwCRH-JtjOwcvU77y210ABq9qrVfYdv-VP9IL8hXpbSCGMUU0Er2wk7lbI7meeh2PZjET-269oXmbu7OrgfoTgR3DazfWnJnSBa_26/s320/IMG_1364.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">So it’s a little disappointing that our
next stop was the TK Maxx in Hammersmith to buy another suitcase. Because
nothing says Memorable Last Saturday Night In London like some early evening
shopping for discounted luggage. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And then there was today. Our Last Sunday
In London. Before I knew we’d be bingeing on high tea, I booked a lunch date
for LB and I at the Ledbury in Notting Hill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1PksMvHl4xALkdOSLL3nLaq43YdXVvMgF-rfEwEGaniFl3Hg0_DZt6tegakOVvKLn9WZfAwSMnmqhlBEN42j1__rBylf0iI8_VwqqJcfvzNXv1FcQUAHahwkAzY88WBLd4oXy-6i-TtvZ/s1600/DSC01722.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1PksMvHl4xALkdOSLL3nLaq43YdXVvMgF-rfEwEGaniFl3Hg0_DZt6tegakOVvKLn9WZfAwSMnmqhlBEN42j1__rBylf0iI8_VwqqJcfvzNXv1FcQUAHahwkAzY88WBLd4oXy-6i-TtvZ/s320/DSC01722.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The Ledbury has been on my London bucket
list for a while now and I figured there was no greater moment to convince LB
of a last bid for gastronomic extravagance than, you know, our Last Sunday In
London. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguLzAZ2-Hs23Uftf5cLXLDC5NQixAW-MQbWeP9k5gm3JsBhN5uWxkC0ao5t-tQPSQaMMHGYlJ0NICzdl7D-SRC3zZrpYBcDbsg-xiDNpw-6c-MLtMUOgjff2-bx1FrJ133zjnrqD4kDL4h/s1600/30B5978.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguLzAZ2-Hs23Uftf5cLXLDC5NQixAW-MQbWeP9k5gm3JsBhN5uWxkC0ao5t-tQPSQaMMHGYlJ0NICzdl7D-SRC3zZrpYBcDbsg-xiDNpw-6c-MLtMUOgjff2-bx1FrJ133zjnrqD4kDL4h/s320/30B5978.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elmgreen & Dragset, <i>Tomorrow, </i>Victoria & Albert Museum, 2013.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">First though, we went back to the V&A
and finally saw the subversively brilliant <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tomorrow </i>(where were those helpful signs yesterday???) by Elmgreen &
Dragset. The Scandinavian duo have imagined the apartment of a broke, lonely,
gay, failed architect across several galleries near the tapestry wing of the
V&A. Taking items from the museums collections – furniture, rugs, paintings
– and subverting the appearance of things with the insertion of their own sly and
subtle creations, visitors are encouraged to snoop through Norman Swann’s
apartment in an attempt to understand and discover the mysteries and dark
miseries of his life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdmuH_AuTyMNUPo5bpFQMT3o4U_TEERcEjQNI_gKsrY-s8vM6X-BBHUHdxx7BRc8G8IDI_zKACEjKY7zqpFE8WstUdPsp8BvT4tZNtqvFvWnXrSlT7kSWqrQJgXkIh1UgZC0X5GrtCmS-6/s1600/dezeen_Elmgreen-Dragset-at-the-VA_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdmuH_AuTyMNUPo5bpFQMT3o4U_TEERcEjQNI_gKsrY-s8vM6X-BBHUHdxx7BRc8G8IDI_zKACEjKY7zqpFE8WstUdPsp8BvT4tZNtqvFvWnXrSlT7kSWqrQJgXkIh1UgZC0X5GrtCmS-6/s320/dezeen_Elmgreen-Dragset-at-the-VA_3.jpg" height="244" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elmgreen & Dragset, <i>Tomorrow, </i>Victoria & Albert Museum, 2013.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKlP7ZgxYhzd2sU9oRzIPXJRBd_ZDnHuM4ZOznaMTtlXqPRLMSqGiTPCgOPz4XFKsdh9JvZJXs_aYUh27bx4bP5GXbMQOU83wHMsS3mVO8LOUxIjFM3b2QLsdchkm2R4_gSnRbC-0qxEoY/s1600/dezeen_Elmgreen-Dragset-at-the-VA_8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKlP7ZgxYhzd2sU9oRzIPXJRBd_ZDnHuM4ZOznaMTtlXqPRLMSqGiTPCgOPz4XFKsdh9JvZJXs_aYUh27bx4bP5GXbMQOU83wHMsS3mVO8LOUxIjFM3b2QLsdchkm2R4_gSnRbC-0qxEoY/s320/dezeen_Elmgreen-Dragset-at-the-VA_8.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It’s surprisingly affective and was highly
reminiscent of their <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2009/06/venice-and-art-of-gelato.html" target="_blank">2009 Venice Biennale</a> offering, where they turned the
Scandinavian pavilion into the home of a coked out art collector whose demise
was to end up, Gatsby-esque, face down in his own swimming pool. There wasn’t
so much of that dark wit here, rather a carefully observed sadness about the
useless materiality of lonely objects in lieu of happiness. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib4BT8rGU2oQm8-j-3OXpZPddLgXAHtawORjp9XgQnq1xiiQJlyxvKGnXqmn3E92LEOQ0WsdgKdt7Ut1NlulupPMoeG5c75G8dDSAexdEE-jAiA9MUKTB7GKmB5eB7oa96GBFCVntvqlGS/s1600/IMG_2804.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib4BT8rGU2oQm8-j-3OXpZPddLgXAHtawORjp9XgQnq1xiiQJlyxvKGnXqmn3E92LEOQ0WsdgKdt7Ut1NlulupPMoeG5c75G8dDSAexdEE-jAiA9MUKTB7GKmB5eB7oa96GBFCVntvqlGS/s320/IMG_2804.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Because we had time on our hands we
actually got a chance to poke around some of the lesser visited parts of the
museum and I’m truly kicking myself that I never got lost in here before today.
The tapestries, the silverware, the jewellery. Oh my god, the jewellery. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdtaXjyOJd-twoaPnFKm26dic_pKbWeM_O9WcvWR66vKSK83Opjmhe_sjLu13ZmmyGLwwGhyphenhyphenF7TALm-XKqYoAZY68jcV7sSh5Sm8pbzf9GgjUtb6E-Ah8Xv1JnHQpRWVSz8k8okJSb-tgt/s1600/IMG_1368.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdtaXjyOJd-twoaPnFKm26dic_pKbWeM_O9WcvWR66vKSK83Opjmhe_sjLu13ZmmyGLwwGhyphenhyphenF7TALm-XKqYoAZY68jcV7sSh5Sm8pbzf9GgjUtb6E-Ah8Xv1JnHQpRWVSz8k8okJSb-tgt/s320/IMG_1368.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The jewellery collection...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuQar4c72rwWS-K-x-u4vpfi7Gm9mpOqbhs5NGyGNwQDmKWM4wmcKZlu_ypSKxVlZhyphenhyphen92sVBDWFodEpb4vQZkXYNCf8BHpcqSRzKqKvOGTMUIgT2NrtsIYGjiiGltCmrYmDBUO_8WS2okL/s1600/IMG_1369.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuQar4c72rwWS-K-x-u4vpfi7Gm9mpOqbhs5NGyGNwQDmKWM4wmcKZlu_ypSKxVlZhyphenhyphen92sVBDWFodEpb4vQZkXYNCf8BHpcqSRzKqKvOGTMUIgT2NrtsIYGjiiGltCmrYmDBUO_8WS2okL/s320/IMG_1369.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The much beloved National Art Library at the V&A</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Exiting via the gift shop (with requisite
gifts of course) we made our way to Notting Hill and to lunch. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The Ledbury is number 13 on the World’s 50
Best Restaurants list but it really came to popular attention during the London
riots two summer’s ago when shitty little thugs smashed in the windows and
terrorised diners only for kitchen staff to come out brandishing rolling pins
and other kitchen utensils to chase them away. I mean talk about service,
right. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-ePA47cHn-azO_PFfq9oQYNMt8xEk1kMgCUVDUgJTu_pBrwwSYzbXZC7SXggDvX7Rg_-4v3PrXnSDtIs6gbBtFJQcWwUMeOp58QqoQ39GbuU5Ni-ADqMAwIzUL8jylka8EACflZfEn3UH/s1600/ledbury_riot_1967482c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-ePA47cHn-azO_PFfq9oQYNMt8xEk1kMgCUVDUgJTu_pBrwwSYzbXZC7SXggDvX7Rg_-4v3PrXnSDtIs6gbBtFJQcWwUMeOp58QqoQ39GbuU5Ni-ADqMAwIzUL8jylka8EACflZfEn3UH/s320/ledbury_riot_1967482c.jpg" height="199" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It’s also helmed by Australian chef Brett
Graham and in a really lovely part of Notting Hill so what wasn’t there to
love. The meal was spectacular, the cheese trolley definitely worth rioting
over and the passionfruit soufflé with Sauternes ice cream an insane end to
proceedings. The service was friendly, efficient and thankfully lacking in the
usual pomp that comes with two Michelin stars and the people watching was just
a free gift with purchase. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn5S3R34xju70tOJV07OTUbfqTBUvejrXqtlqz63feWlZl6mVaAo80EVfp7gvJyzYO_5zzFiomyRzAm1cLl1BvR5ejItwXstec-qWqgGOkSfbdFS-3_7UAWYaInXnZwIbziF7FuPtDCwuM/s1600/IMG_1381.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn5S3R34xju70tOJV07OTUbfqTBUvejrXqtlqz63feWlZl6mVaAo80EVfp7gvJyzYO_5zzFiomyRzAm1cLl1BvR5ejItwXstec-qWqgGOkSfbdFS-3_7UAWYaInXnZwIbziF7FuPtDCwuM/s320/IMG_1381.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The only colour to be found on a wet, grey, shitty London Sunday in Notting Hill</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The only downer was our departure, and it
was literally a downer, as in ridiculous fucking, not forecasted (and so I wore
impractical shoes) DOWNPOUR. It was so torrential we couldn’t run the block to
the nearest pub without getting completely drenched. I will not miss drying my
shoes under the hand-dryer in public bathrooms when we leave on Tuesday. That
much I can say with certainty.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB6XGY0UwJenzyq_dcrIyT0esUM40HXdL9IGqCB8y-VR6WeJAdLtvNsygQ_1bBYAcVkWfSQ8oPUM9Vc868l9dcvXBNdArMonp2CJrxTujMQI0Z4ht2ySq-Wc62_JA9kAMKFDo5CkvpHPEJ/s1600/IMG_1380.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB6XGY0UwJenzyq_dcrIyT0esUM40HXdL9IGqCB8y-VR6WeJAdLtvNsygQ_1bBYAcVkWfSQ8oPUM9Vc868l9dcvXBNdArMonp2CJrxTujMQI0Z4ht2ySq-Wc62_JA9kAMKFDo5CkvpHPEJ/s320/IMG_1380.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Between downpours</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Finally catching a break in the weather, we
made for home. Tonight we’ve repacked the repacking, had a lovely meal with Hannah and
her lovely boy and are now just left to contemplate tomorrow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">More exhibitions, one last afternoon at
Central St Martins talking art writing and digital resources with first year
students and dinner. At the Shard. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It's going to be a big last day.</span></div>
Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058567889421181565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7472508752742515220.post-73472419997322225082013-10-18T09:34:00.000+11:002013-11-05T17:57:29.257+11:00Launch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0hrYb4mJ0-iGWCAqJ318GuQ8Ito1SoZ4QsJLl_UvumeFCVEDShA7Iku85IK_aPFf5Igqq3GoerLKYL23RHnMg_9SuzuSEkSBDipoyeAfMzUJjNhdsC8g9UeuCj8RSKOGiqfZtuBBxHQbU/s1600/DSC01704.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0hrYb4mJ0-iGWCAqJ318GuQ8Ito1SoZ4QsJLl_UvumeFCVEDShA7Iku85IK_aPFf5Igqq3GoerLKYL23RHnMg_9SuzuSEkSBDipoyeAfMzUJjNhdsC8g9UeuCj8RSKOGiqfZtuBBxHQbU/s320/DSC01704.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Today has been a big day. Against all odds
and despite all signs to the contrary over the last couple of years, <i><a href="http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/21st-Century-Portraits-Andrew-Graham-Dixon/9781855144163?selectCurrency=GBP" target="_blank">21<span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span> Century Portraits</a></i> is now
out in the world and tonight it launched at the National Portrait Gallery. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The NPG’s contemporary curator Curator
Sarah Howgate, who co-wrote the introduction with Director Sandy Nairne, and
the art critic Andrew Graham-Dixon, who wrote the foreward, were
in-conversation about the publication and looking at some of the works that feature.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It was a full house, sold out in fact, and
not just by people that I know and love and begged to come, which would have
been awkward, not least because I wasn’t directly involved in the discussion. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNo0Q5JNxIkV4EE30I9skv1kMqsVK7NGPGvb0AKFnODdPjEkkGPygUfVay7dFkn9jIOCJ774xfdjkhPViXXZslZ-1CEGqLgMDS6jW6vBkB6uoMIoIwu3ieQGYBseYRpkGqJYq7SEiQtBf1/s1600/IMG_1340.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNo0Q5JNxIkV4EE30I9skv1kMqsVK7NGPGvb0AKFnODdPjEkkGPygUfVay7dFkn9jIOCJ774xfdjkhPViXXZslZ-1CEGqLgMDS6jW6vBkB6uoMIoIwu3ieQGYBseYRpkGqJYq7SEiQtBf1/s320/IMG_1340.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I did though get to have a career-pinch-me
moment with a book signing afterwards. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB"></span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Not an altogether bad high to nearly-end my last week in London. Tomorrow is my last day of work. But one
thing at a time...</div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid7VQQKSMU8JaS_nT0XLl1vtb1KPJI3Pkj4M_Hy3x2bZ85Pu1BSFW8ZOIHt5c5LuN_sKDQmAQIk6hmBAdPnzVIkA6UuLamCUFHZ0QIHLa7fIl-R2tmeBP0wlKD0LJ_VDblpftyxG61gdYG/s1600/IMG_1336.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid7VQQKSMU8JaS_nT0XLl1vtb1KPJI3Pkj4M_Hy3x2bZ85Pu1BSFW8ZOIHt5c5LuN_sKDQmAQIk6hmBAdPnzVIkA6UuLamCUFHZ0QIHLa7fIl-R2tmeBP0wlKD0LJ_VDblpftyxG61gdYG/s320/IMG_1336.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crossing Oxford St after getting my hair <br />
(necessarily) blow-dried. No filter. Just awe.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058567889421181565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7472508752742515220.post-53015616233991744722013-10-14T07:00:00.000+11:002013-11-03T22:57:44.171+11:00A bout of lasts<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It’s a strange feeling sitting here in our
flat, contemplating our last remaining night after three and something years in shitty
old Hammersmith. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve loved our little house and life here
nearly overlooking the Thames but I ain’t going to miss this particular patch
of west London.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwYKdr_SdHk6BTcTqgAFfpninE5EhuNzHH5LIFKtEbUMt-3718PCw7DJAioXGYgdZ3zIkh18PdN5Xl9QGxQ2IHF_IllR54Ld2Iwuty_6U1riRLq1jS7UmQEFBEMURr2ZuccmtU1bQ_Um8u/s1600/IMG_1324.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwYKdr_SdHk6BTcTqgAFfpninE5EhuNzHH5LIFKtEbUMt-3718PCw7DJAioXGYgdZ3zIkh18PdN5Xl9QGxQ2IHF_IllR54Ld2Iwuty_6U1riRLq1jS7UmQEFBEMURr2ZuccmtU1bQ_Um8u/s320/IMG_1324.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I honestly thought I’d dread this moment
but after nearly a month of packing and sorting and chucking and, let’s be
honest, low-grade bickering about whether or not we really need to pack the
enormous French dictionary when neither of us speak the language and
realistically never will, well, I’m just ready to pull the cord. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-GJSf6bMy4kkcCnTp7dhyEiCUgXRhMoDzfjFtPU33POzmQZEQpz5Q4wMNtcT4CAtj2Ab3gf0YwiJsplcl7k1L_gwkwZJSg_pV1WFhXL1U10cl9bc0Yp_fxZ35KqG5HfEGpXqX4YpLArx2/s1600/IMG_1291.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-GJSf6bMy4kkcCnTp7dhyEiCUgXRhMoDzfjFtPU33POzmQZEQpz5Q4wMNtcT4CAtj2Ab3gf0YwiJsplcl7k1L_gwkwZJSg_pV1WFhXL1U10cl9bc0Yp_fxZ35KqG5HfEGpXqX4YpLArx2/s320/IMG_1291.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Actually, since the boxes went over a week
ago things have felt a lot less frenzied and for all the anxious anticipation
about next week, The Last Week, I’ve just really had to give over to the fact
that I’m not going to get everything done that I wanted to before we leave. I
concede my list was ambitious and had several re-writes along the way (the
Royal Opera House probably isn’t going anywhere….) but I have managed
nonetheless to tick a few key things off. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Like, boring shit – sorting my pension,
arranging my tax return, ending my phone contract…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Necessary frivolous shit – a decent
haircut, finding an outfit for the book launch next week, a visit to the
Selfridges Denim Studio…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkv2Fb4L5uRouiiiySUoMxvqEK5ni86-Ld8Y6D_OqhoIHZrdR0A7ugUxCRoI-sKqVmsUDljPx7Fj4EVw6Qw5WbfzlhsbsuGR6TzrLZAKuvCtJmmatD5I6hB9kb2jCEymFf-0HPGNQ1Gm3C/s1600/IMG_1303.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkv2Fb4L5uRouiiiySUoMxvqEK5ni86-Ld8Y6D_OqhoIHZrdR0A7ugUxCRoI-sKqVmsUDljPx7Fj4EVw6Qw5WbfzlhsbsuGR6TzrLZAKuvCtJmmatD5I6hB9kb2jCEymFf-0HPGNQ1Gm3C/s320/IMG_1303.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And some cultural shit too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Last night Lovely Boy and I went to see the
National Theatre production of ‘The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night
Time’ and oh my god was it un-freaking-believably brilliant. The way they used
the spare black box set to move seamlessly from one scene to the next with only
a handful of versatile props and objects, the use of projections to illustrate the
workings of Christopher’s brain as he grapples with his mathematical talents
and the social awkwardness of Asperger’s syndrome. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHfwBc9BlDAy0bS67tCEnmX7acBEpQn4MMYRnbY2Rwk0lPFGxCTIsORy1-o0oLKIMz_PChXuwpw6TK09j8QvavxhIJK1ohLUHzltyT_KDoefFPU-AynSRjzRwWOnW9cExzys62VFM2tFiC/s1600/IMG_1315.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHfwBc9BlDAy0bS67tCEnmX7acBEpQn4MMYRnbY2Rwk0lPFGxCTIsORy1-o0oLKIMz_PChXuwpw6TK09j8QvavxhIJK1ohLUHzltyT_KDoefFPU-AynSRjzRwWOnW9cExzys62VFM2tFiC/s320/IMG_1315.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It was witty and warm and so
cleverly realised and just the most absorbing couple of hours. The multiple
Olivier Award wins are not a surprise and it was worth the near three-month
wait to see it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">There’s been a mad rush around to see a good
whack of exhibitions too but they probably deserve a post of their own. Though
I will shout out an exhausted and sarcastic thanks to the Northern Line for
ruining my only chance to the see the exquisite Kara Walker at Camden Arts
Centre this weekend. Chalk it up to one last quintessential tube experience
instead I guess.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLNnEHdCE5joYEu-OKacawfVWICWEsOWzReDRMfAJJ6NILDbxSHz6VXBr1HzJlqwiaFa-oUuuS_CwqbljP854Zabg5s-wPBYNZJ5SMv8COLhnFuJaTds2G_iIvQrboKJqd7njp__esuQT9/s1600/IMG_1313.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLNnEHdCE5joYEu-OKacawfVWICWEsOWzReDRMfAJJ6NILDbxSHz6VXBr1HzJlqwiaFa-oUuuS_CwqbljP854Zabg5s-wPBYNZJ5SMv8COLhnFuJaTds2G_iIvQrboKJqd7njp__esuQT9/s320/IMG_1313.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The roof of the beautiful Apollo Theatre</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Tonight we just have to finish cramming the
last of our crap into the suitcases before relocating to my very gracious
friend Hannah’s for the week. Tomorrow the cleaners come and then it will be
all over red rover for Rainville Rd.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And then four days left of work and then a
weekend and then a Monday and then we go. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I’m equal parts looking forward to and
dreading this last week of work. I had my farewell on Friday and it was so very
lovely, despite the collective tears. It’s overwhelming to realise that the
people I work with, who I really love and who have become such important
friends to me, feel the same about me too. I know I’m going to miss them – and
miss the gallery – when I already feel jealous and left out of all the
lunchtimes and Friday drinks and cultural outings and gossips and meetings to
come. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwA5ou60KGNaRrRST3jk9CPOMAZMZECW5kpKoCufqHEJzhu2jT0FzsPVMyy4kaZ8cNitEtaLLBXOmrJmTPEVHU09I1QJq2V1ZBWIiqKyBo3oFsuVlk8lDEQFGLz6OtDHBd3qqcBu-650d-/s1600/IMG_1312.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwA5ou60KGNaRrRST3jk9CPOMAZMZECW5kpKoCufqHEJzhu2jT0FzsPVMyy4kaZ8cNitEtaLLBXOmrJmTPEVHU09I1QJq2V1ZBWIiqKyBo3oFsuVlk8lDEQFGLz6OtDHBd3qqcBu-650d-/s320/IMG_1312.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The exquisite handmade clock given to me as <br />a farewell gift by my dear, dear work friends</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">But before I get forlorn I need to get
quite a lot of administrative crap finished, including such fun things as
writing a user manual for our content management system, finish making my
goodbye cards, book a blow-dry for Thursday and, somehow, find a way to pack
three suitcases worth of god knows what into one. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058567889421181565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7472508752742515220.post-70924596376852736602013-10-10T20:03:00.000+11:002013-11-05T17:58:15.493+11:0021st Century Portraits<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Today is a BIG day. Like, 245 pages big.
The Book is now on <a href="http://www.npg.org.uk/business/publications/21st-century-portraits.php" target="_blank">sale</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-qGCadvLeytKU2uOHQgtJjeRmvZxiRDq7x_Hg1AVnaWSN_iuyKsFqBV_dAgHxEwZLuhYnbvcKoYbdRSQa5zjYGYWqrEcfNnEg17bdQZXoIu5JAp13J0pmhhyphenhyphen6Oo4nLjz4mzc49R61FN74/s1600/more_book_21cportraits_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-qGCadvLeytKU2uOHQgtJjeRmvZxiRDq7x_Hg1AVnaWSN_iuyKsFqBV_dAgHxEwZLuhYnbvcKoYbdRSQa5zjYGYWqrEcfNnEg17bdQZXoIu5JAp13J0pmhhyphenhyphen6Oo4nLjz4mzc49R61FN74/s320/more_book_21cportraits_4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It’s terrifying and exhilarating and
frankly strange to think that all my words are now out there in the world for
public consumption. We’ll try not to go near that other c word (criticism) for
now. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I’m incredibly proud of how hard I worked
to help make this book happen and hope that anyone with the excellent sense to
buy it (…) appreciates its provocations, its beauty and its best intentions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFTog1Dm9bNoic0XzxAukc_ViNc4Zkp60e1DEw939oEtspI2vnKmwFEm-jJGPBTXPBlv3ZC-jt3Sr5l4_TX03QWhPbfuAndlN-Nu7VRB3MvnCamBfdVMSThbUe1YkXmzxCp3Ciu-cJxbKk/s1600/more_book_21cportraits_7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFTog1Dm9bNoic0XzxAukc_ViNc4Zkp60e1DEw939oEtspI2vnKmwFEm-jJGPBTXPBlv3ZC-jt3Sr5l4_TX03QWhPbfuAndlN-Nu7VRB3MvnCamBfdVMSThbUe1YkXmzxCp3Ciu-cJxbKk/s320/more_book_21cportraits_7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">I always said I wasn’t going to leave
London until the bloody thing was published and so here it is, and now here I
go, in just two and a half weeks time. Talk about back to back Significant Life
Moments. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058567889421181565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7472508752742515220.post-30069870056287274692013-10-05T07:24:00.000+10:002013-10-07T08:26:12.648+11:00First the boxes....GONE.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaGXuINr2e3VWSRFYxdC_UycPO_jQF5LoxKOWyZef_xkH2BLf8b8raaDee7pWPWQDKPskGBOeiFQxf4IsN3gK_OsQNqW9pSv0_6fUitA8NA2qFFVgshf_bYXwIwc1Jk2-HwSRorWlH867O/s1600/1382113_10153309840180573_1593771397_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaGXuINr2e3VWSRFYxdC_UycPO_jQF5LoxKOWyZef_xkH2BLf8b8raaDee7pWPWQDKPskGBOeiFQxf4IsN3gK_OsQNqW9pSv0_6fUitA8NA2qFFVgshf_bYXwIwc1Jk2-HwSRorWlH867O/s320/1382113_10153309840180573_1593771397_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Two more weeks and so will we be.<br />
<br />
Our marriage survived the packing (just), the house is still a mess, the heart a little heavy (hug me and I cry) but for the first time is that a delicate whiff of ready anticipation? <br />
<br />
<br />Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058567889421181565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7472508752742515220.post-91653435573622691572013-10-01T07:02:00.000+10:002013-10-07T17:17:13.865+11:00Sookiness and Sadler's Wells<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Last week was hard work. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">There were tears. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yes</i>, <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/art-liquor-laughs-and-boxes-of-tears.html" target="_blank">more tears</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">There were big days and late nights, a bit
of packing and a lot of melancholy conversations about saying goodbye to great
people and exciting projects in pursuit of an as-yet-unclear Next Life Stage. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ2cL7zup3_kaDb9B8tb1uWV4ar8HvzWWSBmpluV1ClH8MnJScOObasdDWpdDifkBA4scH0wg9FkXIMNBq65BlJVHSinAG-2HLdSWhv4kfMxu6FUJyiS102waPI48LKr2wDG-O09DPOq0b/s1600/photo+(11).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ2cL7zup3_kaDb9B8tb1uWV4ar8HvzWWSBmpluV1ClH8MnJScOObasdDWpdDifkBA4scH0wg9FkXIMNBq65BlJVHSinAG-2HLdSWhv4kfMxu6FUJyiS102waPI48LKr2wDG-O09DPOq0b/s320/photo+(11).jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It’s been hard balancing the increasing,
lovely, enthusiasm of our families for our increasingly imminent return with
the rising tide of panic and anxiety and sadness and uncertainty that comes
with calling time on five years. I’m aware of the first world nature of my
problems – having to give up an amazing job and say goodbye to amazing friends
to move to another pretty amazing country (despite the fuckwit running the
place) where amazing family and other amazing friends live and where there will
hopefully be other amazing job opportunities and if not, well at least there
will be amazing beaches and amazing coffee. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-GB">There’s lots that is amazing, see. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And yet… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And yet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVPT0J8Mv4sH0XHvWUcVPHYNl4NpLmJdpzGj1u0Q17fUDVlGed07uGIK_KvQ_IYNYOaOeQq5HCzQWqUHIC3PcvJUEm_J4kJM2bdVaK4fHmG8PgfrBbwMEasBgi_e3PHUU4FURUhdOWAgBs/s1600/Cedar_2686109b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVPT0J8Mv4sH0XHvWUcVPHYNl4NpLmJdpzGj1u0Q17fUDVlGed07uGIK_KvQ_IYNYOaOeQq5HCzQWqUHIC3PcvJUEm_J4kJM2bdVaK4fHmG8PgfrBbwMEasBgi_e3PHUU4FURUhdOWAgBs/s320/Cedar_2686109b.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet at Sadler's Wells<br />
<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Of course none of this internalised angst
has been helped by the near-disabling tension headache I haven’t been able to
get out from under all week (the two may be related?) or the lack of decent
sleep. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It’s three weeks before we leave now. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Three weeks. </i>I don’t want to go, I don’t
want to stay, London is my home, my family is my home, what do I want for
myself, for my husband, for my life, for our life? All this emotional ping pong
is exhausting, and not hugely productive, not really.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I’m pretty tired. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Even in the persistent company of my
headache, I’ve had the most restorative, lovely weekend. I didn’t plan for it
to come off the back of a crazy week but that just sweetened the deal, and with
Lovely Boy away in Stockholm I hit the payload of a gentle weekend and an empty
house to savour it in. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB"></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtKjK7H2TGhrp1RIl22ZLq0bVOcXpB5yeUXJigbIJ_DiCMPkxCREHrD6Y2cpJhO2BSfqMO6_6-yJNkYRfqFfvceH-rjVDZEVFRcTTwlBLOVe1Ujt0DYujbawed0bH9gyfJsKBGC3GnXUdZ/s1600/CedarLake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtKjK7H2TGhrp1RIl22ZLq0bVOcXpB5yeUXJigbIJ_DiCMPkxCREHrD6Y2cpJhO2BSfqMO6_6-yJNkYRfqFfvceH-rjVDZEVFRcTTwlBLOVe1Ujt0DYujbawed0bH9gyfJsKBGC3GnXUdZ/s320/CedarLake.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet at Sadler's Wells</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">On Friday night I finally managed to tick
“See something at Sadler’s Well” off my London bucket list. My lovely friend
Hannah came with me and without really a clue about what we’d booked, found
ourselves mesmerised by an extraordinary triple bill from the New York-based
Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet. I am completely ruing the lack of language to
articulate the poetry, humour, emotion, lyricism, athleticism and joy that was
watching these three highly considered pieces. Hannah and I kept looking over
at each other, eyebrows raised, eyes popping, just shaking our heads in
astonishment at some of the imagery (and, also, some of the thighs). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiThHuYmdbFgeogndMIaz7rALxcO8KbN4WcH8QhRlGn0vNCuX7T87ohek65t9fpk7ocm0MZqLta6PIKOKube1rn3mCzHeMS3ZTQgXzUeDrOtNUfEjR9YZ5QApe3OkjR9gbspY8hhcVkSRcD/s1600/20130614_CedarLake_BadenBad-550x365.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiThHuYmdbFgeogndMIaz7rALxcO8KbN4WcH8QhRlGn0vNCuX7T87ohek65t9fpk7ocm0MZqLta6PIKOKube1rn3mCzHeMS3ZTQgXzUeDrOtNUfEjR9YZ5QApe3OkjR9gbspY8hhcVkSRcD/s320/20130614_CedarLake_BadenBad-550x365.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet at Sadler's Wells</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">After dinner at the busy, bustling Caravan
on Exmouth Market it was home, happily, to bed and to sleep. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">On Saturday the headache and I went to Kew
for a meditation workshop. Again, something I planned a while ago, I think
anticipating this moment of increased hysteria mid-pack, mid-disentanglement
from the London ties that bind. I’m not sure I got as much from the day as I might have sans headache, but the
enforced stillness, the five hours of lying on the floor, lassoing my thoughts
back to the task of mindfulness at hand was the kid-gloves version of a slam to
a halt that I needed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtF-sXHgAYJGjrKViELa8om1NTFknNiBwoR7mei-BPTQSCQnf5qQo2Zt5DbzzRwHJBn6IGoedz_7obuo-2-zdMhl5nIrlgacuNpt9LO9w8vHw3ZKaJgZjefuOhIAN9cdIZw4IO_ZBXbwMd/s1600/IMG_1230.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtF-sXHgAYJGjrKViELa8om1NTFknNiBwoR7mei-BPTQSCQnf5qQo2Zt5DbzzRwHJBn6IGoedz_7obuo-2-zdMhl5nIrlgacuNpt9LO9w8vHw3ZKaJgZjefuOhIAN9cdIZw4IO_ZBXbwMd/s320/IMG_1230.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exmouth Market</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">At the end of the day I wafted home, had a nap and then calmly,
slowly, methodically, stripped the walls of all our pictures and paintings, packed
them up and added them to the fort we’re now building in our living room.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The boxes go on Friday and there’s still a
lot to do between now and then but I’m instituting a one thing at a time, one
day at a time policy in the interests of minimising meltdowns. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvhR5N-50O1R-RztZmULvd1HkUJ-nPp7Uq7pBELtGEOjx1cNcV1_zLFrTospzSdw-759OD400tzg4Xxs-E0Z2oFTH7gL7X8NYidCIrCaAZk8TvEK_nvOEIdw2_LDUcQ9NHLxup772geCoh/s1600/image+(4).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvhR5N-50O1R-RztZmULvd1HkUJ-nPp7Uq7pBELtGEOjx1cNcV1_zLFrTospzSdw-759OD400tzg4Xxs-E0Z2oFTH7gL7X8NYidCIrCaAZk8TvEK_nvOEIdw2_LDUcQ9NHLxup772geCoh/s320/image+(4).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">There’s a lot to look forward to in the
next few weeks – I guess the art is in not letting the bittersweet sadness and
the uncertainty taint it too much. A little tainting seems inevitable but
we’ll deal with that on a taint by taint basis when we get to it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Now, for this week.</span></div>
Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058567889421181565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7472508752742515220.post-37061730874330281132013-09-26T05:43:00.000+10:002014-02-17T16:59:32.342+11:00Amsterdam. Or, My Last European Adventure For A While.<div class="MsoNormal">
So my last European jaunt c.2008-2013 is
officially done. And it was delightful.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Gem and I started talking about a weekend
away months ago, when her UK trip was first mooted and credit to us both for
actually booking the fucking thing and not just talking about it as something we <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">should totally do</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimgJY2HJT93G66qc6Rb4PPGNvhLN1oZ8E-KRV2aKCinPAuhyErG1Qd8KmWnfgtrzz0XXpuJP1F7ht0ZPhZ2A5NrPK-wptHpkQhFHrmT_zTZr5heXe4w93FMnfsSUdardJB7ouoyS_KYElm/s1600/DSC01696.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimgJY2HJT93G66qc6Rb4PPGNvhLN1oZ8E-KRV2aKCinPAuhyErG1Qd8KmWnfgtrzz0XXpuJP1F7ht0ZPhZ2A5NrPK-wptHpkQhFHrmT_zTZr5heXe4w93FMnfsSUdardJB7ouoyS_KYElm/s320/DSC01696.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I’m not sure how we decided upon Amsterdam
but I was happy to go, never having been before, and happy to look past the
weed and porn clichés in the hope of experiencing something memorable for all
the right kinds of reasons. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Don’t get me wrong, there’s a certain odour
to Amsterdam that does nothing to diminish the seedy vibe but look past that
and there is abundant architectural charm, affordable meals and treasure to be
had and healthy dashes of history and culture to make more than amends for a
lack of interest in tits and bongs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU78FYt3XHP0mdPtxooME0XnXS_DN1JL5Wrkzvy5i9wdbYHZezRqSp1JXGbvifO-l54UMVysZqzXTDpvMkk54CixOWe2LzLid7oMonzU5ApK9g83WTcAtacHH40uXndyqvPnLdarlOQOHX/s1600/IMG_1147.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU78FYt3XHP0mdPtxooME0XnXS_DN1JL5Wrkzvy5i9wdbYHZezRqSp1JXGbvifO-l54UMVysZqzXTDpvMkk54CixOWe2LzLid7oMonzU5ApK9g83WTcAtacHH40uXndyqvPnLdarlOQOHX/s320/IMG_1147.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunrise over Terminal Five</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Gem flew to Amsterdam on Friday, I flew out
at the arsecrack of dawn on Saturday, having gone to a lecture at Australia
House the night before in the dim hope of <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/the-problem-with-australia.html" target="_blank">retrieving favour for the RA’sAustralia exhibition</a> (no favours, but mini lamingtons so not entirely a bust…)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">So, Saturday was always going to be a slog,
what with a lack of sleep and a 5.40am car pick (I couldn’t bring myself to
ride the Piccadilly line at that time of day #firstworldproblemiknow) but it
was an easy trip to Amsterdam and a bus into the city before wandering through
the Joordan to meet Gems at our accommodation, an airbnb-sourced 18th century canal house with a set of stairs so steep you really should just call
it a ladder. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Q42lCq_1AAlTCo9CoT_-KbEuBcmZtLRkRiBi9nJva2cUnMvwORx497ImyH4gvYRNeqmeOXMXiijw1KNZmb2kqph0H0FR4cQiHEdLxT5mUoXd8FFOpAnAp-AGjjFNNMWveUgRnC5xCYI6/s1600/IMG_1175.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Q42lCq_1AAlTCo9CoT_-KbEuBcmZtLRkRiBi9nJva2cUnMvwORx497ImyH4gvYRNeqmeOXMXiijw1KNZmb2kqph0H0FR4cQiHEdLxT5mUoXd8FFOpAnAp-AGjjFNNMWveUgRnC5xCYI6/s320/IMG_1175.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Amsterdam has a bevy of world-class
cultural institutions, the newly re-opened Rijksmuseum amongst them, but on
Saturday, it was all I could do eat lunch and wander through a flea market.
Thankfully Amsterdam’s markets are as impressive as their art galleries and as
luck would have it, the monthly market on the north (?) side of the river was
on that weekend. This then precipitated a walk through central Amsterdam before
a ferry ride in the company off tens of bikes and some rather stylish Dutch
girls. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The IJ-Hallen market is the largest in all
of the Netherlands, with over 750 stalls sprawling over an otherwise
unmemorable plot of industrial land abutting the river. It’s all second-hand
and it’s all gloriously cheap. I think collectively we didn’t spend more than
40 euros and for that we walked away with a handbag, two scarves, three pairs
of earrings, a pair of shoes, a necklace, a belt and a bag to carry it all in. It
was borderline overwhelming – and friends, that is Saying Something.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOXZcUqtNnlAn3DY9dDW5hzilb42I-AUuCEbgO7749PAYXKzaGtZgl2MdCQMqp8mOH0Dz3Olon_sq8oCbJKaAXEZq67U8329lsFC8FBXpMGrKVD3O6APa9qyjLutRJ9lrIgu7wQVMWIhUV/s1600/DSC01668.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOXZcUqtNnlAn3DY9dDW5hzilb42I-AUuCEbgO7749PAYXKzaGtZgl2MdCQMqp8mOH0Dz3Olon_sq8oCbJKaAXEZq67U8329lsFC8FBXpMGrKVD3O6APa9qyjLutRJ9lrIgu7wQVMWIhUV/s320/DSC01668.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just one part of the enormous monthly IJ-Hallen flea market</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We decided, raging middle class gals that
we are, that we would visit Anne Frank’s House that night, in the hope of
avoiding the queues and in lieu of dank nightclubs or noisy bars. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">On the way home for a nanna nap in
anticipation of dinner, we walked past a tattoo parlour I’d spotted earlier,
not for the ink, but for the amazing vintage kimonos hanging from a rack at the
door. Gems had sensibly dragged me past in the morning, saying we’d be back
later and could look at them then. By the time we had got back I had lost my
nerve and was too chicken to ask how much it was, resigning myself to a price
tag beyond my even my foolish reckoning. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">So Gem went in to ask. THIRTY-NINE
EUROS. I had to get her to tell me twice. And then we spent a good half hour
trying on every kimono in the place, to a soundtrack of dull buzzing as the man
in the back room had his chest engraved. We both left with kimonos. Because why
buy a kimono in Japan when you can buy one from a tattoo parlour in Amsterdam?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgZlQsWSlm5zSGcwaM_kY4cFRe37yYZxmco0wTZ4wwBNWrQUHbJWn9wm1eN0qhcZ5Wv6jWpNSfG5IwF56T9toa0na5RL2HQqSmuEt4RsphxqXABWeJevz3F9GFcPewDHPSgJXCBUxsQc1I/s1600/021+Kamer+Anne+Frank+jaren+80+of+90.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgZlQsWSlm5zSGcwaM_kY4cFRe37yYZxmco0wTZ4wwBNWrQUHbJWn9wm1eN0qhcZ5Wv6jWpNSfG5IwF56T9toa0na5RL2HQqSmuEt4RsphxqXABWeJevz3F9GFcPewDHPSgJXCBUxsQc1I/s320/021+Kamer+Anne+Frank+jaren+80+of+90.jpg" height="248" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anne Frank's bedroom, with her posters still on the walls. <br />
Image courtesy: Anne Frank House</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">After a heavy hour of napping in said
kimonos, we sought dinner and then joined the line to walk through Anne Frank’s
House. Not the most rocking of evenings, indeed it could be described as hugely
sobering. But honestly, it was such a profound experience. I don’t remember how
old I was when I first read that iconic, important diary, but to walk through
the house where she spent two years in hiding, where she wrote every day, where
she glued posters of film stars to the wall and generally lived the most
fraught existence, is truly humbling. And to actually see her diary, I mean,
it’s just overwhelming. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl8BYvL6QQn7_ox8bhjCqNSLCFQMx3KU8A9pUHGKLRBJjCueH9bUP6zaJ-9x9VhlkQ2v1E9qZKtj1e6Er_PpagTnZysbClGDa2dJ5OR8A2ZH_QXvoSDldOOBzCab-xhWmd1yOSACxjjzVO/s1600/AFS_BM_39660001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl8BYvL6QQn7_ox8bhjCqNSLCFQMx3KU8A9pUHGKLRBJjCueH9bUP6zaJ-9x9VhlkQ2v1E9qZKtj1e6Er_PpagTnZysbClGDa2dJ5OR8A2ZH_QXvoSDldOOBzCab-xhWmd1yOSACxjjzVO/s320/AFS_BM_39660001.JPG" height="211" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The moveable bookcase concealing the stairs to the hidden apartment.<br />
Image courtesy: Anne Frank House</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">On Sunday, well rested and fed, we made our
way to Nieuwe Pijp, over near the museums, where Gem’s B&B for the rest of
her time in the ‘dam was conveniently located. Bags thus dumped, we ambled over
to the Stedelijk Museum, recently re-opened and full of all things modern art
and design. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkbcS0dqJRFVmWcqjc7U2K1udEkcGGUd4zztnyy8JFEa8Uefd2uIziFVHuTugI9HoE33y6Vcml_RGE9KSJUJw5IgfFJtGwULEFjDzLU_TGu9Z3SJ90GM8SMqslJ6O2bJHTDumQ_RsUMutG/s1600/DSC01682.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkbcS0dqJRFVmWcqjc7U2K1udEkcGGUd4zztnyy8JFEa8Uefd2uIziFVHuTugI9HoE33y6Vcml_RGE9KSJUJw5IgfFJtGwULEFjDzLU_TGu9Z3SJ90GM8SMqslJ6O2bJHTDumQ_RsUMutG/s320/DSC01682.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amsterdam locals refer to the newly re-opened <br />
Stedelijk Museum as the big bathtub...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Prepped on a lunch of champions (hot dogs and diet coke) we had a
good couple of hours wandering through here, admiring both the art and the
architecture, before a solid, obligatory half hour in the gift shop.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP9wfRDT4PcQ2556sAIz69_6oblkDza99J4OoSgN2JkbC6RAaFREzwIAHlYFAxCPGD8HaBXSw5pQRccVv3BoaSXG4DDocR6n4WLU0f0uWddLBpXOLFdbb-TV2vnoNBF0wb6rOg5un9iuJd/s1600/IMG_1184.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP9wfRDT4PcQ2556sAIz69_6oblkDza99J4OoSgN2JkbC6RAaFREzwIAHlYFAxCPGD8HaBXSw5pQRccVv3BoaSXG4DDocR6n4WLU0f0uWddLBpXOLFdbb-TV2vnoNBF0wb6rOg5un9iuJd/s320/IMG_1184.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Dinner that night was a great little tapas
bar in a buzzy street just around the corner from the B&B before retreating
home with ice cream to swan about in our kimonos and generally congratulate
ourselves on a good couple of days well spent (figuratively and otherwise…)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm5CkrqiiBD_35a4AZC1AHPPok6ldvd7WpzDvrlA6EIp-dB4WVTsPUq4PNLAR5lZI4OoNK11x6MbHic0fRVlXWoaLnDaHAaFDdQ2F1Lh1BgYzkXI4XQBxSgBcM2MyS2pK8SBMKomk2t3IU/s1600/IMG_1187.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm5CkrqiiBD_35a4AZC1AHPPok6ldvd7WpzDvrlA6EIp-dB4WVTsPUq4PNLAR5lZI4OoNK11x6MbHic0fRVlXWoaLnDaHAaFDdQ2F1Lh1BgYzkXI4XQBxSgBcM2MyS2pK8SBMKomk2t3IU/s320/IMG_1187.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf0kfOB9b9gPrDvHrEQRZ0_DOhyphenhyphenKr9FpWfdB_gCe4AY4uEBwvp2znKy13EBy0AYsiKqSkD7rD71eBL1OCwyu8lLgbI7P_cpELSHW1Doqck0dOjp4AZGOBH9w_j3_qM7nVuS4Hpei5KS-1W/s1600/IMG_1188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf0kfOB9b9gPrDvHrEQRZ0_DOhyphenhyphenKr9FpWfdB_gCe4AY4uEBwvp2znKy13EBy0AYsiKqSkD7rD71eBL1OCwyu8lLgbI7P_cpELSHW1Doqck0dOjp4AZGOBH9w_j3_qM7nVuS4Hpei5KS-1W/s320/IMG_1188.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Monday involved more treasure hunting, this
time at the flea market on Noodermarkt. If I was staying in Europe and more
ridiculous than I already am, I probably would have bought myself a fake fur
coat or two but as it was I left empty handed but for a garish pair of pink
love heart earrings. Gem however scored a leather jacket. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We had a sort of game going throughout all
this retailing, where we’d negotiate a top price – “what’s the most I am
prepared to pay for this?” – before actually finding out how much it was. Call
it a weak attempt at budgeting. This proved hilarious at the IJ-Hallen, where
the most expensive thing we bought cost 17 euros, and thrilling when buying 39
euro kimonos that would have easily been £100+ in London but Amsterdam’s
relative affordability was a surprising treat. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmwQKf0FF9MJ9cLcVHHthKr2BIwI2u-GG-9TTZCOSltmoFxoYZhS9ZkotMeEB5HXnAA6kFh8jY1ll81DE9P8jQGyEM1-dP1zsv0IqIXpS1l1N_bMh8MpeG5Y_5UN8-U7wfyk7XAijgTmzy/s1600/IMG_1163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmwQKf0FF9MJ9cLcVHHthKr2BIwI2u-GG-9TTZCOSltmoFxoYZhS9ZkotMeEB5HXnAA6kFh8jY1ll81DE9P8jQGyEM1-dP1zsv0IqIXpS1l1N_bMh8MpeG5Y_5UN8-U7wfyk7XAijgTmzy/s320/IMG_1163.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It wasn’t quite enough to mitigate the
distaste at having to pay 15 euros to get into a museum<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(London, you’ve spoiled me) but every little
helps I suppose...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Both of us were also keen to check out the
flower markets, I think having visions of riots of colour, so were hugely
disappointed to discover that it’s nothing more than a scrubby garden centre. I
mean, who wants to actually <i>grow</i> their own flowers?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSZ7H5fSbFQIprhyphenhyphengOCHtkTAILE5bx_xw-B8YV8gCO1bUPefLiuoFl2p6sqOhX8KLRiGiEwLa9kkg-1GvdQHSv89tgH_CUVzlFnnHboSM9ZgHDsjaZAvriDOzuVp3llGsqD_7lFaNOKG7o/s1600/DSC01701.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSZ7H5fSbFQIprhyphenhyphengOCHtkTAILE5bx_xw-B8YV8gCO1bUPefLiuoFl2p6sqOhX8KLRiGiEwLa9kkg-1GvdQHSv89tgH_CUVzlFnnHboSM9ZgHDsjaZAvriDOzuVp3llGsqD_7lFaNOKG7o/s320/DSC01701.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">DIY flowers at Amsterdam's floating flower market</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It was at this stage in the afternoon that
I dragged Gem back to this little antique store we’d walked past earlier (and
consequently gone into…) as I couldn’t get this:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigWW8IgtFjcWVQ1gWPSnvTmhAH-SlKMSvpbeigtb4zfyfP3_gcrduTeGwAXXQ5RRnm6vUxPOvnGJ3Kowb1aj2DvGwzhS4T0WNZA4OwWpIdwS0f2SkrOtnEkGU0wSkDYQTYAmB_hQ1HQhXi/s1600/IMG_1203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigWW8IgtFjcWVQ1gWPSnvTmhAH-SlKMSvpbeigtb4zfyfP3_gcrduTeGwAXXQ5RRnm6vUxPOvnGJ3Kowb1aj2DvGwzhS4T0WNZA4OwWpIdwS0f2SkrOtnEkGU0wSkDYQTYAmB_hQ1HQhXi/s320/IMG_1203.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Out of my mind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I’m flirting with words like curation and
collection now when it comes to my jewellery… <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">problem, </i>as I’m hoping it somehow shifts the idea of my prolific
love for accessorising from being a weakness to a carefully considered
passion-slash-obsession. But then I’m aware that’s probably delusional bullshit
too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidUwjLArUMIQT1pkx_5RBBLvxNPlfsRmNunRq4fHv7-x920yYuqFR3W2BG2sOyzBKWvOhbnyDO8sWWcyp8FfxyCQzwLuo8DU2yMsPpROYTBejtVRkb4_od2wHzxuNfw80zeUOvrNNrvyUI/s1600/DSC01694.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidUwjLArUMIQT1pkx_5RBBLvxNPlfsRmNunRq4fHv7-x920yYuqFR3W2BG2sOyzBKWvOhbnyDO8sWWcyp8FfxyCQzwLuo8DU2yMsPpROYTBejtVRkb4_od2wHzxuNfw80zeUOvrNNrvyUI/s320/DSC01694.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The problem with owning this extraordinary
thing, which wasn’t nearly as horrifically expensive as you might think (sadly
those diamonds aren’t real…) is that I don’t know where I go from here. But
that is truly a <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/first-class-problems.html" target="_blank">first class problem</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">With only an afternoon left before I
trudged back to London, we decided to visit the Van Gogh Museum. As sacrilegious
as it is, I just couldn’t face the thought of centuries of art and history at
the Rijksmuseum and blithely dismissed it as an excuse to return another time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9TYpyxe9X9aOC3MMX4hiM54OtjyF4ZJSQiUDY8YtFHsAHcoAXqwQMBWT7EiwBsJXqLyPGphart3zTecUocNrvKyinQvwWeaiO8zZHXRa6AT2Zd-iciGnq0lc3TrHgGLMBbc5LcbkHRLhm/s1600/DSC01698.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9TYpyxe9X9aOC3MMX4hiM54OtjyF4ZJSQiUDY8YtFHsAHcoAXqwQMBWT7EiwBsJXqLyPGphart3zTecUocNrvKyinQvwWeaiO8zZHXRa6AT2Zd-iciGnq0lc3TrHgGLMBbc5LcbkHRLhm/s320/DSC01698.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The Van Gogh Museum was impressive –
expensive, crowded, but beautiful, tracing as it does Van Gogh’s artistic
career from his earliest studies to his last works. Not surprisingly it made me
think about <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/lets-go-to-arles-darls.html" target="_blank">our visit </a>to the asylum in St-Remy where he famously stayed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">By the time they kicked us out when the
museum closed at 5pm it was basically time to get my bags and schlep back to
the airport and back to London. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg3ePc_pcXc2vLjOrfQ55-xjmeZPrRyCV1p7bwcJzfWs8Q_J9_fgTG4Rc8ieuc_obViMZg94swuRrLZVwNdEuFVo6EJaPkdbWoztm7f2ImjOpzU7_ArFpTSZyyJKxvzoG_fvpISpXNZq_K/s1600/IMG_1204.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg3ePc_pcXc2vLjOrfQ55-xjmeZPrRyCV1p7bwcJzfWs8Q_J9_fgTG4Rc8ieuc_obViMZg94swuRrLZVwNdEuFVo6EJaPkdbWoztm7f2ImjOpzU7_ArFpTSZyyJKxvzoG_fvpISpXNZq_K/s320/IMG_1204.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of Van Gogh's palettes</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-GB">It was such a lovely couple of days,
keeping company with fabulous friends while exploring a new city. I really
rather like Amsterdam and I’m really looking forward to being that obnoxious
person back in Sydney next month reminiscing about that time we went to
Amsterdam and….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058567889421181565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7472508752742515220.post-59977539831550351792013-09-20T06:38:00.000+10:002013-09-30T02:12:07.829+10:00The problem with AustraliaSo I went to the press preview for 'Australia' at the Royal Academy on Tuesday. I'm writing a review for <i>Artlink </i>and for a couple of weeks now I've been worried my instincts (that it would be disappointing, conservative, terrible... that my snobbery and cultural bias would cloud my objectivity...) would get in the way of me looking at the show with an open mind.<br />
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And so I tried. And failed. Because it really isn't great. Does it warrant the casual racism and vitriol dressed as criticism it's receiving in the British press? Well, no. But it's not great. It's not even very good. I'm going to need to leave my thoughts to marinate for a while yet in the hope that something by way of coherent argument emerges. Because right now it's just an exasperated mash of frustrations.<br />
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I can't believe this is the same institution that hosted the seminal <i><a href="http://www.saatchigallery.com/aipe/sensation_royal_academy.htm" target="_blank">Sensation</a></i> back in 1997<i>. </i>I mean, where's all that curatorial chutzpah gone?<br />
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What a missed opportunity. National Gallery of Australia, I'm blaming you too.Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058567889421181565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7472508752742515220.post-33322985414061704552013-09-16T07:36:00.000+10:002013-10-01T22:06:50.750+10:00Art, liquor, laughs and boxes of tears.It's been a big week. Some art. Some liquor. Some laughs. Some boxes. Some tears.<br />
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Basically in that order.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy8k6JEp09KQRifz-tFJYKp1TXGoE48jJS7X1noyaxoB5Nr6pL9G121i1IjXTTVRCDKPeyK_P6RLZnDJKeQRIgpZGUUdC13_n1j1JDr9RedOOEe7kqcg0DMmCi2HRnla0B5bmP8JN0FWJS/s1600/DSC01641.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy8k6JEp09KQRifz-tFJYKp1TXGoE48jJS7X1noyaxoB5Nr6pL9G121i1IjXTTVRCDKPeyK_P6RLZnDJKeQRIgpZGUUdC13_n1j1JDr9RedOOEe7kqcg0DMmCi2HRnla0B5bmP8JN0FWJS/s320/DSC01641.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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On Thursday we organised an art tour for a crowd of 16 to 25 year olds to visit the new Artangel Commission near Goodge St. I have a bit of a professional crush on Artangel and the work they do, which is ostensibly commissioning contemporary artists to make site-specific works in non-traditional art spaces. The <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/all-i-want-for-christmas-is-job.html" target="_blank">Roger Hiorns</a> I dragged Lovely Boy to see a few years ago was one of theirs, as is the tug boat currently parked atop the Royal Festival Hall on Southbank.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image courtesy: Southbank Centre</td></tr>
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<br />
<a name='more'></a>My first encounter with them came courtesy of a documentary screened as part of my under-grad degree of Michael Landy's epic performance-installation <i>Breakdown</i>, where he systematically inventoried and then destroyed his possessions. All 7,227 of them. Everything but the boiler suit he wore throughout the entire two week public spectacle. Twelve years later and it's still the most devastating, brilliant and challenging comment on material consumption and identity construction I've ever encountered.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiHUgCLmubdpkBRSR5o-vOFFu3dwFAPEdwB3cCqE_u7pcz-tW_IJWCl7fpGruoVF1ZrtaY9RAMzhcL2k6JjZ-dx22UcXQxgrew4Rp8hyphenhyphenyQrfU_FwNyYU7-qful6l75jEzAnUUQFAKWGsX6/s1600/landy-2-19559.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiHUgCLmubdpkBRSR5o-vOFFu3dwFAPEdwB3cCqE_u7pcz-tW_IJWCl7fpGruoVF1ZrtaY9RAMzhcL2k6JjZ-dx22UcXQxgrew4Rp8hyphenhyphenyQrfU_FwNyYU7-qful6l75jEzAnUUQFAKWGsX6/s320/landy-2-19559.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael Landy, <i>Breakdown</i>, 2001.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Anyway their latest commission is by Israeli-British sculptor Daniel Silver, called <i>Dig, </i>and it takes over a languishing construction site in the middle of central London where an old cinema used to stand and where luxury flats will probably soon sprout. Interested in psychoanalysis and Freud's own collection of artefacts that he used to keep in his consulting rooms in north London, Silver has imagined an otherworldly archaeological dig site full of strange totemic sculptures emerging from the mud and a collection of 'retrieved' artefacts whose heritage and significance is unknown, but for their sheer quantity.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnPJT0F3DV_ob5BZB1s2tEOl74qsYqVjs0kzLTQ67AYnLb2UJs092_qAlGWA_FyWSJU3VRg5LiLgBx1bJ77a_jXvt2B_QOagptjQI_6XSUlYtBltslBEtZQPcpdmnYp8ot0BhirJ4jDkrk/s1600/DSC01632.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnPJT0F3DV_ob5BZB1s2tEOl74qsYqVjs0kzLTQ67AYnLb2UJs092_qAlGWA_FyWSJU3VRg5LiLgBx1bJ77a_jXvt2B_QOagptjQI_6XSUlYtBltslBEtZQPcpdmnYp8ot0BhirJ4jDkrk/s320/DSC01632.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daniel Silver, <i>Dig</i>, 2013</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFWq0KIepE9NATjADp3Rq1f0o0ooRlOj77IPjPmVVvZFBo2w5mwamf3kkhlpfRTqP_P43VudRMlzv7_O-lsqKf6D8HNxlfum5bCyjMjdGHx9xKthBSRyCaeOuIZrGO1A482t5w9RDVY8aI/s1600/DSC01664.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFWq0KIepE9NATjADp3Rq1f0o0ooRlOj77IPjPmVVvZFBo2w5mwamf3kkhlpfRTqP_P43VudRMlzv7_O-lsqKf6D8HNxlfum5bCyjMjdGHx9xKthBSRyCaeOuIZrGO1A482t5w9RDVY8aI/s320/DSC01664.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<br />
As with a lot of Artangel commissions, much of the work's potency comes from the immediate environment, in this case a grim construction site with exposed steel cables, duck boards and concrete platforms. There are lots of curious ideas to pursue in the work - the suggestiveness of the title, both literally and metaphorically and the fact that, as <a href="http://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/articles/14th-century-burial-ground-discovered-in-london" target="_blank">recent stories</a> about the Crossrail Tunnel project digging up 14th century mass graves from the black death plague show, it's not beyond the realms of possibility to unearth strange things in London. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Q0x2EN0O7LFKHL0gpbEqK6ZwwrUdb87wmEwzPsYRj4LYeXVklgyTVxd7iTSEEgArfl8jHqDL-ygYYr2mtQ9IQXL3K0dWYoBTvU4HyegHExnkaw-9PdIURLkmsf3sWKQkIYdXcKLGjM7B/s1600/DSC01639.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Q0x2EN0O7LFKHL0gpbEqK6ZwwrUdb87wmEwzPsYRj4LYeXVklgyTVxd7iTSEEgArfl8jHqDL-ygYYr2mtQ9IQXL3K0dWYoBTvU4HyegHExnkaw-9PdIURLkmsf3sWKQkIYdXcKLGjM7B/s320/DSC01639.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicnyoMNJLvN2OLjn5kJNiund7Wku900QapD5nGugq7pyCqP5AKIyoLkhg9THo5XuNo9zeMVQWuA7W-28-lz3UwDx2tl1HEkk3HDkWSScXOWbANuK5SS6dk4aiKSNeYbfj82YIoXuKxiKzA/s1600/DSC01660.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicnyoMNJLvN2OLjn5kJNiund7Wku900QapD5nGugq7pyCqP5AKIyoLkhg9THo5XuNo9zeMVQWuA7W-28-lz3UwDx2tl1HEkk3HDkWSScXOWbANuK5SS6dk4aiKSNeYbfj82YIoXuKxiKzA/s320/DSC01660.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
I managed to organise a talk from Artangel's Director James Lingwood, which was amazing, though I spent most of it distracted by teenage boys throwing peanut M&Ms. I'm not sure I'll get back there again before we go but I'm really glad I managed to wing a visit under the auspices of work.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2DOYTVKof9pVSGmVPWpqJ3AhDIU9L0Lo9KQVsgHO5D1rNvj5wSymSpsoUt8T7DVGe1GL143VA59v2sHyy9VW6T7XtFwR46SlzLAIyLFa3tc6MdEl4fmXxH5sx6plIMR4Wd_1D57FNle2b/s1600/IMG_1031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2DOYTVKof9pVSGmVPWpqJ3AhDIU9L0Lo9KQVsgHO5D1rNvj5wSymSpsoUt8T7DVGe1GL143VA59v2sHyy9VW6T7XtFwR46SlzLAIyLFa3tc6MdEl4fmXxH5sx6plIMR4Wd_1D57FNle2b/s320/IMG_1031.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
On Friday I went for dinner and drinks with friends from said work - a bit of a pre-emptive farewell at the Pelican in Peckham. I am so absolutely not looking forward to leaving or saying goodbye - even typing it brings an involuntary wobble to my chin - so we've come across the idea of multiple farewells to soften the final blow. Which, given that I drank a bottle of wine and then cried in front of everyone, may or may not have been the smartest plan.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIuG5wWFYUlFYWsEjklhe5-U2Zkgulzca413-dC5C-QnxcTky5UB7Zzy5aqV5romqvxznMhJPJEdoVy7FH3o3W2ZWrtN391NdhVZMCelpRUFH7i2E7To0YT9mlsmOJxhf3eFdpvRgrqRSk/s1600/IMG_1039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIuG5wWFYUlFYWsEjklhe5-U2Zkgulzca413-dC5C-QnxcTky5UB7Zzy5aqV5romqvxznMhJPJEdoVy7FH3o3W2ZWrtN391NdhVZMCelpRUFH7i2E7To0YT9mlsmOJxhf3eFdpvRgrqRSk/s320/IMG_1039.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three bottles of wine and all things lead to... cake.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I feel so lucky to have developed such genuinely lovely friendships with my colleagues and am going to miss them terribly. Though I won't miss the hangover. Before the wine came a cocktail and afterwards came three gin and tonics before a night bus and a cab home in the rain. Oops.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBo5fSOqeoU7I602NseIArGK64PQwuHjmpof2_R0PEpksAJ8GLr11hd5zxg5DkM6zfJH3QaNX3JyPGlPv5-haGuHgd29AqEYnYwVpgUTS-3kKnt_ehBQWZhomHl6XoDRsbpIiBLf5aFOoh/s1600/IMG_1052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBo5fSOqeoU7I602NseIArGK64PQwuHjmpof2_R0PEpksAJ8GLr11hd5zxg5DkM6zfJH3QaNX3JyPGlPv5-haGuHgd29AqEYnYwVpgUTS-3kKnt_ehBQWZhomHl6XoDRsbpIiBLf5aFOoh/s320/IMG_1052.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even with a hangover I was able to covet these windows <br />
in the studio of a graphic designer in Clerkenwell</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The hangover meant working on Saturday hurt A LOT and by the time I met Lovely Boy in central London in the late afternoon I was bilious, exhausted and several tads emotional. Rather than coming home, having a hot bath, a cry and an early night, we instead went to BBC Broadcasting House. I won tickets a couple of weeks ago to a live recording of 'Meet David Sedaris' for Radio 4 and really had no idea what to expect from a radio show but, unsurprisingly, it was fucking hilarious. A really brilliant night out and I love Sedaris even more now, if that's even possible.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv0aDPHWuaJD7QLm9IUlNvFUHqjtJB7xNc2ecX2DjQ4FA-Y93HQCn7I4JF8gODRUb5MYmYGeG6eNHnzEXVEKGCpLFjOzymadxx16ZCh2zgX4CUlbvCbLIWZ7e_4Xon9_BLtfuckJRRPr3e/s1600/IMG_1066.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv0aDPHWuaJD7QLm9IUlNvFUHqjtJB7xNc2ecX2DjQ4FA-Y93HQCn7I4JF8gODRUb5MYmYGeG6eNHnzEXVEKGCpLFjOzymadxx16ZCh2zgX4CUlbvCbLIWZ7e_4Xon9_BLtfuckJRRPr3e/s320/IMG_1066.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BBC Broadcasting House</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And then today, I started packing. While I was off battling a hangover at work, LB was at home taking delivery of all our boxes. I'm not sure how I feel about this very visible start to the end but Lovely Boy left me to it, sensing, rightly, that I needed some time on my own to help soothe some of the crazier thoughts coursing through my brain at this particular life junction.<br />
<br />
It has to be said that there is something quite cathartic about the rituals of sorting and chucking and packing. And it's impossible not to get nostalgic and occasionally melancholy when you read back through all the birthday and Christmas cards sent to you by a still-much missed grandmother. I may have cried. Again.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVXnv47-ZNVNGp0mi0KlTfv7MXP6SIOQqH76yY_nEx9qY8IQ9hH8XGxKGG4znSo3Aq0cpOdwFT1uIpYr8iS1Ifd65QH3yerbdZhSlsaNcp0CsDn724ZzG5BOV4J2QPHxoWPXqyf1oE4jqU/s1600/IMG_1071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVXnv47-ZNVNGp0mi0KlTfv7MXP6SIOQqH76yY_nEx9qY8IQ9hH8XGxKGG4znSo3Aq0cpOdwFT1uIpYr8iS1Ifd65QH3yerbdZhSlsaNcp0CsDn724ZzG5BOV4J2QPHxoWPXqyf1oE4jqU/s320/IMG_1071.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Pulling out all the exhibition guides and catalogues and notes from all the many hundreds of shows I've seen (never mind the essays I wrote, the photos I took, the ticket stubs I kept) was like expanding the bellows of an accordion to full length, where the accordion is my London life and all the creases and concertinas and notes are the small details and experiences that will inevitably be lost to time and the grander narratives of this totally epic, genuinely life-changing experience.<br />
<br />
Five years is a long time - I have boxes of shit to prove it - and this weekend is just the beginning of the tears. So I best not pack the tissues.Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058567889421181565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7472508752742515220.post-65127704762139140062013-09-10T07:26:00.000+10:002013-09-20T07:36:00.031+10:00Something to sing about<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Oh I’ve had a lovely weekend.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Visits from best friends from home are just
the tonic to my life gin. It means to be pajamed until 2.30pm, talking and
laughing and drinking tea. It means desperately absorbing the ease and
familiarity, wit and delight of a dear friend, like sunshine on an increasingly
autumnal day, so enormously grateful in the knowledge that you can live on the
other side of the world for five years and still pick up like it was yesterday.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw7FyWpiLjPOiP45AiT0ROFkFDYx6IoW0IgdhwkbzlJ8csEuDu8gpmMMBwn4boOcMjbDxR3zQylak2qshfHzy2H3tJYBBavtFLtHswxR1_5pP6Eh8bfZDRcRkwwSnJ4x6ngqgeiyX5w-aW/s1600/DSC01605.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw7FyWpiLjPOiP45AiT0ROFkFDYx6IoW0IgdhwkbzlJ8csEuDu8gpmMMBwn4boOcMjbDxR3zQylak2qshfHzy2H3tJYBBavtFLtHswxR1_5pP6Eh8bfZDRcRkwwSnJ4x6ngqgeiyX5w-aW/s320/DSC01605.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It’s been a lovely, lovely weekend.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a name='more'></a><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB">On Saturday evening we three, with LB, took
in a very British tradition in Hyde Park – the last night of the BBC Proms. I
don’t know how long this event has been running for (and I’m too fucking lazy
to google that shit) but it’s this hilarious, slightly daggy coming together of
tens of thousands of flag waving patriots, many of whom come dressed as if for
Mardi Gras in the colours of the Empire, for a night of picnics, poor Terry
Wogan humour and the most wonderful mix of high and lowbrow musical tastes. All
wrapped up in a crumb-stained Argos picnic blanket because summer has well and
truly left the building and frankly it gets chilly after dark.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQMo3Q4PGvzxO_onJpdj-Wzu2EQXxDtq9m-EFheaFhTmsmZn2ViIQd4UwccEOx4ogVP3sQm8URwZEuRiT6VrpPDCWae6Bo6Nz4zVywqbODtNBscFrazGL_IcSc-B39rHmS1wp91QMkuiCm/s1600/DSC01615.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQMo3Q4PGvzxO_onJpdj-Wzu2EQXxDtq9m-EFheaFhTmsmZn2ViIQd4UwccEOx4ogVP3sQm8URwZEuRiT6VrpPDCWae6Bo6Nz4zVywqbODtNBscFrazGL_IcSc-B39rHmS1wp91QMkuiCm/s320/DSC01615.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Note the windchill factor.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We arrived relatively late and so were
probably a mile from the stage but this meant the ability to participate in
civilised conversation, a total lack of compulsion to clap when the god-awful
man-boy band Blue came on to sing hits that sucked ten years ago, and space to
spread out our M&S haul. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We sang along to Beatles medleys by the
West End cast of whatever that Beatles musical is called, we admired the
virtuoso talents of Nigel Kennedy (which reminded me of the time I got
outrageously drunk on a terrible blind date only to escape to a gig of his at
The Basement in Sydney where he carried my bowl of chips and kissed my hand and
said “Anything for a beautiful girl” #notmyfinestmoment) and otherwise just
generally murmured in appreciation for the famous tenor and that choir and that
other person who performed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mostly it
was about the cheese and Italian meat platter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODi7OdmG8FWwYr__IyuyippGBkX79BjsYhwPxfhw0K9Siu1PrucfER9SQKbETk8TPL8uBNaDVLRIDJxBbl3qb-TnRrmjuheToAxIigWNcfNSbGBOvmIDRmh6NQQPaJg03AnLkVmiAw9xz/s1600/DSC01630.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODi7OdmG8FWwYr__IyuyippGBkX79BjsYhwPxfhw0K9Siu1PrucfER9SQKbETk8TPL8uBNaDVLRIDJxBbl3qb-TnRrmjuheToAxIigWNcfNSbGBOvmIDRmh6NQQPaJg03AnLkVmiAw9xz/s320/DSC01630.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Brian Ferry was the headline act though you
could have offered me a million pounds and I still wouldn’t have been able to
name a single song of his. It was at this point, and with the cheese all gone,
that we decided to head home. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">On Sunday we managed to leave the house by
midday, picking up a pedicure on the way to Angel for some idling along Camden
Passage. It was a drizzly, cold day – I’m still struggling to reconcile the
fact it was 28 degrees last Thursday and now it’s 16. Talk about an abrupt
departure, Summer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And so we wandered and ate cake and drank
tea and browsed and talked and gossiped and philosophised and did everything
but exhaust the mutual enthusiasm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnn6KWO06R7NyoF5hpQnlVDm20P6w9qp1B6Eqcg0jzQ9d0RT3eoupuEylYjYVj3LHTzsTjcXy8_1vZKQLSGh_J94Tlg1FYSC6YKicYUpKisAZ27W4Cmt5mgEBx6hQb7CbZd_260f7CHeuT/s1600/IMG_1012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnn6KWO06R7NyoF5hpQnlVDm20P6w9qp1B6Eqcg0jzQ9d0RT3eoupuEylYjYVj3LHTzsTjcXy8_1vZKQLSGh_J94Tlg1FYSC6YKicYUpKisAZ27W4Cmt5mgEBx6hQb7CbZd_260f7CHeuT/s320/IMG_1012.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Portrait of Pedicures on Tube</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Gems and I are off to Amsterdam in a couple
of weekend’s time – one last hurrah on the continent before we head home – and
I cannot wait. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Any opportunity to wrack up another “Do you
remember that time when we…” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058567889421181565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7472508752742515220.post-34430427139509479992013-09-05T08:51:00.000+10:002013-09-12T17:40:25.380+10:00I totes have a problem<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I had the chance to go to Margate
yesterday. We took a group of young people from work for an away day and so I was pretty happy with myself - killing two birds with one stone - what with a
new work opportunity and a trip to Turner Contemporary. Win. Win.</span></div>
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5KFHK5WNqML_j4J5U3FIBPWKgCIo5bJ33UuO2y1ndZX4q2cQNVziJ4fw07WxaAnWcqdMEjy5sOCfWzY2EonPZsTNMATizOoKGEjR67jxyYnVAShqjXUViX3Cylj_7byVs48ME2unOxpmb/s1600/DSC01597.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5KFHK5WNqML_j4J5U3FIBPWKgCIo5bJ33UuO2y1ndZX4q2cQNVziJ4fw07WxaAnWcqdMEjy5sOCfWzY2EonPZsTNMATizOoKGEjR67jxyYnVAShqjXUViX3Cylj_7byVs48ME2unOxpmb/s320/DSC01597.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Margate has piqued my curiosity for a while
now – it’s Tracey Emin’s hometown and despite recently being named one of the
most deprived seaside towns in the UK, is home to a major contemporary arts
museum that recently welcomed it’s millionth visitor since opening in 2011. It
also has an old town that’s becoming increasingly well known for its vintage
and antique furniture shops. You can see the appeal, no?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPlj638B9LiTYNyxRA2xWc4DQAWNQTC0ZibMUmZnxWweI3IgrMAAcHq-GElQ201Sl2yT6i7_w3v62iJX1oS5L7f1k24voqV38gkm4mHPlWtgS91jaDfHYYOvs7LFl3j6P8i6nbhB4783yA/s1600/IMG_0966.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPlj638B9LiTYNyxRA2xWc4DQAWNQTC0ZibMUmZnxWweI3IgrMAAcHq-GElQ201Sl2yT6i7_w3v62iJX1oS5L7f1k24voqV38gkm4mHPlWtgS91jaDfHYYOvs7LFl3j6P8i6nbhB4783yA/s320/IMG_0966.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Turner Contemporary welcomes its millionth visitor</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-GB">The window licking eluded me (it was a work
trip after all…) but the sun was out in full force and the activities of our
away day – an inspiring action learning set in the morning before fish and
chips for lunch before an afternoon of evaluation – were equal parts exciting
and hugely satisfying.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEOutkOTXWgGZ2-aOsFWcpg9XLH89131f1te_SMAajQHYiuxtOehbFequ5WjOPXdV66ujjoXxwfIAFxMZWAnaxzaBJTdWeHxxrKmG-ksQqaboDGb1CoQgP_ZqydeUKte05DDbqSNAmb-gX/s1600/IMG_0962.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEOutkOTXWgGZ2-aOsFWcpg9XLH89131f1te_SMAajQHYiuxtOehbFequ5WjOPXdV66ujjoXxwfIAFxMZWAnaxzaBJTdWeHxxrKmG-ksQqaboDGb1CoQgP_ZqydeUKte05DDbqSNAmb-gX/s320/IMG_0962.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Action learning in action</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And Turner Contemporary’s current
exhibition – Curiosity: The Pleasure of Knowing – was just the most eloquent,
fascinating, beautifully considered show. Everything from the notebooks of
Galileo to mesmerising 16mm portraits of pop artist Claes Oldenburg by contemporary
filmmaker Tacita Dean, it was just exquisite. Humorous, intelligent,
contextual, just brilliant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOcUIY69g251ZLQ9qMILvNk8LgPc6lRJqKHIS8BW3UScfM8h5o_-pxTusKzw8wKV-femAnr08Hma7uceAcFVg71_M-ZW-1BFBQlgRuITjAVojMeWUalZbmmt_rRTUjrgZC4lyAZkVR5Voe/s1600/IMG_0964.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOcUIY69g251ZLQ9qMILvNk8LgPc6lRJqKHIS8BW3UScfM8h5o_-pxTusKzw8wKV-femAnr08Hma7uceAcFVg71_M-ZW-1BFBQlgRuITjAVojMeWUalZbmmt_rRTUjrgZC4lyAZkVR5Voe/s320/IMG_0964.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Juan Munoz in the foyer of Turner Contemporary</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-GB">Also, the gift shop was pretty good. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">My love of tat is well known. Ahem. My love of
treasure is legendary. My
love-penchant-weakness-obsession-call-it-what-you-will-but-lets-say-problem with
tote bags has probably largely gone unacknowledged. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Until know.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I’ve always considered tote bags a bit of a
no-brainer – the functional equivalent of the souvenir spoon - convincing myself
that they take up no room really within the bigger world of bags and are a
brilliant, practical memento of a randomly memorable exhibition/event/whatever.
Until you have 19 of them. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU1kBuODEGTs4blh-DxvMPbiEZiyEhBEBWRHAI3tRRlD7osLxoIAbMDqay-_QGXhqrUjPqxtzEYDG6lF2GWUQ3FZ50D9jBicMe4UqOR-T1gLpImM-QsrJeqODfu4hqJEa8j-kqxahyuyBg/s1600/IMG_1001.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU1kBuODEGTs4blh-DxvMPbiEZiyEhBEBWRHAI3tRRlD7osLxoIAbMDqay-_QGXhqrUjPqxtzEYDG6lF2GWUQ3FZ50D9jBicMe4UqOR-T1gLpImM-QsrJeqODfu4hqJEa8j-kqxahyuyBg/s400/IMG_1001.PNG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not even all of them....</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Then it becomes a problem. When we were in <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/sunshine-and-look-back-at-venice.html" target="_blank">Venice</a> for the biennale in June I
made it my personal quest to collect as many as I could and ended up with bags
from Britain, Slovenia, Iraq, Portugal and Venezuala. Not a bad haul,
internationally speaking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Anyway, I bought two at the Turner
Contemporary gift shop. I couldn’t help myself. One was on sale and the other
had an 18th century illustration of an imagined rhinoceros on it so they
basically bought themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjttwd0RuGnfwcApmplcqMYX3HasMhWfkfgN6liCHbSDjcyUmW-ioFHZxjbOzGTvll_CoX4MI3wgukyqppOagLNzcNN4vCTbl17So1Js0Goah8umYDpRxCX_TNFNMOJvvM2wCuXwz2jHN49/s1600/DSC01594.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjttwd0RuGnfwcApmplcqMYX3HasMhWfkfgN6liCHbSDjcyUmW-ioFHZxjbOzGTvll_CoX4MI3wgukyqppOagLNzcNN4vCTbl17So1Js0Goah8umYDpRxCX_TNFNMOJvvM2wCuXwz2jHN49/s320/DSC01594.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkHVzL8EDNut2GHySU41xvvzzVcYCgY3XEZiIuzb_k8OVhSAUMNVBW6w0ju_gtqX2_aV-2pr_yDxpto0X4g3Emp1NcdhyphenhyphencEjK52QjlCBQ0DBayFfYX0T-bhZd7Xiu_tOQTZtzA_t7uygHi/s1600/IMG_0968.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkHVzL8EDNut2GHySU41xvvzzVcYCgY3XEZiIuzb_k8OVhSAUMNVBW6w0ju_gtqX2_aV-2pr_yDxpto0X4g3Emp1NcdhyphenhyphencEjK52QjlCBQ0DBayFfYX0T-bhZd7Xiu_tOQTZtzA_t7uygHi/s320/IMG_0968.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-GB">Except that now that we’re staring down the
beginning of the end, with the imminent arrival of our boxes next Saturday, I’m beginning to look around the house with the desperate eye of a crazy OCD lady
wondering what I can chuck and where to start and feeling both strangely
baffled and mildly cross that I’ve, you know, accrued a LIFE over the last five
years here in London and all the shit that comes with that. Tote bags and all. Honest to god I’m probably going to need a box for all my bags.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">God help us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058567889421181565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7472508752742515220.post-31258769867663217832013-09-03T08:43:00.000+10:002013-09-10T09:01:36.189+10:00Ode to Berlin<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">So, Berlin.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Berlin was, well, it was wonderful. I love
Berlin. I love its history, its architecture, its graffiti doused scrappiness,
its people, its wide streets, its bars, its flea markets, its café culture, its
energy, its bike friendliness, its green spaces, its ease and in the summer,
its beguiling weather. All of it and so much more I just <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">love.</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRnjPF6ilf3H8l7IEY9LjnP7rjYgZjghYZCbpuzCMx5ZATYUGVhg_8LNYWOhhtK0EfAOIS6M7gE9gau9hH5BnwolNN7ZF_GI5bqw_NdqJSqjHYDAK9KemFuDF1PaPiSxSRMFo2stRmtrtu/s1600/DSC01390.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRnjPF6ilf3H8l7IEY9LjnP7rjYgZjghYZCbpuzCMx5ZATYUGVhg_8LNYWOhhtK0EfAOIS6M7gE9gau9hH5BnwolNN7ZF_GI5bqw_NdqJSqjHYDAK9KemFuDF1PaPiSxSRMFo2stRmtrtu/s320/DSC01390.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">In case you haven’t gleaned, my affair with
Berlin is not a recent thing. Really, it goes all the way back to 2006 when it
changed my life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">That first trip was a flying three-day
visit with my sister. It was part of an extended stay in London that was itself
a desperate attempt to jump tracks and end the vicious skip-skip-skipping on a
loop of depression that had been caused by a symphonic trifecta of chronic
injury, heartbreak and redundancy six months earlier. I was not in a good
place. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfzD4GIAWIyJFEo2QC-Bszt4dNx8uOIh8YF7RX6rh3dgYxb0QabWQvmiM9m-l5hb1j2KGY2kYnageYCR85MYZVZENYBxodCMtmql-MnQEyInD4-ychSwtaNw_tI-5_-cy8P49eDk0wpCNz/s1600/DSC01415.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfzD4GIAWIyJFEo2QC-Bszt4dNx8uOIh8YF7RX6rh3dgYxb0QabWQvmiM9m-l5hb1j2KGY2kYnageYCR85MYZVZENYBxodCMtmql-MnQEyInD4-ychSwtaNw_tI-5_-cy8P49eDk0wpCNz/s320/DSC01415.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">But something about being in Berlin that
December, when it was minus-6 and mostly dark, and being so acutely aware of
the city’s history and heartache and really, its integrity in the face of all
that, well it cleaved me somehow from my own reality and reset my inner track.
I was and still am grateful for that experience. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwBrhmBVTIEvLomBpx-mj2LiYbR0BZKiWQ6fZC86rh7Vf453gvKL1RlOvFDbw2E3NR-eidbs1L4XpHQn0NQrrVK_b5zyTjDEsskqIr_mBwxn4EVNhTG0oUKmtzAwCYXZj7f4ZeajCQoucJ/s1600/DSC01439.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwBrhmBVTIEvLomBpx-mj2LiYbR0BZKiWQ6fZC86rh7Vf453gvKL1RlOvFDbw2E3NR-eidbs1L4XpHQn0NQrrVK_b5zyTjDEsskqIr_mBwxn4EVNhTG0oUKmtzAwCYXZj7f4ZeajCQoucJ/s320/DSC01439.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And so my next two visits, in 2007 and 2008
were pilgrimages of sorts. Both times I travelled there on my own and both
times I threw myself at Berlin like a zealous student, desperate to learn and keen
to demonstrate my admiration and gratitude and my not-so-secret love.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBlmCMiehZgMPfGfqkQ5udVCZuBimGqp-pH1HPyCFPxqJBZIbQlMnM2Ylp080LrYAeBL-QzeOIAm9cdjCpgMuIqDDVREzktGU2hx-_nCpt0uOdJ2P0EnydRNPcnsImm6twzNO7si8cXmke/s1600/DSC01425.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBlmCMiehZgMPfGfqkQ5udVCZuBimGqp-pH1HPyCFPxqJBZIbQlMnM2Ylp080LrYAeBL-QzeOIAm9cdjCpgMuIqDDVREzktGU2hx-_nCpt0uOdJ2P0EnydRNPcnsImm6twzNO7si8cXmke/s320/DSC01425.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Biking along the Spree</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I did this by honest to god visiting every
single museum in Berlin. The Pergamon, the Altes, the Alte Nationalgalerie, the
Neue Nationalgalerie, the Jewish Museum, the Hamburger Bahnhof, Kunstwerk, the
DDR Museum, the Topography of Terror, Martin Gropius Bau, Gemaldgalerie, the
Museum of Photography, the Helmut Newton Museum, the Museum of Decorative Arts.
I visited them all. Plus the Reichstag, the Tiergarten, the Spree, Parisier
Platz and the Brandenburg Gate and the Jewish Memorial. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinhcCb37cuwrbFmqCRQAZjB_GZWaNvqz129XVCzD15KVSWsAx92lZg2VAMGBBrNh7QsQ3RebLzMebWrpman6nyIL48HBfpB6gv1JCVMThdl_MQgUW04iOLELprIwo7KavhidFlDVo3ZDgK/s1600/DSC01424.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinhcCb37cuwrbFmqCRQAZjB_GZWaNvqz129XVCzD15KVSWsAx92lZg2VAMGBBrNh7QsQ3RebLzMebWrpman6nyIL48HBfpB6gv1JCVMThdl_MQgUW04iOLELprIwo7KavhidFlDVo3ZDgK/s320/DSC01424.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I biked through Prenzlauer Berg, Kreuzberg,
Charlottenburg and Mitte. I lay in parks, I swam in lakes, I bought second-hand
clothes from basements and cherries from food markets, both by the kilo and I
could not have been happier. I just wanted to dissolve myself into the fabric
of this amazing city. And yes I am aware that sounds ridiculously stupid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">My <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/i-heart-berlin.html" target="_blank">fourth trip to Berlin</a> was also in 2008.
I went to stay with my friend Lou for a long weekend. I’d only just moved to
London the month before and had just started my MA and was feeling overwhelmed,
unfamiliar and a little bit lost. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidmU2VyjmIrTA5Kze8XRcqPv-cB5j10FhPXZ2NPb-Sd8D0Ld3aZIo76B8XE_HZ_su-pMgoARXOXM4vXuQWDsk-d_J_wovQ5c4Ru03YPtoiNvgkXNQdFyPe4Gn77Lag1JLAHZE443O9csO3/s1600/IMG_0870.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidmU2VyjmIrTA5Kze8XRcqPv-cB5j10FhPXZ2NPb-Sd8D0Ld3aZIo76B8XE_HZ_su-pMgoARXOXM4vXuQWDsk-d_J_wovQ5c4Ru03YPtoiNvgkXNQdFyPe4Gn77Lag1JLAHZE443O9csO3/s320/IMG_0870.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from our balcony</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">By now the leaves were turning, the sun was
crisp and efficient but no longer lingering and the city had shifted gears
again. We ate, we biked, we trawled the flea markets and the Turkish food
markets, we saw some great art, we went to a great concert at the Berlin
Philharmonic and we spent a day at a spa, lolling around with lots of naked
Germans. It was another significant reprieve and just four really brilliant
days amid a wider shift in life gears. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdBHL3fmVbTRZQeqa9scQKTjB8j2cZ30YIIFBq8Va-ongYnKX78al-9ECQaQOqqRnZ8gWOfDY-x1U1RBY04YTzbzrtPMsBEW6mFvH3XocyWePhBAaIUGhIZvoBzqwlJl47KDGoaPqcP4_2/s1600/DSC01450.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdBHL3fmVbTRZQeqa9scQKTjB8j2cZ30YIIFBq8Va-ongYnKX78al-9ECQaQOqqRnZ8gWOfDY-x1U1RBY04YTzbzrtPMsBEW6mFvH3XocyWePhBAaIUGhIZvoBzqwlJl47KDGoaPqcP4_2/s320/DSC01450.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And I haven’t been back since. Until this
recent August long weekend. LB had been a couple of times before, both
fleetingly and in the winter, and so I was excited for us both to be there, not
least because it would be our last European holiday together for an
indeterminate amount of time. And it didn’t disappoint (though globalised
consumerism has really got its sticky hands on Berlin since I was last here.
Can someone please tell me why the world needs another Urban Outfitters?)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We arrived late on the Thursday night and
were staying in a brilliant apartment in Prenzlauer Berg that we found on
airbnb, with a balcony hosting uninterrupted views of the TV Tower. We had four
days and not a lot planned – some flea markets, some food markets, some bars,
some schnitzel, a micro brewery (guess who’s list that was on), an exhibition
and some general submersion in all things Berlin Late Summer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRpJG_iv_Nuh0ZHGCDmh8VPGFeNSRupris5ItdaNNkvoriIfvhjpvp-0oxkfEX0tlvxH6e22R-qMr1ljgzBeIK1XtZtz_eIublhE4GJKxYjy5e5sUEOU78-mRG8fXAvw-_q7s4i6B8jaob/s1600/DSC01385.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRpJG_iv_Nuh0ZHGCDmh8VPGFeNSRupris5ItdaNNkvoriIfvhjpvp-0oxkfEX0tlvxH6e22R-qMr1ljgzBeIK1XtZtz_eIublhE4GJKxYjy5e5sUEOU78-mRG8fXAvw-_q7s4i6B8jaob/s320/DSC01385.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The chestnut trees in Prater Biergarten</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It was killer. On Friday we ambled around
Prenzlauer Berg, had beers under the chestnut trees in Prater biergarten on Kastanienallee,
ducked into a few little shops (guess who wanted to do what), drank gin &
tonics in the afternoon sun and had schnitzel for dinner. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQoMsCSFg5qLstyzKT3tyma1AB_RcOqzVke-rNpc1RMkKNk4fWXe33WUexxoU5pDVn-kzvvTcYwwvjKPNmk5SPAuNF7Jg4a-8i8U0wifnCWDWvyCYOP-2BMgkcp-fVYrhOo8vqgBuXq8zB/s1600/DSC01398.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQoMsCSFg5qLstyzKT3tyma1AB_RcOqzVke-rNpc1RMkKNk4fWXe33WUexxoU5pDVn-kzvvTcYwwvjKPNmk5SPAuNF7Jg4a-8i8U0wifnCWDWvyCYOP-2BMgkcp-fVYrhOo8vqgBuXq8zB/s320/DSC01398.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0evK2xK3X06mXh9-ytC4DYNrUCDyIUkXyUF5MKunZhXaXTe1qxROAEb2vICNqRI2r7896YhbFtkqbxhgVAL2dvSyzAjOuKxnkwxYqtUudjXSM3ic_MyT-iLAs5Mcp3xjAoaC1mNy9tIqo/s1600/IMG_0872.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0evK2xK3X06mXh9-ytC4DYNrUCDyIUkXyUF5MKunZhXaXTe1qxROAEb2vICNqRI2r7896YhbFtkqbxhgVAL2dvSyzAjOuKxnkwxYqtUudjXSM3ic_MyT-iLAs5Mcp3xjAoaC1mNy9tIqo/s320/IMG_0872.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">On Saturday we walked over to Kollwitzplatz
for the weekly organic food market and stocked up on cheeses and strawberries
and white peaches before taking the clanging old bikes that came with the
apartment out for a spin. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjumyc8eineyZv18DaHnqMb_idMW86k2RKWjXtgiFDaIFjAdgZOQ73JltSdkMI6znibrF5ZyJX8lNZq69hIMl3JeLe4kh6KwEWKKh_EZYrC3qPEXBUFWv3fEM0s6a2P5hCd2DKFTvGDMPXc/s1600/DSC01408.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjumyc8eineyZv18DaHnqMb_idMW86k2RKWjXtgiFDaIFjAdgZOQ73JltSdkMI6znibrF5ZyJX8lNZq69hIMl3JeLe4kh6KwEWKKh_EZYrC3qPEXBUFWv3fEM0s6a2P5hCd2DKFTvGDMPXc/s320/DSC01408.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Organic market on Kollwitzplatz</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Heading out of the Berg through Mitte, down
Unter den Linden and out under the Brandenburg Gate, we made for another food
market, this one on Winterfeldplatz in </span><span style="background: white; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Schöneberg</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">.</span><span lang="EN-GB"> Lunch was Turkish gozleme, raclette,
chunks of watermelon and fresh orange juice and we had a great time just
generally ogling all the colours and smells and activities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNnNonBbOEOELyEfVrp7XBFxbL4xjhsCtFPHjM08oxf2Gb0f564HQqra6TY4sZqO9A1DRoXxP2-tfPS2hixshWrNIla-BDgYXE-hwMtmYHFwZcSDdFQqqbFW7EyTldQFg_7OZUWAVFjYoS/s1600/IMG_0890.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNnNonBbOEOELyEfVrp7XBFxbL4xjhsCtFPHjM08oxf2Gb0f564HQqra6TY4sZqO9A1DRoXxP2-tfPS2hixshWrNIla-BDgYXE-hwMtmYHFwZcSDdFQqqbFW7EyTldQFg_7OZUWAVFjYoS/s320/IMG_0890.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">From here we had one last stop before our
carpet picnic back at the apartment, a holiday tradition we started way back in
<a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/spiaggia-it-might-sound-like-cheap-wine.html" target="_blank">Sardinia</a>. And that was a visit to a micro-brewery in Wedding. This was my
concession to LB who was staring down a Sunday spent trawling fleamarkets and
actually, despite the epic peddle and the quiet understatement of outer former
east Berlin, there was something quite lovely about this little brewery set
within the courtyard of an old apartment block under big lovely green old
trees. Not being much of a beer connoisseur I can’t speak to the quality of the
beverages but I’m informed they were excellent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKJn-ylSJG_XRvK5Y-E51XPIxcj9sLZGmNEBRexypU6PE3CaxZE-tllDpII0sfrJX6JjLhE1GHRuOm71uqFYtzUvPYPN9L7RMjJXUF5YL7GF1SZkj9mMDS0LuDWRnbGtbfij6fdqYo_Y-h/s1600/IMG_0893.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKJn-ylSJG_XRvK5Y-E51XPIxcj9sLZGmNEBRexypU6PE3CaxZE-tllDpII0sfrJX6JjLhE1GHRuOm71uqFYtzUvPYPN9L7RMjJXUF5YL7GF1SZkj9mMDS0LuDWRnbGtbfij6fdqYo_Y-h/s320/IMG_0893.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Sunday was given over to the fleamarkets –
the epic Mauerpark and a new one over in Kreuzberg, Nowkoelln, that happens
monthly and has more of a vintage focus than the sprawling, dirty, ad hoc acre
that is the weekly Prenzlauer Berg institution. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCdAY_ZBCFQYrTwPx-VtUQcEsr3YRU2ja_QH6LFYXgf9taMuKHR5lTJpmV3aHlGBNUrWp-k06zVs2y8Ws10OsOiWOgsxYe6h_5ijcDGWc-bZ140oiiL8-zr9LueUq8M7AVfFXErNOFyr2s/s1600/DSC01431.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCdAY_ZBCFQYrTwPx-VtUQcEsr3YRU2ja_QH6LFYXgf9taMuKHR5lTJpmV3aHlGBNUrWp-k06zVs2y8Ws10OsOiWOgsxYe6h_5ijcDGWc-bZ140oiiL8-zr9LueUq8M7AVfFXErNOFyr2s/s320/DSC01431.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hunting for treasure at Mauerpark</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">In the past Mauerpark has proven a
veritable gold mine – knickknacks and jewellery and bags and all sorts of
wonder. I wouldn’t say it’s jumped the shark but the ratio of tat to treasure
has definitely tipped towards the latter and mining through the boxes of rubble
means literally getting your hands dirty. I managed not to leave empty-handed,
finding some lovely vintage photo frames and a lovely little black and gold
woollen handbag, but between the crowds and the dust and the god awful thrash
music wafting over from a nearby music festival, it wasn’t the most rewarding
of experiences. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgus5dSKHV755GjazPGfwry6y_YE8cB0-HnJ9M5OXb-TkEQEz2BqaXsHOduOuGrDAYJx4MYJD9TeXMUwUNwEmC4yY2zXtvhqgJcyh52MER5k_ejqYTUEmgBNs82JUsWvFle-C-d98boKQm6/s1600/DSC01438.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgus5dSKHV755GjazPGfwry6y_YE8cB0-HnJ9M5OXb-TkEQEz2BqaXsHOduOuGrDAYJx4MYJD9TeXMUwUNwEmC4yY2zXtvhqgJcyh52MER5k_ejqYTUEmgBNs82JUsWvFle-C-d98boKQm6/s320/DSC01438.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back streets of Kreuzberg</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Because my arse was still killing me from
the bike ride the day before, we abandoned the bikes in Mitte, chained to a
railing, and hopped the U-bahn stop to Kreuzberg. There was rather a lot of tat
at Nowkoelln too but taking up residence along one of the canals that leads off
the Spree, under the shade of lovely big trees, it was definitely a more
enjoyable experience poking around here in the afternoon. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2NErFj_P_19O8xAaLyqSkWNc0IcGQrog3s-mmy-J4Y_NJpkikPf7_vV4Rb5ku-ZCGxAzzcZV4Q5ApP_6dvP_h-slg03X4MEw73PrdEnwjer4NnY1_9YUvHONKYhftnT1Eyo-TobuV0cjB/s1600/IMG_0902.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2NErFj_P_19O8xAaLyqSkWNc0IcGQrog3s-mmy-J4Y_NJpkikPf7_vV4Rb5ku-ZCGxAzzcZV4Q5ApP_6dvP_h-slg03X4MEw73PrdEnwjer4NnY1_9YUvHONKYhftnT1Eyo-TobuV0cjB/s320/IMG_0902.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And because it was
such a lovely day and because we were in anything but a hurry, we decided to
walk back to the bikes. It took us nearly an hour and a half but it’s amazing
how much more you can absorb of a city when you can stick your nose in every
other window. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgM7UTkMRXHyrFM0r2H12G-3TC3lnM-PJV0tVPfuYqhnOiBbDLpy17no-PaHHGkwCStdgByv9SwGdMfbEbYvY7f47ml5H_jhO9BEPkpcZJsrGKjih-CvSg0Vvkwu7Z5V5C6UVbNkz4UfQF/s1600/IMG_0901.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgM7UTkMRXHyrFM0r2H12G-3TC3lnM-PJV0tVPfuYqhnOiBbDLpy17no-PaHHGkwCStdgByv9SwGdMfbEbYvY7f47ml5H_jhO9BEPkpcZJsrGKjih-CvSg0Vvkwu7Z5V5C6UVbNkz4UfQF/s320/IMG_0901.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Getting back to the apartment, LB spent the
afternoon dozing on the sofa while I played with my market haul, before we
finished off the cheese and strawberries from the day before in lieu of dinner. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We also drank the duty-free on-sale bottle of Taittinger I made us buy at
Terminal Five in celebration of our Last Holiday On The Continent together* And
then we went for cocktails. I’d read about a couple of cute little bars within
strolling distance and was keen to check them out and LB was happy to oblige.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsURxWxb04LWjd9khfr9XCSE2HGlQYkl4hLL4bD0cqh0-0Cw1OWbN0VIaeNIm0LIpXdFZxS8bhvLoTbYcnRuz-vNP-km18mhkUeNdaTvUvxC44h0fUE7Q7hCyHJB_mad1KRdJX90FVu8b_/s1600/IMG_0896.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsURxWxb04LWjd9khfr9XCSE2HGlQYkl4hLL4bD0cqh0-0Cw1OWbN0VIaeNIm0LIpXdFZxS8bhvLoTbYcnRuz-vNP-km18mhkUeNdaTvUvxC44h0fUE7Q7hCyHJB_mad1KRdJX90FVu8b_/s320/IMG_0896.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The first one, Marietta, is low key and gay friendly with great pavement
seating to help watch the world go by. Beckett’s Kopf, around the corner, ups
the cool stakes with a closed door policy. If you want to go in, you have to
ring the doorbell. They don’t want casual stragglers here. You need to want to
drink their cocktails in their dark, cool space with their heavy leather seats
and friendly bar staff. And trust me, you do want to drink here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiabj_krDVtq3AQhmxfRU82VjqS7poIsrFIS7Y_yWdQedMBZksppbp6Y5z8HXuZRce9qm1Ou92S_V9jofm5qmUAZ01CwAFAmm4zBEe9_2ovrQEM0X34ivlmnK6a1r-kMLicvoYNnjzbFqS/s1600/IMG_0909.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiabj_krDVtq3AQhmxfRU82VjqS7poIsrFIS7Y_yWdQedMBZksppbp6Y5z8HXuZRce9qm1Ou92S_V9jofm5qmUAZ01CwAFAmm4zBEe9_2ovrQEM0X34ivlmnK6a1r-kMLicvoYNnjzbFqS/s320/IMG_0909.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marietta Bar.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We almost didn’t go in because it does look
closed from the street. LB and I played a game of chicken with the doorbell –
LB too scared and me just thinking about the drinks on the other side. So I
pressed the bell and LB set to run but then a very genial German opened the
door and we were in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We had a couple of very boozy beverages
here, made on the recommendations of our waiter. I’d love something a bit
floral, a bit girly, something easy to drink? How about this one – “it’s very
sippy.” Sippy, yes. Also, sensational. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIUff0KJwLhm1xYZY2IqouEONRxivaLuNfN2as4AyJT6ptLluxzB2gwDa8YlsEuvTXCgQxID547TFISYj8o55Cw7m8Dk3anPbjIAAKcsE4JYWlpyjTVXFKkhRKwIidDx-TX5mBrB7eBhZJ/s1600/DSC01454.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIUff0KJwLhm1xYZY2IqouEONRxivaLuNfN2as4AyJT6ptLluxzB2gwDa8YlsEuvTXCgQxID547TFISYj8o55Cw7m8Dk3anPbjIAAKcsE4JYWlpyjTVXFKkhRKwIidDx-TX5mBrB7eBhZJ/s320/DSC01454.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And then it was Monday. We were flying out
in the early evening so had the best part of the day to use and I made the most
of it by dragging LB to Martin Gropius Bau to see an exhibition by Anish
Kapoor. I had half wondered if it would be the <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/all-i-want-for-christmas-is-job.html" target="_blank">RA exhibition</a> I saw a few years
ago that has been doing the rounds internationally but was impressed and pretty
excited to discover that it was a new show with a lot of new work created
specifically for it, most of which I loved. I really like Kapoor’s work and his
considered use of scale and depth, his textural sensibilities, his interest in
entropy and colour and his use of materials, from resin to red wax to stainless
steel. Lovely Boy also liked it so I consider that a double win. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil-a0IcTtJt7uk87zecT7QQuPImvolNuwQ0mS4AGI99zTSoSit99zleZ0snycXO0fmtOeHVaOn_WTyjeYdc9a-JLrH7BurdspDfwXges7Z9VTqqr2TYSxON_C35wyz9kFrdg2-pRbcrw3C/s1600/DSC01393.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil-a0IcTtJt7uk87zecT7QQuPImvolNuwQ0mS4AGI99zTSoSit99zleZ0snycXO0fmtOeHVaOn_WTyjeYdc9a-JLrH7BurdspDfwXges7Z9VTqqr2TYSxON_C35wyz9kFrdg2-pRbcrw3C/s320/DSC01393.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2za8g_2dwvX9LztDrS_7uD3HyZ8686OiDcxkpzMQH9e4CUhdIFNLRQN0jIbnGA5wX_Bwzm9rps16aPid1m4rQTdDNXhyphenhyphenUeSrxGSak2LrwESI-1MH5nUDWYby_S1mBNw9iubwS5Bf8Ch8B/s1600/DSC01395.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2za8g_2dwvX9LztDrS_7uD3HyZ8686OiDcxkpzMQH9e4CUhdIFNLRQN0jIbnGA5wX_Bwzm9rps16aPid1m4rQTdDNXhyphenhyphenUeSrxGSak2LrwESI-1MH5nUDWYby_S1mBNw9iubwS5Bf8Ch8B/s320/DSC01395.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We headed back to Prenzlauer Berg for a
late lunch and I successfully managed to offload the last of my euros on an
amazing vintage dress I spotted in a passing window that LB said made me look
like a hipster. I’m fairly sure that wasn’t a compliment but I don’t care
because a cotton floral 1970s kaftan has been missing from my wardrobe since I
don’t know how long. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And then we were back to London. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNu9UfcsonEI1ThJ_Mt4J_JRj-k6vdAj_c4OrzXB9OAdf3-3JHcek9eX4kv9-VSpZOxE8BYUCfVpkLzmpQmixwf_7gqDB93aBfzhx1ZavrMxmKF8mxRXTYkW-w7GIounXYwr6jubVaFCAR/s1600/DSC01429.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNu9UfcsonEI1ThJ_Mt4J_JRj-k6vdAj_c4OrzXB9OAdf3-3JHcek9eX4kv9-VSpZOxE8BYUCfVpkLzmpQmixwf_7gqDB93aBfzhx1ZavrMxmKF8mxRXTYkW-w7GIounXYwr6jubVaFCAR/s320/DSC01429.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spotted at Mauerpark</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It was such a great, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">great</i> four days. Berlin will always be such a special place for me
and I’m already wondering when I’ll next be back. Hopefully not another five
years. But until then, Berlin….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">* This might have been <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">our </i>last European holiday together but it’s not <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mine. </i>I’m off to Amsterdam in a few
weeks time with my lovely friend Gem. The end is near but it’s not quite here
yet. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058567889421181565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7472508752742515220.post-78248719665770276522013-09-02T08:09:00.000+10:002013-09-02T08:40:43.763+10:00Golden Thistles and golden weekends<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmJJ8IGhcjzEbG720-uDJJd-sP41q2Abn4E2OfQLa4-_I41YMP8yovKiB1S3ysEN8So-mCz6tuTaf4x8c6zcDgtj03gftMaSoMT49HuzghYiwVcXXceRGOOluKKLMTieIrjHRXELn3RBdq/s1600/DSC01464.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmJJ8IGhcjzEbG720-uDJJd-sP41q2Abn4E2OfQLa4-_I41YMP8yovKiB1S3ysEN8So-mCz6tuTaf4x8c6zcDgtj03gftMaSoMT49HuzghYiwVcXXceRGOOluKKLMTieIrjHRXELn3RBdq/s320/DSC01464.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">The sunset out of Maidenhead. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So last week was all <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/panic-and-pink-post-it-notes.html" target="_blank">panic and post-it notes</a> and well, a bout or two of overwrought, overwhelmed tears (one of which
may or may not have been at work….) But this weekend just gone has been the
loveliest – an abrupt and necessary circuit breaker – and the chance for some
perspective on these next seven weeks, which seem to be tripping over
themselves in the hurry to be over and done with.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<br />
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWYHGpOfHvYSNTrWQpu7t7AaFgtN8J1cV076hmWr8ep3wOs-QMxq_26lvu4EK4psxjSoJwtiQoIReFCHROUFTEa9srUjjf7gHUU8XQ5IM34G2EOcHaM1F4QXgKhkXBhIrURf04_StlK-hK/s1600/DSC01472.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWYHGpOfHvYSNTrWQpu7t7AaFgtN8J1cV076hmWr8ep3wOs-QMxq_26lvu4EK4psxjSoJwtiQoIReFCHROUFTEa9srUjjf7gHUU8XQ5IM34G2EOcHaM1F4QXgKhkXBhIrURf04_StlK-hK/s320/DSC01472.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I’ve just been feeling lately like I want
to get off the ride for a minute, to catch my breath and just collect myself so
that I can live each day as a series of honest, present moments and not with a
view to everything else I have to see/do/start/finish/prepare/plan/organise/achieve
that week, next week and the following week. It’s exhausting. I’m exhausted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq8Z-sObFHZ1cBYB60aFhX-tXfKGkGKWO6Ej1JKnfPwCXV0r0NkyVmCkdjsOQIVz0VzFQjKI-KUoF0k15-7M4OnkH_duN-wbSMv9zjR3_tgzPGvj46YZqVgeHKNoLiztqvoT6ciZCq4IbU/s1600/IMG_0939.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq8Z-sObFHZ1cBYB60aFhX-tXfKGkGKWO6Ej1JKnfPwCXV0r0NkyVmCkdjsOQIVz0VzFQjKI-KUoF0k15-7M4OnkH_duN-wbSMv9zjR3_tgzPGvj46YZqVgeHKNoLiztqvoT6ciZCq4IbU/s320/IMG_0939.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The swans at Marlow</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span lang="EN-GB">So a well-time toy drop and a(nother)
weekend away has cleared the emotional decks and now I feel present and ready to roll.
Again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">This outing has been in the diary for
months and I’ve been looking forward to it since ever since. </span>Two night away
with our friends Nina and Steve on their most beautiful of Dutch barge
houseboats, cruising the upper reaches of the Thames.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4PV-oGTwL2RfIoHjxyZ9ZYuU7wfclKgIlTWbwQlNm_E9X9ODMqR6l8gxH5xzBTCfSmzXxL3kqFpj6wrn3bmwdOZ4PjuAY9cvTH3IhQrKlleFBaCtUhLeDB-ex82KYsd_U6a177gyKujqq/s1600/DSC01519.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4PV-oGTwL2RfIoHjxyZ9ZYuU7wfclKgIlTWbwQlNm_E9X9ODMqR6l8gxH5xzBTCfSmzXxL3kqFpj6wrn3bmwdOZ4PjuAY9cvTH3IhQrKlleFBaCtUhLeDB-ex82KYsd_U6a177gyKujqq/s320/DSC01519.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Golden Thistle moored near Cookham</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The Golden Thistle was built in 1906 and is
usually docked near to Canary Wharf but every Summer she heads up and out of
London for some alternative vistas. When Nina and Steve got married on Monkey
Island in 2011 they had their home moored behind them, decked in bunting. It
was pretty bloody <a href="http://12000milesfrombondi.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/month-of-weekends.html" target="_blank">lovely</a>. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJnsDCnOpLSma9zT0eGbXMNyuW5HIdsofayzi0WNsszq1i6DpSw1S1NelhVorhNnofCqvfeHeJJmJVN1NGipUp5kFmYkryvRHmDI9l_Za8uNu3ji4qRENHH6wo1B2HUVHrP0MUTEX-u06e/s1600/IMG_0940.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJnsDCnOpLSma9zT0eGbXMNyuW5HIdsofayzi0WNsszq1i6DpSw1S1NelhVorhNnofCqvfeHeJJmJVN1NGipUp5kFmYkryvRHmDI9l_Za8uNu3ji4qRENHH6wo1B2HUVHrP0MUTEX-u06e/s320/IMG_0940.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heading out of Marlow towards Cookham</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The idea of going on holiday and having my entire
wardrobe at my disposal (as well as literally the kitchen sink) is just so my idea of a dream
vacation. 'Home away from home' takes on a whole new meaning really. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Anyway, after surviving Friday at work – and then a sauna on the Bakerloo line to
Paddington – we hopped on the train to Marlow and spent the night moored
amongst the swans.</div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">On Saturday we made our way down river,
through a couple of locks, towards Cookham, where we moored on a large,
green island, populated mostly by cows. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Zwwo8fdVYj2Qd6fiC9WeUeuhyEPU5Ux8-azFLaRO46kA8bNTvlvgmSAw0yUAjOBuJ2bCueR5yR5qCvT_NK7qOuSh8akhawtlleqzGg7464LtNt5IH1D6cXAOeH4EDxm12K_Jv1Qesw14/s1600/DSC01518.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Zwwo8fdVYj2Qd6fiC9WeUeuhyEPU5Ux8-azFLaRO46kA8bNTvlvgmSAw0yUAjOBuJ2bCueR5yR5qCvT_NK7qOuSh8akhawtlleqzGg7464LtNt5IH1D6cXAOeH4EDxm12K_Jv1Qesw14/s320/DSC01518.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We ate, we drank, we boated around the
islands, we admired Cliveden, the former home of 20th century socialites Waldorf and Nancy Astor, from a distance and we almost got locked off the
island after they closed the gates across the weir and we came back late from a
drink at the pub. And by late I mean 7.20pm. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBSJo7Uv7mNBmcWuvQT_C2TLuLiR2Gm4kT0QJenjbnCnBbqo2mywuW44gPhJqJFLe5pM6_-MVSmfY6UvvVG76k8VdMi5n5Gi1wGYDAe9MEHL7q6BETztFr7iCgLL_VGxRbTQYG-AfSOv2q/s1600/DSC01505.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBSJo7Uv7mNBmcWuvQT_C2TLuLiR2Gm4kT0QJenjbnCnBbqo2mywuW44gPhJqJFLe5pM6_-MVSmfY6UvvVG76k8VdMi5n5Gi1wGYDAe9MEHL7q6BETztFr7iCgLL_VGxRbTQYG-AfSOv2q/s320/DSC01505.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cliveden from the Thames</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqWhxV31v1lp6vh4QfT2AOa0DbTG_z83iGx0Ek15eJCSTYXztSnAUbOQ-px4s0HbS1OdsOktzTrUjvLLwvOHQ_f3iZIsom8oXd_FWmfHiaBB_Ax-i61fJ_sWHFixJgJLYshP75plIqwTlJ/s1600/DSC01510.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqWhxV31v1lp6vh4QfT2AOa0DbTG_z83iGx0Ek15eJCSTYXztSnAUbOQ-px4s0HbS1OdsOktzTrUjvLLwvOHQ_f3iZIsom8oXd_FWmfHiaBB_Ax-i61fJ_sWHFixJgJLYshP75plIqwTlJ/s320/DSC01510.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Steve and Lovely Boy scaled the
fence and by luck came back with campers who had a key but for a small moment we were
contemplating everything from bolt cutters to breaststroke. Every weekend needs a dash of drama I suppose and this happened to be ours. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We had a barbeque that night and the most
satisfying of sleeps, against a soundtrack of… silence. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilnQJgNhN_mmOQWfp5OMfF0N7idW9WnQWdiAuY9QKs-l0uSjc2eEiUtnXZ6oddSru7nRDUFi3q371I-xUgVBLvHhlbOl0BS4clvkNjMWP7A_yujX1KDDdMpXtUw4p_0-5OtTdkMjZAirAw/s1600/IMG_0948.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilnQJgNhN_mmOQWfp5OMfF0N7idW9WnQWdiAuY9QKs-l0uSjc2eEiUtnXZ6oddSru7nRDUFi3q371I-xUgVBLvHhlbOl0BS4clvkNjMWP7A_yujX1KDDdMpXtUw4p_0-5OtTdkMjZAirAw/s320/IMG_0948.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"></span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtqZms6akrjmWtfE2qQ8DaGBEL7SLqkPEusWFzEgNl2zMPJ_WT6ezMZccccNZ8UjczHHSIwjWtqEoej7kWI7cZZN2SNvZNE1rEgzBLVBzNJRuC4KhBztvGKSgqNVQ9JPINsZroOS1WS9Wr/s1600/IMG_0949.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtqZms6akrjmWtfE2qQ8DaGBEL7SLqkPEusWFzEgNl2zMPJ_WT6ezMZccccNZ8UjczHHSIwjWtqEoej7kWI7cZZN2SNvZNE1rEgzBLVBzNJRuC4KhBztvGKSgqNVQ9JPINsZroOS1WS9Wr/s320/IMG_0949.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from bed this morning</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">And then today we made out way to Windsor,
mooring in view of the castle, where we left Nina and Steve to head back to
London.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Honestly, being away from London, away from
3G phone coverage, away from traffic and tube rage and washing and worry is
just so freaking good. Being on the water, with the weeping willows and the
ducks and the rowers and the cheery, waving people on all the other boats and
the sunshine and the gin and tonics and the dear friends is just even freaking
better.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmskDFmxLUPY6VkzTZ9qjHZFLiQRefiTrg5OFk57pPhs1YYj1pgEsaQm1pKY2slbz9TqBUbsJPWC4zuQg5jzKD61G3lR0YewvQNRGnF1w_V9zRVmmlv07kXC8IyzD6n2vPtRhxZFCtBMN8/s1600/DSC01559.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmskDFmxLUPY6VkzTZ9qjHZFLiQRefiTrg5OFk57pPhs1YYj1pgEsaQm1pKY2slbz9TqBUbsJPWC4zuQg5jzKD61G3lR0YewvQNRGnF1w_V9zRVmmlv07kXC8IyzD6n2vPtRhxZFCtBMN8/s320/DSC01559.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heading through Boulters Lock with an audience overhead</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We didn’t travel at more than about 4 knots
for the entire weekend. At that speed it’s impossible to do anything but exhale
and feel exceedingly grateful. And relaxed. So very, very relaxed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">We have seven weekends left in London. <i>Seven. Fuck. </i>Needless to say every one
of them is already heavily scheduled so this weekend has felt necessary as well
as special.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8MCT8v4Y0ciBim9THJ4RtTCMpnl7811geIZQUTJDKk3totBnfPEFd5T-LpkJTCH31of7B8iH6oZ3m8JzYzHKATQ0QbUnEtAW1DIvvUdtmtxrAlC-N57jc5MeWBjN85mXeVCGMTV4vnA7n/s1600/DSC01590.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8MCT8v4Y0ciBim9THJ4RtTCMpnl7811geIZQUTJDKk3totBnfPEFd5T-LpkJTCH31of7B8iH6oZ3m8JzYzHKATQ0QbUnEtAW1DIvvUdtmtxrAlC-N57jc5MeWBjN85mXeVCGMTV4vnA7n/s320/DSC01590.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Windsor Castle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Things are about to get busier. But one
thing at a time.</span></div>
Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058567889421181565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7472508752742515220.post-45323620836757883752013-08-29T08:53:00.000+10:002013-08-29T09:03:56.631+10:00Panic and pink post-it notes.<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">So Berlin was wonderful. Sunny, charming,
intoxicatingly cool and laid back and just, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">perfect.
</i>I couldn’t have asked for four more lovely days.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzjstA4FsWnUZa8yr_S0bne7vXq7EX5VWAoALEVh2jfo07LVnV-ZGTlFtyMsGeBkpplqZI5wWn_Cxd74zOcbFZQtS2ad-C1qtDLsIWI0QwN9giLdKgkdRz4xpueL3d_4TS-SANAQkZ5ak0/s1600/berlin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzjstA4FsWnUZa8yr_S0bne7vXq7EX5VWAoALEVh2jfo07LVnV-ZGTlFtyMsGeBkpplqZI5wWn_Cxd74zOcbFZQtS2ad-C1qtDLsIWI0QwN9giLdKgkdRz4xpueL3d_4TS-SANAQkZ5ak0/s320/berlin.jpg" width="315" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">All of which I’ll get to tomorrow,
hopefully. Because right now I’m swimming in pink post-it notes and panic. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
My obsessive need to be organised, my love
of lists, our looming return to Sydney and my tendency to forward-think (and
yes, yes, over-think…) have tangled themselves spectacularly thanks to some
adroit mental gymnastics, to the point yesterday where I found myself wondering
if it was possible to vomit tears.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Berlin was great, amazing, <i>perfect.</i> But I
didn’t manage much sleep while we were away. Instead, I entertained a sporadic showreel of
half-conscious thoughts; a tipping of my mental sock drawer out onto the
floor strewing family dramas, work worries, a writing backlog and growing
lists of must-do, must-see and must-finish everywhere, using lazy visual metaphors. Tossed about in a boat lost at sea anyone? It was exhausting. I am
exhausted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBE10AiEpHgtU0H_uFKlIfVjAelzmfuUppBwDtCV8_l87lkN3EGWMoex7-BBKo5DZTRWPE35V7ZWPNs1O__XCaqL7qfQ2XVjDIA3BjKo4zvkBNM-ECv9a4Jd0EVGqv-HEFXkW4NHO11GA7/s1600/todo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBE10AiEpHgtU0H_uFKlIfVjAelzmfuUppBwDtCV8_l87lkN3EGWMoex7-BBKo5DZTRWPE35V7ZWPNs1O__XCaqL7qfQ2XVjDIA3BjKo4zvkBNM-ECv9a4Jd0EVGqv-HEFXkW4NHO11GA7/s320/todo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I feel better today. I’ve crossed things
off my list – not the least of which was booking tickets to see Cedar Lake
Contemporary Ballet’s triple bill at Sadlers Wells, writing an entire 3000 word
evaluation report and tweaking the copy for my new website. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">This time in eight weeks exactly we’ll be
home. That thought terrifies me for so many reasons. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">At least this weekend we’re out of the
house – away from all the intensely trivial reminders of the shit storm of
packing to come. We’re off to cruise the upper reaches of the Thames on Nina
and Steve’s houseboat and I cannot wait. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Until then I can comfort myself with crossing another thing off my list. Write about my post-it note panic-induced insomnia problem? Tick. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058567889421181565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7472508752742515220.post-64711053267855767922013-08-22T08:06:00.000+10:002013-08-29T08:07:15.336+10:00The first of the lasts. And another first.<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I should be packing for Berlin (I did
mention I was going to Berlin somewhere back there didn’t I? August long
weekend? Plane tickets a birthday present from the husband? Pilgrimage to my
favourite city One Last Time? Ringing any bells?)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Anyway – we’re off tomorrow after work and
I am so looking forward to it. Four days to bike around, eat good food, drink wine
in the sunshine and trawl flea markets for treasure. Happiness on a stick. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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It also feels like an important pause as
our return to Sydney date looms ever closer and the days and weeks start to
blur with rude impatience and I start to panic about, well, Everything.<br />
<br />
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<span lang="EN-GB">I’m trying not to prematurely
over-sentimentalise but I don’t think it’s unrealistic to imagine that I
probably <i>won’t</i> be walking home this
way again anytime in the next eight weeks. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">The first of many <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The last time I…<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">I found myself moseying home via Tower
Bridge because I’d been drinking wine in the aftermath of a warm late summer’s
day at the rather lovely, eponymously titled 40 Maltby St with some rather
lovely friends. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2NrnMldczYDjmpvoTN3dwja-Y91bLFrHO5hbdscWGGRB3ahTZPtyeqjfIEkmweIN-m334EbgYQN0QAFDJF4uIz1TDbf8wYeNcBxxCLLVMAM-8jQRcf3X7ob0HAUh0Rm_EAnoFT00XUnRy/s1600/IMG_0858.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2NrnMldczYDjmpvoTN3dwja-Y91bLFrHO5hbdscWGGRB3ahTZPtyeqjfIEkmweIN-m334EbgYQN0QAFDJF4uIz1TDbf8wYeNcBxxCLLVMAM-8jQRcf3X7ob0HAUh0Rm_EAnoFT00XUnRy/s320/IMG_0858.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">A wine bar, cellar and kitchen it’s taken up residence under
one of the Bermondsey railway arches. The inside is pretty charming, the
immediate locale is pretty ordinary – the view from our pavement table was a
monstrosity of a building site – but the wine is fucking sensational and we
indelicately hovered up the tapas-style plates of meat, dips and cheeses so it’s
safe to say they were pretty good too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ9yhbWCPXYfk5bdVQ_RlrCLgm-8GH6QeQeH9sLwY4PW6-8dg5jqCtDlxuRW6SV7AwKbhjapRDfFxh7XUhpWnebxp1X1-qBCp2_p1SJ22n_3zg4Sh77QH8I5bGCcHdh68vs6-AItr5aH4l/s1600/IMG_0859.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ9yhbWCPXYfk5bdVQ_RlrCLgm-8GH6QeQeH9sLwY4PW6-8dg5jqCtDlxuRW6SV7AwKbhjapRDfFxh7XUhpWnebxp1X1-qBCp2_p1SJ22n_3zg4Sh77QH8I5bGCcHdh68vs6-AItr5aH4l/s320/IMG_0859.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Hopefully it won’t prove to be a first
visit <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and</i> a last visit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">God.</span></div>
<br />Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058567889421181565noreply@blogger.com0