“For every storm a rainbow, for every tear a smile…”

A door that was always open. Walking into a room filled with laughter. You pretended your birthday was a day earlier so you didn’t have to wait to open your presents. The smell of your perfume. Knitted blankets. You put your favorite cards on top of the television. “If you don’t mind I’d prefer a whole banana rather than  a banana split.” Comfy chairs. Holding your hand as we walked to the corner shop. Squeezing everyone around the table for Sunday lunch. Lillies. Cabinets filled with curiosities. Everyday day was pancake day. “ATCHOO!” “Oooh, bless you! Stop you turning into a hairy fairy.” Licking the bowl.  The little room. The blue room. Nana’s room. Being sous chef. Playing hide and seek. Nana’s “Kitchen Gallery”. Flipping pancakes until all that was left were a few scraggly remains. Silk scarfs. Saying our prayers. Dunking biscuits into dainty china tea cups. You bought me my “bear with a poorly eye”. Squishing fruit with our feet to make homemade “wine”. Only being “one loaf away”. A home filled with the smell of baking. Sunday goody bags. Giggling as you snored in your chair. Tucking your cross behind your blouse. Codladh sámh Nana.

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

For me, the first snowfall of the season is one of the most magical events of the year!

I love rushing to the window to watch the first sprinkle of snowflakes fall to the ground; excitedly spreading the word (“SNOW! SNOOOOW! LOOK! IT’S SNOWING!”); dreaming of blizzards that call off classes and send everyone sledging; hurriedly wrapping up so that I can catch the first few snowflakes; fresh footprints; rosy cheeks; being sure that Mr. Tumnus is waiting at the next lamppost and knowing that for the next few months I’ll be peaking behind my curtain every morning… just in-case. 

It’s hard not to revert to your six year old self when the snow starts to fall.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

This weekend has been a whirl wind of wonderful Christmas cliches!

Friday night’s Christmas Work Do (filled with terribly cracker jokes, paper hats and my first mince pie of the season); falling asleep in front of the fire; not being too old for your Mum to buy you an advent calendar;  skidding along pavements that have been sprinkled with frost; spending an afternoon meandering through Manchester’s Christmas markets whilst being serenaded by choirs & brass bands; cold fingers; cold toes; red noses; hot mugs filled with “THERE’S NO HOT CHOCOLATE?!”; holding hands; bratwurst; white chocolate covered strawberry kebabs; being too cold to say “white chocolate covered strawberry kebabs”; finding the perfect gift; not wanting to wait until Christmas to give the aforementioned perfect gift; family reunions; vowing to wear my new snowman scarf for the duration of the festive season; snuggling up to watch Miracle on 34th Street and knowing that there’s still 23 days of anticipation and excitement.

“HAPPY MONDAY!”

It’s far too easy to get wrapped up in the post-weekend blues but instead of grunting your way through yet another Monday morning brighten up the week ahead with a Disney sized dose of optimism and smiles.

Regale colleagues with all the fun things you did over the weekend; wear a spritz of your favorite perfume; enjoy a scrumptious slice of cake after lunch; smile at your fellow commuters and HAVE A HAPPY MONDAY!

Life’s a whole lot more charming and wonderful when your tea cup is half full.

One Day

“You’re gorgeous, you old hag, and if I could give you just one gift ever for the rest of your life it would be this. Confidence. It would be the gift of confidence. Either that or a scented candle” One Day, David Nicholls

Confessions of a Museum Geek

I’m about to share a secret which I hope won’t make you laugh too hard. Yesterday I saw the National Gallery’s Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan exhibition *jumps for geeky joy*. The night before the exhibition I was so excited I hardly slept a wink, admittedly the late night coffee probably didn’t help.

Which exhibitions can’t you wait to see?

Last Chance to See- Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970-1990 at the Victoria and Albert Museum

I love fate days! They’re the ones where you’re strolling along, enjoying life and everything falls into place without any prior planning. As a compulsive diary filler fate days are few and far between but last October a friend and I had a few free hours and a coffee cup from Benugo (http://www.benugocafedeli.com) provided the answer.

Post train journey. Inhaling lunch. Sleep deprived. Caffeine yet to hit the blood stream. Trying to think of something to do before we can check into the hostel. Neither one of us wanting to be the one to make the decision in case the other doesn’t like it. Caffeine starts to kick in. Start to focus on the coffee cup design: “£2 off the Postmodern: Style and Subversion 1970-1990 exhibition”our penny pinching ways made the decision for us.

Defining postmodernism is a tricky business. I struggled with the concept throughout University, occasionally  half grasping at the meaning only to loose it a minute or two later, and I doubt that I’m alone. The V&A realised that the simplest and most effective way for people to understand the term is through the objects which defined the movement in the first place.

The exhibition displays an impressive 250 items. With designs from the likes of Vivienne Westwood, Ron Arad, Michael Graves there is a lot to take in.  Thankfully the exhibition reveals itself slowly, giving you a chance to absorb one side of Postmodernism before being exposed to another. It can roughly be divided into three sections which chart the different stages of postmodernism: the end of Modernism, fringe culture and finally Postmodernism becomes the popular discourse of the corporate world.

End of Modernism… For a movement to define itself as “Post-”anything means it requires a prerequisite to rebel against, in this instance, Modernism. It’s therefore fitting that the exhibition begins with “The Last Rites” of Modernism, signalling its end and the start of something new.

Postmodernism becomes mainstream… As the exhibition starts to draw to a close everything becomes a bit too familiar. The images of fashion, money and greed could have been taken from a modern day magazine but it takes a couple of seconds to draw the comparison between then and now, during which time you, or at least I, judged the past before realising that it wasn’t dissimilar to the present. It ends with a defiant assertion: “like it or not we are all postmodern now.”

Postmodernism isn’t over but the exhibition didn’t need to include items from the present day, the visitor can’t help but carry on the curator’s commentary as soon as they step onto the street. That’s why it’s such a successful exhibition.

Would you define today at Postmodern? Or are we post-Postmodern?

Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970-1990 closes this Sunday (15 January 2012) so and if you haven’t already seen it-GO NOW!

What is Postmodernism?

BRIGHT COLOURS

VISUALLY THRILLING, ID no. 28 the art issue 1985

 

RUINOUS

 

  LUDICROUS. “Consumer’s Rest” Shopping cart chair by Franck  Schreiner

GAUDY. Carlton Bookcase by Ettore Sottsass, 1980.

 

REBELLION AGAINST MODERNISM'S UTOPIAN VISION. Demolition of the Pruitt-Igoe, the modernist flats in St Louis, Missouri designed by Minoru Yamasaki.

 

MONEY. Part of the exhibition.