Typical Saturday Activities

Portabello Road

A new item sold at Portabello: Christmas trees!


One of A Kind
I happened upon this store. Dresses, hats, purses hang from the ceiling and racks are stacked full of vintage couture clothing. Browsing through you discover that the least expensive items are in the three hundred pound range. With such rare clothing there’s even a specific method to look through the racks to avoid pulling on the material. I don’t know if I looked especially rich yesterday…because for some reason they assumed I possessed a fortune because they honestly believed I could buy. They asked me what colour, material, designer and period I was interested in. I told them I wanted to browse. Later one of the girls who worked there wanted to show me the back room. The “back room” contains the expensive items; thirty thousand pound dresses expensive. Some items are on display but not for sale. For example, a Channel quilted bag (one of the fifty ever made in the world). I dared not touch anything but I asked her about the clothes, the owner and the business. Jeff -the owner who everyone apparently knows- dresses celebrities for the Red Carpet, designers for the runway and magazines. So I have decided to drop out of school, live in London and work for Jeff at One of A Kind. Don’t worry mum I will come home for Christmas before I begin my new job!
British Museum
I took a audio guide tour of highlights of the museum. This included the Elgin Marbles, Assyrian reliefs from Nineveh, Chinese pottery, images of ancient Indian gods, mummies and an Native American headdress. It's ridiculous that this museum contains such a broad range of artifacts. I guess it comes with imperialism...The highlight for me yesterday was a tablet containing the story of Gilgamesh! I got so excited. I wanted to see Cyrus' Cylinder again but it's in an exhibit! I saw King Jehu, but I got scared and could not pluck up the courage to touch him! Sorry if this only make sense to my fellow students in Jerusalem.

• Tate Modern

Picasso, Girl in a Chemise

Matisse, The Snail
Mostly I enjoy imagining Matisse in his wheel chair cutting paper and yelling at his assistants as they a pin these paper sheets on the canvas

Brancusi, The Fish

Once again the Romanian makes it onto my list!

It's an emotional experience gazing at a Rothko. To understand Rothko you have to see his work in person; the texture, richness of color and the way the light reacts to the painting cannot be recreated in an replica. It nearly brought me to tears. Genius.

Dinner

I realize at this point it's about ten thirty and I have not eaten since breakfast. I grab a few yogurts at Tesco with digestives and call it a night!