The Long, Long Wait

 I'm hopping in the TARDIS again today, to take me back to August 2010.  Want to come along?  Keep reading, then...

I ended July with a party, and started August with a party.  Well, sort of a party.  Aleithia had discovered that a Youth theatre group was doing 'You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown' at the Lemon Tree as part of the Aberdeen International Youth Festival.  A group of us decided to go, including Lynch, who had never seen the show before.  It was a big hit with all of us.  What's not to love about it, honestly?  I even dressed the part as Lucy, because my sister always told me growing up that I was just like her.  I can see *some* similarities, if I'm honest, and not all of them always flattering... but I still see myself more as a Charlie Brown, though I do have both some Linus and Lucy tendencies.  I'll just leave it at that. 

The next day, 2 August, was a momentus one for me.  Lynch agreed to be my offical photographer, and I'm so glad!  Otherwise I wouldn't have the awesome evidence of the day I submitted my thesis!  You can see those photos, as well as others from the month, here.  I started out by going to her office, the attic one, and using Joe's computer to use the university's printer to make the two copies I needed for my readers.  I took them to the library to be soft-bound, and then had about half an hour to wait before I could turn them in.  Lynch was ready for a break from her own thesis work, and the weather was nice, so we went for a wee ramble around the area-- through Cruickshank Gardens, around Seaton Park and St Machar drive, and back up to the uni.  By that time, it was time!  I went back to the library and the copy centre to pick up my now-bound theses, and Lynch accompanied me to Registry.  Now, usually anything that required a visit to Registry was sure to be an absolute nightmare.  I was expecting a nightmare, and instead got a delight!  After waiting in the queue, the lady in the window was not only helpful (and seemed to know what she was doing, which was a surprise, given other experiences there), but she was friendly!  That just never happens.  She congratulated me, and wished me luck on my viva.  I couldn't quite figure out where they'd found this person, but she must not have been a regular.  Still, it was nice... and I was done with the big part!  Lynch took pictures for me, and sang me a thesis-submitting song (to the tune of 'Happiness', from 'Charlie Brown'), and we went back to her office for coffee and chocolate and celebrations!  Jay even stopped by, bearing gifts in the form of a tube of Smarties for me (who was the smartie of the day, obviously).  It was great!  After Lynch finished her work for the day, I went with her back to her hoose, where we ate fish 'n chips (I think) and drank wine (I'm sure).  It was great to spend the day with her, celebrating finally being so close to being done.  Thanks, Lynch, for making it a fantastic day! 

The rest of the month was full of fare-thee-wells and waiting.  Both RitaB and Aleithia were leaving soon, and we had some get togethers to send them off.  I helped Aleithia move flats just a few weeks before she left, which was wonderful for her, I'm sure.  Not me helping, the need to move.  Anyway.  RitaB also threw a big party, where we all ate food and sat around talking, trying not to be sad about the impending goodbyes.  I also spent the last evening she was in town, trying to help her pack all she could into the allotted one checked bag, and taking home with me all the stuff she couldn't, in order to redistribute it to people who might want or need it.  Except for her beloved sleeping bag, which I ended up bringing home to reunite with her.  But that's another story.  RitaB had wanted to go to Slains Castle before she left, and we finally found a day that had nice enough weather to make the trek from the Bullers of Buchan down to Slains and into Cruden Bay.  I had done that hike with Barb a few years ago, and it is seriously one of my favourite places in all of Scotland.  I love it, and so I was quite happy to go with RitaB.  We hiked around the cliffs, took lots of pictures, and enjoyed all that the northeast of Scotland has to offer.  We didn't even get rained on that day!  It was glorious, and the photos are here.  It was good to have some fun things going on, because I still didn't know what the heck was going on with my visa, so I was still hopeful that I'd be staying in Scotland-- and I'm never happy with saying good-bye-for-now to friends.  It was hard, but I'd rather have known them and let them go than to not have known them. 

Other than that, I spent my time trying to relax and catch up on stuff (like going to the cinema) that I'd not had time for in a while.  When the weather was nice (and sometimes when it wasn't), I got outside as much as I could.  I always enjoy taking photos, and the flowers were just amazing.  The photos of those, from the summer on campus and in Seaton Park, specifically, are here.  Now that the concentrated thesis work was done, it was both fun and strange to have all my time to myself.  I have never been very good at waiting, though, so I was anxious to just get my viva done already, and be ready to graduate in November. 

Thank goodness Lynch was around to keep me busy, with food and drink and cinema and chats and... oh, just being my friend.  Especially with everyone else leaving...

The Big Finish 2010

 Another trip down memory lane, continuing with the summer of 2010.

After seeing Macca with Paige, I just hung around her wee Alva flat after she left for America for a bit.  It was, again, a good place to do some focussed work and not be distracted by much of anything.  Except the Famous Alva Highland Games, which I already posted about ages ago.  You can read that again here, if you forgot.  The World Cup (football) was going on at the same time, and whereas in January I didn't turn on the tv except to see the New Year's Doctor Who episode (*sob*), this time I had a the matches on (even though I didn't pay that much attention to many of them).  I can't help myself-- I just love national sports.  Club sports, not so much.  Maybe that's why I'm not such a fan of the NFL?  Go figure.

Anyway.  I was quite lucky to get to be in Alva to work, and I worked hard to get ready to submit by the end of the month.  After being robbed (which you can read about here, if you've want to hear the story again), I wasn't sure what I was going to do about finishing-- I had lost my computer, Lynch's loaned computer, and my thumb drive.  Even worse, I'd lost the past three weeks' work, a lot of which was fixing footnotes and other busy work.  Luckily, however, I managed to get a laptop on loan from the university for a couple of weeks.  Generally they hadn't been very helpful with things like offices and information, but this time I lucked out-- they had a laptop that had been returned by a faculty and had not yet been reassigned.  They didn't need it for another three weeks, and I was only going to be gone for just over two.  Yay!  It was a university miracle.  It was an older model and not all that great, but it had wireless internet and Microsoft Office, which were really all I needed.  I gratefully borrowed it, and gratefully returned it.

I got home to Aberdeen and Kenny told me there was good news and bad news, regarding the break-in.  I asked for the bad news first, and found out that the insurance folks weren't going to cover any of my stuff, because they said I was a lodger and should have had my own renter's insurance (even though they had ages before said I wasn't considered a lodger because I wasn't on an official contract...).  That meant I would have to buy a new computer, for which I did not have the funds.  Yikes.  I was not happy.  Luckily, the good news was that Kenny is awesome (which I already knew) and that because the insurance company made him angry by that, he just claimed for his stolen laptop and then gave me the new one.  He had recently bought himself a new one, and the stolen one was the old one, anyway.  So it arrived just a few days after, and I got to finish my thesis on my shiny new Samsung!  Have I mentioned that Kenny is the best?  Because he totally is, and not just for this.  This is only one small example of why he is awesome. 

I had intended to submit before Harry Potter's birthday, but due to the loss of work and having to redo so much annoyingly time-consuming stuff, I ended up finishing in time to submit the first of August.  Or rather, the second, because the first was a Sunday.  But since I was, for all intents and purposes, done, and because I just wanted to, dang it, I had a Harry Potter party!  It was 31 July, his birthday, and in celebration of me being done-- because it was the whole HP controversy that got me started down this thesis road to begin with.  Lynch, RitaB and Aleithia came, and we had fun.  It was a small celebration, but a much-needed one with some of my closest friends.  We had custard cremes (and everyone managed to avoid the canary cremes!), cockroach clusters, chocolate frogs, Gryffindor-coloured cupcakes and rice krispy treats and deviled eggs, and Butterbeer!  Plus some general party food, like cheeses and other goodies.  Basically, we just sat around and ate, but that makes for quite a good party in my book.  And that celebration meant that I was officially done with the major part of the thesis.  Woot. 

You can see all the photos from the month's activities here. 

Mostly Macca

I've been trying to figure out where I left off in 2010 with my story-telling here, and it seems like it was sometime around June.  Some of the events I know I talked about, like the Famous Alva Highland Games, but at least one very big event I somehow missed.  Maybe I needed more time to calm down from it before I wrote about it?  I'm not sure.  Either way, this is where I'll start:  Paul McCartney in Glasgow, with Paige.  You can see the photos here, under the 'Pictures and Videos' tab, in the albums labelled 'June' and 'Macca'. 

It was the second annual summer concert spectacular for Paige and I.  We'd seen U2 in Dublin the year before, as you might remember (it's not like talked about it very much, ha).  I can't remember why, but I hadn't bought tickets for Macca early-- it might have been something to do with finishing my thesis and all that being up in the air, but I'm not sure now.  Anyway, as it drew nearer, and as Paige was still in town, I decided I couldn't live without trying to go see him for the third time.  So I asked Paige if she'd be interested (and really, why wouldn't she be?) and she said YES!  Because everyone should see a Beatle live if they get a chance.  And we had a chance, because I found some nice tickets on eBay, and got 'em.  So. Excited! 

I got all packed up and headed to meet Paige in Alva for the first night.  It was the first trip for my wee traveling companion, Amoose Bouche.  I was going to be staying in Alva after Paige left for America, in order to do all those other things I wrote about earlier, so it was nice to drop my bags off first.   Things were off to a good start, and we got a good start the next day.  We caught the train to Glasgow, where we were going to be staying with my friend Liam, who was a fellow PhD.  It was very kind of him and his flatmate to put us up (put up with us?) for the night so we didn't have to pay for accomodation.  Finding the right train and then the right building to arrive at the right flat to leave all our stuff took longer than we expected, but luckily Liam came to our rescue and found us at the station, walking us back to his place.  I hadn't seen him in a while, since he'd moved to Glasgow, and Paige had heard about but never met him.  Sadly, we had to drop our stuff and dash in order to get to Hampden Park on time.  So we visitied briefly, dropped our stuff and dashed, making sure we had their numbers so we could get back to the right place later that night. 

There were loads of people streaming into Hampden, as one would expect for a Macca concert.  Our seats were on the floor, off to the right.  They weren't U2 good, but they weren't bad at all.  We were a little late, so we missed most of the opening act-- I honestly can't even remember who it was.  A girl.  Honestly, I couldn't be bothered.  I was just glad to be there in time.  We were on the end of a row, which was nice.  There were loads of different types of people around-- people our age, people our parents' age, people with wee ones.  It was quite an atmosphere;  the older couple across the aisle just in front of us had been drinking (a lot) and were quite enjoying themselves-- singing and dancing and having a ball.  It was hilarious, yet endearing.  I watched them a good bit during the evening, partly because they were in my line of sight and partly because they were so entertaining in themselves. 

The show itself was amazing.  Of course it was.  Sir Paul is an entertainer;  it's just who he is.  Everyone sang along, on pretty much every song.  I don't think we sat down hardly at all.  We laughed and swayed and just soaked it all up.  Somehow he makes you feel like it's just a small friendly gathering, sitting around the campfire kind of vibe.  There are the showy elements, of course, with the pyrotechnics and videos and such, but Macca himself just seems to have so darn much fun that everyone else does, too.  I think he loves us being there as much as we do.  It was my third time to see him (April 2002 in DC, October 2002 in New Orleans, and June 2010 in Glasgow-- a nice combination), and I do hope I get to add more to that.  As long as he keeps touring, I'll keep going to see him.  Even though he does most of the same songs, they're the songs everyone wants to hear.  And he has a big enough body of work to switch things up some, so it's never exactly the same.  But people go because they love the music, and that's what he gives us-- great music. 

After the show, we left with the thousands of other people to catch the trains back into the city centre so we could get home.  They were running special ones, I think, to accomadate our numbers, and we finally got on.  We got one stop down, however, and everything shut down.  The train just went dark, and we had no announcements to tell us when or if we might be moving again.  It was packed in there, too-- so many people, all of whom had just come from the show.  That might be a recipe for short tempers and annoyance, except that it didn't work out that way.  From somewhere behind me, someone started singing (rather drunkenly, but not at all badly) Hey Jude, I think it was.  You could see people glancing at each other, not sure what to do.  Some were giggling, some were confused, some were just waiting to see what happened next. 

What happened next was that someone else joined in, then someone else, and then someone else.  When the song ended, another was started.  And before we knew it, our whole train carriage was giggling and singing along to whatever Beatles or Macca song someone was brave enough to pipe up with in the lulls.  It was, actually, quite breath-taking;  in an odd way, it was a taste of the Kingdom of Heaven for me.  Not that there is anything inherently religious about Beatles songs, and as much as I love Sir Paul he is not deserving of worship-- but to have a bunch of people, from all different ages, races, backgrounds, all joining together, raising our voices and sharing this profound moment of togetherness, simply due to the fact that we had in common one thing: the concert we'd just experienced... it was amazing.  It made me wonder how much better the world would be, and our lives in generally, if Christians could share more moments of such togetherness... but that's another issue to explore in another post.  Still, it was a profound and moving moment for me, and a great conclusion to the concert. 

It wasn't the end of our adventure, however.  When we finally got back to Liam's, he and his flatmate (Adam, I think) were still up and waiting for us.  They knew we hadn't had time to have dinner before the show, so they cooked up some goodies for us-- salads and quiches and bread and cheese and wine.  It was a feast!  They stayed up with us for a long while, chatting and making sure we felt at home.  They were amazing hosts, for certain!  And it didn't end there-- the next morning, they made us breakfast, and we stayed around the table, talking about life and religion and music and culture and art and all kinds of deep things, for hours!  It was one of those times when the conversation just flows, where everyone both listens and shares, and where you enjoy each other so much, even if you don't always agree.  It was incredible, actually.  We had intended to head back to Alva much earlier, but we probably would have stayed longer if Paige hadn't been set to leave for America imminently.  So, wishing we could stay longer but knowing we had deadlines to keep, we gathered our things, thanked our friendly hosts profusely, and headed back to Alva. 

It was, simply put, an all-around amazing adventure. 

The Famous Alva Highland Games!

While I was in Alva, they held the 153rd (I think) Famous Alva Highland Games.  So of course I went.

It rained.  All day.  And it was cooooold.  I was frozen through and quite damp by the time I left to get fish 'n chips to watch the World Cup semi-finals (Uruguay was playing, and my World Cup crush plays for them).  The rain meant that the crowds were small, and that the Highland Dancing and piping got moved indoors somewhere... I never heard where, though.  I watched all the heavy events, which were interesting considering how wet everything was.  Only one guy even got the caber to flip over, which was disappointing.  I think the contestants were all annoyed with the rain, too.  It can't be very nice to be throwing deadly things around without a good grip.

I still enjoyed watching them, and there were a few I remembered from last year's events.  I also watched all the footraces, the hillrace, and the cycle races.  The hillrace was crazy... they ran all the way up to the top of the hillfoot behind us and back down-- the fastest one in just over 20 minutes!  That would be an all day event for me, and they were running it.  Mad.

I took some photos, of course.  They are here. 

The videos, in case you didn't notice, are in no real order.  I just stuck 'em in places.  =)

Alva Thesis Retreat, Take Two

Study, study, study.  In Alva.  Thank you, Paige, for the loan of your flat while you were away! 

It worked well for me in January to be away for a few weeks, and to just work somewhere different.  I hoped it would work that way again, especially after being so frustrated with the whole robbery and losing my work fiasco.  I debated about not going, but I'd already bought my train tickets before the theft, and I couldn't see wasting the money (they were, of course, non-refundable cheap tickets).  So off I poddled to Alva for two weeks. 

I didn't get completely done, but I did get a lot accomplished.  It's funny how just a change of scene can work wonders on motivation and focus, sometimes.  The weather wasn't great, as it was rainy and cloudy most of the time... but there is a great park just a couple of blocks down that I took my books and notebooks to when the sun came out.  The university even loaned me a netbook to use for two weeks.  Granted, I made them feel bad enough about having kicked me out of my office right at the end of my time when I needed a place to work the most, and laid it on thick about then having my laptop stolen in the break-in... they couldn't really do anything but loan me one that was sitting around unused, could they? 

Anyway.  I worked a lot.  I drank coffee and ate snacks and sat in the window and watched the World Cup and read in the times when I wasn't working.  It was productive, and it was refreshing to be somewhere other than the 'Deen for a bit.  Thanks, Paige!  I owe ya.  =) 

Where are the photos?  They're here. 

Quite a Week That Was

One Monday, I had decided I wanted to get my hair all chopped off.  It had been growing for nearly three years, and that was long enough.  I grow it out so I can donate it to Locks of Love, and I usually try to get it cut while in the States so I can get a nice salon cut for free.  This time, though, I couldn't take it any longer.  So I made an appointment at the salon across the street, Mokoko.  It wasn't cheap, but I had a 40% voucher. I figured it was worth it to get rid of the mane.  I booked in for Thursday. 

Then on Tuesday I went to have lunch with Lynch.  She got an hour break from work, and we went to Subway.  It was not a great experience, and I'm not all that sad that they are still closed for flood damage months later.  I'll go to the one in the Hub if I ever have sub cravings again. Grrrrr.  Of course, it was good to hang out with Liz, as always.  Then I went home... and couldn't get into the flat.  I thought the lock was stuck, as we've had some trouble with it sticking before.  The door was loose in its jamb, but it wasn't open.  And I couldn't get the key to turn for anything.  I texted Kenny, and went down to sit in the cafe at Morrison's while I waited for him to get off work. 

Three hours later, I went back to meet Kenny at the flat.  He couldn't get in, either.  Eventually he had to just shoulder the door in.  We both just thought it was the lock, and he'd bought a replacement a while ago, just waiting for the time we'd need it.  There were some random weird things, but nothing really seemed amiss yet.  We just thought from all our shoving and shoulder and pounding to get it we'd knocked some stuff loose.  While Kenny got to fitting the new lock, I went in to check my email in the lounge. 

Wait.  Did I leave my lappy in my room?  Did I move it?  No... it was here... and where's Liz's lappy?  Oh. No. Kenny... we've been robbed! 

It was horrible.  We lost three laptops, both of our diary/filofax/organisers, a gold chain, a wallet with US store cards, a digital camera, and a thumb drive.  But on the thumb drive and on my hard drives (well, mine and Liz's I was borrowing) was all my thesis work.  All of it.  Six years.  I was freaking out, to say the least. 

I only ended up losing two weeks' worth of work, because my latest draft had been sent to my supervisor two weeks prior (duh), and I had that in my outbox still.  So at least there was that... but I had to cancel my UK chequebook (which was a hassle and may be contributing to my current visa problems), change all my login details everywhere, and am still trying to get address and contact details back for everyone (if you want me to have your address and phone number, please email them to me).  It was a nightmare.  The police came 'round and took our statements, we had to give our fingerprints for exclusion so they could dust (they didn't get anything), and the insureance... well, that's another nightmare in itself.  Kenny got two new locks installed while I was away the next week, plus a baseball bat.  Well, it's not a real baseball bat-- it's too short and too light.  But it's close enough.   So we're prepared now. 

Then two days later I got my hair chopped off.  And then I left for two weeks, to go to Alva and write as if my life depended on it.  In a way, it did. 

Photos from the haircut and from prior to knowing I'd been robbed and just thinking I'd been locked out are here and here.  As always. 

I do recommend donating your hair to Locks of Love if you have ten inches or more to cut.  I do not recommend getting your flat robbed.  Not that you have much choice about that, really.  We didn't.  I was only gone for two hours... boooo. 

International Potluck

At my birthday party, an idea was born: to have an informal international potluck.  There were a couple of us sitting around talking about food, all of us from different countries, and we decided we wanted a chance to try them all for ourselves.  A couple of weeks later, we did just that. 

Noelle hosted us at her flat, and Natalie brought along some of her floorball friends, and then there were the usual suspects of Lynch, RitaB (and her mum and sister, who were visiting), and me.  We ate well, let me tell you.  The devilled egges I took disappeared quickly, and that was just Lynch!  We all brought things from our home country, or from a country that we had adopted as home (in Nat's case).  Oh my life.  Good food.  So much good food.  And leftovers.  Yum. 

I think this should happen at least once a month.  =D

Oh, and photos here.  From 32-52.  Don't say you aren't warned-- these will most likely make you hungry. They do me!  

Private--Open Today!

There is a house at the corner of College Bounds and Meston Walk that has a great garden.  It's a private home, and usually the gate is closed.  One day, however, I happened by and the gate was open-- today only!  Come in and look around!  Private Gardens Open to Public Today Only!  Well, you don't have to tell me twice!

It was lovely.  I wandered around, taking photos, and got to talking with the homeowner, who was our working the flower beds.  He was lovely, too, and obviously enjoys his gardens.  They have a great location-- directly across from King's College.  I have recently found out that they rent out the 'servants' quarters' or downstairs to students-- there are seven or so of them, and you have to be interviewed and prove you'll get along with the others in order to be considered.  If you want to live on campus in a gorgeous setting, there is no better place than that.  Want to see?  Here you go.  They start at 180 and go until the wicket gate.  

There have also been plenty of opportunities for me to take pictures of blooming things, which I absolutely love.  Many of them are in that same album, and many of the others are here.  Enjoy!  I sure did.

Thomas

For many of you, this is old news.  You heard it back when it happened, either on ViewFinder (this is the link to this story on my photo-a-day blog) or Facebook.  For the rest of you, and for posterity's sake here on True Aim, I'll say it again.

We lost Thomas, our older sweet kitty, pretty suddenly.  He's had some health issues over the past year or so, but didn't seem to be doing too badly, considering he was sixteen-- and had a very annoying younger brother.  Kenny and I had taken him to the vet on a Friday night, they kept him overnight, and called Kenny back on Saturday to put him down.  We miss him a lot around here.  Still.

Especially Dillon.  He whines all the time now, and wants to be right where you are-- even more than before.  It's sweet when he wants to be all cuddly... but I can't do anything without him right there.  In the kitchen.  In the bathroom (I shoo him out first).  In my bedroom (when he's fast enough to race in before I can catch him).  In the lounge.

The problem is, when I was trying desperately to finish my thesis, he kept wanting to be on my lap.  Where my laptop was.  That doesn't work so well.  Now it's times like now, or when I'm reading, that he's really in the way.  Once he settles down beside me, I don't mind so much... but until he settles, he's a pain.  Quite literally.  He has claws, and dang, they hurt!

Kenny keeps threatening to get another cat to keep Dill company, but I'm not sure I can handle another.  I can barely handle this one! 

Girlie Nite

I go to the cinema a lot, as you probably know.  I don't go to the theatre very often-- largely because I don't think about it, because they often have cheap student tickets available the day of.  Oh well.

I always enjoy it when I do go, typically at the instigation of friends who have spotted something that can't be missed.  This time, thanks to Lynch, it was The Vagina Monologues.

I admit, I was sceptical.  Because it's an episodic presentation, I had seen (on other shows) a few of the Monologues.  One or two I thought were okay;  one or two others... not so much.  But it was a girlie night out, and Lynch had seen it before and recommended it.  So I was in.

I was impressed.  It won me over.  I wouldn't say it is for everyone, but I would encourage everyone to give it a try.  It was all kinds of things:  irreverent, hilarious, crass, moving, sad... varied doesn't begin to cover it.  My favourite ones were not the crass ones but the thoughtful ones.  And I would see it again.

My one big problem with the night was the crowd.  I don't know if it was just because some people were uncomfortable (she said 'vagina'! *titters*) or because they had already had more than enough to drink before they got there, but the crowd was annoying.  They laughed at everything.  Even the things that weren't funny.  Even the ones that were, for instance, reflecting on being present at the birth of one's grandchild or one's experience in a Bosnian rape camp.  Still they laughed.  That made me quite annoyed... but that's not the fault of the show.  Or the actresses-- although one of them probably didn't help sometimes.  Joyce Falconer plays on my favourite Scottish soap, River City, so there were plenty of in-jokes for people who follow the show, and she has a very thick Aberdonian accent to boot.  She opened her mouth and the local ladies laughed.  Even when it wasn't funny.  She did play it up at times, but even so... it was still an aggravating crowd.  I should have been prepared for that, though-- there were signs on the way in warning that the show might contain offensive language.  Really?  In a show called The Vagina Monologues?  Might be offensive sometimes, or make people uncomfortable?  Laughter will cover that, and make you not look like a prude.  Laugh a lot, then.  Just to make sure. 

Still, I would recommend it.  And go with people you like-- I was there with Lynch, Aleithia, and Jay.  Lynch said it was better the other time she saw it, but having nothing to compare it to, I quite enjoyed it for the most part.  Not exactly the kind of thing I'd have probably said even five years ago.... I'm a changed woman now.  Not just because of the show.  =)

Photos can, as usual, be found here: from number 11.

A Haiku

Sunny hillfoot walk

like poetry in motion

inspires this 'hi, coo!'

I wrote this haiku for Paige.  Because she said I should.  When we were walking along the path at the base of the Hillfoots from Alva to Menstrie, to see the Highland Coos.  I mean, cows.  It was our last day in Alva for the Eurovision trip, and we were enjoying the nice nearly-summer weather and the middle-of-nowhere nature.  I took quite a few photos, which you can find here.  It was a great way to round off our weekend out of Aberdeen.  It's always hard to come back to the Granite City for this. 

Pleasure Princesses

While at Paige's place, there are far more touristy places we can get to than from Aberdeen.  Since we all four have Historic Scotland memberships, we decided to take advantage of that fact, and we headed out to spend the day at Linlithgow, formerly the royal pleasure palace.

It was fabulous.

They have the oldest working fountain in Scotland (or maybe all of Britain, I can't remember for sure), and it's a wedding-cake style with loads of carved figures.  They also have lots and lots of staircases, some of which now lead nowhere.  We definitely got our exercise that day.  The view from the top is worth the climb, though.

We popped into the local kirk, which is also lovely (except for it's bizarre metal spire, that's supposed to represent the crown of thorns but is, in fact, just plain ugly).  Even better, there was a rehearsal going on for the National Youth choir (or something like that... I can't remember their exact name).  It was amazing.  They had a great repertoire-- many of which I knew, which made it great, of course.  =)

We ruled that palace, we four pleasure princesses.

Eurovision in Alva!

After our day spent in Narnia, we went back to the wee flat for fish 'n chips and ice cream and wine... and EUROVISION!!

If you are not familiar with Eurovision, then I'd say you haven't yet lived.  It's an international European song contest.  Each nation has their own contests to find the song they are going to enter, and then there are qualifiers, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finally, the Finals.  The country that won the previous year hosts the next year's contest-- this year, it was in Norway.  My flatmate was there.  We looked for him in the crowd, but didn't see him.  Anyway.  Each country performs their song, and everyone at home phones in to vote for their favourite.  Then the popular votes from each country are paired with 'professional' rankings from each country, to decide how many votes each act receives.  After all the performances, they actually go through calling every country to get their votes, and keep the tally live on tv.  It's all very exciting.  And someone wins.  And then they sing again.  And then that's it until next year.

It really is quite an experience.  If you ever live in Europe, or any of the other countries that aren't in Europe exactly but are included in the mayhem, then you must watch it.  Or just check out some of the previous entries on YouTube.  You won't regret it.

This was our second annual Eurovision party--both times held in Paige's flat, although last year it was in Aberdeen.  She was thrilled that last year's winner got to perform again... as you can tell by the excited expression on her face.  We all could hardly contain ourselves.  It was good times, for sure.  As always, the photos can be found here, at the very end. 

This is the 2009 winner, who Paige loves:


This is the 2010 winner, who actually deserved to win:


Seriously.  Check out some of the videos out there.  You won't regret it, unless you are looking for actual good music.  But for a laugh, you can't beat them!  =D

Narnia, aka Stirling University

Who knew?  ;)

The three of us girlies in Aberdeen went down in late May to visit Paige in Alva-- largely so we could all watch Eurovision together (more on that tomorrow).  Since none of us had really seen much of her new uni, we forced her to take us on a tour-- which was great, because she hadn't seen most of it, either.  =)

Stirling University is a fairly new Scottish university, all things considered, and the architecture leaves much to be desired.  The setting, however, is breathtaking.  We'd all noticed it on the bus between Stirling and Alva, but none of us had wandered around it.  We had gorgeous weather, and needed to be home in time for Eurovision, so it was a perfect day to wander in the great outdoors on campus.  The postbox says it's Narnia, and we believed it!  We found lots of gorgeousness, hidden glens and cottages, tumble-down cemetaries, and more.

After spending time out on campus, Paige showed us around her office and her building.  They have a great collection of Scottish art... which wasn't there.  Ha.  They had several things up in other places, and we got to enjoy it.  Plus Paige showed us the window she gets to design in the entryway with all the other art, when it's at home.  And her office... dang.  Bunnnies galore cavorting just outside, and a view of the Wallace Monument.  Lovely.  Makes being in the office not so bad when you have beauty and distration so readily available.  ;)

And we had a good time with each other.  Although I'm sure you can't tell that from the photos.

Muppet References Galore!

I can't help but sing when I'm on the move...

'Moving right along, dug-a dun dug-a dun, footloose and fancy-free...'

I was singing this to myself a lot on the way to and from my Edinburgh mini-break.  And then on the way home, it was this one:

'Someday we'll find it, the Rainbow Connection--the lovers, the dreamers and me.'

The photos might not be great, but the views truly were.  Whether it's from bus window or train window, wherever in the country I'm headed, Scotland takes my breath away with its gorgeousness.  The skies, even when cloudy and rainy, are always dramatic.  When the sun comes out, the colours couldn't be more vibrant.  And it's always green.  Always.  I love the beauty of this wee corner of the world.  My pictures of it are here, if you want to see what I'm talking about.

Mini-Break and Maxi-Dog

Way back in May, I took a long weekend for a mini-break to stay with Paige.  This time, though, she wasn't in Alva... she was in Auld Reekie.  The Capitol.  Edinburgh.

Nope, she didn't move.  She has a friend at Stirling Uni who lives in Edinburgh, and has a monster dog.  Hazel.  She's seriously scary... or her tongue is, anyway.  It's faster than the speed of light, I swear.  Other than that, and her need to tear up with her teeth every growing thing she sees, she's a sweet puppy.  So Paige was there flat- and dog-sitting, and as she had just finished a major presentation for uni, she was totally up for a weekend of some fun.  And Papa John's pizza.

Oh, Papa John.  I wish you were here in Aberdeen.  But you aren't.  So I have to go to Edinburgh to get you.  Paige and I had a perfect plan:  delivery.  Because they SAY they deliver.  And there are two different branches.  It's a big city, sure, but not that big, surely.  Ha.  How wrong we were.  They don't deliver to where we were.  Pretty much if you aren't in a one-mile radius of their store, you can't get delivery.  Which is flippin' ridiculous. Our dinner plans were thwarted by their dastardly delivery deviousness... so we went to Waitrose and bought a for-two curry dinner.  It was delish.

The next day we were determined to get our pizza.  We spent the day in the city, at the Elephant House for coffee and studying and wandering around.  Then we walked out to where the PJs is... about a fifteen minute walk from Princes Street.  Not too bad.  The plan: get our pizza take-away to-go and then get a bus back to the flat.  First part worked fine.  Got our pizza (two of them, actually), and headed back to a bus that would take us home.  Part two didn't really work out so well.  Apparently you aren't allowed to take food on a bus.  Really?  Because I see people eating on buses all the time.  But this driver wouldn't let us on.  Grrrrrrr.  Here we are, walking around the capitol in the chilly May evening with two big pizza boxes, not to mention all our other bags.  Now what?!  I was ticked.  Seriously ticked.  Paige decided we'd just get bags to put the pizza in... which we did.  At Whittard's.  She bought a pretty reuseable bag that fit her pizza, and got the sales person to give her the biggest plastic carrier bag they had, which *just* fit my huge pizza.  On the bus we got.  Finally.

By the time we got to the flat, the pizza was no longer hot.  But does that matter?  Not so much.  PJs is just as good cold, and we had a microwave to zap it if we wanted it hot.  What did matter, however, was the fact that they forgot to put in the garlic butter dip. WHAT?!  Oh good grief.  I could not believe it.  On top of the rest of the disaster, that was the final straw.  Papa John, you have some serious making-up to do to me if you want me to love you like I used to.  I'm so disappointed in you.

Other than the pizza debacle, and the monster dog, we wandered around the nice suburb where we were staying.  There's a big private school there that Hogwarts could have been partly modeled on.  And there is a big park with a pond and lots of water birds and a gorgeous view of the city.  We saw swans, and mallards, and other birdies whose names I don't know.  We enjoyed the sunset, and the walk.  It was lovely.

Mostly we just hung out and laughed a lot.  It's just what happens when we get together. 

All of the photos can be found in my All Around Amie site here.  (If for some reason you can't access it, let me know and I'll send you an official invite.  Hopefully it'll just let you in.)

Garden Envy

My back garden:

The clothes line poles are just higher than my head, and those reed-things are that high.

I don't even know what these should be used for, but currently they are in such a state that I don't think they are fit for anything.

There were, last year, a lot of nice flowering bushes along that wall.  Someone started tearing them all out, and I can't find a rhyme or reason for how and why they did.  And why they left all the branches and bits in piles around the rest of the garden.  Grrrrr.

The neighbour's back garden, which looks nice and tended and like the wee rooms at the back can actually be used for something.

A random garden at uni-- behind my friend Liz's office building.  I gotta figure out how to get in there.

And I've gotta figure out how to deal with our garden.  Not having the right tools is a big bummer right now.

Party Like It's 2010... Oh, Wait...

So I had lots of my friends from different circles (uni, church, etc) and different eras (as long as I've been here, in the past year, etcd) to my flat for eating and laughing and goofing off on Sunday.  It was a good day.  I made Laurie's bean dip, Kayla's cream cheese salsa dip, ranch dip with veggies, raspberry choco streussel bars, Legend's fruit tea, and birthday cake balls (I had to neuter about a dozen and a half, poor cakes.  But their sacrifice was duly appreciated by the guests at my party).  I'll let the pictures tell the story, with a wee bit of commentary from me.  =)

(they might not have eaten the cake balls if they'd seen these photos first...)

the fridge stocked:

Becker boys, Scot and RitaBekah

what the boys did the whole time, and didn't share:

Liz and Jay, caught in the act.  Of what, I'm not sure.

Aleithia.  Classy. 

Which came first?  Looks like neither one is doing very well... considering they were supposed to be going straight off the edge to the right of the photo. 

Natalie and Noelle, vying for the win!

And the mystery parcel-- revealed this!  Not busted yet.  Needs a neater garden and less rainy day.

That's it.  I'm officially olde now.  Yay! 

Not to Brag, But...

I totally racked up on the gifties this year.  And I just want to share the bounty.  Not as in, actually share.  Just share the pictures so you can all be totally jealous of me. 

Mystery parcel.  I didn't order this.  And there is no glimpse of who it might be from.  Hmmm...

Another mystery parcel.  This one I opened on my birthday, and it had...

a sonic screwdriver!  Awesome.  From my daddy, as I found out when the Homer Simpson card full of d'oh! arrived.  =)

All of these things are from Kenny.  He's the bestest flatmate in all of Scotland.  Probably all of the UK.  Possibly even all the world. 

Oh, and this was the 'gift bag' for all the above:

From Aleithia, coffee.  Boozey coffee. 

From Liz, the Voucher of Happiness.  And Lush goodies.  Because I'm a lush, and a wench.  Obviously.

From Paige.  Ahhhh, another Voucher of Happiness. 

From RitaBekah.  That girl has good taste, obviously.

From Noelle.  I'd say she knows me a little bit. 

From the Beckers.  Also with very good taste.  Which is why I'm often so well-dressed. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you, friends!  I love them all, and will use them all.  Oh, and I love y'all, too.  =)

I'm Sensing a Theme...

Oooh, thanks, Aleithia! I love coffee.  But wait a minute... why do I get the 'boozey' one?  What are you saying?

Yes, it's vodka... but it's Birthday Cake Flavour!!

Oooh, Liz!  Thanks!  I love Lush goodies... but hold on a sec.  Are you trying to tell me something?

Oh, c'mon!  It's only one!

But I didn't HAVE all 30...

That's only six.  I can even remember what flavours they are:  strawberry, bakewell tart, pineapple & mango, parma violet, cola cube, and ice cream.  See?  I'm not THAT big a drunk. 

Oh.  Right.  I think the other six were milky bar, cherry, birthday cake, pear drop, lemon & lime, and... um... rhubarb & custard.  Yeah.  That's them.  And it's not like I was drinking alone...

Y'all were there, too. Thanks for suffering through the flavours of vodka shots on my Cinco de Drinko Birthday!   And for the 'themed' gifts.  =D