The Theory of Shopping

(Bear with me on the title. An explanation will follow shortly)

This afternoon I found myself sitting in this cafe with my friend Sylvia, opposite the Sub Rooms, and thinking about the blip I hadn't done of the exhibition she had been 'minding'. I realised I was sitting inside a place I'd blipped from the steps of the Sub Rooms. So, suddenly I had a chance for a mirror-image blip! Today there were no takers for the tables and chairs outside. The weather changed dramatically every five minutes, from sunshine to heavy showers, to strong winds, and repeat...

I got out the gorillapod and decided to lock the focus on my camera and just hold up the damn thing until a person in bright clothing walked past, or my arm dropped off, whichever was the sooner ... every single time I put it down a lady in red, a colourful car, or a luminous cyclist went by! So ended up choosing this shot, because it does at least feature a red van, with reflections, and the sky is definitely blue.

Here's the cafe from the outside. See also the following day's shot for weather contrast with today.

Sylvia and I were talking about my plan to walk the Cotswold Way (102-mile national trail) next year, so I decided to pop into Tourist info in the Subs to get some accommodation information. Their booklet turned out to have been published in 2006, so I went to the Stroud Bookshop to look for more recent stuff. Which is why, of course, I ended up buying a book called Lost Summer: Postcards from Lebanon. Fascinating book, by the way, but it did make me laugh afterwards. Earlier in the day, one of the old guard at school had given me a board game to use in my play sessions. "I used to use this when I taught The Theory of Shopping" she said.

'"The Theory of Shopping?" said I, thinking that it sounded like a title for a novel by Alexander McCall Smith (maybe one of the Isabel Dalhousie series). In truth I have been thinking about the theory of shopping ever since. I have come to the conclusion that it's all very well to have a theory, but in practice there is always a flaw, such as the supermarket turning out not to have red curry paste after all, or the lack of up to date info on the Cotswolds leading to impulse purchases of art books about the Middle East!

Long live theory! Now, what's for tea?
Not red curry.