Picasso's Birthday Party.

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It was a few months ago in february that I took a trip to Beijing for a regional workshop, part of my training for the Middle Years Program that I'm teaching. There was this little exercise that our workshop coordinator made us do that I thought was really funny. Each of us was assigned to make a little birthday card for an imaginary birthday celebration for Picasso. Slipping into boy scout mode, I made a little strip out of a little card I found in my hotel room. Found out that there's a song by Jonathan Richman about  Picasso being the immaculate charmer he is. Yes, lot's can be said about Picasso, but he did get all the girls didn't he? 

I recall my trip to Beijing with extreme fondness. I Remember Oliver from San Francisco who to me had this imposing physicality about him, he was one of those personalities that you can't rub from your memory, always bouncing around both in movement and in lively, often times funny verbal expression. He's one of the nicest person's I'd ever met, I always have a fondness for imposing personalities that humble themselves. Then there's Kazuko from Osaka, who's presence had a very calming affect on me. Her anxieties about teaching were so honest and everything about her person was so transparent and true, it was strange that she messaged me the day before the disasters took place in her country which also happened to be my birthday. Finally, of all the people I remember fondly, there's Philip from Britain. I remember that he was the biggest surprise for me, his gestures and appearance constantly seemed aloof and battered, as if he'd been through a lot, which I found out to be true, yet he was always encouraging and positive in his outlook, no matter the frustrations he faced. It was wonderful hanging around with complete strangers, artists/teachers like me who had common hang-ups regarding being artists/teachers and sharing the joys about what we do. But best of all, we could share one or two of our own private anxieties because it wasn't said or acknowledged, but we knew that there could be no damage between strangers who would probably never see each other again. It was for only three days, I missed a liu Xiaodong exhibition I really wanted to see and I didn't reach the Great Wall, but I found some commonality. 

Update: 

Here's the band Modern Lovers playing Pablo Picasso.