Who here knows what artist’s dates are? Go on, raise your hands, all you children of the nineties. For the rest of you, these were part of a programme designed to kick start your artistic side, The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. I didn’t do it myself; I was busy with other programmes from other books: how to type (Typing with Mavis, of course), how to write (Dorothea Brande’s Becoming a Writer), how to swim…

(making me possibly the only person on the planet who learned to swim out of a book). But, taking advantage of  my job – I worked in the Upstart Crow Coffee Shop/Book Shop in Long Beach, California – I did leaf through The Artist’s Way in idle moments, and took from what I fancied from it.

I fancied artist’s dates. I still do.

Experience has taught me that the kids’ mid-term means that I will get no work done. It is pointless to even try. When the Arts Council decides to endow me with plenty, I’ll book camps or pay a minder, but until then I’ve decided to ‘accept the things I cannot change’. No work will get done next week, but there’s nothing stopping us going on artist’s dates (they’re supposed to be solo expeditions, but oh well…). Ideas so far:

• the Ór (Gold) exhibition at the National Museum
• the mine in Castlecomer 
• the Little Museum of Dublin
• the Japanese Gardens