New York; The Met and the East End.

Wow..I had forgotten how amazing New York is, how much traffic there is and how many people there are. But it has a happy buzz to it, an array of people from diverse backgrounds and no matter how busy people are a smile and a hello. The accent is becoming very useful, traveling alone I am never lonely, once I had opened my mouth there was always a ...where you from..you aint from around here..and conversation was flowing. Even when doing some laundry or standing waiting for the train, and you don't feel at your best to make conversation. Although the laundry is always a neat place to meet people. You can tell a lot about a person by how they wash...do they shove it all in, colours, whites and black, do they sort, hand wash, fold when its dry to lessen ironing or push it with force back into the plastic bag they dragged it down in so it is all nice an crumply!!!

I was little unwell (very unwell in NYC with a sore throat so laid low a couple of days) in NYC so was frustrated not to achieve more. But I met yet another amazing individual, Theresa Bryne. Theresa is a visual and performance artist who does amaing installation and visual art work, she writes and makes film of her work. Theresa has a great little studio in the east end which was quaint and very earthy. I met Theresa as she was wheeling down the street carrying a hunk of wood that she thought would clean up nicely to work with. Her studio is filled with her remarkable work, her books and DVDs. We chatted all afternoon and then she showed me to the bus. It was hot, hot, hot but again I learned something new and made contact with someone I respect and admire. Check her out at....

The next day I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art all day. From when it opened until it shut. The Steve McQueen exhibition was amazing. It was something else to see not one but a room full of Monet, Renior, Van Gough, Cezzame, painting after painting. I felt it helped me to appreciate the techniques that these great painters contribute. To see a number of paintings by Van Gough helps you to see how he built up paint in order to create movement, seeing them in person and being able to walk right up to them is so different to seeing pictures in books and magazines. There is no comparision. Even if you are not into art, go to an art gallery whenever you can.

The next day was to be the Guggenheim but I am feeling