I just did something crazy.

No, really, I did. I just entered the draw to be on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square for an hour as part of Antony Gormley’s installation artwork One and Other. If I get drawn in the next round I could have a spot any time in September – and I mean any time. People are up there 24 hours a day for the four months that it’s happening – regardless of  rain, shine, sleet, hail – you get the idea. It being summer, hopefully not snow, but you never know about the weather in Britain…

And sweetie, before you freak, I can refuse the spot if I get chosen. I checked before I signed up. I’m sorry I didn’t ask first, though.

But the impulse to try this is interesting. On one hand it’s an hour to do whatever I like as long as I’m not drunk, stoned or doing something illegal. (And no – I have no idea what I might do. Probably crochet for an hour – at least it would be uninterrrupted! – but I may also recite poetry, teach people how to do something, sing songs, do baby sign, list all my favourite recipes – have to think about this. Hmmm. Maybe just being quiet for an hour would be great!) On the other hand, is it a cheesy attempt to get people interested in art, and actively taking part in it?

Last night The Culture Show had a feature about performance art, specifically performances in which the audiences participate in the creation of the art. There is something about the in-the-moment-ness of being part of a piece of art. And also the unpredictability that having anyone/everyone that may happen by involved. And there’s also the feeling of squeamishness that comes of being on display and/or being involved in something potentially embarrassing. And while I have the opportunity, being a Working But Not Getting Paid Person (read: mom) for a while, maybe I should take some opportunities to do things that are a bit out of my comfort zone, and to explore what it means to be me-minus-a-job. That I get paid for, I mean. Hence the signing up. We’ll see where that goes, I guess…

On a separate note, I had my leaving ‘thing’ from work today, and I came to a realisation. Now that I’m ‘just’ a mom, I’m getting less sleep, working longer hours and have about 10% of the stress I did when getting paid for what I did.

And job satisfaction?? Through. The. Roof.

(Smug? Maybe just a little… )

My boos…

The first!

The next!

What will be to come (I wonder…)?

Haikurious

Twitter guy (or gal)
has great concept for tweeting -
Where is your output?

So, it’s been a while…

Looking at the dates, it’s been a while since I posted. That may be because I’ve spent the last year being pregnant and giving birth and learning how to look after a small person who takes up a lot of time and space. (And much of my heart – I’m sure to get very soppy about it at times…) It may also be because it’s true that pregnancy hormones rot your brain – for someone who has read 50 novels in a year on top of a full time teaching job, I was unable to focus on a plot more complex than ’see spot run’ until just recently. The 2 am feeds may also have something to do with that, but since I have now regained the ability to string a sentence together and embraced the sleep deprivation, maybe my brain can revert to something approximating normal. And perhaps I can start blogging again.

Can I point out that blogging would not be possible at all right now if it weren’t for my loverly iPhone – currently I’m in bed with a sleeping child on my chest, which does make weilding a laptop difficult without complicated machinery and muscle strain – but the wonders of the iPhone allow me to blog, shop, check my email and Facebook from wherever I am… Ain’t technology grand?? Thank you to hubby for buying me one! I do think it is a sign of a well designed piece of tech to think one day ‘how did I ever live without ____’. I get down to the office to use the Mac about once a week now – all regular visits to www land are made via the iPhone these days.

So, possible new topics for future posts: babies and small children, breastfeeding, how hormones mess with your head and how having the cat try to sit on your head while you’re blogging doesn’t really help the concentration… This is of course on top of regular topics like poetry, Canadiana and anything else that may pop into my head.

Which, since things are still a little scrambled, may be even more surreal than usual, sorry…

i heart ping fm!

Daily Issa

today even the
hordes of hell celebrate
the new year
-Issa, 1820

Lost Cat Found – after 10 years!!

This amazing story turned up on BBC South news tonight… I’m glad we had Sophie chipped!!

apologies…

I’ve been exhausted. Ergo, no posts.

Sorry.