Weekend
- relaxed quiet Friday
- meeting on Saturday going OK
- going underneath the exam halls - very retro (WW2 hospital signs)
- getting my name done in arabic calligraphy (I believe in the Deewani style) by Sabah Arbilli* (I've liked calligraphy forever.)
- being on time for every meeting this weekend (well 10 minutes late for one due to ad hoc bus arrival estimate being off)
- getting into Ministry despite our host not making it
- frenetic dancing
- meeting a nice Brazilian
- watching lovely drossy tv
- watching Amelie again
- making a personal maze record at Leeds Castle
- realizing that the guy in front of us was holding a box of baby barn owls
- lots of cake, plants, waterfowl (especially in the duckery), girl-chat, many darting swifts, a goldfinch and a bunny
- not drinking too much
- no hangovers
- 'Don't big me up like that girl-I ain't that small.'
- making all those delayed family phonecalls
My favourite Arabic calligrapher, Hassan Massoudy uses mostly thuluth.
I had liked postcards of his stuff for yoears but was impressed all over again when I saw his work within the British Museum exhibition,'Word into Art - Artists of the Modern Middle East', last June. This artist was also very impressive. Sadly the Museum seems to have taken down the web pages on this, although a book is available. As with all art in reproduction, much is lost without the texture of the paper and ink before you.
شىفخىهش ةشىسثم-مخىل)ش ى ف خ ى ه ش ة ش ى س ث م - م خ ى ل) is the automatically generated spelling for my name, but not the phonetic one their linguist assistant used.
You can try calligraphy online here.
*Arbilli is an Iranian who is continuing his study in Islamic calligraphy ( Khatt ul-Yad خط اليد) - a lifetime commitment - and is currently based in London. He plans to open a workshop in Birmingham.