Back up north again, in just over six hours time. When I get back I'll be back in the Belfry. I'm sure I'll have a couple of groovy posts in the meantime. If things go brilliantly I'll have achieved total enlightenment and be able to pass it on. If they just go well, I'll achieve terrible drunkenness and try to recollect it enought to pass it on...
I'll be happy with somewhere between the two.
PS - I'm packed; how fucking organised am I? Ninja style, except I didn't pack any katanas. Or shuriken.
21 April 2006
19 April 2006
yo-yo enlightenment
Two birds with one stone. Why voyage all the way up, just to come all the way back down again knowing that you're going to have to go all the way back up again? So I'm spending a week in Scotland. Driving up Friday, avec Sprotster and bumming around until the 2nd and getting home in time to pick up the 'rents from Heathrow on the 3rd. Such a simple thing really. What was stopping me was my deluded belief that I'd get more work done at home. Which is untrue. The extra 20 or so hours of driving would not, by definition, be time spent writing. I quite fancy getting literary in North Fife. There were some serious bolts of inspiration while I was up there last weekend, and I think this is the opportunity to see it through. It may just help me plough through some of the writer's block I've been experiencing of late.
Oh, and I'm very broke, and could do with avoiding the extra petrol expenditure.
Oh, and I'm very broke, and could do with avoiding the extra petrol expenditure.
18 April 2006
tunes
Some most excellent tunes to drive to:
Back in Black - AC/DC
3am Eternal - The KLF
I Predict A Riot - Kaiser Chiefs (well, the whole of the Employment album really)
The entirety of Eye To The Telescope - KT Tunstall
The entirety of The Back Room - The Editors
Graffiti - Maximo Park
An Open Letter to NYC - The Beastie Boys
There are loads more we listened to - I think The Editors may have got the most play time though. For some reason everytime An Open Letter to NYC came on Ru's phone rang and we had to turn it down. Weird.
Back in Black - AC/DC
3am Eternal - The KLF
I Predict A Riot - Kaiser Chiefs (well, the whole of the Employment album really)
The entirety of Eye To The Telescope - KT Tunstall
The entirety of The Back Room - The Editors
Graffiti - Maximo Park
An Open Letter to NYC - The Beastie Boys
There are loads more we listened to - I think The Editors may have got the most play time though. For some reason everytime An Open Letter to NYC came on Ru's phone rang and we had to turn it down. Weird.
weekend yo-yo
Well, the first yo-yo trip is complete. 3 trips to Scotland in as many weeks and unique for me in particular is that it was done in a car. With me driving. Sometimes driving very fast, almost by accident. Honest.
As a weekend, it had its ups and downs. The purpose of the trip itself was a down; a memorial service for someone taken from life far too early. The event was quiet, sad, hungover and heartfelt. I felt a tremendous sense of belonging in Sallies Chapel, not associated with religion but more with my connection to the university and town. It was odd. It brought a detached curiosity as to whether so many people would come to my memorial service, and what they would say. Morbid, nes pas?
To balance this morbidity I stayed at Naughton, a place of fond memories and surely of great events to come. An excellent location to embrace living and avoid pondering mortality and the like. Beers flowed, laughter echoed and sleep was lost. Everyone seemed on good form and some old friends showed up almost by surprise. It was a revitalising tonic to earlier events and drunken charades replaced morbid contemplation as the sun peaked over the hills of North Fife very early on Sunday morning.
Then, later on Easter Sunday, a trip down to Manuel House to jump start Monday's long trek back to the Big Smoke. Between Naughton and Manuel I know of nowhere else I have felt more welcome. My academic son and co-pilot for the weekend's adventure concurred.
I'm still exhausted from the driving. Stubborn pride forced me to do a full workout this morning and my body doesn't seem too happy about it. I slept almost 11 hours last night, not even making it to 10. The nest egg I put aside for supporting me through writing this book is coming to an end far faster than the book itself. A hunt for part-time work on the horizon? Must write faster.
My team. Destined for glory, Molly, Alexandra, Joe, myself and Daniel drank valiantly through all the trials and tribulations faced by a charades team. 
The lovely Miss Ross.
Some rocks
St Rules Tower
A wynd by the cathedral. I can't remember which wynd it is, which is disgraceful as I lived 200 yards away from it for 3 years.
Cathedral & trees.
Me. I don't post many pictures of myself because I'm about as photogenic as something terribly unphotogenic. My face obscured by hat and shades helps.
As a weekend, it had its ups and downs. The purpose of the trip itself was a down; a memorial service for someone taken from life far too early. The event was quiet, sad, hungover and heartfelt. I felt a tremendous sense of belonging in Sallies Chapel, not associated with religion but more with my connection to the university and town. It was odd. It brought a detached curiosity as to whether so many people would come to my memorial service, and what they would say. Morbid, nes pas?
To balance this morbidity I stayed at Naughton, a place of fond memories and surely of great events to come. An excellent location to embrace living and avoid pondering mortality and the like. Beers flowed, laughter echoed and sleep was lost. Everyone seemed on good form and some old friends showed up almost by surprise. It was a revitalising tonic to earlier events and drunken charades replaced morbid contemplation as the sun peaked over the hills of North Fife very early on Sunday morning.
Then, later on Easter Sunday, a trip down to Manuel House to jump start Monday's long trek back to the Big Smoke. Between Naughton and Manuel I know of nowhere else I have felt more welcome. My academic son and co-pilot for the weekend's adventure concurred.
I'm still exhausted from the driving. Stubborn pride forced me to do a full workout this morning and my body doesn't seem too happy about it. I slept almost 11 hours last night, not even making it to 10. The nest egg I put aside for supporting me through writing this book is coming to an end far faster than the book itself. A hunt for part-time work on the horizon? Must write faster.
Charades. This was the opposition. Lil, Ru, Duncan, Noel & Pete. While they put up a good fight, they were always doomed.
My team. Destined for glory, Molly, Alexandra, Joe, myself and Daniel drank valiantly through all the trials and tribulations faced by a charades team. 
The lovely Miss Ross.
Some rocks
St Rules Tower
A wynd by the cathedral. I can't remember which wynd it is, which is disgraceful as I lived 200 yards away from it for 3 years.
Cathedral & trees.
Me. I don't post many pictures of myself because I'm about as photogenic as something terribly unphotogenic. My face obscured by hat and shades helps.
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