bon anniversaire

tomorrow is my birthday. 146 years...it has flown by, especially as 40 odd of it was spent locked in the basement of the manchester museum...but thats another story!

a strange feeling, excited like a small child at the thought of receiving cards, presents and special wishes from one's friends, but also inevitably a day for reflection, and the exaggeration of a familiar feeling of anachronism, existing outside or apart from the aims and preoccupations of the mainstream. of course that is an affectation, as i am aware of the fact that many other people feel this estrangement, and they are not even 146 years of age! but being around such a young coterie of bluestockings, so much younger and adept at todays bizarre top speed attention span and lifestyles, though invigorating and enlightening, can be puzzling and confusing too. sometimes my innate pessimism and jaded outlook gets to them all. i like to blame my age and the fact that the world seems to have changed so dramatically around me, in a century of unprecedented innovation and technological advances; but perhaps i was always bewildered...

anyway, to stave off the birthday blues, i am bustling myself with preparations for a short visit to london with friends and looking forward to rushing around trying to fit in far too much, as always...

things to try to see include the terracotta army at the british museum, louise bourgeois at the tate modern, the riba headquarters for afternoon tea in the resplendant setting of the tea rooms on the first floor, plus a mooch round portobello market (friday being the best day for flea market gems), and sunday around islington street market for oddities and items to bring back.

those not so fortunate to be leaving manchestershire can console themselves with a packed cultural calendar and events to attend.

may i draw your attention to the following -

new contemporaries launch tonight at cornerhouse, or catch the discussion between some of the artists taking part this sunday at 2pm, in in conversation...
shrinking cities continues at cube,
last chance to catch joy on toast at the museum tonight and saturday,
autonomous agents symposium at the whitworth this saturday,

lets compare notes upon my return...