Tuesday, January 13, 2004 So I should talk about my weekend at some point, as it was fun-and-a-half, but right now I'm in a museum-y kind of mood. I'm currently trying to finagle and plan my way into a trip to England this spring, March sometime (Caz, if you're reading this -- dates, SVP), because no matter how many times I go, there's always something I miss. Like, for example, the following museums (from the A to Z of London Museums and Exhibitions): Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood - Britain's only museum highlighting the life of children through the centuries. Bramah Tea and Coffee Museum - Everything you ever wanted to know about the importation and consumption of tea and coffee in the UK Design Museum - Sir Terence Conran inspired museum 'demonstrates the social, cultural and economic reasons for design'. Dr Johnson's House - Off Fleet Street lies home of Johnson who compiled first comprehensive English Dictionary And my personal favorite: Fan Museum -Although it has fallen out of use today, the fan was once an important social and ceremonial tool, used as status symbols and a means of communication between the sexes when private conversation between unmarried ladies and gentlemen was difficult. The fan museum celebrates fans and fan-making, with over 3,000 fans from the 11th century onwards. It is the only museum of its kind in the world, and specialises in fans of the 18th and 19th century, when fan-making was at its zenith. That's the thing about us damn Americans. We just don't appreciate a good fan museum anymore. Of course, within Los Angeles, there are wonders yet to behold. I still desire a trip to the Autry Museum of Western Heritage, not to mention the sadness I feel at never truly experiencing the Museum of Neon Art. It's the strange, nerdy, off-topic museums I love the most. After all, I've been to the Louvre, I've been to MOMA in New York, but the best museum I've ever been to is still the Frederick's of Hollywood Celebrity Lingerie Museum. Good times. | permalink blog • archives • photos • about • contact This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. All content © 2004.