Good morning, Edinburgh

The guy in the center of this photo was standing there drinking a cup of coffee, taking in one of the nicest little views in Old Town. This is one of the million reasons why this town is A-O.K.

Perhaps my brain got a little warped over the holiday break or something, but it's clear that taking the 10 day trip home, in order to return refreshed, really did the trick. Or it's a trick of the light. Either way, it's good to back in Edinburgh. I've said it about fifty times, but I really am happy to be back to a routine of classes. Perhaps after working a regular full-time job for almost five years, I've become more accustomed to having to be somewhere most days at a certain time. Over the six or seven weeks that I was on break, even though I was 'busy writing a paper' and traveling a little, I felt aimless and sort of stupidly useless. But now! The sun is out, the temperature has been more than tolerable (crossing my fingers it stays that way), classes are off to a good start, and it's good to see everybody again. And I'm taken again, anew, with the beauty of this city.

This term, I'm taking two classes that are strongly related to curating. One is a history of Scottish Art since 1960, which is to say most of the artists we will be studying are still alive and working, so there's the added dimension of display and the process of the artist as well as the historical significance of their work. I'm also in a class called the Cultures and Politics of Display which will explore the theory, politics and types of exhibitions. This museum and gallery-geared work is much more up my alley than the heavy theory and methods-based approach last term, so I'm pretty stoked.

I'm betraying my art nerdiness here, forgive me. Like I said, the sun is out, so it might be a trick of the light. ;)

Cheers!

Kate xx