I'm a sucker for letters. Not the traditional kind of letters (sadly I haven't written one or received one in 14 years or so) but letters as in typography. It's all around us in so many different forms and it makes my day whenever I see a great sign or just some nicely coloured vandalism.
A bit of tasty Dutch typography over at grainedit.com
It's finally time to put away all of these don't you think? Believe it or not I used nearly all of these this winter, it was a ridiculously long one this year. Here's to hoping I don't need to use any of them until October-November again... Hope ya'll had a nice weekend!
Dagnamit, the weather is all over the place and it means that now that I'm a cyclist it completely dictates my day (I have waterproofs but when the wind's howling and it's hailing I simply ain't going out). Of course after I cancelled my plans the sun came out but some tea in a glass, a bit of reading and some deep shadows across the kitchen walls made for a nice afternoon.
We finally had a bit of proper spring weather yesterday (it's gone today) so me and Margot the bike headed through town and down to Tate Britain where I enjoyed the Peter Doig and the "Modern Painters - The Camden Town Group" exhibitions. I took a bit of a weird route there and cycled through Bond Street with it's chi chi designer stores and it felt great to be enjoying something as wonderfully basic as a bike whilst people with face lifts and handbags that cost ten times much as Margot where scurrying about spending fortunes. On the bike I really felt that I owned London. I can go wherever I want whenever I want, total freedom in other words. So after the high dose of culture I cycled up to Hyde Park where I met up with my sister and enjoyed the first ice-cream of the year in the warming afternoon sun. I can get used to this.
We took the nephew down yesterday to introduce him to the sounds of the beatbox. He really enjoyed it and exclaimed afterwards that he wanted a microphone to use at home. After the performances we watched him doing acrobatics (or was it the longjump?).
The Southbank Centre held it's annual Beatbox Convention over the weekend so we (body)popped down there to chiggydicheck it out. There's so many great things happening all over town every week that doesn't cost a penny and I'm going to try to go to more of them from now on. Word.
Here she is... she's a bit small but raising the seat should do it. I've dreamt about having a bike like this since I went to Amsterdam years ago and leisurely cycled around town on a Dutch style bike. I'm really looking forward to life on two wheels and leaving public transport behind. Woohoo!
Started with lunch at S&M Cafe, delicious as usual, then scoured the antiques market at Spitalfields but didn't buy anything. Continued up Brick Lane and then the unexpected happened. I completely and utterly fell in love with a bike. Now I'm the most careful shopper normally but I just saw it and knew I had to have it. I asked for it to be put it aside and had to go away to think about it properly and decided, after having gone to a couple of bike shops, that this bike actually was a really good deal. So I bought it, named her Margot (it's a French bike) and cycled her home slowly with a big grin on my face. I do feel a bit sick now though, just like having a real crush! Did I do the right thing? Will it be a nightmare on the hills of my neighbourhood? Aaarrrgh! Damn you impulsive spending! I'll show her to you later today.
Little Mo is, like most cats, a sun worshipper. After a long dark winter she's seems very pleased that she can, weather permitting, sunbathe all day long. She starts her day in our bedroom and then moves with the sun to the spare room.
Today I share with you one of my favourite art books that I have. Bill Traylor (1854-1939) first picked up a pencil and started drawing in his eighties and proved to be an incredibly talented artist. I was introduced to his work by my father-in-law who also made the wood cut of Traylor that you see to the right in the last picture. It's so inspiring to think that it's never too late to start something new.