fourth floor feminism | sociable speculation

Oh yeah baby, it is snow time again in London and this year I was better prepared than last year . Better prepared meaning I was not acting like a five-year-old and running around in circles chanting songs composed on the spot about snow. I was really cool, calm and collected and limited myself to hustling Jac out of bed to look at the snow and taking photos from my window of my snow-covered view. This year I got to view the snow falling from a few storeys up though which was cool. In the space of my 40 minutes getting ready you could really see the different styles of snowfall ... it wafted down, slammed down AND come down kinda horizontal. I do think that my three morning companions were a little shocked that I took photos of them though; the stocky guy in the bottom flat who has breakfast in his white towelling dressing gown each morning, the guy in the top flat with his two huge Mac monitors in his home office and the shy guy in the middle flat who keeps on ducking out of sight

I have a few plans to implement this year and I am going to ask for nominations for one and offer the other one as a kind of timeshare offer. Two of my resolutions are to read more non-fiction and to subscribe to magazines that provide contemporary commentary. RESOLUTION ONE AIM: Read two non-fiction books a month on History and Literature / Ideaology, choosing areas of the world that I have no specialisation in (ie not Britain or Western Europe). METHOD: Turn the pages. EQUIPMENT: A learned, yet easy to read tome that covers a good chunk of the history and literature / ideaology of the area chosen. April – China and Mongolia May – India June – South East Asia July – Scandanavia August – Eastern Europe September – North Africa October – South Africa November – South America December – Central America Essentially I am taking recommendations. I do not have a wide enough knowledge of these regions to know who the scholars are and which publications are the most authorative or well-written

The National Portrait Gallery is my favourite place in London, mainly because my passion is people and a good portrait displays the artist’s ability to render in paints what I seek to render in words. However, the National Portrait Gallery has two other excellent qualities that endear it immensely to me – it hosts a free lecture and a free musical performance each week. I have listened to lectures on Dandyism, Chinese Opera and writers in residence in Antarctica. I have listened to Cole Porter Jazz tunes, medieval Christmas Carols and, tonight, a collection of works for guitar, violin, flute and voice influenced by or composed in Spain. The recital was by young artists from the Concordia Foundation , an organisation I am rapidly becoming a fan of as the amazing performance I saw tonight has impressed me with the calibre of their pool of creative talent. I was given the great pleasure of watching four performers who will be commanding very large fees if I want to see them again. A

I had been seated in the front row of the audience for the performance and remained behind for a little while, savouring the pleasure of the previous minutes. As I got out of my seat I was approached by the two elderly ladies sitting across from me. I was sure I had seen them before in my travels and I had certainly noticed them sketching quickly during the performance. We quickly established that all three of us attended approximately the same events, but Gwyneth and Joy had come up with a unique way of thanking those whom they watched perform. Both ladies had produced a lovely sketch of each performer, and afterwards, took it to them and asked them to sign it. I watched each of the four artists be melted by this gesture, smile delightedly and chat away to the two women, charmed by the gift of art for art. I myself was inordinately pleased when they showed me the sketch they had done of me, fur collar around my neck and face transformed by the music. They had caught me during the

I have a new job. It is one of those jobs that make you wonder what you did the night before to deserve it. The tube ride is a relaxing 40 minutes from door to door, including trains that ran on time and uncrowded carriages of good looking men in suits. Exiting the tube I am met by the clean, green scent of the breeze off Green Park, the route to work taking me through the quiet streets of St James past shops that sell that indefinable edge that makes the posh and rich look right. The office is serene and elegant; wood panelling, original artwork, lush carpets, silver service, three butlers, a wine cellar and a corporate curator. My own office has two windows, an armchair and brass plate on the door that is shiny enough to check my reflection in. There is a full cooked lunch each day in the dining room and I am already in possession of complimentary tickets to exhibitions that employees are entitled to. This is the kind of job I imagined London to be able to offer, but I did not

Shakespeare's Globe 2005 THEATRE SEASON THE SEASON OF THE WORLD AND UNDERWORLD The 2005 summer theatre season at Shakespeare’s Globe has been announced as The Season of The World and Underworld. Three plays by Shakespeare - The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale and Pericles – will be joined by an adaptation of The Storm by Plautus. This Graeco-Roman comedy has been adapted by Peter Oswald whose previous work for the Globe, The Golden Ass, was a huge hit in 2002. In addition to these productions, two company projects will explore voice and the use of masks on the Globe stage. The Season of The World and Underworld, which begins on 6 May, will examine the influence of classical Greece on Shakespeare’s works. The season will finish on 2 October with The Tempest. It will be Mark Rylance’s final performance as artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe. The Natural History Museum CURRENT EXHIBITIONS Wildlife Photographer of the Year Tickets £5, £3 concessions, £12 family