I loved it

We had such a good time. We looked at all the pictures, chatted, sat on this sofa and that chair. My father took photos of us.

One artist's partner is an art gallery owner so I asked him to start writing in the visitors' book. He put in a clearly written name and surname all in capitals, plus legible address complete with postcode.

There were so many artists, 10 in all, including many older relatives of mine. It was a real chance to talk about the and about the places they had painted.

I got the locations for some of the pictures wrong, the Sahara was actually Death Valley and Yugoslavia was actually La Rhune in South West France near the Spanish border!

My mother A has asked to borrow the one and only oil by her mother R. I was given it to decorate my room in college and I have loved it ever since. So now I will pass it to my mother A so she can enjoy it too.

The sitting room looks fabulous with all these paintings and virtually no furniture or clutter. We go in there and enjoy the display.

After seeing a tiny watercolour done by my aunt M for me one Christmas, my mother in law slipped next door and brought back a similar sized one she had been given too. It was quite different, a sober and peaceful landscape, while mine was a bright vase of flowers. My parents were touched to see them side by side. They hadn't been aware of my aunt M's gifts.

Spring Show - Lucie Motion, Ian Maitland, Anne Lawton, Thomas Parks and others

This Sunday afternoon I am holding my first one session Show at our house. I have many contributions from my extended family, friends plus a friend of a friend.

Two artists have their own sites:

Lucie Motion: luciemotion.com

Thomas Parks: thomasparks.carbonmade.com

My burning question about Bahrain

Ok, I do not understand why burning tyres in the middle of a road is a good method of protest. It does not tick the non-violent box, which I think is better. Nor does it seem to go easily with placards or messages to promote a cause, again a much better method. Anything to do with fire is out and out dangerous, and blocking the traffic annoys people, two more reasons to avoid burning tyres.

Putting oil on tarmac is bad publicity too, so all in all I am very supportive of the wishes for greater democracy, better policing, more justice, no torture, free access to medical care, freeing of jailed doctors etc, but can someone PLEASE dare these guys to find a better method of protest, as in more effective at drawing admiration, respect, understanding of the issues and agreement from people seeing news from many miles away.

...

I wrote this a few days ago, then left it in my drafts files as I felt I didn't want to look stupid by putting my head above the parapet as it were. Anyway, I have seen a few tweets questioning the value of using fire, so I will post this now.

Time passing

I found a short poem set in a remarkably clear article.

Reading the article made me aware that one day no one will be alive from the time of the Holocaust. That scares me as there would be no direct link to it, but maybe that will be a blessing too. Sometimes I feel that I can peacefully let all these things pass away, but at other times I do not want anything to be lost, not a conversation or book, poem or photograph of a face.

Will a text be written which will include important writings from nowadays? Wikipedia, the British Library? Neither is printed and portable!

It is probably the new words in our languages themselves which stay as evidence of extreme events. The songs and phrases within them, the proverbs. What about the names of places associated with dark events or the streets and squares named after remarkable people?

Turn taking

I find this so hard.

If I am in a group where the pace of conversation is slow and considered, then I fit in and only speak in turn, I fondly think. But when I am in a fast paced chatting session, I just speed it up further and ill considered comments come out of my mouth...

To try and combat this I will alter the No Kvetching Sabbath to a No Butting In Sabbath. Maybe not butting in will naturally lead to no complaining due to the delay before getting my turn?

If on Twitter I am retweeting comments against tear gas, then maybe, just maybe, I should stop using my own personal verbal tear gas in conversation. I think it is due to me being more edgy and reactive in some conversations. As with everything, becoming aware of my problem will help me find ways to deal with it well and compassionately.

You don't have to brush all your teeth...

Just the ones you want to keep!!!

This is my new mantra to encourage better and more frequent toothbrushing. T found it on the web, spoke it out loud to me and I have been over-using it ever since.

White House statement on Bahrain

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release April 11, 2012
Statement by the Press Secretary on the Situation in Bahrain

The United States continues to be deeply concerned about the situation in Bahrain, and we urge all parties to reject violence in all its forms.  We condemn the violence directed against police and government institutions, including recent incidents that have resulted in serious injuries to police officers.  We also call on the police to exercise maximum restraint, and condemn the use of excessive force and indiscriminate use of tear gas against protestors, which has resulted in civilian casualties.

We continue to underscore, both to the government and citizens of Bahrain, the importance of working together to address the underlying causes of mistrust and to promote reconciliation.  In this respect, we note our continued concern for the well-being of jailed activist Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja and call on the Government of Bahrain to consider urgently all available options to resolve his case.  More broadly, we urge the government to redouble its ongoing efforts to implement the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, and renew our call for the government, opposition parties, and all segments of Bahraini society to engage in a genuine dialogue leading to meaningful reforms that address the legitimate aspirations of all Bahrainis.

Me, myself and I

Sure as the most certain sure....plumb in the
uprights, well entretied, braced in the beams,
Stout as a horse, affectionate, haughty, electrical,
I and this mystery here we stand.

Clear and sweet is my soul....and clear and sweet is
all that is not my soul.

Lack one lacks both....and the unseen is proved by
the seen,
Til that becomes unseen and receives proof in its
turn.

Showing the best and dividing it from the worst, age
vexes age,
Knowing the perfect fitness and equanimity of things,
while they discuss I am silent, and go bathe and
admire myself.

Welcome is every organ and attribute of me, and of
any man hearty and clean,
Not an inch nor a particle of an inch is vile, and none
shall be less familiar than the rest.

From 'Song of Myself'
By Walt Whitman

Quoted on page 94 of 'Holding Faith' by Davd Gee

Concentric Circles

Wow, I have just seen the bit of film showing people kneeling, not in rows as in all the news footage over the past year, but in perfect circles around the Kaaba in Mecca. Gosh, how very beautiful.

Of course, it makes sense, all round (!) the world people line up in rows towards Mecca, so actually being right there means a circle. So bigger circles are created all the time, but in interrupted segments. Back to my A level Maths, each portion of a circle is meant to be a tiny straight line. Voila, in real life.

Space

It feels as if the house has doubled in size....because I have cleared off a small area of the wooden surface by the sink in the kitchen. Due to this we have effectively doubled the size of our one working area for chopping, putting butter on toast and making pancake mix. Wow!

You need long arms to cope with the new system because the jams and honey pots are perched along the middle bit of the window frame. The compost pan is balanced on top of the green bin. To be honest it is a disaster waiting to happen, but for now I am strangely happy and smile every time I see how orderly it all looks.

Even the small sharp knives got a new container which is wider at the bottom than at the top. The last mug they were in was the other way around, so you can imagine how often I would accidentally knock it plus contents all over the place.

Candles, light and hope

Last year I decided to light a candle for 15 minutes every day during Lent and sit quietly. I called it Lent for Libya in my mind as that was the big story at the time. I have no family connection with Libya, but I did sign the Avaaz petition for military help, so I felt responsible.

Sometimes I had a cup of coffee at the same time. Sometimes I was gloomy, anxious and fidgetty. Other times I was more peaceful. But I did it every day as far as I can remember for the 6 weeks. Then after that I simply followed the news, listened to Tribute fm and waited.

Clearing the table = making art

T and I accused each other of piling all our stuff on the kitchen table. So we gradually cleared it off! What a difference now I have polished it and put a new table cloth on it.

I forget how every corner of our house needs frequent and regular clearing off, polishing and creative re-arranging. It is a permanent set of duties. I am ok with laundry, washing up and hanging up my coat, but there is soooo much more to it than that.

My grandmother Raymonde used to take the fallen leaves off the low bushes as she walked slowly in one of her care homes. So even then she was re-creating order as she went about her business of being 80+.

The cat licks herself clean often, it never stops.

I feel I must not remove old decorations from the top shelf of our dresser because: some one gave me the wooden item, someone else gave T the cards, all guilt of one form and another. Actually it is perhaps ok to make a new display every month or season.

Translating Easter

As T is unmoved by Christian explanations for things, I think around each festival to find an alternative way of finding meaning. So Easter is becoming a discussion in my mind about the death penalty, the legal system, the awkward position of authoritarian governors who are authorised to give the death penalty, the role of noisy public opinion.

Right now, this very minute, there is a human rights defender in Bahrain starting on day 60 of his hunger strike, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja. He is also currently sentenced to life imprisonment.

We have have been discussing previous hunger strikers like the Suffragettes and suicide actions by Tibetan monks.

The phrases 'Giving your life for ...' and 'Devoting your life to ...' are used in many different ways. I hadn't been so aware of how much people do for others until the Arab Spring started.

Minimalist Perfection

"The boulder is the climber's version of the haiku - minimalist perfection, with everything condensed into one short sequence of exquisitely hard moves, which may rise no more than a couple of metres off the ground.

As a child I loved bouldering. It was just something I did for fun, without realising that it had an actual name."

First Ascent
By Stephen Venables

Sunday has been cancelled!

H really fell for it. Last night he asked what day it was, I told him it was just going into Sunday, but a day was going to be missed out so it would be Monday instead. I said it had been announced on the news during the evening. I explained that S his father would be going to work because of this, but hopefully he would still be able to take T and H out for a pizza in the evening.

H still looked dubious even after I had confessed to my April Fool. He said that since it had been on the news it must be true. I don't usually do successful bare-faced lies!

#OWSA1 has some great first of April tweets, if only some of them were true.