#23. Buy an Art Book

I've been hungrily reading this week. So far I've finished Dan Brown's Inferno, John Fowel's The Collector and now I'm half way through Aaron's Rod and  Ai Wei Speaks (with Hans Ulrich Obrist). Ai Wei Wei is an artist I've been very aware of for the past few years. I was lucky enough to see his exhibition at the Tate in 2010 but I honestly don't know much about his work or writing. With this in mind I searched for a book on the artist and found this brilliant set of interviews, as published by Penguin.

Admittedly buying a book isn't particularly difficult. In terms of New Years Resolutions, or To-Do Lists, buying something to complete a task feels distinctly like cheating your way to victory. It's incredibly detached, requires little physical effort and is normally over quite quickly. I wish I could say that I spent months searching for this book, lured into the aromatic and dank corners of a back street café, in which an aging painter handed me the greying sheets of his ex-lovers monograph, but I can't. I bought it in a Blackwell's. But the sentiment was still there.

Anyway the book is great. Ai Weiwei is funny and intelligent. The book not only gives you a great insight into Ai Weiwei but the struggle for all artists and people in China at the moment (or at least at the time of the books release). Highly recommended.

#34 Go to Portugal

So I actually got off my arse, booked a room, then the flights and got on a plane to Portugal. (Lisbon to be precise). I have actually been to Lisbon before, but it was ages ago and all my Portuguese lessons would be wasted without more trips to Portuguese speaking countries (plus it's so cheap!).

Quite sneakily the trip incorporate a few resolutions so I'll try and split up the posts, but otherwise I've also taken my Mum to Portugal. 

#35 Learn the best way to wear my hair

I've definitely havn't solved how best to wear my hair, and I'm not sure I ever will, but I've found these great tutorials on shinestruck.com which are perfect for 4c hair.

1. DIY vintage hair

32. Try a new a)Chinese b) Japanese c)Italian d)Greek restaurant

I have actually completed trying out a new chinese, japanese and italian restuarant slowly over the year. The only one that remains is now to try a new greek restaurant.

#86. Attend A Film Festival

I attended the London Film Festival for the first time this week. It was very different to how I think most people would imagine a film festival, and yet at the same time I sort of expected it to be how it was. By this I mean the film festival is organised in a very informal manner. You buy your tickets online, like when you see go to the cinema normally, and then attend the viewing. We ended up going to see Excuse my french (a sweet and funny egyptian film) and '71 (a thriller set in northern island during the start of the troubles), but were late for the start of both films. Luckily (for me anyway) neither of the films had a red carpet. Some during the festival actually do, making the event slightly more than your average screening, but the great thing was we did get to see the director, screenwriter and actors at the end of the film for an interview and Q&A. All in all the whole experience was brilliant.

Deste Semana eu assistiu o London Film Festival. Foi a minha primeira vez. Foi mutio informal de que imaginava. Comprar os seus bilhetes online, e ver o filme como normal. Vimos Excuse my French (um filme de egypcio, fofo e engracado) e '71 (um suspense decorre na Irlande de Norte durante 'the Troubles'), mas nos estavamos atrasados para ambos.Felizmente (pra mi) nenhum dos filmes tiverem um tapete vermelho, como alguns filmes. Contudo, no final nos vimos o diretor, roteirista e ators. Foi brilhante.

#114. Attend 4 Art Exhibitons

#108 Read an Arthur Miller Play

"Every man does have a star. The star of one's honesty. And you spend your  life groping for it, but once it's out it never lights again...I live in the usual darkness I can't find myself; It's even hard sometimes to remember the kind of man I wanted to be" Jim

I finished 'All my Sons' last night, after prolonging it for the past month. I've been a bit lazy with my reading lately, considering how much free time I've had for the past few weeks, but I'm glad I made time for this play.

I've been watching a lot of Mad Men too, which I think resonates with the America which Arthur Miller portrays, especially when considering how masculine the world appears, despite both stories use of strong female characters. I thought it was interesting that in the introduction to the play it is noted that, the character of Chris Keller was based on a real woman from a story Miller had originally heard from his mother in law. Miller changed this "because I didn't know much about girls then.".

The story itself does that wonderful thing of bringing making the audience question their decisions, and draws you in pretty intensely by the second half. I won't give away too much but the story starts quite innocently, yet still profoundly, at the house of an American family who've lost their son in the war, it then shifts into a complicated tale of law, family and truth.

"he had ripped apart the structures that support life and society...He has killed the possibility of a society having any future, any life." Arthur Miller

#56 See 4 shows at the West End

I Went to watch 'Once' the musical at the Phoenix theatre last month on a slight whim. If you haven't seen the film I highly recommend it, but I have to say seeing it live is almost better. So if you haven't overplayed the entire soundtrack already then it's probably an even better idea to see the musical first because hearing the instruments and voices right in front of you will always beat any stereo (in folk's case anyway).

I was really impressed by the whole set up. It's very simple; simply one set, a few props and about 20 actors who pretty much remain on stage either as the 'orchastra' or characters, but it was heightened obviously by the music, but also the intimate lighting and use of the stage. For instance, at the beginning of the show, and in the interval, you can actually go onto the stage which is a working bar, order a drink and watch the actors as they perform - like a real pub (minus the performance part for me anyway)! It was really strange watching the audience suddenly become the 'main stage', and because it happened so subtly, the actors and audience were indistinguishable. All this people watching also made me realise how many people actually go on dates to the theatre.

I'm enjoying how the list is encouraging me to do the activities I normally leave for other people to organise. I hope I can keep this up as I really love going to the theatre, and it is possible to get quite reasonably priced tickets. So here's to more plays!

No mês passado, eu fui assistir Once, o musical, no teatro Phoenix. Eu recomendo ele, se você não  nao ainda viu o filme. No entanto, vendo a performance ao vivo,  é ainda melhor.  Entao, se você ainda não ouviu a trilha sonora mais e mais ainda, depois, é melhor para ver o musical primeiro, porque, ouvir os instrumentos e as vozes ao vivo, sera sempre melhor do que o radio (para folk) .