And where's the impolite section?

I met my 'also redundant' friend for lunch today.  I always try to support the independent coffee shops over the chains and as soon as the waitress took our order I recognised her and asked if she used to work at the Abbey National in 1991!  I never forget a face and it turns out she was the owner.  It was great to remember all those people we used to work with 25+ years ago.

The Portico Library opened in 1806 and I've organised a book club private tour every year for the last 5 years. It's the most amazing little library that most people in Manchester will walk past every day without noticing it.

The Polite Literature section always raises a smile.  The librarians might initially tell you that it is simply the literature that was read in the Polite Society of the Georgian era and the sort of literature deemed sufficiently suitable for a wife or servant!  However, amongst the Polite Literature shelves are some rather risque novels, a few books on witchcraft and philosophical arguments that are not particularly polite.  During the 18th Century Enlightenment, it was increasingly felt that reading should be a pleasurable rather than just a dutiful or educational occupation.  The educated and culturally adventurous middle and upper classes became known as the Polite Society (a 'polite' more akin to their cultural standing than necessarily to their manners) with a reading scope to match - hence, Polite Literature.

I didn't know but there was a 'Fancy Pants' exhibition in the library (in extra photos) and it was certainly a barrage of colour and unusual design!  Ruby Kirby is one of four visual artists to present radical, expressive works that look at dress and costume's historic and contemporary relationships with ritual, play, morality and resistance.  The pieces invite us to think about celebration and wellbeing, mind and body, and the idea of high vs low culture.

Happy International Women's Day everyone.

Quote for today:
Here's to strong women.  
May we know them.  May we be them.  May we raise them.
- Unknown