Bits and bobs
Arrived at conference in decent time - tube to Liverpool St (one convoluted change) and taxi to venue, which turned out to be adjacent to site of former public baths where taxi driver learnt to swim - a Tired of London? Tired of Life! moment.
The conference, though small (it was never going to be huge, at the venue in question) went very well indeed. Only one paper struck me as higher codswallop, and both speakers and audience were interesting mix of academics and fanpeople from society for A Particular Author.
My paper I think went well. First time I have taken it out!
There may be a publication.
Walked back to Liverpool St (it was a lovely afternoon), via Wentworth St, which has particular significance in my life, as it was there that partner's ancestor picked up the drunken man whom she took back to her lodgings and rolled for his cash, with the consequence that she was transported to the Antipodes.
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Spotted on the Tube, the kind of ad we do not expect from an institution like John Lewis, promoting their online presence, with a young person in underwear and the slogan 'Designer underwear for people who like to shop in their designer underwear'. Ugh.
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Flitted through my head during the course of the day: play entitled The Caucasian Chalk Garden. Hmmmm.
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A few links:
Jonathan Jones comes good re women and surrealism:
This exhibition is a lesson in why feminists are right. How can so many good artists and so many striking works of art have been neglected, if not through the infinite resourcefulness of patriarchy?
Interview with Jo Brand:
[S]he has learned to cope by mentally stepping aside, a kind of dissociation that's "a very handy defence mechanism for very horrible gigs. I think it's kind of important to accept that even though it seems personal, that it's not personal. Because the kind of man who behaves like that towards women is not only going to do it to you this one time in his life, he's doing it everywhere he goes, to any woman he chooses to do it to. And if you move yourself sideways and go,'It's not my problem, it's his,' and have your own little stab at putting him down and ruining his life, even if it's for five minutes, well, that makes you feel better, you know?"
Iggerant, iggerant: the Ten of the Best books this week theme is 'Green': wot no Green Mansions???
Not sure what I think about this: Viv Groskop meets a 'far-out' midwife who has become a guru to celebrities. But is delivering a breech baby feet first without pain relief really a good idea? One can see that modern medicalised birth may be too interventionist and caesarian-happy without going to the other extreme. And one does think that the women involved are both highly motivated and, if they are able to afford to go to this remote place to give birth, probably in pretty good general health.
Lucy Mangan: A new chapter - How to celebrate one's first wedding anniversary? By reorganising all those books, of course.
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