Turkish delight

At last, something eastern. Today I joined the ranks of genteel londoners with nothing better to do weekdays and went to see TURKS at the Royal Academy. It seemed to go on forever, and after two hours and ten rooms and jostling for position my brain was fairly addled with peony scrolls and jewel encrustations, all whirling about in precise geometries of astonishing workmanship. Some of it beggared belief that it could be made by human fingers - I can see why people get excited by Ming vases now too. Underlying it all was the glory of erudition, exultation of faith and the malevolent interests of power, all equating to the sort of wealth that I think no amount of American dollars could buy in our modern world. Feeling woefully clumsy and ignorant afterwards, I nonetheless was inspired to whip my compasses out and start trying to mimic some of what I had seen immediately. Fortunately a slice of genteelly-priced carot cake and a pot of Tea soothed my ardour so instead my energies have been directed towards writing this for the eager eyes of you, lucky reader.

I adore central london for all the treasures it offers, and that it enables me to avoid spending any time in East london. It is however, as we all know, an essentially lonely place. How shall I connect with my new homeland? How does one find a community in a new place which doesn't really seem to have one anyway? I think escape is on my mind. The immediate urge is to bugger off somewhere exotic: Budapest, Helsinki, Andalucia... what about Swansea, or Wolverhampton? Perhaps a sleety bicycle tour to Stonehenge? Probably a bit far...