Sunburned on a Sunday

On Saturday I edited those videos and did some other stuff - like napping - and then on Sunday I got up early, got dressed, and set out for my 10 mile walk. Less than five minutes into my walk I strained the muscle on my front right calf, but kept limping until I reached Morrisons (3.5 miles later) where I figured it'd be a good idea to fortify myself and fix that muscle. Twenty minutes of rest and I was good to go, taking an alternate route with the hopes of generating some interest because walking without a partner and without a camera gets B O R I N G real quick. What I generated were some fun photo-ops (oh, I meant being without the big camera), and a stanky ol' sweaty shirt.

Took me nearly 3 hours to get from my house to the office where I made use of the loo and also drank another litre of water. I phoned Lorna to give her a time of arrival, loaded up all the stuff I'd collected all week, and set off once again. It was so unbelievably sunny & warm out that even wearing sunscreen, a hat and sunglasses I still managed to get a sunburn!

I was a woman on a mission, so I quickly walked down Sauchiehall Street veering into Blacks to pickup a couple pairs of coolmax sock and 90 seconds later I continued on towards the O2 shop to top-up my phone and then it was straight to Lornas! But then! I saw Bravissimo, the cutest little Italian lingerie shop I've been dying to go into for ages and even though it was Sunday they were open and I was right there-- and I simply had to go in. Shopgirl Linda was very nice and explained their style of fitting (eyeballing) (they do not believe in using tape measures) (because those kind of measurements are usually wrong) and also demonstrated how I've been wearing the wrong fucking band size and because I was just TOO DAMN SWEATY to try anything on, sold me her best guestimate on the sports bra and told me to try it on at home and if it didn't fit bring it back. I can't wait to go in and buy some properly fitting pretty bras. And yes, it appears I am not a DDD cup as I've been wearing but rather an H. Possibly higher, as she'd like to try me in a couple other sizes. Holy moly.

Off to Lorna's where I got to flirt with her bicycle-racing French neighbor (ooh la la) while waiting for the lift, and then onwards to the shops to pick out some necessary and immediate edibles. Total bummer is I bought some vanilla ice cream only to forget I'd put it in the freezer and thus neglected to eat any of it.

We chatted, I nearly napped, we continued to chat, I took a couple shots of the sunset, and the next thing I new it was time to collect my stuff and stagger on home. These are some of the shots taken along my walk:

Lazy Entry

hmmm, had the day off today and spent the entirety of it in bed. I'm feeling much too lackadaisical to write a proper entry, so I'm going to post up the wee videos I (finally) assembled on the previous day I spent in bed.

This is a montage shot at the Glasgow Winterfest (2007) in George Square. It's called "Silent Xmas" because I muted the volume out in post-production. Deliberately. That's the only new skill I've developed with movie editing and if you could hear the actual cacophony on the original, you'd thank me.

This was a quick clip I took whilst standing at the train stop above Sóller (Spain), also known as the "Valle de los Naranjos" (Valley of the Oranges).

This guy would play every day in the huge courtyard outside our rented flat in Plaça Major. I can't even begin to describe how incredibly awesome it was to hear the music while we lingered over a long lunch. I just wish I'd been able to take a better video for ya.

Our other lunch-time entertainment. Good lord they were adorable.

These are the coloured water fountains in the Plaça d'Espanya (Palma de Mallorca, Spain):

This little diddy shows just how easily I am entertained. The hand dryer at Stansted airport (London) is so powerful that it easily blew my skin around and gave me quite a giggle.

And lastly, what we have here is a swan nesting. I think. That's my best guess, as she was tidying up. I say she, but again that is a guess. The other swan was floating around the island, not doing much of anything and I may have automatically applied a learned stereotype.

Cowboys and Cross-dressers

The coat arrived today! I had a mere 30 seconds to rip it out of the bag, comment on how it was darker than the picture, unbutton it, check that it closed over my boobs (barely, but it does), ask my workmate if it "looked alright", and hang it up on the coat rack. And that's where it still sits because I was walking home tonight and didn't want to carry all that shit for 10 miles.

Should have cancelled the walk and brought all my stuff home because it was still raining when I left work, and yet Alison and I really wanted to give it a go. By the time we got to the Clyde it was pissing fierce and I made the executive decision to halt and dash for the bus stop, where a bus came by just two minutes later. When we hopped on the driver quoted me 2.40 which confused me because that's the same as a day ticket price and he gave me a single (which is usually just 1.90) and Ali and I discussed it while the bus drove on and I realized that this bus wasn't going to be dropping me anywhere near Paisley so I got up and asked the driver to please change the ticket to a day trip (same price) and let me off the bus.

He refused, and told me that it "wasn't his problem".

To make a rather long story short, I stood my ground and in the end his supervisor made him issue me a new ticket. I felt slightly bad for the other passengers having to wait 10 minutes while this got sorted, but damnit I've been the one on the short end of the stick way too often and it felt so good to finally WIN something. The victory was even sweeter because the driver was a complete dick to me. I was being polite, but firm, and he was the one who lost his temper. I was polite AND friendly to his supervisor, and made sure that the driver was not going to be penalized for my ticket. Fucker.

So that was the shitty customer service I had (that ended well), which sort of rounds out a day that started with nice bit of courtesy by the local postman. As I was walking up the hill towards work, listening to my Shuffle, I noticed a For-Sale sign on an upper flat and stopped to stare up at the listed window. I must have spaced for a sec cos the postman approached and asked me if I was lost and offered to help me find my way. Awww, so sweet!

Work was super busy again, but I managed to squeeze 40 minutes out for a lunch which gave me a chance to finally finish reading The Moor's Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie. I liked it, which means so far I'm 2 for 2 on his books, or maybe that's 3 for 3? Anyway, he's a good storyteller and with the vivid descriptions and dark comedy, I stayed interested all the way to the end.

Currently I am listening to The Messenger (on my walks), listening to Nina Simone's Gold (while typing this entry), reading The Interpretation of Murder, and tonight I will be watching Breakfast on Pluto.

I need to get in a 10-mile walk for my training either tonight or tomorrow and as it is still raining I'm going to say that tomorrow is the more likely candidate. At least if I leave straight from the house I can be dressed for getting wet and not be carrying un-wettable items on my person. I also need to swing by the office to pick up all my stuff, although I guess I could just wait until Monday. Then again, if I were to walk to the office and then into city centre, I will complete my 10 miles and have my stuff to enjoy over the weekend.

There is also the chance I'll be joining a photoshoot at the Rodeo. I didn't know Scotland had rodeos, so this could seriously be worth the look-- cowboys with a Scottish accent, how sexy is that?!

New Threads

A while back I sprung for a new spring jacket, but had to be credited back because my size was out of stock. I was bummed, but have since run across this jacket, and after checking with Sally & MaryAnn I decided to order it. I've been wanting to wear all black all the time, but my apparent closet majority is brown and I think this would be a nice compliment to that. Should also look good with jeans. I hope. So hard to tell how something is gonna look when you order from an online shop. Please, please, please let it close over my boobs. That's all I ask.I'm definitely feeling the extra oomph we put into last night's walk, now moving a bit slower than usual today and adding a few more grunts when I need to do anything that requires bending. I had forewarning it'd be like this when, after sitting so long typing up yesterdays entry, my head said "body, move off the bed" and my body said "head, go fuck yourself".

Ruh roh, I thought, so I grabbed the bottle of ibuprofen and counted myself out a reasonable handful and then reached over for my beverage and was halfway thru swallowing when my senses fully collided and I realized I was washing down pain medication with booze. Well now, that was rather Judy Garland of me!
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These are the three shots I managed to sneak on Saturday. I still can't believe that I spent my birthday morning going to an ikea sale that started at 6am and included a disgusting free breakfast. At 5 minutes past, we were obviously not the first ones in the door. The queues were horrendous, and that was just to order the stuff. They then had to line up again to pay, and once more if they needed to schedule a delivery. I can understand doing all this for a big sale, but 21%? And why was I there again?__________________________________________
Today I worked at the Edinburgh office, and I may have left the Rebel at home (it was raining) but that didn't stop me from snapping a couple of shots with the wee camera. It was raining in Paisley, raining in Glasgow, not raining but grey in Edinburgh this morning (1st pic). Before lunch it had all burned off to another lovely sunny day, and on the way home I took another shot of the Palmerston Place Church (same building as this morning but diff view, diff weather), and also one of the spires of St. Mary's.

Although it turned into a beautiful afternoon and evening, I was glad to just go straight home afterwards. I've since had my supper, I'm about to have a hot cup of decaf coffee (that's my dessert) and then I'm probably going to call it an early night. Tomorrow is early leave day at work (for Alison too), and I'm hoping the good weather will continue for our training walk home. This time we'll maintain the speed, but increase the distance (2 miles)...

Me So Sweaty

[another photo from the patio]

Alison and I just walked home from work, and clipping along nicely thankuverymuch we made the 8 mile journey in 2 hours-- woot!

Yesterday I flew down to Birmingham, had a couple finance meetings and a really nice lunch at a cute Italian restaurant, and then flew back. All said and done it was a fairly easy day and I'd be quite willing to do that more often. I'd wear better shoes though cos there was a fair amount of walking and the ones I wore kinda pinched my toes.

Apparently the weather decided to skip over spring and go straight to summer. Not only did I put my wonderful, gorgeous, I'm in love-with-a-little, bed together this weekend-- I also turned off the heaters. I didn't need a coat yesterday and probably could have done without one this morning, but it was chucking down on my way into work and I wasn't sure if it would be that way all day and I might need cover for the walk home. So, yeah, I wore it on the walk home, just tied around my waist. It's all good though, I was able to put stuff in the pockets so I didn't have to carry a bag home. Quite lovely this afternoon (60F), so I'm very sweaty and heartily hoping that's just a heat flush on my face and not sunburn.

This morning I took a taxi into work because I had a table and a bunch of pots for plants, a plant I'd been rooting, and other odds & ends. It was so nice to hop into a car and be at the office less than 15 minutes later instead of the usual 60 minutes by bus. If I only had a place to park near the office I could do that every day-- if I only had a car too, but you knew what I meant. Alas, it is still the bus for me. Now that I've walked home a few times the way has become more familiar and the trip 'quicker' in my mind. Although it is kinda funny to think that it only takes me one hour longer to walk home than it does to ride the bus!

We had clients coming in for a seminar today, so I had a lot of prep work to do before they arrived which is another reason I went in so early. But I've also been away from the office for 5 days so helter skelter was the theme from the get-go. I'm currently looking at a huge and disgusting burn blister on my finger, received today when I was trying to finally get a cup of coffee by nuking it and I didn't pay attention to how long the cup had been in the microwave and when I grabbed the handle it burned and hurt like a motherfucker-- even more so because of the clients being there I was unable to cuss out loud.

I quickly rinsed my fingers under cold water while fishing around the mini freezer for an ice cube and then all day long I watched the blister get bigger and bigger. Somehow on the walk home I guess it decided there was no more skin to stretch and "my water broke", Ewww, but it's full again so after I shower I plan to pour peroxide over it and then slap on a plaster (aka band aid). It might not heal any faster, but at least I won't have to look at it again and I'll be mildly entertained by the cartoons [all they had were the kid-style at the store].

Tomorrow I'm in the Edinburgh office and I'm feeling tempted to take my big camera with me and have a nice wander after work. I bet the sunset over the castle would look great tomorrow, as would the fresh flower beds near the Sir Walter Scott monument. Hmmm, decisions, decisions...

Post Random Thoughts #57

more than 16 candles
I don’t celebrate my birthday. I will happily, enthusiastically, ecstatically participate in the acknowledgement of other people’s birthdays (because those have meaning to me) but have probably only done something ‘special’ on my day maybe five times over the past 30 years. My friends try to get me to go out, but I usually prefer remaining at home alone.

And still, somehow it hurts that BOTH of my parents forgot my birthday this year.
Today I got an e-card from the Dad saying oops, forgot it was your birthday the other day, sorry. And I got a long email from the Mom who is still somewhere in Africa. Told me all about what she’s up to and how life is treating her (the usual), but didn’t even have a belated wish for me.

I can’t believe they fucking forgot my birthday.

My parents are the main reason I stopped celebrating my birthday. There’s a lot of history to that statement, and part of my attempted growth is that I’m trying to let go of many past issues but in order to do that I have to actually acknowledge it, honestly.

Today I automatically started to excuse the Dad, who is “bad with dates”, but then I realized that if it was important to him, he’d have remembered. Even if he didn’t remember, it has been the same date for 39 years, at some point you’d think he’d manage to put it on a fucking calendar. He manages to put work appointments, holidays, theatre dates, photography shoots, even goddamn dentist appointments in his diary and yet once again my birthday is an afterthought.

As for the Mom, she has never ever forgotten my birthday. Usually she makes it all about her, talking about what she went thru on that day etc., but at least I still got a “Happy Birthday Baby”.

I’ve tried to keep my birthday low-key because I am uncomfortable about the focus being on me. I don’t like the expectations and I certainly don’t want the horrible feeling of disappointment. THIS is the feeling I’ve tried to avoid all these years. I don’t like wanting something / someone, and the hurt that comes from not getting it. It’s not just disappointment, there are plenty of things in this world that I want and don’t get, it’s the sense that I don’t matter, that I’m not valuable, not worthy of a fucking post-it note reminder, ya know?

You are so Beautiful... to me

The movie was good and afterwards I was still too keyed up to sleep (like a kid at frickin' christmas) so I tossed and turned until probably half past two. My alarm went off and realized I'd been overly ambitious when I set it so I reset the snooze and slumbered for another 90 minutes.

Then I lay about for another half hour planning out my course of action before deciding I really must get up and get it done. I threw on some clothes, and then removed all the bedding-- tossing the sheets and duvet cover into the wash. I then rolled the extra blankets, which had been on the bed as extra padding, and took those out to the living room. Next I carried the mattress and then the cot frame up to K&Js room.

Quick stop in the loo and then a detour to find the hand lotion (I think my soap is drying my hands out) and then it was back to clearing out the room. I partially dismantled the desk, setting that out in the hallway for Lil'P, and moved the 'nightstand' over to the corner. All ready to go, I headed to the kitchen to make some breakfast and coffee.

I sat down and emailed a bit, and then napped until 11. Twenty minutes later the buzzer went off and the guys were here to deliver the bed. Now these were professional deliver men. No nonsense, up the stairs, super duper fast. I was actually a little leery they were too fast and forgetting something but everything was there. I took a picture, and then started in on the assembly.

I opened the box with the headboard & foot board and before I even unwrapped them I went to the kitchen and cut some felt pad to put on the bottom. Once those were attached I pulled the boards out and set them on opposite walls. I then read the instructions (just in case) and continued to open the other two boxes. Using my foot stool as a brace, I attached first one side rail to the headboard and foot board, and then attached the second one. Then I went around tightening all the bolts. Next step was to add the centre brace, then fit each slat into a slot. Voila, oh so simple.

I cut the plastic from the mattress, having a brain flash that this was excellent plastic to save as a drop cloth for when I (finally) finish painting the rocking chair. I noticed the mattress already has a zippered cover on it, so I was a little confused as to why the salesman insisted I needed a cover. So once again I read the instructions (of the cover) and discovered that it is some sort of hypoallergenic anti-dustmite cover thingy so hellsYA it was going on. Hardest part of the assembly was flipping and maneuvering the foam mattress onto the bed.

I think it was while doing this that I managed to put a notch in my headboard, but we'll just consider that a handicap point for future athletic events.

I put the sheets on, stacked the numerous pillows on, and now I'm waiting for the duvet cover to dry-- which is why the wrinkles and shite looking bedding in the 'final' photo. I was eager to take it for a test nap, but by the time I'd finished putting everything away Lil'P was here and we needed to take the desk to her house. Besides, I hadn't showered yet and there was NO WAY this stinky body was getting into that nice clean bed.

I've had my shower, and my tea, and once this entry is posted I am climbing into my new bed to watch Three Colours White and settle in for a nice long sleep.

3-hour Window

I phoned and my bed delivery is scheduled for some time between 10am and 1pm tomorrow. YippeEek!

So tonight I must finish clearing the room and get everything ready for the morning. I'm hoping that it's closer to ten because, well, damnit the sooner they deliver the sooner I put it together and the sooner I get to take a friggin' nap! All spread out if I wanna. No more rolling into the wall. Or falling off the bed (seriously, I didn't fall out of the bed, I fell off it when I tipped it over in my sleep. Twice.)

I slept good last night, as anyone should after walking 8 miles. I'm pleased to report I wasn't sore this morning, so if I can just pick up the pace a bit on my next outing I feel confident I'm not gonna look like a (complete) ass when it comes to walking the marathon. I'm a bit concerned about one of my team members, though, because I emailed to schedule a longer walk on Monday and asked how many miles she felt prepared for (what would push her training but wouldn't hurt her) and she emailed back that she could probably do 6. Six! Um, yeah, I'd been thinking something closer to 14. Shit on a shingle I need to get my motivator cap on and get her training. The MoonWalk is now less than two months away.

The Bourne Ultimatum was a great flick, kept me awake and entertained the entire time. I really enjoy the cohesiveness of the three movies, and felt the action scenes were nicely choreographed. A couple times I yelled 'whoa' out loud and then laughed at myself for getting so excited at the camera-work. It's funny how I can get so engrossed in a film and at the same time be picturing how the scene would have been constructed beforehand.

Tonight's feature is the Spanish film Y u mamá también, with the highly watchable Gael García Bernal. I have no idea what the film is about, so my expectations are unformed (read: low); I'm just looking forward to kicking back and being entertained for 90 minutes.

I Stopped to Smell the Flowers

Tonight I walked home from work, taking a more direct route, and discovered that I'm rather tired after walking 8 miles. Or rather, 7.67 miles.

At the halfway mark I said goodbye to Alison at the bus-stop across from Morrisons and went on to the grocery store to pick up a few bits and possibly something quick for dinner. I bought more than I should but was feeling a little cockey about the walk.

Halfway thru my 2nd half of the walk home (would that be quarter, or 3/4?) I start to droop and it took all my will power not to give in and catch a bus the rest of the way home. I found a little inspiration in the stunning pink/purple/orange sunset, and am very pleased that I hung in there, but lawdy my back is aching. Remind me to never distance walk again whilst carrying groceries. Or wearing jeans, either. It is warm enough now that jeans are gonna cause some serious chafing. That's all I'll say about that.

SO, I'm going to make a drink and lay down with an ice pack (or 3) now-- I'll probably be asleep in minutes. More tomorrow...

takin care of bidness

Yesterday I filed AND paid my US taxes (for the work I did there last year) and then today I broke up with my crime-bookclub, so I'm 2 for 2 for "takin care of bidness I dunt like".

MaryAnn completed my tax form (having an accountant in the family is handy), and emailed me the info to finish filing and pay online. Whew, done. Well, sort of. Apparently I am supposed to check back on whether or not the IRS accepted my submission. Argh.

Today I phoned the library to make sure that the bookclub's next reading selection had arrived for our Thursday meeting, only to be told that they didn't have it and did not even have record of ordering it. We've been farting around with those incompetent asshats for months now and two members have already quit and I'm really annoyed at having to listen to one woman's critique of the book be all about the fucking language (yes dear, I said the F word), and so while I was composing an email to my group to explain the status of our next order I found myself typing a resignation email instead. Whew, that's another load off.

!!Just 3 days until I get my bed!!

I'm trying to coordinate my walking slash training calendar with my hiking and photoshoot calendars and if I could just find the perfect (magic) camera slash gear backpack I'd be able to multitask myself absolutely silly. At this point I have walking shoes, and hiking boots, and the old walking shoes that have now been relegated to being photoshoot shoes. Sounds rather posh but I'm rather ungraceful, so if I can stack the odds in my favor by wearing the proper gear I'm less likely to hurt myself. Imagine my closet in six months when I have to add running shoes to the mix.

I was blathering on to my office-mate about all the crap I donated this weekend, and about how I still had a few more things like the suitcases to get rid of when she informed me that she'd love to buy the suitcases off me. Soon as my bed is setup and I get the cloth drawer underneath it, I'll pull the cases out of the closet and get those over to her. It's a 3-piece set of black suitcases that I used primarily to keep bringing crap over from Seattle and since I'm pretty much done with the giant hauls, I can let them go. For most trips I just use the wee duffle bag for clothes and the backpack as my carry-on (which holds laptop & camera gear).

I've finished more books, nothing I feel like linking to right now, but I'll update my list soon. I've watched a few movies too, revisiting old classics like Rear Window and new classics like Best in Show. One of my favorite scenes in Show is between the catalogue couple, Hamilton (played by Michael Hitchcock) and Meg (played by Parker Posey), as they are discussing their DOG:

Meg: "Hamilton? Hamilton?! We gotta call Dr. Nelken."

Hamilton: "Why?"

Meg: "Beatrice made a pee pee on the sheets and a poopie in your slippers."

Hamilton: "In my Orvis slippers?"

Meg: "I don't know. Have you been talking to her?"

Hamilton: "Of course I've been talking to her."

Meg: "What have you been saying?"

Hamilton: "What have I been saying? I've been saying that when Mommy and Daddy make love it's a beautiful, beautiful thing".

Meg: "Sometimes."
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Tonight's entertainment will be The Bourne Ultimatum, if I can stay awake for it...

Sweatin' & Loungin'

I’ve been hemmin’ & hawin’ over what bed frame to get as I didn’t particularly like any of the ones I’ve been seeing so it was really a matter of trying to narrow it down to something I could just live with (and afford) and that was the cheap part, because then I had to give great thought to the mattress and oh lordy that part was stressful.

Then on Friday night Lil'P suggested I check out bedshed and the very first bed on the homepage is EXACTLY the bed I’ve been looking for! The ‘free mattress’ I was assuming to be shite (it was; I checked it out) but was trying to talk myself into accepting it. For some reason, I was feeling guilty at the idea of spending a lot of money on a bed—- as if I was taking food from a child and well, there ain’t a child and there ain’t gonna be a child and damnit I’m worth it. Sally then reminded me that our Great-Grandmother used to say, “you should always invest in good shoes and a good bed, the rest you can skimp on”.

More waffling on Saturday morning until I finally couldn’t stand arguing with myself anymore and I stormed off to at least look at the bed and check out the different mattresses available.

Of course I fell for the expensive mattress. Oh my gawd, this is a foam bed very similar to the tempurpedic (sp) but not quite as much money. I lay there thinking—if I buy this it is going to take a while to pay off, am I ready to acquire that debt.

And you know what? I am ready. The momentary indecision had nothing to do with the choice, it had to do with my guilt about spending money on myself (yes, I know I need therapy). Realizing I’d been laying on the bed in the middle of the shop for nearly ten minutes while having an inner (I hope) dialogue, I got up and told the man I’d take it. We set the delivery date for next Friday (when I’m off work), he threw in the mattress pad for free, and then I handed over my piece of plastic and prayed it wouldn’t melt from the new charge. Hell, at least I get miles for the purchase!

I’m completely ecstatic and hope that I’ll be able to assemble this bad boy all by myself.The salesman threw in a free mattress pad, so I ran home to drop that off and then dashed back out again to take the bus into town as I was meeting up with Tango and tagging along as she picked up her new Mini Cooper. Once the paperwork was signed and the keys exchanged, we left the dealership and drove on out to Luss. She'd offered to stop so I could pick up my big camera, but I decided to enjoy the daylight and get by with my point & shoot. As we walked into the Lodge on Loch Lomond Hotel, though, I was kickin' myself because the view was absolutely stunning. We ordered a coffee for her, a whipped-cream topped hot chocolate pour moi (oh yeah), and we sat back to enjoy the scenery.

As soon as she left for the loo, I whipped out my camera and took some shots thru the window and then started to play around with the sepia and macro features. She laughed when she got back to the table and found me messin' about, but happily took out her camera and joined in on the fun. We left the Lodge and went out to the parking lot where she spent some time getting to know her knew car. I managed to stay entertained by playing in puddles and climbing into flower beds.
By this time it was after 7 and with both our bellies rumbling we decided to stop at the Railway Inn for a quick bite. We ended up ordering a smattering of appetizers which I think is probably one of my most favorite ways to have dinner. I also enjoyed two cocktails, which I'm most certain contributed to my wonderful night's sleep.

On Sunday I met with Alison for our 'small' walk, which according to the training guide needed to be 6 miles long, so instead of the same old boring route I suggested we walk to Crookston Castle as it was about 3 miles from my flat (3.27 each way, to be exact, so why it has taken me two years to go I have no idea). It was warm and sunny, to the extent I only needed my cotton hoodie to stay warm (actually, I got rather sweaty so staying warm was a moot point). Could it be that spring is finally here?! It was really hard staying focused on walking and not stopping to take pictures, but we had agreed to walk full-on to the castle and only once we were there could we get out the cameras. Man, we sure lucked out with the weather. Spent a good 45-minutes climbing in, out and around the castle and then packed away the gear to shuffle back back the way we came. A good training walk AND a photoshoot, ah the joys of multi-tasking!

It's all a blur

going thru the CT
Originally uploaded by Gertie_DU

This shot was taken with my Canon Elph, from the top deck of the bus, as it drove through the Clyde Tunnel. It is a great representation of how life is moving right now. Holy Crap it is the middle of April already! Man, I'm just NOW feeling ready for Christmas.

I've been doing one thing from my Whine List each night, and feel like I'm making some progress. I pulled all my boxes out of storage, and by sorting and condensing I've managed to reduce the crap by five boxes. My winter coat has been sewn, washed, and packed away with my other obvious winter clothes and my 'Spring' stuff is now waiting in the closet until the weather gets just a bit warmer. I've got a giant IKEA bag stuff with items for the charity shop and dropping that off is now on my list of things to do this Saturday.

In my boxes I 'found' two good pieces of clothing I'm on the fence about, as I'm trying to decide to continue to keep them in the closet until I drop 20 pounds OR just ebay the damn things and be done with it. The black evening dress with wrap probably won't fetch me more than £20 and it would cost over 4 times that to try and buy something else-- and I think I've just decided. I'm keeping that sucker and will make that my goal item that I need to exercise myself back into. The other is a burgundy with blackish sheen long jacket and matching shell dress. I don't think I could get much for that either, so maybe it would be worth altering the dress to make it a long top with matching jacket that I can wear with jeans and boots. Oooh, problems solved! Now if I could only squeeze these boobs in the raincoat I'd be set there too. Jackets are not much use when you can't close them.

I was so tuckered when I got home last night that I made some cheese bread, something I normally only do on a weekend, and was in bed by 8pm. That, of course, meant I was up by half four this morning but by then I felt refreshed and able to tackle putting away the last of my boxes, hanging up the laundry, and taking out the trash. Then I was ready to go back to bed, but instead I needed to shower and dash out the door to work.

Today is jeans day and early leave day (hooray for Fridays) and I'm feeling quite snappy with my hair down and wearing a long black top with my high-top red converse sneakers. If the weather holds [and by that I mean if it's not pissing down rain] I will take a wander over the lunch hour and maybe get some shots of the spring flowers. And to add a little spice to my life, I'll probably go grocery shopping after work. I'm such a rockstar.

have a fantabulous weekend...

Luss (also re-visited)

I started typing "last week", only I knew that couldn't be right because last week is when I did the Bowling Basin trip and the weekend before I was in bed the WHOLE time and, well fuckit I just looked on flickr and see the date on my photos stats ...

On March 22nd (Saturday), Tango, BettyBoop, or4ngecrush, visualcandy and I went to Luss-- a place I've been to many a time, primarily during the winter months, and yet I'm always up for a return trip. This time it was different, because I was with four other photographers and it's like frickin' night & day when you do that. See, other Togs don't question the desire to stop (again), they don't complain about the cold, they completely understand the need for just 'one more shot', and I never have to feel guilty for making one of them wait.

We started by heading straight to the water, then along the shore where we encountered the two resident swans. I admit I rapidly became bored with the swans, but managed to entertain myself by taking snaps of the snappers.
Continuing on, we arrived at Luss Church just in time to see a wedding party exiting the church and walking down to the shore for group photos. Aaaand of course we had to stay right there and take our own.
The bride & groom led the procession down along the shore, and while they were gone we took advantage of the break and walked around the wee cemetery and church grounds. I noticed a piper getting dressed in the parking lot, and tried to hang about nonchalantly hoping not to spook the fella with my eagerness at getting some piper shots. This guy got into full military dress and as soon as he started blowing on his pipes the neighbors with their point & shoot cameras appeared en masse. I caught a few of him solo playing and then before I knew what was happening, or4ngecrush was standing next to him and he was handing her his black feather hat. He was a sweetie, conversing with her and laughing along with the rest of us when she glanced over and asked "does this make my butt look big"?
The wedding party was on the way back, so we left friendly piper man and made our way across the bridge to the giant wooden cross erected in the middle of a grass field.
Perplexed as to the purpose and location choice of this item, I decided to go back to the bridge and it is here I was able to take a few shots of the bride and groom having their professional wedding photos taken. Also, this is Phil the friendly groomsman, whose main job was to carry the champagne around to keep the bride nicely liquored up (only way I can figure that she wasn't freezing cos damn it, I was cold and I had on a helluva lot more clothes than she).
We stopped for lunch at a place I'd never been to, not once, in all the times I've been to Luss. I didn't actually know there was more than one place to eat there! We had a nice hot meal (lasagne for me) and then we hit the road again, leaving the Conservation Village and walking towards the Aldochlay Cottages. There are a couple cottages on the main road, and boy howdy they have a lot of garden ornament shit in their yards. I can't even begin to imagine how it looks once the Christmas season rolls around. I was trying to get a shot, of a particular gnome, by trying to focus thru the fence (I'm not ballsy enough to trespass onto their property and walk right up to it), when it occurred to me that the fence itself would provide a nice depth-of-field shot.
Past the cottages we came to a spot at the Loch where there is a mysterious statue out in the middle of the water. I'd like to tell you more, but I can't find anything on the web about it and I certainly didn't swim out to see if there was an inscription. Only one thing for it, I must get a 70-300mm zoom lens.
Partway through the walk back, or4ngecrush nearly gave bettyboop (her mother) a heart attack when she attempted a new-angled shot in the center of a sporadically busy road:
but all was quickly forgotten when we looked over a wall on our right and noticed four wee lambs cuddled up on the grass. I just wanted to pick them up and smoosh 'em and put them in my pocket to take home. The twins kep falling asleep, but the larger grey one kept looking at us with what appears to be a smile on his face. Like all babies, though, it probably just means he had gas.
Finally we arrived back at the car and while the others made quick dashes to the loo, I walked down to the dock for 'just one more shot'...

Bowling Basin Re-visited

Last July I went to Bowling Basin and, frankly, I hadn't given it much thought since. Then last week my photography Group ran a thread posting there as a meetup destination and the next thing I know I'm back in Bowling.

At half five Saturday night we gathered at the Beanscene in Charing Cross, where I mournfully discovered I'd left the house without grabbing the wee camera battery from the charger. Thankfully I had my big camera with me but, as I'd been attempting to take a shot on the sly, whipping out a camera with a large lens kind of neutralizes the stealth factor. No bother, totally worth it-- is this not just the cuuutest little dessert?
Travel coffees in hand we divied up the passengers amongst the drivers [note: having to take the time to explain what "I call shotgun!" means will totally defeat the purpose of having hurriedly shouted it in the first place.], tossed a coin on who'd be the lead, and off we motored onto the (erm) motorway across the Erskine Bridge and down into Bowling. As we got out of the car and loaded up our gear, I could tell it was much cooler on the water and was glad that although I may have forgotten the battery I had remembered gloves, scarf, hat, and an extra coat. You betcha, after 3 years here I definitely know how to dress-- many layers, and at least one of them should be waterproof.

Thru the railway station and over the tracks and then off we split to various points along this makeshift wall of crumbling piles of shale(like) rock. The tide was out and we could see lots of bizarre garbage stuck in the sand beds, in addition to the rotting boats that peppered the entire area.
I felt sad, like I was viewing their corpses or standing at their graveside, and yet also felt a bit of morbid curiosity in wondering how they got to be there. I managed to hoof it over the rocks nearly halfway along before agreeing with myself that I'm waaaaay too much of a klutz and it would be most prudent if I were to cease acting like a billy goat and get my ass the hell off the rock pile. I passed the rest of the group [ha, like ships in the night] and went back to climb up the railway platform and supervise them all from my perch up high.
Once they all tired of the wall, we voted on walking back towards the Harbour. Tang40 and I stopped at the Inn to use the loo, and as we walked back outside it started to dump snow. A LOT of snow. And then, just as quickly, the sky cleared and the sun came out.
I was excited because I could tell by the light that we were going to be treated to a fantastic sunset. Usually I get the sky all cool colours, often interspersed amongst the clouds, but this time the actual sun was there just a big round ball of fire illuminating the sky and casting a long reflection across the water. Ah, bliss.
Back to the Inn for some supper (mmmm, pub food) and then it was off to bed for me. Several hours of walking in the wind and sun and I slept hard...

Why I like daylight saving time

why I like daylight saving time
Originally uploaded by Gertie_DU

This photo (of Paisley Town Hall in the front, Anchor Mill in the back) was taken last week on my way home, after stopping at the grocery store. It was nearly 7pm and yet still light out! Today's sunrise was 06:34 (BST) and Sunset 20:06 (BST) [8pm for those unfamiliar with the 24-hour clock].

Pretty clear the longer days are improving my mood. I've got a lot to be excited about and I'm starting to actually FEEL the emotion. Any happier and I'll be shoving Julie Andrews out of the way off that frickin' mountain top.

Thursday night Lorna and I met for the late-night showing of Lars and the Real Girl. I was really impressed with the acting, and the script, and overall it is a movie worth seeing. Yesterday we went to the GFT to see the Italian film My Brother is an Only Child [aka Mio fratello è figlio unico]. All I'd been told prior is that it's about two brothers on opposite ends of the political spectrum. I figured two hot men --speaking Italian-- what more did I need to know? I really liked this film too, and ohmyGAWD Riccardo Scamarcio is the double-dipped chocolate fudge variety of eye-candy yum. Afterwards I met with Tango for MoonWalk stuff and then I was back at home edited photos from Saturday's shoot. That was a fun day, which I'll put in tomorrow's entry.

I'm going forward with purchasing a new bed, and if I can hussle and get this done right, then I will have it delivered in time to spend my entire birthday weekend in bed. I don't care that (most likely) I'll be alone, that'll just be more room for me to stretch out. Heh.

I think I'm going to have to sign off-- I've been trying to type this for the past five hours and have been consistently interrupted throughout. Oh well, maybe tomorrow I can get a lunch eh?

Friday Freedom

Today was another amazing day, so much like summer already that I'm positively giddy, and that is a rather unfamiliar look for me, as this is how I've looked (felt) for the past few years couple months: I'm trying to get caught up with my thoughts and entries and while I was fairly certain my life had been like the Town Hall of Dullsville I'm finding there was still a lot of living done-- even from the fringe of cloudy angst. Best way for me to talk about life is to say it with pictures, so here it goes in a rather random purge...

My first day back from Spain was so lovely I put off unpacking and went out for a long wander, stopping in at Achilles Heel to purchase new walking shoes, and then met up with fellow Bosom Buddies for our first training walk.
Thought it rather apropos that our first MoonWalk training session was done on the night of a full-moon:
The shot's a little blurry, but I was laughing as this pigeon hopped down every one of those stairs and I was thrilled to have managed this shot of him mid-hop.
My friend, ember, and I ended up at the local Pizza Hut and I'll be damned if it wasn't the best customer service I've received here EVER. Okay, maybe the kissy bartender gave better 'service', but real honest-to-goodness waitressing PLUS a great meal for under 7 quid? AND, this is the dessert that came with the meal. I KNOW!
I had to work late in Edinburgh one Friday night and by the time I got back to Glasgow I was 2-hours late meeting my friend (donnae worry, I sent text messages) which meant that our night of chatting lasted 2-hours later and thus I found myself walking down Ingram Street at seven o'clock Saturday morning. I like this shot because normally this street is very busy and here you can almost hear the solitude.
These are two shots side by side to show how oft-changing our weather can be. The photo on the left was taken at 3:52pm, and the photo on the right was taken just 90 minutes later at 5:34pm.Encountered these ladies in City Centre, whilst on another training walk.On that same walk, as we made our way down to the River Clyde, we passed the "Clyde Port Authority Chambers", the "Squinty Bridge" (currently out of commission), and finally the "BBC". I'm so glad I carry that wee camera-- for a point/shoot it takes some pretty good photos.
While in Oxford, I was wandering the grounds of the hotel during our free time and stopped to take a shot of the pretty daffodils. It was nearing dusk, and it was also turning stormy, which is probably why the flash went off-- a completely unplanned event that create a oddly cool shot.
Speaking of Oxford(shire), these were taken at my work seminar held at Eynsham Hall:

Have a terrific weekend~

So cute it makes me sick

smile
Originally uploaded by Gertie_DU

The ladies from Team Bosom Buddies, and I, went out to Luss a couple weeks ago and had a very enjoyable wander around the village. It was great going with new people as I found new places to go, and there was also a lot of activity happening that lent for some fantastic photo ops. One was a wedding, which included a bagpiper in full military dress and of course the bride and other people (ya know the day is really just all about the bride, right?), and we also saw some baby lambs. That's redundant isn't it? Baby sheep, is that right?

Anyway-- cute. KEY-YUTE! The grey one on the right looks like he's smiling, awwwww. But if that ain't enough cute to make you barf your lunch, just watch this BBC video about some lambs and a ginger cat. Can you stand it?

Fickle is as Fickle does

I don't know why, exactly, but today was an enjoyable nice-n-mellow day at the office. The phone didn't ring much, and since my office mate is on holiday I got to keep the radio off-- oh the blissful silence! There were still a few interruptions, and yet not one of them irritated me. Man I'm fickle.

I'm currently reading Dangerous Pursuits by Alanna Knight, for bookclub, and listening to Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. The first is an easy read, entertaining enough to keep me occupied on the bus. The second is an absolutely fabulous novel that I highly recommend. I really REALLY enjoyed The Foutainhead, one of the first books I read on my Classics list, and have been waiting two years to get the chance to read Shrugged. One night while surfing through the online library catlogue I saw it available as an audiobook and could not resist downloading it. The narrator is incredible-- he truly gets the book. I'm at part 40 (of 46) and keep resting between parts in order to savor it a little more. It's alwats a bit sad when an amazing book comes to an end, ya know?

Music-wise I've been listening to Paul Weller's 1995 album Stanley Road. Specifically, I can't get this song out of my head:

"Discovering" this album led me to his earlier work, in a band called The Jam, who released a lot of good songs, but the one that is running on repeat (next to the song above) is Carnation. Their version is definitely worth a listen, but there's just something about the cover version:

About a week after I came back from Spain I was scheduled for a hearing test, which confirmed that I'm (approximately) 50% deaf in the right ear and 45% deaf in the left. The doc recommended hearing aides, and scheduled me to come in and have moulds made of my ears.

I went in and the technician explained what she'd be doing and once she got me settled she checked my ears to make sure they were relatively wax-free (I've got the cleanest ears she's ever seen, yay me) and then inserted um, I guess you could say, an ear tampon. It was a cotton wad thing with a long string attached, pushed into the ear canal to stop the goo from going to far in. She then mixed up this play-dough type stuff, adding blue coloring, at which point I had to inquire as to the permanency of the dye. She laughed and assured me she wouldn't send me out there with blue ears. She then stuffed the dough into a large syringe type tube and squeezed it into my ear (right one first). We needed to wait for it to set, about two minutes, so she left the office to get samples of what the hearing aides would look like while I reached into my backpack and grabbed the camera. Duh.

Can I just mention at this point how friggin' perplexing it is to me that I've been uploading some darn cool photos of spain with nary a view and yet I slap up a picture of the side of my head with fucking blue goop oozing out of my ear and I get 70 hits in an hour...

She finished the right ear, I took another picture, and then she repeated the process for the left ear. They should be ready in about two months (ironically, they'll phone me to let me know). I don't know what make of hearing aid I'll be getting (it's all through NHS), but I'm fairly certain it will be a BTE (behind the ear) style similar to this.
Two things I've learned from these photos. 1) you can never tell why a picture is gonna resonate with folks, and 2) I seriously need to dye my roots...

Recent Arrival to My Inbox

re: Why don't you write or something anymore???‏

From: The Mom (themom@guiltRus.com)
Sent: 30 March 2008 17:59:47
To: Gertie (yesyou@theneglectfulchild.org)

Hello...................did you forget you have a mother?

I have had three emails from you in about three months.

Don't you love me anymore?

Mom
_________________________________________________

Gawd, Mom, I had just written an email 4 days ago, and have been unable to post a long letter because I don't have your address in Africa!

(don't ask)

Despite temptations to answer with a hateful zinger of my own, I climbed out of my stupor long enough to write a pleasant if short email reply. Ah, ever the good daughter.

So, guess I've been away awhile. Hadn't planned on writing tonight, either, but the Mom's email sort of lit a mini fire under my ass and since I was at the computer anyway I might as well say hello to you too.

Wow, that totally sounds like a back-handed compliment but it really wasn't meant to be insulting. I may not have been writing, but I have been thinking about you. And me. And the world in general. And how I want to change my life but only have enough energy to last thru the week until I can hide in my room under the covers for two days before the whole frickin' routine starts again. Ain't depression grand!?

My holiday was good, so why my ass is in a slump I cannae really explain. I felt a let down having to come home, not really wanting to leave Palma and certainly not wanting to leave my sisters and yet having an overwhelming urge to get away and be alone in the nice, comforting greyness of Scotland. Oi.

Work is, well, work.

Photography is, not exactly happening. I've been on one or two shoots since I've been back but basically it has taken me two months to sort thru my few Spain photos and get them uploaded to flickr. I'm still uploading the Barcelona shots, and once that is done I will retroactively post my entries from my holiday. Oh yeah, I went to Oxford for a couple days last month. Guess there are quite a few photos to post.

I've started a new Gold Star Chart (II) as a way to force myself into action, including daily items like floss, exercise, veges & fruits, lotion (dry winter skin), etc. My favorite item on there has to be the "Whine List". This is a list of things that I really need to get done but that I've been putting off for a long time cos every time I think of doing them I whine to myself "I don't wanna". So now I have to complete one, just one, task from the Whine list each night. Except weekends, cos I may be suffering depression but I'm not stupid enough to drive myself to full-on crazy. Not yet anyway.

It was gorgeous all day yesterday. What with being so far North, and the Daylight Saving taking effect last week, I awoke to light yesterday and left work in the light and it was still light when I left the grocery store. And not just light, but blue sky lots of cool fluffy clouds kinda light and that has given my spirits an amazing lift. I was in a good mood for most of the day, with only a couple irritations at work. While the sun is a great healer, it sure ain't a fuckin' miracle worker.

It's approaching midnight, so I'm gonna sign off for now. Don't worry, I'll be back tomorrow...

**edited to add: Oooh, almost forgot, today marks 1 Year since I quit smoking. Yay me!