Easter

It's Easter weekend - the first time I haven't been working through Easter for some years. I wrote very little of anything and nothing on this blog through March, and I really thought I had come to the end of the music links, but I just realised Patti Smith made an album called Easter, and seeing Patti Smith was one of the outstanding events of last month for me. She came to Sheffield to tie in with Robert Mapplethorpe's touring exhibition at the Graves Gallery. An evening performance was planned and sold out very quickly, but she also gave a lunchtime interview. I managed to get a ticket for it, swapped my day off at work and headed for Sheffield. The bus broke down on the way - luckily at a bus stop. She was about three quarters of an hour late - as the organiser said, 'it's rock n roll'.I was aware that some of the people there must be on their lunch break, the person sitting next to me had another afternoon arrangement, and had to leave early. John Robb interviewed her. She was impressed with the fact that he had obviously read her book about her life with Robert "Just Kids", and she commented on how handsome he is! She looked fantastic, her attitude to the audience was wonderful, and the way she expresses herself is a joy to listen to. I had domestic responsibilities and wondered whether to leave before she had finished, but decided to stay and am so glad I did. She spoke so eloquently about her life and work. She is one of the most refined people I have ever encountered, and yet she's a true punk spirit. There's an amazing contradiction in what she does and how she does it -both a rebel and a charming conversationalist - you can see the angel/devil tension in Robert Mapplethorpe's work and it's there in her too. I found it a life changing experience. She has made me reconsider my approach to my life,family and creativity, in a positive way. And at the end she sang us two songs, and we all got to sing 'Because the Night' with her.
When my friend Larry Jenkin first introduced me to Patti Smith's work back in Todmorden in the early 70s I never imagined that one day I'd sing with her in the Library Theatre in Sheffield, feeling such a deep connection to her attitude to life.
March brought two other examples of my past and present connecting in totally unexpected ways. The first was the Chatsworth staff party for the Dowager Duchess' 90th birthday - done in amazing Chatsworth style - a real sense of witnessing a celebration of Deborah Mitford. My first visit to Chatsworth at the age of 9, bus journey from Manchester, boiling hot day, paddling in the cascade with my best friend and her older sister, is still very close to the surface of my memories, especially when I take that age group round on a guided tour. I could never have dreamt I'd be there for Debo Mitford's 90th. Finally I spent last weekend with friends in North Wales, again revisiting places from my childhood. When I do the ghost walks in Bakewell, I talk about people leaving impressions behind, that then get picked up as apparitions, sensations, whatever. To me these sensations - finally seeing Patti Smith, witnessing that 90th birthday party, revisiting North Wales, are like experiencing the living ghost of my previous self. Strange, but good.

Don't fear the reaper

Blue Oyster Cult connect to Patti Smith, who in turn connects to Robert Mapplethorpe. I had hoped to go into Sheffield today to see a touring exhibition of his photographs at the Graves, but have decided it makes more sense right now to rest my foot and get it better before I hit the city pavements. I did go into Sheffield on Saturday to celebrate my son Jamie's birthday. We watched Tom Ford's film 'A Single Man'. I'd seen a great interview with Mark Lamarr and Tom Ford on the Culture Show about the film - I have never seen Mark Lamarr so coy! I haven't read the Christopher Isherwood story the film is based on. It was very poignant, especially after the sad news of Alexander McQueen's death. My former husband was in the fashion business, and I still subscribe to Vogue. I'd followed his career from early days, and felt he was a courageous and innovative designer. Sometimes suicide is a cry for help, sometimes it's a brave decision. I have known people who have approached it in those different ways. I can't help feeling that McQueen's was an act of courage after the loss of his great friend Isabella Blow, and more recently, his mother. Who am I to think that when it must be so desperate for his family and friends, but it's what I feel. There's so much in the air at the moment about assisted suicides, mercy 'murders'- not a day goes by without something in the news. Colin Firth's portrayal of a man preparing for suicide was amazing, and it was a thought provoking film with a sense of redemption. A timely blend of the worlds of fashion and film exploring such a topical subject, even though it's set in the 60s during the Cuban Missile crisis when life felt particularly fragile.