I meant to post this last week. When my plane touched down in Houston from Atlanta lastweek, the airline steward went through the usual rigmerole of thanking us passangers from flying with them and then tagged this on at the end:
"We hope that next time you wish to rcket through the skies in a pressurised metal tube, we hope you'll choose us!"
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Mormon Smiling Contest
Yesterday Dazza and I went to temple square in downtown Salt Lake City. For those who are not aware this is centre of the Mormon church - or 'the Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints' as they generally preferred to be called. The square consists of several buildings including the tabarnacle where their famous choir sings, a conference center, office buildings, a chapel and most crucially The Temple. The Temple is a grey building built over forty years by the Mormon's who came and settled Salt Lake City in the 1840s. They are extremely proud of how long it took them to build it and how 'beautiful' it is but I have to admit that it didn't strike me as particularly special - probably years of living beside an English cathedral (Wells) has tainted my ability to appreciate Mormons architecture. When I get to Miami and set up our computer and figure out the whole photos and posting them online thing you can judge for yourselves.
They give tours of the square led by their 'sister' missionaries from all over the world (young women that they call sisters - I don't know if they are 'nuns' or not). Our guides were Ahn from South Korea and Adhadhe from Ghana . They were lovely, sweet, gentle, kind and never ever stopped smiling!! They told us about how happy they are to know that God is their father and that Jesus Christ is the center of the universe. They told us the story of the seagulls: when the Mormon pioneers first came to Salt Lake they planted their first crop but that year there was a swarm of black locusts that descended eating everything; at first they tried to fight off the insects but to no avail; so they turned to prayer and prayed and prayed and then a miracle happened; a flock of seagulls appeared and ate the locusts leaving the Mormons with a small but viable harvest. They told us how the seagull is the state bird of Utah and that they have a beautiful fountain with gold seagulls atop to honour their miracle. They told us that they believe that a group of prophets left the holy land in 600BC and came to America and wrote of their prophecies on gold tablets and hid them in America until Joshua Smith came and found them through a vision from an angel and translated them from an unknown ancient Egyptian language into English and compiled 'The Book of Mormon'. They told us that they believe in the living prophet and believe that the current one (the man who is head of the church) talks directly from God. They told us all this and did so still smiling and smiling. They sang us two songs and their voices were sweet and the envy of every girl guide troop the world over. And they smiled.
They were so nice that they deflected all questions. They were so nice how could you possibly wish to deflate their bubble of niceness by suggesting problems or queries about what they believed. So we found ourselves smiling and nodding and smiling again. My ambitions of getting answers to why they think it is ok to try by whatever means necessary to 'cure' homosexuals, or why God would have no prophets after biblical times until an immigrant in northern New York state in 1832 and thereafter have a direct succession of fifteen prophets or why they don't believe in evolution or where is the evidence for a people emigrating to the Americas 600BC? - all those questions were rendered mute in the face of those smiles. I suppose I naively thought that I may find that they would want to engage in discussion - at least try to convert me. But instead their means of conversion is much more subtle. Their message is become a Mormon and you too can smile like us, can have the power of smile.
I left with my cheeks aching and my brain dazed. Dazza and I both agreed that we felt violated by niceness. None of our questions had been answered and we didn't feel that we knew much more about the Latter Day Saints. So we went to their book store (a trip in itself - with books with titles like "What I Wish I'd Known Before I Became a Missionary" and "So I Married a Mormon") and bought a copy of 'The Book of Mormon'. As I get more answers I will have more to write and ponder. The most profound thing I learnt however is the powerful deadly precision of a smile. Perhaps the Israelis and Hezbollah could take a leaf out of the sisters book of Mormon magic and just smile with avengance.
They give tours of the square led by their 'sister' missionaries from all over the world (young women that they call sisters - I don't know if they are 'nuns' or not). Our guides were Ahn from South Korea and Adhadhe from Ghana . They were lovely, sweet, gentle, kind and never ever stopped smiling!! They told us about how happy they are to know that God is their father and that Jesus Christ is the center of the universe. They told us the story of the seagulls: when the Mormon pioneers first came to Salt Lake they planted their first crop but that year there was a swarm of black locusts that descended eating everything; at first they tried to fight off the insects but to no avail; so they turned to prayer and prayed and prayed and then a miracle happened; a flock of seagulls appeared and ate the locusts leaving the Mormons with a small but viable harvest. They told us how the seagull is the state bird of Utah and that they have a beautiful fountain with gold seagulls atop to honour their miracle. They told us that they believe that a group of prophets left the holy land in 600BC and came to America and wrote of their prophecies on gold tablets and hid them in America until Joshua Smith came and found them through a vision from an angel and translated them from an unknown ancient Egyptian language into English and compiled 'The Book of Mormon'. They told us that they believe in the living prophet and believe that the current one (the man who is head of the church) talks directly from God. They told us all this and did so still smiling and smiling. They sang us two songs and their voices were sweet and the envy of every girl guide troop the world over. And they smiled.
They were so nice that they deflected all questions. They were so nice how could you possibly wish to deflate their bubble of niceness by suggesting problems or queries about what they believed. So we found ourselves smiling and nodding and smiling again. My ambitions of getting answers to why they think it is ok to try by whatever means necessary to 'cure' homosexuals, or why God would have no prophets after biblical times until an immigrant in northern New York state in 1832 and thereafter have a direct succession of fifteen prophets or why they don't believe in evolution or where is the evidence for a people emigrating to the Americas 600BC? - all those questions were rendered mute in the face of those smiles. I suppose I naively thought that I may find that they would want to engage in discussion - at least try to convert me. But instead their means of conversion is much more subtle. Their message is become a Mormon and you too can smile like us, can have the power of smile.
I left with my cheeks aching and my brain dazed. Dazza and I both agreed that we felt violated by niceness. None of our questions had been answered and we didn't feel that we knew much more about the Latter Day Saints. So we went to their book store (a trip in itself - with books with titles like "What I Wish I'd Known Before I Became a Missionary" and "So I Married a Mormon") and bought a copy of 'The Book of Mormon'. As I get more answers I will have more to write and ponder. The most profound thing I learnt however is the powerful deadly precision of a smile. Perhaps the Israelis and Hezbollah could take a leaf out of the sisters book of Mormon magic and just smile with avengance.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Update - gut instinct restored
Yesterday I wrote an email to Monica about the apartment and how it affected us. We thought that would be the end of it and we'd achieve that holy grail of (usually american) psychology "closure". Well, I received an email back from her today and turns out the 'new roommate' was a ruse. The true situation is that her parents are in dire financial straites and Monica needs to sell her apartment in order to help them out. She made up the other roommate excuse because she couldn't face telling us the truth.
I feel terrible for her but yet I am also pleased that my gut instinct has been restored. I was mostly upset that a person whom I thought to be full of sincerity and integrity would up and dump us having led us on. I am pleased to know that she is not that kind of person and my first instinct was correct. I wrote back and hopefully we can meet up when we get to Miami and still be friends. I am just glad that I took the time to email her and find out the full story. I am also glad that being genuine and honest people doesn't mean that Dazza and I are doomed to be screwed over by others. In fact hopefully this very aspect will mean that we can still gain a great friend - watch this space.
I feel terrible for her but yet I am also pleased that my gut instinct has been restored. I was mostly upset that a person whom I thought to be full of sincerity and integrity would up and dump us having led us on. I am pleased to know that she is not that kind of person and my first instinct was correct. I wrote back and hopefully we can meet up when we get to Miami and still be friends. I am just glad that I took the time to email her and find out the full story. I am also glad that being genuine and honest people doesn't mean that Dazza and I are doomed to be screwed over by others. In fact hopefully this very aspect will mean that we can still gain a great friend - watch this space.
Lebanon Crisis
I feel terrible. I have just read an account of what is happening in Lebanon right now in the Guardian. It is an account by a young woman who is an artist forced to witness all her hopes and dreams come crumbling down. I have also found a blog that is also a must read: thelebanesebloggers.blogspot.com
This conflict is complex but there is one basic reality that is coming out of it: innocent people are dying, are injured, are living in fear. Israel is bombing the infrastructure of a country. They are targeting trucks - how is humanitarian aid going to be able to help without trucks? With Bush at the helm I am fearful for the outcome and it breaks my heart to read of the reality for the poor people in Lebanon. When will people realise that violence is not the best method - violence complicates matters, it violates lives, it harms those who have no part in the mess that created it.
The sun may be shining today in Utah but I have a heavy heart.
This conflict is complex but there is one basic reality that is coming out of it: innocent people are dying, are injured, are living in fear. Israel is bombing the infrastructure of a country. They are targeting trucks - how is humanitarian aid going to be able to help without trucks? With Bush at the helm I am fearful for the outcome and it breaks my heart to read of the reality for the poor people in Lebanon. When will people realise that violence is not the best method - violence complicates matters, it violates lives, it harms those who have no part in the mess that created it.
The sun may be shining today in Utah but I have a heavy heart.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Salt Lake City
I am now in Salt Lake City for the next couple of weeks while Dazza finishes the end of his training. There are the most beautiful mountains on either side of the valley. Last night we went up to Park City which is a small town in the mountains reminiscient of Aspen but not quite that rich - yet!! We had ribs at a local restaurant and wandered about. This morning we went hiking for the first time (for me not Dazza) and saw a MOOSE!!! - that's the big hairy kind with antlers not the scottish small rodent kind that I co-habited with in Edinburgh for 5 years!! It was a magnificent animal and quite happily munched on some flowers as Dazza and I ummed and awed. The views up in the mountains are stunning and if it weren't for all the ski parifinelia then you'd feel wonderfully in touch with nature.
The most bizarre happening was on the way down. We met a long crocodile of young girls being frog-marched up the mountain by a blonde woman dressed as snow white!!! I kid you not. We felt so sorry for all these prepubescent girls being tortured by camp leaders who think nothing of dressing as though they work at disney world and stomping up mountains in Utah.
So, a lot has happened since I last wittered on this site. I had a fantastic time helping my friend Kristen move from Houston to Nashville with the added bonus of having her sister Sara along for the ride too. It took us 18 and a half hours to get to Nashville and I think such craziness deserves a post of its own - watch this space!!
Then I went to Miami to meet Dazza to look for apartments. This turned out to be much more of a saga than first anticipated.
We had set up a plethera of realtors to meet, apartments to see and also a girl to meet to see if sharing would be a good answer to the thorny issue of how expensive everything is in Miami. The first day, Thursday, we saw a bunch of yuechy yuechy beside D's work, we saw this girl, Monica's not quite finished 2 bedroom apartment and a few places in south beach. We didn't really want to be in south beach because of the commute to work for D but the cost for having a non-yuechy place near his work in Pinecrest was proving very difficult. So ... it was coming down to south beach or if this girl Monica was nice then a room share near D's work.
Monica hadn't been able to meet us to see the apartment that morning so her Mom did it instead. So we met her that night. She is a pretty girl with long dark hair and eyes. She has just graduated from Columbia with a comparitive lit degree and is currently working for one of the democratic hopefuls for Florida governor. She is lively and intelligent and talks a mile a minute. We hit it off immediately and thought our prayers had been answered. Dazza felt exactly the same - I was somewhat surprised as he'd not been keen on sharing again as its been 6 years since we last had a roommate. So we called Monica and said we'd like to take it. Great she said and arranged to meet the next day, Friday, in the evening to discuss furniture and moving arrangements.
So we had a great day on Friday driving around Miami getting to know the place. Both of us have jaws that are kind of dragging on the ground at the realization that we will be living with palm trees!! Anyway, that evening at 5 we went back to our hotel (doubletree in coconut grove - awesome by the way found on priceline for $100 a night) to get a snack before meeting Monica.
The phone goes..... its Monica. She tells Dazza that she's decided to go with someone else for the apartment. They apparently could pay more and after discussing it with her parents and she had to think of herself blah blah blah... We were gutted!! Here we thought we would have a great new friend and have our apartment stuff sorted all in a one-er. But instead we had to scramble to find places to look at on a Friday night in Miami ....aaaaaAAAAAAAAArrrrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhh!!!
We got on craigslist (thank god for craigslist) and set up 4 places to see that night. The first was a studio in South Beach. It was on the pricey side but the photos looked great. We were not disappointed. It is only a year old and has stainless steel kitchen and a washer and dryer in the apartment. It is small but not too small and feels safe. We took it. So we will be in the north of south beach in prime position to watch all the craziness - the movie stars, the body builders, the tanning obsessives, the transvestites, the tourists, the multitude of bright colours everywhere. Although the apartment situation with Monica was a terrible thing to happen, I think we will enjoy south beach much more (her apartment was in dadeland across from the biggest mall I think I've ever seen.....!!!).
So now we just have to decide how much of our stuff to take and how much to leave in Indianapolis. Until that time though we have two weeks to hang out with mormons (we are going to visit the temple), climb more mountains, and chill out before the craziness of moving and realty hits.
(PS apologies for typos and just my weird and wonderful spellings - just in case anyone wanted proof that I am actually dyslexic or as I prefer to term it dephlumphlic - but this library computer won't let me do spell check!!!)
The most bizarre happening was on the way down. We met a long crocodile of young girls being frog-marched up the mountain by a blonde woman dressed as snow white!!! I kid you not. We felt so sorry for all these prepubescent girls being tortured by camp leaders who think nothing of dressing as though they work at disney world and stomping up mountains in Utah.
So, a lot has happened since I last wittered on this site. I had a fantastic time helping my friend Kristen move from Houston to Nashville with the added bonus of having her sister Sara along for the ride too. It took us 18 and a half hours to get to Nashville and I think such craziness deserves a post of its own - watch this space!!
Then I went to Miami to meet Dazza to look for apartments. This turned out to be much more of a saga than first anticipated.
We had set up a plethera of realtors to meet, apartments to see and also a girl to meet to see if sharing would be a good answer to the thorny issue of how expensive everything is in Miami. The first day, Thursday, we saw a bunch of yuechy yuechy beside D's work, we saw this girl, Monica's not quite finished 2 bedroom apartment and a few places in south beach. We didn't really want to be in south beach because of the commute to work for D but the cost for having a non-yuechy place near his work in Pinecrest was proving very difficult. So ... it was coming down to south beach or if this girl Monica was nice then a room share near D's work.
Monica hadn't been able to meet us to see the apartment that morning so her Mom did it instead. So we met her that night. She is a pretty girl with long dark hair and eyes. She has just graduated from Columbia with a comparitive lit degree and is currently working for one of the democratic hopefuls for Florida governor. She is lively and intelligent and talks a mile a minute. We hit it off immediately and thought our prayers had been answered. Dazza felt exactly the same - I was somewhat surprised as he'd not been keen on sharing again as its been 6 years since we last had a roommate. So we called Monica and said we'd like to take it. Great she said and arranged to meet the next day, Friday, in the evening to discuss furniture and moving arrangements.
So we had a great day on Friday driving around Miami getting to know the place. Both of us have jaws that are kind of dragging on the ground at the realization that we will be living with palm trees!! Anyway, that evening at 5 we went back to our hotel (doubletree in coconut grove - awesome by the way found on priceline for $100 a night) to get a snack before meeting Monica.
The phone goes..... its Monica. She tells Dazza that she's decided to go with someone else for the apartment. They apparently could pay more and after discussing it with her parents and she had to think of herself blah blah blah... We were gutted!! Here we thought we would have a great new friend and have our apartment stuff sorted all in a one-er. But instead we had to scramble to find places to look at on a Friday night in Miami ....aaaaaAAAAAAAAArrrrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhh!!!
We got on craigslist (thank god for craigslist) and set up 4 places to see that night. The first was a studio in South Beach. It was on the pricey side but the photos looked great. We were not disappointed. It is only a year old and has stainless steel kitchen and a washer and dryer in the apartment. It is small but not too small and feels safe. We took it. So we will be in the north of south beach in prime position to watch all the craziness - the movie stars, the body builders, the tanning obsessives, the transvestites, the tourists, the multitude of bright colours everywhere. Although the apartment situation with Monica was a terrible thing to happen, I think we will enjoy south beach much more (her apartment was in dadeland across from the biggest mall I think I've ever seen.....!!!).
So now we just have to decide how much of our stuff to take and how much to leave in Indianapolis. Until that time though we have two weeks to hang out with mormons (we are going to visit the temple), climb more mountains, and chill out before the craziness of moving and realty hits.
(PS apologies for typos and just my weird and wonderful spellings - just in case anyone wanted proof that I am actually dyslexic or as I prefer to term it dephlumphlic - but this library computer won't let me do spell check!!!)
Friday, July 07, 2006
What A Privilege
Time ticks by at the speed of a giant sloth. I feel like I'm in a kind of stupor. I'm in another universe where the trees and grass all abide, loyally, by the laws of geometry. I have an erie feeling that I don't really exist and am merely playing a role in a very large film set.
The houses all sit obediently in perfect rows and the sun sits smugly in its sparkling blue sky. The only sounds are the occasional bird and the perfect laughter of the perfect life of the perfect families.
Nothing disturbs here. No one steps into the dangerous territory of being 'different'. The only difference allowed is of the colour of the skin of the nice people who serve the perfect people. This is of course allowable because people who serve don't really exist. They are only extras on the movie set and will not have their names on the credits.
An time ticks slowly by, quietly so as not to disturb anyone. So no one notices that everyday is like the last and each season like the same season the year before. Everyone smiles as they sleepwalk, slowly, imperceptible through their wonderful, perfect lives. What a privilege.
Suburbia, USA
The houses all sit obediently in perfect rows and the sun sits smugly in its sparkling blue sky. The only sounds are the occasional bird and the perfect laughter of the perfect life of the perfect families.
Nothing disturbs here. No one steps into the dangerous territory of being 'different'. The only difference allowed is of the colour of the skin of the nice people who serve the perfect people. This is of course allowable because people who serve don't really exist. They are only extras on the movie set and will not have their names on the credits.
An time ticks slowly by, quietly so as not to disturb anyone. So no one notices that everyday is like the last and each season like the same season the year before. Everyone smiles as they sleepwalk, slowly, imperceptible through their wonderful, perfect lives. What a privilege.
Suburbia, USA
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Atlanta Botanical Gardens
If you ever visit Atlanta it is well worth taking the time to go the Botanical Gardens. Not only was the orchid house filled with some stunning specimens but they have some really amazing fantastical sculptures. A couple really grabbed our fancy. One was a rather naughty fountain of three women where the water was shooting out of their reclining mouths AND breasts!!! They other much cleaner one was giant skull which was so big you could sit inside it. All the sculptures are made from colorful pieces of glass, beads, stones and mirrors constructed in a mosiac fashion. All the figures are very portly and cheerful. There were totem poles, lions, whales, snakes - a veritable garden of eden in technicolor.
Then to polish off the day, last night Darren and I went with some new friends - Louise and Jared - to movie on the green. There were 17 thousand people gathered to watch 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' (the original version). It is totally free event in a large park in Midtown. There were people from all walks of life, all there to enjoy the evening. There was the added bonus of everyone cheering at the good bits (like when Charlie gets the golden ticket) and singing along with the favourite tunes - ompahlumpah being by far the favourite!! We had a great time and would recommend it - the picnic was good too!!
Then to polish off the day, last night Darren and I went with some new friends - Louise and Jared - to movie on the green. There were 17 thousand people gathered to watch 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' (the original version). It is totally free event in a large park in Midtown. There were people from all walks of life, all there to enjoy the evening. There was the added bonus of everyone cheering at the good bits (like when Charlie gets the golden ticket) and singing along with the favourite tunes - ompahlumpah being by far the favourite!! We had a great time and would recommend it - the picnic was good too!!
Friday, June 23, 2006
Atlanta - hh-h-hhOT!!!!
I am in Atlanta visiting my awesome friend Ginny. We left Cleveland - great joy to all!! - and moved all our stuff to Indy. The drive to Indy was interesting. D was driving the U-haul with a trailer on behind so the speed didn't really manage to get above 65mph and the average must've been 60. I managed, even with the car totally loaded with two basses and stuff, to get 36 miles to the gallon!! It did go through my mind that if I drove that slow everywhere I could save a lot of gas - but who am I kidding it took us an extra hour to get to Indy at that speed!!!
D's folks, Steve and Jean were brilliant when we got to Carmel. They helped us put our stuff into the storage shed and probably saved D and I from tearing each other's heads off. When all our stuff is beautiful and in our apartment and all the books look great etc. D calls it "our" stuff but funnily enough when we have to box it all and move it it suddenly becomes all my stuff!!
After all the moving and sorting Dazza had to go back to Salt Lake City for training. We didn't get to hang out much and being apart sux. However at least we only have ten day periods before we see each other - much better than our year apart due to the wonderful US immigration system. Anyway Dazza is having a whale of a time in Salt Lake going on lots of hikes and surrounded by mountains - the only danger is getting accosted by the mormons (which happened to him on his first plane journey out there!!).
Meanwhile I am having a proper summer. I had three wonderful days in NYC with my friend Heather. We stayed in the Millenium Hotel just beside the UN building on 44th street. The view from our hotel was astounding!! Waking up to see the empire state and crysler building was a very rare treat. Luckily for us the beeb were footing the bill. We had a great time catching up on our lives, events and world politics. However I have to admit I liked the fact that Heather got a kick out of seeing a yellow american school bus!
It was perfect timing for me: NYC woke my brain up and shocked it out of its midwest slumber. I felt better than I had for what felt like years. I do not think the midwest agrees with me. I get a severe allergic attack of apathy and blah-ness when I am there.
But we are gone now so my brain no longer has any excuse for apathy or slumbering through life. Miami will definately be a culture shock after the midwest but a welcome one. I can't see us being there for very long but I am looking forward to the adventure of it all. The response so far has predominantly been "its SOOOO hot" and "hurricanes ..dan dan daaaaaaaaaa!!!". But I welcome the challenges and am fed up 'living in fear' which I found infected me in Cleveland. Afterall I am the girl who got on a plane to a place I had never been to be picked up from an airport by a guy I hardly knew (and then married....).
So now I am in Atlanta. I drove down from Indy on Monday. It took longer than it should of thanks to a wreck outside Nashville and roadworks on the other side. There were some very pretty spots in the mountains/hills of Tennesse and at one point an absolutely gorgeous lake.
I like Atlanta: it is fresh and new and it doesn't hurt that the sun shines most of the time! However it is very hot right now - my car thermometer registered 105 but it is normally off by 5 or so degrees - but still that is HOT!!! All very good practice for Miami.
D's folks, Steve and Jean were brilliant when we got to Carmel. They helped us put our stuff into the storage shed and probably saved D and I from tearing each other's heads off. When all our stuff is beautiful and in our apartment and all the books look great etc. D calls it "our" stuff but funnily enough when we have to box it all and move it it suddenly becomes all my stuff!!
After all the moving and sorting Dazza had to go back to Salt Lake City for training. We didn't get to hang out much and being apart sux. However at least we only have ten day periods before we see each other - much better than our year apart due to the wonderful US immigration system. Anyway Dazza is having a whale of a time in Salt Lake going on lots of hikes and surrounded by mountains - the only danger is getting accosted by the mormons (which happened to him on his first plane journey out there!!).
Meanwhile I am having a proper summer. I had three wonderful days in NYC with my friend Heather. We stayed in the Millenium Hotel just beside the UN building on 44th street. The view from our hotel was astounding!! Waking up to see the empire state and crysler building was a very rare treat. Luckily for us the beeb were footing the bill. We had a great time catching up on our lives, events and world politics. However I have to admit I liked the fact that Heather got a kick out of seeing a yellow american school bus!
It was perfect timing for me: NYC woke my brain up and shocked it out of its midwest slumber. I felt better than I had for what felt like years. I do not think the midwest agrees with me. I get a severe allergic attack of apathy and blah-ness when I am there.
But we are gone now so my brain no longer has any excuse for apathy or slumbering through life. Miami will definately be a culture shock after the midwest but a welcome one. I can't see us being there for very long but I am looking forward to the adventure of it all. The response so far has predominantly been "its SOOOO hot" and "hurricanes ..dan dan daaaaaaaaaa!!!". But I welcome the challenges and am fed up 'living in fear' which I found infected me in Cleveland. Afterall I am the girl who got on a plane to a place I had never been to be picked up from an airport by a guy I hardly knew (and then married....).
So now I am in Atlanta. I drove down from Indy on Monday. It took longer than it should of thanks to a wreck outside Nashville and roadworks on the other side. There were some very pretty spots in the mountains/hills of Tennesse and at one point an absolutely gorgeous lake.
I like Atlanta: it is fresh and new and it doesn't hurt that the sun shines most of the time! However it is very hot right now - my car thermometer registered 105 but it is normally off by 5 or so degrees - but still that is HOT!!! All very good practice for Miami.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Storm clouds
The wind and rain tore at our little cottage last night. Winter is arriving today for what is likely a long visit. Temperatures are falling and hibernation seems like a very good idea.
My heart is heavy with the weight of the world today. The future's possibilties are only perceivable in negative today. I feel like I need some emotional fuel to get me through today. I wish I could just drive to my grandparents house and talk about nothing all day. And hear granda say "athing'll come aright in the end". Really, if he could keep faith through 4 years of a japanese prisoner of war camp, then I surely can in much lesser circumstances.
Sometimes it would be nice to have a crystal ball but only to see the positive. But then you would never have the thought of 'what was I so worried about' when what you are aiming for is achieved. Life is certainly a journey - it would just be nice to see a route map from time to time. So perhaps the best way to put it is life is a journey but we are only able to look backwards.
My heart is heavy with the weight of the world today. The future's possibilties are only perceivable in negative today. I feel like I need some emotional fuel to get me through today. I wish I could just drive to my grandparents house and talk about nothing all day. And hear granda say "athing'll come aright in the end". Really, if he could keep faith through 4 years of a japanese prisoner of war camp, then I surely can in much lesser circumstances.
Sometimes it would be nice to have a crystal ball but only to see the positive. But then you would never have the thought of 'what was I so worried about' when what you are aiming for is achieved. Life is certainly a journey - it would just be nice to see a route map from time to time. So perhaps the best way to put it is life is a journey but we are only able to look backwards.
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Peatbog Fairies
I am listening to celtic connections - radio scotland - on the internet and the first on the playlist is a band called the "Peatbog Fairies". They are from Skye and are a funk-celtic fusion band. I'm not sure how much I like their music but I love thier name!!. It makes me think of kelpies and the stories of the supernatural wee beasties of my childhood. I remember thinking how the twists and turns of heather must hide tiny homes with tiny magical lives inside. I remember some vague notion of girls who changed into seals by night and sprites who could put strange curses on you. This makes me want to dig up these stories. Who knows perhaps I will.
Oh no the next track on celtic connections is awful - a sort of country and western meets bad slow ballad meets tune that you kind of recognise but it doesn't quite fit - oh and there is a really dire accordian track in the background!!! Yeuch!! Time to put on some archives of GMS - aaaaah that's better. (how sad am I the little music bit (which is very dramatic!! - of course because it is news) is strangely comforting). I could almost be in Scotland - which I suppose raises questions about notions of what makes a country - can you be 'in' a country just through sharing the same media - or mediums? but then perhaps it only works if you have a memory/association to base such a claim upon. Or perhaps these are the normal witterings (yes, sad ones) of the expat!!
Pixies, Peatbogs, Kelpies, Fairies, Sprites - all much more palatable.
ps. told you I would be wittering!!!
Oh no the next track on celtic connections is awful - a sort of country and western meets bad slow ballad meets tune that you kind of recognise but it doesn't quite fit - oh and there is a really dire accordian track in the background!!! Yeuch!! Time to put on some archives of GMS - aaaaah that's better. (how sad am I the little music bit (which is very dramatic!! - of course because it is news) is strangely comforting). I could almost be in Scotland - which I suppose raises questions about notions of what makes a country - can you be 'in' a country just through sharing the same media - or mediums? but then perhaps it only works if you have a memory/association to base such a claim upon. Or perhaps these are the normal witterings (yes, sad ones) of the expat!!
Pixies, Peatbogs, Kelpies, Fairies, Sprites - all much more palatable.
ps. told you I would be wittering!!!
Witterings
Good sunday morning. The new areana of blogging has now been opened to me. Somewhere for me to empty the rubbish that polutes my thoughts. Somewhere for me to rant about the many issues in this world which make my blood temperature rise. Perhaps a place for me to write a bit of doric when homesickness kicks in. A place for me to create.
Today is new and open.
Today is positive.
Tomorrow is possibility.
Tomorrow is opportunity.
My mantra for the moment.
Today is new and open.
Today is positive.
Tomorrow is possibility.
Tomorrow is opportunity.
My mantra for the moment.
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Ooooooh technology - scaaaaary!!
OK, so this is my first attempt at this. I thought it might be a fun diversion to post my random witterings online so my friends and family will know what useless junk floats around in my cerebral dimension.
I hope this works.......
I hope this works.......
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