Year One

History means different things for different people. I started work for b arts on the first day of their twenty-fifth year, so I'm finding out what it was the company did in the past, as well as experiencing what it does now and trying to help us all get to where we're going next. Myself and Ben had a fun half-hour today setting up live webchat stuff. We are, appropriately enough, going to try and have a meeting over the web on Friday with him in London, me in Birmingham and Hilary, Susan and Rebecca in Newcastle.

Off down reminiscence alley

I've been watching Glasto 09.... and trying to piece together some history.
OK, in 1971, Steve and Hilary went to Glastonbury, by hitching and eventually a bus!, and I remember seeing David Bowie, Fairport Convention and Melanie, and getting sunburnt.....
Next time - Beavers and The Mrs in 1987...and my diary the day before it says, "go and collect the minibus, well buy the minibus that came to be known as 'Felton Eccles' after the name of the village that the rugby team (previous owners)....and was this the time, we were stewards in the acoustic tent , as the Brides, for Billy Bragg?
But we certainly saw Van Morrison... and doing a little research tells me that The Woodentops were there! wow! that means Benny Staples( Lynnes partner) how wierd...he gets in the B arts story a little later.
And again in 1989, this time, Susan, Jez, Lynne, Gill - doing what we called 'streetwork' in my diary, but I know was - A to Z, The Mrs, and The Screaming Barbaras...... who did you see? And what was I doing? a conference in York called 'Articulate Fabric'.
Did we go any other times.... and when did we go to the Childrens Festival that Arabella Churchill organised?

Being Amb:IT:ious

Here we are TW and BMC at the East Midlands roadshow for Art organisations in the digital age.
Check out hideandseek and look at some public space gaming.
(excuse the inverted image. How to flip a digital image is this afternoon)

All change at the Barracks

Today, I uncovered a whole host of my artwork, some going back to the early 70's - spots - way ahead of Damien.....and in the spirit of randomness the year is 2003, I am in London at the On Route Carnival conference, and find out that my friends from Sovanna Phum ( Cambodian shadow puppet company) are performing at Battersea arts centre, so Steve and I go over there to see them.....19th get back to Newcastle and go straight to singing gig with Loudmouth women in Adderley Church, next day Refugee Party since it's Refugee week after launching our CD "Fais Do Do" for Shelton/Cobridge SureStart - busy week next week a Connecting Communities application...times don't change much, except this year we are not doing anything for Refugee Week...tomorrow back to sorting, tidying and throwing away.

All in the name of research.

Well here we are, after a great day at Heathfield school we are busy continuing the research.
Inbetween the final edits for another project I found the time to get my hands deep in corn flour and in doing so roped in Nic and Cujo.

Two weeks.

Well we are coming to the close of our second week of our 25th year.
Here are some snippets:

• New office.
• Two new members of staff.
• Lots of thinking.
• Future focused.
  
• Two Cadbury chocolate eclairs (75 kcals).
• Reflection.
• Random post-its.
• Departure of fridge.
  

meditation on a post-it

OK so I moved office
and don't get me wrong it's lovely in here- good company, nice light, there's somewhere to sit that isn't at my desk and there's a through put of people thought not so many that I can't work. I think I don't know what to do. Now I'm effectively letting go of stuff I've been doing- or probably more accurately not doing but holding onto- it just leaves me with a challenge, an edge to peer over.

What is it that I do? And what should I be doing?

Of course I have a list of tasks on my desk but they range from complete the annual submission (a monumental beaurocratic task) through emails to send, to make up show. I am just procrastinating surely....and then

I bought these post-its last night (£1 in Tesco's- Yes, it is the seventh circle of hell) and I'm looking at them thinking- what on earth did I buy them for?

They are pretty who can resist carnival coloured stripes?
The point was I justified the purchase with "I'll need those for work"

but that's not what I need for work- or even to work.

As someone said yesterday- do we sit at desks to tell ourselves, and other people, we are working when actually we should/ could be doing a load of different activities that would be more productive instead, and what prevents us from doing them is that they don't look like work.

They look like sitting on sofas, going for walks, cleaning out the fridge, digging the garden.

I have to give myself permission now to take those post-its (or not), or anything else I need, or don't need and go and do some active and productive thinking because that is actually what the company needs me to be doing.

The annual submission can wait.