In which we suffer for our art but fail to secure the Yoko Ono

The house is a little emptier now that our first official visitor has departed for Toronto. Kathleen is going to give you all a run for your money in the Best Houseguest Ever Olympics, but don't be too intimidated, Bloggership. Take it as a challenge and book your stay in the Queen of St. Pancreas Suite here in South Acton! You should know, though, that Kathleen partied like it was 1999, cooked us a gourmet dinner, and was our technology goods mule through British customs. If you think you've got what it takes to fill her shoes...well, you'd be plain wrong, but you're welcome to come and visit anyway!

Thanks so much for coming, Kathleen. We really, really miss you already! (PS I finally managed to stop crying on the drive home from Gatwick.)

For Kathleen's last full day in London, we enjoyed yet another secret:

RCA Secret is a unique annual exhibition and sale of original postcard-sized art, made by professional artists, designers and illustrators, plus current postgraduate students at the Royal College of Art.

THE SECRET
The 2,800 postcards are displayed anonymously and are signed on the reverse, so that the artist remains a secret until after the cards are purchased and their signature is revealed.

THE ARTISTS
Over 1,000 artists have donated work to RCA Secret this year, including Tracey Emin, Grayson Perry, Yoko Ono, Jake Chapman, Olafur Eliasson, Yinka Shonibare, Sir Peter Blake, John Baldessari, fashion designers Manolo Blahnik, Mary Quant and Sir Paul Smith, animator Nick Park, photographer David Bailey, film maker Mike Leigh and designers Ron Arad and James Dyson, as well as students and graduates from the Royal College of Art.

THE SALE
Open on Saturday 20 November, from 8am-6pm. Each postcard costs £45 and a maximum of four cards may be purchased per person. Postcards will only be available to purchase in person at the sale.

Maybe, but I'd say it's a matter of opinion.
(Note: not purchased)

We arrived on the scene at 7.45am (what did I tell you about Kathleen? TROOPER!) to find there were already hundreds of people in the queue. If there's something the British love, it's queueing. Alarmingly, the real art aficionados had arrived at 3am, and some downright crazy people had been camping out since MONDAY!!! We stood our ground, stamping our feet in the vain hope of maintaining some form of circulation (next year: snow boots), and 5.5 hours later found ourselves in the mad scramble to buy buy buy the postcards still on sale. We ended up with a few goodies, including one made by a Toronto artist!

File this all under reason #1,087 why we like London better than Zurich.