In my glass: Jasmine Tea
On my iPod: Tchaikosky's Nutcracker Suite
From my bookshelf: Again, Anatomy
Outside: Dark, chilly, great running weather as long as you stay to the lit roads
My mood: Optimistic
So its two days till Samhain (or Hallowe'en for the rest of you), and its a full moon tonight. I went out for my first run in ages under the moon (and the streetlights, too), and its made such a difference in how I feel. I forgot just how good running made you feel.
I got a new game called "Run, Zombies!" which you play just by running to pick up items for your base, and speeding up at times when there are "Zombies" after you. If you're caught, you lose the mission and have to restart. I'm not one for Zombies, but I'm quite enjoying it actually. I enjoy running anyway, but the game aspect makes it rather interesting.
I stopped by at Asda on the way home and picked up what seemed to be the only tin of black parade gloss shoe polish, and the only tube of Kiwi whitener in the whole city, as well as a nail brush for my spats (my old one went walkabout) and a couple of pumpkins.
Currently, the seeds are drying, ready to be roasted, One pumpkin has been chopped up and part has gone into the slow cooker for soup, and the rest in the fridge, perhaps for a pie. The other has been hollowed out and carved, ready for a candle in it.
Interestingly, the whole tradition of carving on pumpkins on Samhain comes from the time of the old Celtic religions, when they used to carve turnips (the idea of which begins in old Irish folklore). The Americans were the ones who started the carving of pumpkins, and in a way, I'm glad. Have any of you ever tried carving a turnip before? Yeah, unless you have a really, really sharp knife and lots of control, its a recipe for sliced fingers. I tried it once, but even with a razor sharp knife, it was difficult at best.
Oh, and I'm actually looking forward to band at OTC for the first time in months. No rhyme or reason as to why. I may very well be there all of three seconds before I change my mind again, but for now, I'm looking forward to things. Don't know why they decided to have mega tuesday on the last Tuesday of the month though, especially when we don't get paid until a mere two days after. But then again, like someone else pointed out, there was a time when people stayed out every Tuesday, so why the need for such a bigged-up event to get people out and about with each other for the night. Meh, what ever happened to doing it just for the sake of enjoying yourself?
I do need to get back to cleaning my spats on Wednesday (I say Wednesday because tomorrow is going to be busy, and NaNo starts on Thursday. Yeesh, where did September go? Oh, yeah, I remember, it passed me by while I was either panicking about uni, or passing time on the sofa. No more. I plan to go to the OTC running club tomorrow, whether I want to or not (that is as long as it is on). Running seems to make a massive difference to my life.
On a different front, here I am, panicking about this anatomy assessment again tomorrow. *argh*. Which means I gotta get to bed so I'm up nice and early to walk to Foresterhill in the morning (and maybe do some last-minute revision on the brachal plexus nerves on the way..)
See you soon!
Monday, 29 October 2012
Ramblings: What if you suddenly had to move?
So as I find myself moving quickly from place to place, squeezing past small gaps between people on the pavements, marveling at the seemingly slow movements of many of those around me, and the sheer difference in speed between those who were ambling gently along, and those who were, like me, in a rush to get somewhere on time, I began to wonder about the ability to move quickly.
Of course, the movement of people on the street is an unusual thing in itself - dictated by peoples schedules, attitude, a love for the scenery in a new place, amongst other things, so I quickly found myself going off on a tangent, and finding myself thinking on something I have seen in my time away with the OTC.
One of the weekends just passed, many of the freshers were out being taught various skills for working out in the field. They learnt how to set up bashers (the shelters we use whilst out in the field), cook rations, use camouflage effectively, amongst other things. And in watching a little of the activities of each of the groups, whilst going about my own activities, I saw there were vast differences in some of the sections, and even in the people in those sections, in their ability to do, quickly and effectively, what they were told to. Some people did things almost immediately, and others took much longer.
In the OTC, and the army in general, the ability to move quickly, and accurately, is exceptionally important to the welfare of all the people involved. Going out on your first exercise or two, you very quickly learn that you have to be ready to move at all times, and if you're smart, you'll pick up ways to do things faster, and vastly reduce the time it takes to get things done.
You keep things all packed away when you aren't using them. You sleep with your webbing and rifle next to you so that you can throw them on in seconds if you're attacked in the middle of the night, and you learn the fastest way to throw on all your kit Leaving enough space in the middle section of your bergen to shove your sleeping bag in without the need to roll it. Using the time it takes for your food to cook to shove some extra polish on your boots to help keep the water out, or change your socks, or dry out your boots, and feet if water has already found its way in. You buy extra bungee cords to tie your bashers up with so that if you need to run in the middle of the night, it only takes seconds to take down and stuff away, and you don't have the palava of cutting down strings. All these things are done so that we can move immediately if the need strikes, and so we try hard to learn.
When we were on annual camp, against one of the other OTCs, the plan, and the harbour area changed very quickly. Our ability to move quickly as a platoon, and as a company served us very well throughout the course of the exercise, and made a massive difference to the way the exercise turned out, even though we were a much smaller company.
I guess, being used to this kind of preparedness, and ability to move quickly over bad terrain, or just move quickly in general, you find yourself pushing the new freshers to move quickly, and getting annoyed at those who either ignore your advice, or don't seem to be able to move with any amount of speed, as both my colleagues and I found at the weekend, although we know that those who last in the OTC and enjoy being there will be the ones who eventually pick up tips, and indeed come up with their own ways of speeding up, because being able to do things at the speed people want them done means exercises become much more enjoyable, and in camp, you end up with more time to do as you want once the important stuff is out of the way. In short, the people who learn to do things faster will have more time to enjoy themselves.
So in the field, we can all learn to be quick, on time, etc. but how does that translate into the real world?
Well for a start, I hate to be late. I've always disliked it somewhat, and made an effort to be on time to everything. Now I truly can't stand it, and I don't like it in other people either. That's why you can find me pounding down the road between campuses in an effort to make it to my next lecture on time, even if I do usually end up being there 5 or 10 minutes early, before most of those with bicycles or cars have even bothered to come into the lecture theatre.
Usually, its also obvious when the fire alarm goes off. My stuff if almost always packed away all together in a bag at my feet. It doesn't take two seconds to grab when the alarm goes off. As much as you're told not to take your stuff when the fire alarm goes off, who doesn't grab their most prized possessions if they're close at hand, be it their phone (which is usually in my pocket as it is), their laptop, or something more personal. I generally think that what they mean is "don't grab your stuff if it will take time, and don't go back for something you've left." Most people can grab a bag and jacket at their feet as they stand up, and not take any more amount of time to do it. That said, people, please do what your fire drill says: Never go back for something if the fire alarm goes off.
On the other hand, this is in no way true for my flat. If I had to move out immediately, it would probably take me a good few days to do. If not much longer. My flat is my haven from time constraints. The only thing I've to ever worry about is what time I have to leave. There is no way I could apply the same high energy speed techniques as I do to the OTC to my home life. I need time to relax, rewind and reboot. My home is time for that.
Of course, flat-time is not my only reboot-time. Most Wednesdays, after lectures have finished, I will take a wander around the botanical gardens, regardless of weather, and have some down-time in nature. I'll wander aimlessly, and watch others do exactly what I do during the rest of the week - rushing around - and enjoy the gentle quietness of free time.
I guess you could say I'm hard-wired to work hard, play hard, but that wouldn't be entirely true either. I work hard, then relax. There is rarely a reason for me to play harder. Sure I socialise, and go out with friends for a pint often, but thats only part of my relax-time. My time off (when I'm not doing OTC or uni work) is often spent carving miniatures from wood, sewing, painting, or writing, often to gentle music. In otherwords, doing relaxing, gentle, time-wasting, slow things. And I love it like that.
Of course, the movement of people on the street is an unusual thing in itself - dictated by peoples schedules, attitude, a love for the scenery in a new place, amongst other things, so I quickly found myself going off on a tangent, and finding myself thinking on something I have seen in my time away with the OTC.
One of the weekends just passed, many of the freshers were out being taught various skills for working out in the field. They learnt how to set up bashers (the shelters we use whilst out in the field), cook rations, use camouflage effectively, amongst other things. And in watching a little of the activities of each of the groups, whilst going about my own activities, I saw there were vast differences in some of the sections, and even in the people in those sections, in their ability to do, quickly and effectively, what they were told to. Some people did things almost immediately, and others took much longer.
In the OTC, and the army in general, the ability to move quickly, and accurately, is exceptionally important to the welfare of all the people involved. Going out on your first exercise or two, you very quickly learn that you have to be ready to move at all times, and if you're smart, you'll pick up ways to do things faster, and vastly reduce the time it takes to get things done.
You keep things all packed away when you aren't using them. You sleep with your webbing and rifle next to you so that you can throw them on in seconds if you're attacked in the middle of the night, and you learn the fastest way to throw on all your kit Leaving enough space in the middle section of your bergen to shove your sleeping bag in without the need to roll it. Using the time it takes for your food to cook to shove some extra polish on your boots to help keep the water out, or change your socks, or dry out your boots, and feet if water has already found its way in. You buy extra bungee cords to tie your bashers up with so that if you need to run in the middle of the night, it only takes seconds to take down and stuff away, and you don't have the palava of cutting down strings. All these things are done so that we can move immediately if the need strikes, and so we try hard to learn.
When we were on annual camp, against one of the other OTCs, the plan, and the harbour area changed very quickly. Our ability to move quickly as a platoon, and as a company served us very well throughout the course of the exercise, and made a massive difference to the way the exercise turned out, even though we were a much smaller company.
I guess, being used to this kind of preparedness, and ability to move quickly over bad terrain, or just move quickly in general, you find yourself pushing the new freshers to move quickly, and getting annoyed at those who either ignore your advice, or don't seem to be able to move with any amount of speed, as both my colleagues and I found at the weekend, although we know that those who last in the OTC and enjoy being there will be the ones who eventually pick up tips, and indeed come up with their own ways of speeding up, because being able to do things at the speed people want them done means exercises become much more enjoyable, and in camp, you end up with more time to do as you want once the important stuff is out of the way. In short, the people who learn to do things faster will have more time to enjoy themselves.
So in the field, we can all learn to be quick, on time, etc. but how does that translate into the real world?
Well for a start, I hate to be late. I've always disliked it somewhat, and made an effort to be on time to everything. Now I truly can't stand it, and I don't like it in other people either. That's why you can find me pounding down the road between campuses in an effort to make it to my next lecture on time, even if I do usually end up being there 5 or 10 minutes early, before most of those with bicycles or cars have even bothered to come into the lecture theatre.
Usually, its also obvious when the fire alarm goes off. My stuff if almost always packed away all together in a bag at my feet. It doesn't take two seconds to grab when the alarm goes off. As much as you're told not to take your stuff when the fire alarm goes off, who doesn't grab their most prized possessions if they're close at hand, be it their phone (which is usually in my pocket as it is), their laptop, or something more personal. I generally think that what they mean is "don't grab your stuff if it will take time, and don't go back for something you've left." Most people can grab a bag and jacket at their feet as they stand up, and not take any more amount of time to do it. That said, people, please do what your fire drill says: Never go back for something if the fire alarm goes off.
On the other hand, this is in no way true for my flat. If I had to move out immediately, it would probably take me a good few days to do. If not much longer. My flat is my haven from time constraints. The only thing I've to ever worry about is what time I have to leave. There is no way I could apply the same high energy speed techniques as I do to the OTC to my home life. I need time to relax, rewind and reboot. My home is time for that.
Of course, flat-time is not my only reboot-time. Most Wednesdays, after lectures have finished, I will take a wander around the botanical gardens, regardless of weather, and have some down-time in nature. I'll wander aimlessly, and watch others do exactly what I do during the rest of the week - rushing around - and enjoy the gentle quietness of free time.
I guess you could say I'm hard-wired to work hard, play hard, but that wouldn't be entirely true either. I work hard, then relax. There is rarely a reason for me to play harder. Sure I socialise, and go out with friends for a pint often, but thats only part of my relax-time. My time off (when I'm not doing OTC or uni work) is often spent carving miniatures from wood, sewing, painting, or writing, often to gentle music. In otherwords, doing relaxing, gentle, time-wasting, slow things. And I love it like that.
Friday, 26 October 2012
6 days to NaNo!
In my glass: Hot chocolate (It started snowing today folks)
On my iPod: Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield
From my bookshelf: I'm afraid I haven't been reading much lately, unless you count my anatomy textbook
Outside: getting dark, cloudy, some remnants of snow on the ground
My mood: Just glad its Friday...
Facebook quote of the day: "Dreaming of a white....October??"
So I told you in the last post that I'm trying my hand at NaNoWriMo again this year. Hopefully this time I'll make the 50,000 mark. Realistically. its debatable, with the rehearsals for remembrance, and lectures to work around. I've signed up to the Skeleton Marathon held by the Municipal Liaison of Elsewhere, Scotland, which means I have to update my word count Every Single Day, or answer to Igor, and all the others in the Marathon. (that'll be fun trying to fit it in on remembrance day. I see a very early start happening to get some words written down. In the middle of the week-two wall, too.)
Here's an online copy of my pledge. I've already pledged towards this on the original sign-up thread. This means that I can't back out anymore... oh dear.
“I, Tigereye, am joining the Skeleton Marathon. I promise Anastasia, my family, friends, all the folks at NaNoWriMo and most of all myself that I will write something on my novel every day during the month of November. I will faithfully update my word count each day by midnight GMT. I will not make excuses, I will not give up.”
Anyway, now that that's out of the way, I can start jumping up and down in excitement, and shrinking back in horror. ONLY SIX DAYS!!! I can't believe it. I have my plot noted down in word and I'm trying to fit in the dares that my local Aberdeen NaNo group have come up with, I've downloaded the NaNo trial version of Scrivener, I have meals in the freezer and the fridge stocked up, I'm taking my multivitamins to attempt to keep the cold at bay, and I'm shoving together some blog-post drafts to get my writing up to speed (they are, however, in great need of editing, so whether you will get them or not is debatable. December is editing month. We'll see then :D )
There is no way my book will fit into 50,000 words. I may need closer to 90k for the amount of plot I have planned, but I can always finish it another time.
Time for a little sneak peek
Meet my protagonist, Aria. The story revolves around her and her friends when they find some dragon eggs. The power of the clash from the hatched dragons shifts her world into another, the land of Glaewyn. There, the story follows them as they attempt to return the exiled dragons to the kingdom.
Meet my main antagonist, Landon, or as he later turns out to be, Austria. She is in charge of the kingdom after she accidentally killed the king whilst attempting to assassinate the kings brother.
The second antagonist, which appears to be on the side of the protagonist for much of the story, turns out to be the kings brother near the end, and is using the protagonists quest with the dragons to return him to the throne.
As for the story, you'll just have to wait and see. Maybe I'll give you a snippet now and again, but who knows. I need to write it now.
Oh, and as for cover art, one of my fellow NaNo-ers down at the forums put together a cover for me (Isn't that kind?!). It looks great, I think. (I cropped my name out, that's why its slightly odd dimensions)
Have fun, everyone! Time to get back to planning...
On my iPod: Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield
From my bookshelf: I'm afraid I haven't been reading much lately, unless you count my anatomy textbook
Outside: getting dark, cloudy, some remnants of snow on the ground
My mood: Just glad its Friday...
Facebook quote of the day: "Dreaming of a white....October??"
So I told you in the last post that I'm trying my hand at NaNoWriMo again this year. Hopefully this time I'll make the 50,000 mark. Realistically. its debatable, with the rehearsals for remembrance, and lectures to work around. I've signed up to the Skeleton Marathon held by the Municipal Liaison of Elsewhere, Scotland, which means I have to update my word count Every Single Day, or answer to Igor, and all the others in the Marathon. (that'll be fun trying to fit it in on remembrance day. I see a very early start happening to get some words written down. In the middle of the week-two wall, too.)
Here's an online copy of my pledge. I've already pledged towards this on the original sign-up thread. This means that I can't back out anymore... oh dear.
“I, Tigereye, am joining the Skeleton Marathon. I promise Anastasia, my family, friends, all the folks at NaNoWriMo and most of all myself that I will write something on my novel every day during the month of November. I will faithfully update my word count each day by midnight GMT. I will not make excuses, I will not give up.”
Anyway, now that that's out of the way, I can start jumping up and down in excitement, and shrinking back in horror. ONLY SIX DAYS!!! I can't believe it. I have my plot noted down in word and I'm trying to fit in the dares that my local Aberdeen NaNo group have come up with, I've downloaded the NaNo trial version of Scrivener, I have meals in the freezer and the fridge stocked up, I'm taking my multivitamins to attempt to keep the cold at bay, and I'm shoving together some blog-post drafts to get my writing up to speed (they are, however, in great need of editing, so whether you will get them or not is debatable. December is editing month. We'll see then :D )
There is no way my book will fit into 50,000 words. I may need closer to 90k for the amount of plot I have planned, but I can always finish it another time.
Time for a little sneak peek
Meet my protagonist, Aria. The story revolves around her and her friends when they find some dragon eggs. The power of the clash from the hatched dragons shifts her world into another, the land of Glaewyn. There, the story follows them as they attempt to return the exiled dragons to the kingdom.
Meet my main antagonist, Landon, or as he later turns out to be, Austria. She is in charge of the kingdom after she accidentally killed the king whilst attempting to assassinate the kings brother.
The second antagonist, which appears to be on the side of the protagonist for much of the story, turns out to be the kings brother near the end, and is using the protagonists quest with the dragons to return him to the throne.
As for the story, you'll just have to wait and see. Maybe I'll give you a snippet now and again, but who knows. I need to write it now.
Oh, and as for cover art, one of my fellow NaNo-ers down at the forums put together a cover for me (Isn't that kind?!). It looks great, I think. (I cropped my name out, that's why its slightly odd dimensions)
Have fun, everyone! Time to get back to planning...
Sunday, 7 October 2012
I'm back... But I'm leaving again.
I'm back from Colorado, and straight back into the thick of Uni. Spent a week in bed ill during freshers, then it was first week of lectures, OTC etc etc. so things are getting busy. The National Treasure concert was over before I even got the chance to tell you all about it. I played for the Queen again, and never told y'all, but then again I can't even remember if I did last time or not either.
Now NaNoWriMo is on the horizon. For those of you who don't know, that's National Novel Writing Month, and it happens worldwide throughout the month of November. We have meets every week, after my anatomy lab. It does mean, however, that I'm busier than ever trying to organise my life to do writing, uni and OTC, not to mention trying to sort out whether or not I'm playing in a competing band next year.
So I might be away for a while. I'll try and get back at some point. See you all later :)
- Posted using BlogPress
Now NaNoWriMo is on the horizon. For those of you who don't know, that's National Novel Writing Month, and it happens worldwide throughout the month of November. We have meets every week, after my anatomy lab. It does mean, however, that I'm busier than ever trying to organise my life to do writing, uni and OTC, not to mention trying to sort out whether or not I'm playing in a competing band next year.
So I might be away for a while. I'll try and get back at some point. See you all later :)
- Posted using BlogPress
Wednesday, 5 September 2012
Wednesday, 29 August 2012
A last-minute trip away!
In my glass: bitter lemon
On my iPod: Time, by Pink Floyd
From my bookshelf: Spellwright by Blake Charlton - it's just a small book I just started.
Outside: dull, night, no stars
My mood: sleepy
Facebook quote of the day: "random drunk dude wandering the street singing 500 miles by the proclaimers, then a few minutes later he was snoozing on a bench. Looks like he didn't quite make it :( "
Ok, so I moved in, left to come home and haven't left again. Cowal is over, with all the regular amount of drama and booze with it, and now to plan for next season. A certain leading drummer made me an excellent offer, and I can barely resist the thought of being back in a band with the friends I started this with, even if it does involve travelling from Aberdeen once or twice a month.
In any case, the reason I haven't left is that I've had an invitation to go with my mums band to Colorado. It's my first trip to America in my life and I'm really looking forward to it. Apparently there's a couple of bands going, and we'll be going non stop, so I won't get to see much, but I still can't wait.
For now though, I'm sleepy, so I'll talk again soon
- Posted using BlogPress
On my iPod: Time, by Pink Floyd
From my bookshelf: Spellwright by Blake Charlton - it's just a small book I just started.
Outside: dull, night, no stars
My mood: sleepy
Facebook quote of the day: "random drunk dude wandering the street singing 500 miles by the proclaimers, then a few minutes later he was snoozing on a bench. Looks like he didn't quite make it :( "
Ok, so I moved in, left to come home and haven't left again. Cowal is over, with all the regular amount of drama and booze with it, and now to plan for next season. A certain leading drummer made me an excellent offer, and I can barely resist the thought of being back in a band with the friends I started this with, even if it does involve travelling from Aberdeen once or twice a month.
In any case, the reason I haven't left is that I've had an invitation to go with my mums band to Colorado. It's my first trip to America in my life and I'm really looking forward to it. Apparently there's a couple of bands going, and we'll be going non stop, so I won't get to see much, but I still can't wait.
For now though, I'm sleepy, so I'll talk again soon
- Posted using BlogPress
Location:Perthshire, United Kingdom
Friday, 17 August 2012
A new flat..
In my glass: Freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
On my iPod: the Flying theme from How to Train your Dragon (the movie)
From my bookshelf: none - I left them all at my parents house. I am in the middle of an ibook on my phone called The Demon Girl by Penelope Fletcher and I was reading Thud by Terry Pratchett before I left.
Outside: Rain... lots of rain
My mood: Contemplative, in the mood for poetry writing, but uninspired.
Facebook quote of the day: (courtesy of one of the home radio stations, and one of its facebook fans)
Radio DJ: "Bristol are reportedly getting their own currency...the Bristol Pound (Boring name!)
If we had our own Scottish money, what would we call it? The Quid? The Scot? The Geezapound ?! Over to you.... :)"
On my iPod: the Flying theme from How to Train your Dragon (the movie)
From my bookshelf: none - I left them all at my parents house. I am in the middle of an ibook on my phone called The Demon Girl by Penelope Fletcher and I was reading Thud by Terry Pratchett before I left.
Outside: Rain... lots of rain
My mood: Contemplative, in the mood for poetry writing, but uninspired.
Facebook quote of the day: (courtesy of one of the home radio stations, and one of its facebook fans)
Radio DJ: "Bristol are reportedly getting their own currency...the Bristol Pound (Boring name!)
If we had our own Scottish money, what would we call it? The Quid? The Scot? The Geezapound ?! Over to you.... :)"
Facebook fan: naw, i'd call it beer tokens
Haha :P
So here I am, in my new flat (yay!). Seeing as uni hasn't started back yet, and I can't seem to get a full-time job after being away at things all summer, I have been rather bored. Yesterday I spent most of the day cooking. I made bread, as we had far too much flour in the cupboard left by the last tenants. Unfortunately as it was only plain flour and not regular bread flour, the bread turned out a bit heavy-textured. I was thinking about making cupcakes too, but couldn't be bothered to get the other ingredients, like bicarbonate of soda. I made carrot and ginger soup, which is now in the freezer, and I roasted a chicken last night. There are only two of us in the flat, and the chicken was quite large, so the leftovers should do us for a few days, then we can make soup from the bones too.
Otherwise, I just generally sorted out all my stuff into its new home, and stocked up the kitchen cupboards with essentials like potatoes, onions, stock cubes, oil, vinegar and the likes. The flat is just lovely though, made even lovelier by the fact that its ours for at least the next year, if not longer.
Tomorrow, I'm heading off to a friends (very much overdue) official housewarming party. Should be great fun. We've still to organise one for our flatwarming, but we decided to wait until people were back at uni, because at the moment lots of people are on holiday/away home/have a full-time job. Then I'm staying home at my parents the week after (hence the reason for not having any books up with me) until the Cowal pipe band championships. Hoping for sun, but with this recent weather, its anyones guess what we will get. I still have sunburn from Glasgow last week and now its chucking it down. As a matter of fact, I don't know how I managed to be in Switzerland for two weeks without burning, then get burnt in Glasgow, where it was colder, and I was still using the same sunscreen as I was in Switzerland. Jeez.
My savings took a dip, courtesy of the flat deposit, but oh well. I'll just have to spend as little money as possible over the next couple of weeks until I get paid at the start of the money. That should at least be easier if I'm staying at my parents.
I'm missing my cats already :( Waking up in the morning is remarkably more difficult when you don't have a cat trampling over your face and sticking his whiskers up your nose in an effort to get you up to feed him. I'm glad I'll be seeing them at the weekend.
I've had an idea for a poem, and I'm in the mood to write, but the right words just don't seem to be there today. Its annoying. Maybe if I jot down what I have so far, it will be easier to come back to edit and finish off later.
So instead, I'm giving you a quick poem, in a slightly different style from my norm, about the World Pipe Band Championships which are held in Glasgow. This year was exceptional in that it was sunny, but most years, and indeed the year in which I wrote this, it was very much chucking it down.
The World Pipe Band Championships (written my me)
And lastly, before I go...
Current progress in my 21 things to do before I turn 21 (scratching off the completed things, of course.)
1) Get into 3rd year at uni (that means no failed years, or semesters) - Well, I'm into 2nd year now, with no fails :) progress..
2)Rent my first flat and get some flatmates - done!
3) Get a decent-paying job to fit around uni, band and OTC commitments (few and far between) - Not unless you count a tattoo to be a job. Besides, its hardly regular, is it?..
4) Date a guy I like - still searching...
5) Save up and get that tattoo I've been pining over for years. - Maybe next summer. My savings are better, but not quite enough for me to have a safety net afterwards if my finances go down the pan.
6) Make a ball gown from my own design - I have the machine, I have the pattern, I just need to afford the material and the time.
7) Keep up with my blog here - oops
8) Learn to shoot safely and well - well I can shoot safely, but I don't know about "well".
9) Organise a night out, instead of just going to them - should happen whenever we decide to have our flatwarming
10)Go abroad - Done (Basel tattoo in Switzerland)
11) Take part in a Great Scottish Run - not done yet. Ankles are being a pain in the a**, so I haven't been training, and I need to go to the doctors about it, but haven't had the time yet, especially with the GP being booked up.
12)Pass an OTC PFA - Again with the ankles. The press-ups are being a pain too, because my ganglion flares up painfully whenever I try to train for them.
13) Learn to ski - Not yet
14) Learn Reveille, first post, and last post on the bugle - I almost have the basic five notes. If I can get the fifth note stronger, I should manage the bugle calls easier.
15)Buy my great long-time friend (who is younger than me and has known me since she was merely a few days old - we are like sisters and grew up together) her first legal drink from me on her 18th. - she isn't 18 yet.
16)Try to get enough savings to tide me over a few months if I'm broke - well I'm broke at the moment, so my savings are going down, but I still have enough to keep me going for a good while if I'm careful.
17) do what I want and stop caring about rumours/talk from others. - doing much better. In fact I made good friends with someone I thought I wouldn't get on with, and I just generally feel much better.
18)stop eating junk. No really. Stop buying stupid, unhealthy food when you're drunk/hungover/bored/cant be bothered, because there's always a better tasting, and just generally better alternative. -I've had one take-away chinese in the last 2 months, and it was a treat, so I'm marking this off.
19) sing in front of someone. Whether it be in a group, solo, drunk or sober, I want to get the guts up to perform with someone there. - not done so yet.
20) play my fiddle at least once a week. - oops. my fiddle playing has been in rather sporadic bursts over the last few months
21) I'm changing this to learning to sail - My uncle offered to teach me sometime. That is, when he isn't house-sitting in Australia. :)
Anyway, thats my progress so far.
So here I am, in my new flat (yay!). Seeing as uni hasn't started back yet, and I can't seem to get a full-time job after being away at things all summer, I have been rather bored. Yesterday I spent most of the day cooking. I made bread, as we had far too much flour in the cupboard left by the last tenants. Unfortunately as it was only plain flour and not regular bread flour, the bread turned out a bit heavy-textured. I was thinking about making cupcakes too, but couldn't be bothered to get the other ingredients, like bicarbonate of soda. I made carrot and ginger soup, which is now in the freezer, and I roasted a chicken last night. There are only two of us in the flat, and the chicken was quite large, so the leftovers should do us for a few days, then we can make soup from the bones too.
Otherwise, I just generally sorted out all my stuff into its new home, and stocked up the kitchen cupboards with essentials like potatoes, onions, stock cubes, oil, vinegar and the likes. The flat is just lovely though, made even lovelier by the fact that its ours for at least the next year, if not longer.
Tomorrow, I'm heading off to a friends (very much overdue) official housewarming party. Should be great fun. We've still to organise one for our flatwarming, but we decided to wait until people were back at uni, because at the moment lots of people are on holiday/away home/have a full-time job. Then I'm staying home at my parents the week after (hence the reason for not having any books up with me) until the Cowal pipe band championships. Hoping for sun, but with this recent weather, its anyones guess what we will get. I still have sunburn from Glasgow last week and now its chucking it down. As a matter of fact, I don't know how I managed to be in Switzerland for two weeks without burning, then get burnt in Glasgow, where it was colder, and I was still using the same sunscreen as I was in Switzerland. Jeez.
My savings took a dip, courtesy of the flat deposit, but oh well. I'll just have to spend as little money as possible over the next couple of weeks until I get paid at the start of the money. That should at least be easier if I'm staying at my parents.
I'm missing my cats already :( Waking up in the morning is remarkably more difficult when you don't have a cat trampling over your face and sticking his whiskers up your nose in an effort to get you up to feed him. I'm glad I'll be seeing them at the weekend.
I've had an idea for a poem, and I'm in the mood to write, but the right words just don't seem to be there today. Its annoying. Maybe if I jot down what I have so far, it will be easier to come back to edit and finish off later.
So instead, I'm giving you a quick poem, in a slightly different style from my norm, about the World Pipe Band Championships which are held in Glasgow. This year was exceptional in that it was sunny, but most years, and indeed the year in which I wrote this, it was very much chucking it down.
The World Pipe Band Championships (written my me)
The Worlds!
Up at 6.
Yawn.
Bus at 7.
Groan...
Arrive at 8.
Hop out.
Smile...
Pipes singing,
Drums beating,
Sticks flying.
Boxes opened,
Cases unzipped.
Tuning now...
Eeeeeeeeeee,
Tum te tum te tum...
*sigh*
Tap;
boooom.
tap;
booooooom.
tap;
booooom...
Crackcrackcrackcrackcrack.
Crackcrackcrackcrackcrack.
...
Mud mud mud mud mud.
Time to go.
Bytheright,
*Slide*
Quick march.
Boom boom boom.
*Slip*
Boom boom eeeee
tum te tum te tum...
Kilts swinging,
Sporran on hip,
Heart in mouth,
Marching on.
.....
clapclapclap.
*sigh*
*smile*
...........
...*Slide*
Wait....
Wait...
Wait..
Wait.
Play again.
Beer tent?
no.
Pub?
no.
*Slip*
Bus.
Joke.
Laugh.
Beer tent.
*Slide*
...
Drum lost.
Drum found.
Massed bands.
Sore feet.
Sore legs.
Sore arms.
Knee deep in mud.
Results...
Hats fly.
Hat lost.
Drums beating.
Crowd cheering.
March off.
Hat found.
Bus.
.....
...
...
..
Pub.
And lastly, before I go...
Current progress in my 21 things to do before I turn 21 (scratching off the completed things, of course.)
1) Get into 3rd year at uni (that means no failed years, or semesters) - Well, I'm into 2nd year now, with no fails :) progress..
2)
3) Get a decent-paying job to fit around uni, band and OTC commitments (few and far between) - Not unless you count a tattoo to be a job. Besides, its hardly regular, is it?..
4) Date a guy I like - still searching...
5) Save up and get that tattoo I've been pining over for years. - Maybe next summer. My savings are better, but not quite enough for me to have a safety net afterwards if my finances go down the pan.
6) Make a ball gown from my own design - I have the machine, I have the pattern, I just need to afford the material and the time.
7) Keep up with my blog here - oops
8) Learn to shoot safely and well - well I can shoot safely, but I don't know about "well".
9) Organise a night out, instead of just going to them - should happen whenever we decide to have our flatwarming
10)
11) Take part in a Great Scottish Run - not done yet. Ankles are being a pain in the a**, so I haven't been training, and I need to go to the doctors about it, but haven't had the time yet, especially with the GP being booked up.
12)Pass an OTC PFA - Again with the ankles. The press-ups are being a pain too, because my ganglion flares up painfully whenever I try to train for them.
13) Learn to ski - Not yet
14) Learn Reveille, first post, and last post on the bugle - I almost have the basic five notes. If I can get the fifth note stronger, I should manage the bugle calls easier.
15)Buy my great long-time friend (who is younger than me and has known me since she was merely a few days old - we are like sisters and grew up together) her first legal drink from me on her 18th. - she isn't 18 yet.
16)
17) do what I want and stop caring about rumours/talk from others. - doing much better. In fact I made good friends with someone I thought I wouldn't get on with, and I just generally feel much better.
18)
19) sing in front of someone. Whether it be in a group, solo, drunk or sober, I want to get the guts up to perform with someone there. - not done so yet.
20) play my fiddle at least once a week. - oops. my fiddle playing has been in rather sporadic bursts over the last few months
21) I'm changing this to learning to sail - My uncle offered to teach me sometime. That is, when he isn't house-sitting in Australia. :)
Anyway, thats my progress so far.
Friday, 27 July 2012
Time in Basel
The night after the first show was as good as expected. A live band played every night, and sometimes 2 or three played. The band on the first night seemed very good, and with the help of a "happy hour" of free beer and wine, the night passed very quickly and very well. It was a great night, for many reasons.
Other nights varied, depending on the plan for the next day, the quality of the bands playing, and the mood or tiredness of the members of the band population. I would guess I went out maybe every second night or so, whilst others barely had a sober moment, and others still barely stayed out with the exception of the first and last night (when I don't think there was a sober person in the whole place).
I think I've met some decently good friends. Those from near home I'm glad to have met, and will likely see some of them again at some point, as is the nature of the pipe band world. Those from abroad, I was more sad to see go, and hope that someday, some of us will meet again. Perhaps if we ever end up at another tattoo, or concert, or competition or something. I'm hopeful - the band world seem decently well connected. Until then, there's just Facebook.
One band that was there was the Transvaal Scottish Pipes and Drums. If only I had had one of our spare Atholl Highlanders badges. With their connections, I'm sure one of them would have appreciated it. Perhaps I could post one to the band In either case, I acquired a collar-dog and cap badge from one of them (in exchange for a piece or two of my own, of course).
Anyway, as tired as we were and glad that it was finished, it was such great fun, that at the same time we were sad to go, and leave behind all that we had seen and met there.
Tomorrow, I'm off to a wedding party, though I don't currently have a place to stay, so might need to leave early (unless I can stay on a friends couch, but the vast majority of them are in the process of moving in or out of flats at the moment - well it is that time of year, when people have just graduated/changed years/moved out of halls, etc.).
Then its a week of tidying and packing up myself, before a week in Glasgow for piping live, then Dads retirement 'do, then its move-in time for my own new flat. Jeez time flies. We'll see how much time I have to update here, but as you can imaging with moving out, I'm going to guess it will likely be quite busy
Saturday, 30 June 2012
It's been a while!
I believe it's been over a month since my last post, and a lot has happened in that time. I got through all my exams and passed them all with As all round. I've been to annual camp with the OTC in a sort of battle against Glasgow, although I hurt my ankle and had to miss out some parts of the exercise. It's been a couple of weeks since the injury, and it's still niggling me, so I think I need to make a visit to the doctor. I was only discharged from the orthotic clinic a year or two ago, as well. It will have to wait though, because I'm off to Switzerland soon with the band. I know - another dip in my posts probably, because I won't be using the Internet unless I can find wifi somewhere. Unlikely as it is, we will just have to wait and see. Looking forward to getting paid too. Both for camp, so that I have money to take to Switzerland, and for playing with the band in Switzerland itself, especially as my savings took a bit of a hit while I was away at camp. That's what happens when you're away for a full two weeks with the OTC. Too many bar-nights and McDonalds lunches.
Anyway, I have a few post drafts in the works now, but I find myself running out of words halfway through. I'll try and get some finished up and give you something decent to read for a change. If I get some wifi in the airport or something, I'll chuck something up if I can.
Happy summer holidays to everyone who is on them, happy summer to everyone still working, and good day to anyone reading this on the other side of the globe.
Song of the day: Walking on Sunshine, by Katrina and the Waves
- Posted using BlogPress
Anyway, I have a few post drafts in the works now, but I find myself running out of words halfway through. I'll try and get some finished up and give you something decent to read for a change. If I get some wifi in the airport or something, I'll chuck something up if I can.
Happy summer holidays to everyone who is on them, happy summer to everyone still working, and good day to anyone reading this on the other side of the globe.
Song of the day: Walking on Sunshine, by Katrina and the Waves
- Posted using BlogPress
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
Argh! Exams!
I hate exams. Sure, as far as revising goes they're probably one of the better sets of exams I've had, maybe something to do with only having 3, rather than the 8 we had in standard grade, or the 5 at higher. Sure it's harder content, but more of it is related. I have less unrelated subjects flying around my head all at once. Biomed crosses over into chemistry so much, and psychology crosses over too, especially in the anatomy and chemical workings of the brain.
Still, I'm freaking out slightly (who doesn't on exam week), although much less so now my first exam is over. I think I did better than I expected.
What I am not enjoying, however, is being stuck inside on these glorious days of sun. I have been revising outside when I can, but my exams are all in the middle of the day, so we miss the best sunshine, when its warm enough to ignore the east coast wind off the ocean.
Perhaps it's also a good thing though, to keep me out of the sun. The main problem is that wind off the water means you don't notice the bright sun as much. It's really easy to get sunburnt if you're not careful. Having been burnt 4 times in as many months in Scotland, I'm trying to keep covered up. I don't know what I'm going to do at summer camp or our Switzerland trip, though. I think the SPF 50, UVA/UVB protection sun cream will be coming out, and it, along with my aloe vera might just stay with me the whole time.
Anyway, two more days and exams, and first year are over. Then I just have to get down to packing, washing the place up in readiness to move out, and bulling my brogues for next week.
See you all when this stress is all over.
- Posted using BlogPress
Still, I'm freaking out slightly (who doesn't on exam week), although much less so now my first exam is over. I think I did better than I expected.
What I am not enjoying, however, is being stuck inside on these glorious days of sun. I have been revising outside when I can, but my exams are all in the middle of the day, so we miss the best sunshine, when its warm enough to ignore the east coast wind off the ocean.
Perhaps it's also a good thing though, to keep me out of the sun. The main problem is that wind off the water means you don't notice the bright sun as much. It's really easy to get sunburnt if you're not careful. Having been burnt 4 times in as many months in Scotland, I'm trying to keep covered up. I don't know what I'm going to do at summer camp or our Switzerland trip, though. I think the SPF 50, UVA/UVB protection sun cream will be coming out, and it, along with my aloe vera might just stay with me the whole time.
Anyway, two more days and exams, and first year are over. Then I just have to get down to packing, washing the place up in readiness to move out, and bulling my brogues for next week.
See you all when this stress is all over.
- Posted using BlogPress
Location:Bedford Rd,Aberdeen,United Kingdom
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