Why is Halloween so huge in the States? I heard it is the biggest holiday in terms of commercial gain, themed sales etc after Christmas. Whatever, it was a great excuse for a costume party at Butch's house, complete with Butch dressed as an astonishingly convincing woman in a sequinned red dress, a few ghouls, a Freudian slip (well done, Miss Mockbee), lots of music and dancing and drinking with an eccentric mix of people at his fantastic house in Seale. Unfortunately, the night's grand guignol was a little more extreme than intended, when at around 2am Butch fell down from the ladder to one of the lofts straight onto his side, and had to be taken to hospital with seven broken ribs, moaning 'Get me out of this girly shit before you take me anywhere', a request that we obliged. We visited him today and he was looking pretty rough hooked up to all sorts of drips and monitors. Send your get-well cards to 41 Poorhouse Road, Seale, Alabama.

Another side-effect of the party was that I somehow managed to lose my camera...so you have to take my word for it that Butch's house is one of the most wonderful places to live I have ever entered. He built it himself, on the side of a wooded hill in the most perfect location, and its spaciousness, peace, many porches and decks on which to spend time talking, eating or reading and his fantastic collection of strange objects, books, furniture and art suggest a pretty perfect life. How lucky one would be, to be able to live like that in the middle of the beautiful Alabama landscape, with a garden, woods, land, a peaceful sprawling house, and a thriving practice of art that can sustain you.