'Seeing round corners'

It's a source of disappointment to me that I don't have a running buddy. Committing to meet someone at a certain place at a certain time is to (almost) guarantee that you will go out and do the run you had planned. And the best run I've had this year was when my brother and I went 'round Richmond Park. I swear, as we returned to the car park from which we'd set off, I was actually disappointed that the run was over, I'd enjoyed chatting to him so much.

So it's been great going out running with the girls for the last two mornings. Today I also joined in for the Minx's 'sun salutation' session after the run, although I was happy to stay on the bench when the kettle bells came out.

This afternoon - once we'd showered etc - we set off for Margate. Some incident on some major road meant that the Maps app sent our two car convoy down some obscure but beautiful Kentish lanes, adding fifteen minutes but also plenty of enjoyment to our journey.

And regardless of Margate's other pleasures, we were going there to visit the Turner Contemporary Gallery. The first - but only - disappointment was the car parking facilities but a brief excursion into the back streets revealed a Mon - Sat yellow line, upon which we promptly deposited our convoy. We took the opportunity presented by our location to have a respectful picnic in the rememberance gardens before walking back to the gallery.

We were going to Turner Contemporary because we wanted to visit the gallery and not specifically for the current exhibition entitled 'Seeing round corners', which, for me, has a nod to Willy Wonka's "sweets that look round", but it was very good.

Broadly speaking, these are my four classifications for modern art:

Technically weak and apparently pointless.
Technically good but why is it being exhibited?
Clever/interesting/engaging regardless of technical ability.
Wow!

As usual, a significant proportion of the exhibits fell into the first category and the text printed on the wall was, in most cases, the most interesting and creative thing about them. In some respects, the second category is the most irritating but there were a satisfying number of pieces in the third one, making it a good exhibition. The bonus was finding one piece in that rarely encountered fourth category.

I nearly walked past is, to be honest. A large square canvas onto which a large pool of oil paint had been slowly poured, resulting a large circle. Once that had dried, another load of paint had been poured until it nearly *but not quite* covered the first. Like a Rothko, it would have been easy to walk past but I stayed just long enough to become entranced by it.

But, at the end of the day, my favourite thing was this huge O painted on a wall outside the gallery. This is a photo of Charlie and Dan looking at it. No, I've changed my mind; my favourite thing is the photo.