What a weekend!
I don't know what was going on - and I'll confess to being a bit grumpier than normal after a busy week with the journey to London etc. - but it was dreadful.
The back story is that both the kids can be a bit difficult to get out of the house at the weekend. To be blunt, they're both something of a couch potato. This is understandable with Alex, and Jessica is just reaching that teenage kind of thing. I don't like to spend all weekend knocking around the house. So you can see there's a source of tension there.
To cut a long story short, it all went horribly wrong. We still ended up knocking around the house, but had at least 3 major ("I hate you all" style) rows with Jessica. This of course set Alex off on the wrong foot too. All hell broke loose basically.
We've agreed that for next week we need to agree a plan of action well in advance so that we can forewarn the kids, and hopefully not row so much. It's reached the point that doing anything at the weekend requires a 2 hour row in the morning to force the kids out of the house. We need to find a way around that.
Changing the subject, my return to Byzantine history continues after my visit to the Byzantium exhibition at the Royal Academy last week. I've picked up a copy of Charles Diehl's "Byzantium: Greatness and Decline" on Ebay cheaply, which should make interesting reading, although it's a little old now. I am currently re-reading Robin Cormack's book on Byzantine Art.
I still haven't really thought through how I feel about the exhibition itself. I need to post again about that I think. I can understand why the minor arts have received so much attention though. Some of the ivories and enamel work is truly stunning.
Well, what a 48 hours! I am currently sitting on the train travelling back from London to Liverpool. Yesterday I was at a very intense interview day for a development and mentoring programme (probably more trouble than it's worth in terms of what the programme offers, but good practice to keep my interview skills up to scratch).
I spent the evening with my sister Katie, and then today visited the Byzantium exhibition at the Royal Academy. This is something I've been wanting to see since I first saw it advertised last year. I still can't quite believe that I've managed to see it.
Thoughts on the exhibition? I was impressed by the sheer quality of the smaller pieces - enamels and miniatures. There was an ivory plaque of Christ Pantokrator from the 10th century I've not seen a picture of which was very impressive. For the items I had seen in books, they were far more impressive in reality than a photograph can convey. Well worth the visit. I was surprised that the icons which most impressed me were the very late ones by Akotantos (unusual because the artist signed the work). Very strong emotionally. I treated myself to the catalogue mostly to remind me what I saw.
Katie was incredibly generous and helpful, looking after me and making sure I got where I needed to go, although she was in work both days. Steve as gracious as ever - I walked away with a byzatine coin and a book as gifts.
Time, to go but I will blog more on my thoughts on the Byzantium exhibition when I get home, assuming I get the time.
