The first was to visit the Natural History Museum, to see the very first complete Ichthysaur, that was discovered by Mary Anning in Lyme Regis when she was a young girl. Mary Anning has been a hero of mine since I read about her when I was a girl of 10 or 11. At roughly the same age as me at the time she was supporting her family by discovering and selling fossil specimens, or 'curiosities', and during her life made some of the most important discoveries that contributed to knowledge of what life on earth was like millions of years ago.
She was a woman before her time; nowadays she would have become a renowned professor in her field. In the 1800's she was regarded by the published 'experts' around her as just a woman, and one from a poor, uneducated background - Even though they relied on her knowledge to find them new specimens, published her detailed drawings in their papers, and used her ideas to propose new theories, she received little or no recognition for her talent until long after her death. Her story sparked my interest in palaeontology, and whilst it is only a leisurely interest for me now, rather than an academic one as it almost was, it was still an incredible thrill to see with my own eyes the monsters from the deep that she uncovered.
The other thing was to finally hear Anais Mitchell play live, a singer of unique, beautiful, thought provoking songs, well stories really. She has been touring with Erin McKeown, who happens to be another of my favourite kick-ass girl singer songwriters! What an amazing evening!
Anais & Erin treated a packed Luminaire to wonderful solo performances plus played a number together, their voices blending and complementing each others gorgeously. We heard some of Erin's new ones from 'Hundreds of Lions' (awesome album) plus a taster of what's to come from Anais & Co's 'Hadestown' recording ('Co' being Ani Di Franco, Greg Brown, Bon Iver - I cannot wait to hear this record!) After telling us how their ideas for a suitable cover version were lost on each other (Erin wanted a hip hop number, Anais some 80's classic) they gave us a rousing rendition of a gospel song to finish up a fabulous and fun evening. 
One of my favourite of Anais' songs is 'I wear your dress', a song written for her grandmother about a dress she made that was passed down to her.
'This is just to tell you that I wear your dress sometimes'
It is a song that has been in my head a lot lately, in fact since I was given a ring that I can remember my Gran wearing. I've been wearing it every day and thinking of her, trying to remember her with smiles and laughter as she would want me to. It's difficult at the moment, there are so many emotions still swirling around and the happy memories are still wrestling with the bad ones. The topmost feeling is still just, I miss her, and I wish I could have said goodbye properly. I hope that wherever she is now she is happy, and at peace, I hope that she knows that we did our best, I hope that she forgives us. I hope that there is somewhere where we'll be able to meet again one day.
'With the liberty you've given,
Like the clothing you've outgrown,
To your granddaughter'
My gran was a sergeant in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, the women's branch of the British Army during World War II. She contributed to a cause bigger than women my age have needed to. Anais' song is also a story about the changing roles of women, and how much opportunity and freedom we now have thanks to the efforts of generations before us. We shouldn't waste this, nor forget the women before us who got us here. There are still collective things to fight for, causes that put our tiny, individual lives into perspective. I may only be one person making small steps and contributing a tiny amount, but if everyone got behind a cause that really mattered to them, whether it be conservation, raising money for cancer research or for those struggling in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti, well maybe it could be 'like the falling of small stones that start an avalanche', maybe we could make some change happen, and in 40, 50 years, our generation will be remembered for the good that it did.
