things i've seen and done over the last 3 years

so this list is arts and culture specific. As its 3 years worth - hopefully the ones i'll remember will be events that will have made an impact on me (either that or my memorys getting worse than i thought) Just to clarify, i'm using arts and culture in the broadest sense....and these are the highlights, not the entirety - i haven't spent the last 3 years just lazing on the sofa you know

• pet shop boys at hammersmith - ever since west end girls - they put the drama into pop
• goldfrapp at hammersmith - Alison Goldfrapp, the woman is a legend: a coat made of feathers, a harlequin outfit that looked like a cup cake, her own wind machine
  
• madrid - amazing galleries, especially the Reina Sofia where i couldn't believe i could find all of the art i love under 1 roof: rauschenberg, guernica, calder, miro, Tàpies and Jean Tinguely's kinetic machines just in time for a fiesta: dancing at night in the streets with a brass band
• doing printmaking again - morley college - the smell of the ink
  
• henry moore - tate britain - wonderful to see but can't beat the open air as the man intended at sculpture park and kew
• turner prize - the one prize which everone loves to hate
  
• priscilla queen of the desert - when it first opened, loved the film, loved the musical
• truck festival, oxford: bellowhead a band you can't help but jig to
• milan - fashion, duomos and apperitivo time
• london school of samba - they're not kidding when they say its the most difficult latin dance
  
• Pet Shop Boys and choreographer Javier De Frutos - sadlers wells - the most incredible thing - need I say more?

things i'm looking forward to so far: miro at the tate, free summer festivals on the south bank or anywhere come to that matter, matthew bournes nutcracker

Arts and culture - so much to do, so little time

I've been in London for 8 years, and before that was working and travelling for 2 years. So am well aware it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking "oh yeah, that looks good I'll get round to that eventually, I'm here for a while" only to realise I hadn't got round to it, and was about to leave town! Leaving town is a pretty good incentive, not that I'm planning to leave town, I should add, but how do you make sure you get around to everything that London has to offer in terms of arts and culture?

Here's how I narrow things down:

Is it free?

I don't have a lot of spare cash, so this is normally a good place to start. If it isn't free, shall I really make the effort and spend cash to go see something that I really want to see: Almodovar - All about my mother at the Old Vic. So glad I did, it was fantastic! And the Old Vic's got special offers for prices for under 25's at the moment (not that I can take advantage of this) check it out: http://www.oldvictheatre.com/index.php

Will I really regret it if I don't go?

yes I could lounge on my sofa watching re-runs of Sex and the City, but I can do that anytime, and I studied art for 6 years and it makes me feel good to go and do stuff. So when there's a showing of an artist I like I really must make a plan to go: Banksy v Warhol at the Hospital - I'm not a massive fan of Banksy, but I do like what he does. But I have always loved Warhol, used to do Screenprinting and also love the Velvet Underground, and couldn't pass up the chance to see his work in the flesh (so to speak) and smell the ink! Exhibitions are obviously a bit diverse, look at what's on at the moment: http://london.thehospitalclub.com/exhibition_intro.html