Confused again

I have had a strange Sunday night. It is very unusual for us to go out on Sundays - sheer force of habit - we sharpen our pencils and polish our shoes for the week ahead in this house. Tonight we have been to two things. First we went to a book launch. It was very interesting. It was at Valvonna & Croalla, by any standards an institution; John Bellany illustrated the book (he is one of my favourite artists - I can't really afford his work, but have a watercolour and a screen print); he spoke (indeed read, but got away with it, because he is genuinely a great man); Philip Contini of V&C sang at 10 minutes notice, beautifully; someone read the poems - I'm sorry I can't remember her name - she read at another book launch we went to recently so its unforgivable that I can't remember who she is - my wife will know because her Granny revered Scottish actresses - I can only remember Elaine C Smith. It was a very Scottish evening in a literary and artistic kind of way.

Then we went to a party for the Muir Maxwell Trust which is a charity which raises funds to relieve suffering from childhood epilepsy. It was held in a really smart venue in central Edinburgh. The last time I was there is sold good beer. Tonight there was champagne, canapes and celebs. There was a persistent photographer - we are not photogenic! It was a very nice party, but very different from the book launch in almost every way.

I suspect neither event is me really. We had fish and chips for supper and felt better.

Selling the family silver?

One of the limited privileges of working in my office is that we have some good pictures. They are not all ours (one or two are borrowed) but most of them are. I and one of my partners form the Art Committee. I went to the Edinburgh College of Art Alumni Centenary Exhibition last week. Many of the artists in our collection were represented. I vowed to try and appreciate our pictures a bit more. On Friday we sold two (not borrowed ones)!

We have an emerging philosophy of buying work with some relevance to the work we do by Scottish artists, or from Scottish galleries, with whom we have a connection. We have a very small budget, hence the sales. It is the first time in a long time we've sold anything and it feels great. They were good little pictures, but if we are going to try and move the collection on there is no choice but to sell things that don't sit within it or simply act as wallpaper. For so many people what we have is irrelevant. We are keen to acquire some things that people notice - whether they like them or not is irrelevant. What matters is that the working environment for staff and clients is enhanced, even if only by having something to talk about. This week having sold we have the opportunity and the budget to buy something. The money is burning a hole in my pocket.