Oh hazy day.

There has been so much sun! Kind of hazy sometimes, a little lower in the sky than I'd like, but sun sure is the flippin' sun and I'm totally okay with it being around more than I expected this time of year. On Tuesday, feeling buoyed after a class presentation that went really well, and greeted by the sunshine when I left the art history department, I thought it high time I made a reprise visit to Calton Hill.

I checked in to the Collective Gallery, a contemporary art pod, but they only had one video piece going and I wasn't super impressed. Meh. So we'll skim over that part, but it's worth the trek to the top for the views. Even on days when it's kind of hazy and glary and difficult to see without watering eyes! I wanted to stop by the construction perimeters on Calton Road that have an ever-changing slew of spray art paintings by street artists--some with particular talent. A post coming soon on that. It changed a lot in the two months since I saw it last.

It's been a very busy, but good week. I've gotten excellent feedback on both an independent presentation for my history of Scottish architecture class, and also the group work I've been involved in with my other class receieved good feedback as well. Internship all day tomorrow. Essay due in three weeks. Lots to do, but it's under control and I feel good about this term overall -- as it stands. :)

Cheers!
Kate x

Stockbridge Market

I determined that Sunday would be a real day off for me: no research, no writing, no work. I admit I ended up doing a bit anyway as the day wore on, but my intentions were good. ;) It was a gorgeously sunny day. The wind was light I could actually feel the sun, and it was the kind of day where I just have to get out of the flat and walk. I left without much of an idea where I was headed other than in a general northerly direction. This seems to be a pretty common area to walk to when I've got some exploration time on my hands (okay, to be honest, I set aside time on purpose for this sort of thing; there's always something "important" that I could be doing, but often coffee and a stroll is just better).

Stockbridge is an area north of New Town in central Edinburgh that feels a little more like a village than a city -- a far cry from Princes Street or the Royal Mile. For one, it has a nice (read: less congested) shopping street with charity shops and high end gift boutiques together with the basic convenience shops and some sweet little cafes and coffee shops. It also has a residential area that I discovered during one of my very first walks around the city, called the Colonies. They're really amazing little rows of townhouses, quaint and kind of bohemian-looking, in some cases with the laundry out to dry on lines in front and wild plants in the yard left to their own devices. I like that sort of thing. They're very close to the Waters of Leith and are quite a creative community unto themselves -- they host an annual Creative Colonies event which was held after the Stockbridge Market last weekend.

Stockbridge Market itself is really, really, really (did I say really?) nice. I knew it existed, but had totally forgotten about it and apparently never walked by Jubilee Gardens on a Sunday. Needless to say, after ambling around kind of haphazardly after a quick cup of coffee, I was really glad to find this! It's not huge, but it's not tiny either, and it packs a punch in the little tree-filled park with vendors stocking fresh fruits and veg, artisan cheeses and chocolate, fresh "street food," gourmet pastas and oils, fresh seafood and meat, local craft beer, soaps, bread, and some arts and crafts as well. I bagged some excellent croissants and brie, along with some fruit. There's a pretty wide range of edibles and wares for the size of the place, and they had a great setup with a coffee van (you'll see!), some tables and a decent guy+guitar to keep everyone entertained.

It's definitely on my calendar every week now, as it runs year-round! And in the summers on Thursday. So all the more to look forward to. And of course... the snaps:



I love these guys: Steam Punk Coffee Company... based in North Berwick, which is a suburb of Edinburgh, they're not really accessible to me as a regular stop, but a Volkswagen bus with an espresso machine setup in back? YES PLEASE! And a good latte it was too. They're supposed to be there every week, though, so at least I can get a fix every now and again. ;)




I love a good market. I should get in the habit of keeping a list through the week of things I'd like to look for, either here or at the Edinburgh Market that still goes on near the castle on Saturdays.

  

The weather has been marvelous. I have zero complaints, and am soaking up every second of sunshine I can get before the "worst winter in decades" hits Scotland. (Please. I'm from Wisconsin.) ;) Tehe!

Cheers!
Kate x

St. Andrews in a whirlwind

Last Wednesday, for an outing with my history of architecture class, I tagged along on a whirlwind tour of St. Andrew's best-known ruins. I honestly think we spent more time on the bus to and from there than we spent actually in town, but I got the general idea. It was like a preview trip, and perhaps when the weather is nicer, it would be nice to go there and spend a day shopping or walking along the beach.

Of course, we were there to talk architecture, which at the cathedral and nearby castle is mostly medieval with some Renaissance additions. So to share just a few random snaps...



The weathered stone is still fascinating. Here, entrance remains to the main cathedral. The stone is so softened and run down, but you can still make out the texture of the original design, which at one time would have just been stunning. Below, a detail of a Celtic cross shaft and also a detail from the 8th century (!!!) Pictish sarcophagus depicting a hunt, designed for a king (although which king or if a king at all was interred here, we don't know). Just marvelous. I geek out over things this old--the fact that the carving remains so sharp after all this time is amazing.



The cathedral itself is quite fascinating... conservators grass is neatly trimmed around the bases of the old columns, and it's interesting to see where original doorways were walled up, extensions were made in different styles, and where wooden screens might have originally stood.



We climbed tall St. Rule's Tower with its super-narrow, maddening and seemingly unending spiral stairwell to the top where we could look out over the expanse of the city, the hills in the distance, and of course, the North Sea. We were there late in the afternoon (which really counts during the time of year that the sun is set by 4:30!) and it was quite cold and windy, so although the light was less than ideal for photos, we at least had some interesting skies.


   

...and then it got dark! C'est la vie. St. Andrew's, I'll be back.

Cheers!
Kate x

Be unapologetic!

I've had a lot on my mind lately. BIG SURPRISE. I've been blogging a little bit more personally lately, but hey... it's a personal blog! I've got a lot of time to think. In fact, I've got all day, every day to do nothing but think. Such is the postgraduate life! But joking aside, and academics aside, I've been thinking a lot more about choices, paths, and outcomes. Spurred by anxiety over schoolwork, but also about what comes after this year, I realize I've been hung up on what seems like the "right" thing to do. What makes the "most sense?" What if I suddenly become interested in studying American art -- then why am I in Edinburgh? Why Scotland in the first place? Why this, what if that?

First, I will declare: I'm giving up on "right." Right is stupid. And obviously I'm not talking about doing the right thing as in, doing the morally good thing. No. What I mean by "right" is the perceived thing that somehow rationalizes or justifies why I'm doing something. Even though I don't totally buy the left-brain/right-brain theory, let's just use that for the sake of an example. In case you want to read up on this, try here and then here. In the most summarized of summaries: the right brain is supposedly the creative side; the left brain is logical. (Whatever.)

The right brain wants to do what it wants. In my case, I like to draw and I think I'm fairly good at it. I like to blog, take pictures, jot nonsense in my Moleskine, wander around quiet neighborhoods for no other reason than to see them, listen to loud music, travel, etc. Left brain gets all up in right brain's business and insists on time management, budgeting money, thinking about the future, success, and doing what seems "right."The two sides just don't get along.

A few things have led me to reconsider, and I'm happy to say that I have shucked my anxiety (or at least the swollen, stupid part of it that was stressing me out) because of these things:


1>> A Deepak Chopra quote that one of my friends on Facebook posted yesterday:

"If you obsess over whether you are making the right decision, you are basically assuming that the universe will reward you for one thing and punish you for another.


"The universe has no fixed agenda. Once you make any decision, it works around that decision. There is no right or wrong, only a series of possibilities that shift with each thought, feeling, and action that you experience. 

"If this sounds too mystical, refer again to the body. Every significant vital sign- body temperature, heart rate, oxygen consumption, hormone level, brain activity, and so on- alters the moment you decide to do anything… decisions are signals telling your body, mind, and environment to move in a certain direction."

2>> A blog post by the beautiful Henna at hennablossom.com featuring the "Recipe for a Long and Happy Life" by Ruth Bernhard featuring 8 encouraging (and TRUE!) things to remember every day:

1. Never get used to anything 

2. Hold on to the child in you 

3. Keep your curiosity alive 

4. Trust your intuition 

5. Delight in simple things 

6. Say “yes” to life with passion 

7. Fall madly in love with the world 

8. Remember: Today is the Day!

3>> This video that speaks to the difficulties everyone has and being real. "There is no harder, there is just hard." A bit about being true to ourselves and everyone around us from Ash Beckham:

4>> A note from artist Simon Ling about painting from an article in The Guardian: 

"...you should stick with what you are interested in and screw everybody else."

Much of this sort of thing I've heard before, of course (we all have), but I felt like I couldn't ignore messages coming from all directions. I know who I am, and I know what I like. I also know what I don't like. I know the moment I see it, or hear it, or feel it. But everything is constantly changing, including me. I change my mind all the time! And there's no reason to be anxious about a future that will never, at any point, be a fixed, static place. Worrying about whether what I'm doing is the correct choice or not, or worrying if what I'm doing fits someone else's mould of what is acceptable isn't going to propel me anywhere but backwards. There's absolutely no reason not to trust my instincts, to do what I want to do--ESPECIALLY at the very moment when I start wondering what other people are going to think or how I perceive it's going to affect me in the future.

Also, the answer to "Why Scotland for school?" is answered most honestly and succinctly with: Scotland sounded like it would be fun! ;)

Cheers!
Kate x

The one that got away

I've found myself listening to The Civil Wars' self-titled latest album quite a bit. Ever since iTunes radio stuck "The One That Got Away" in regular rotation, I took the hint. Their songs are catchy, combining a little bit of a folky twang with indie, admittedly a little bit of sentimentality, and female and male vocals alternated between the two performers. It reminds me a little bit of a less bluegrassy Alison Krauss and Union Station. It strikes me as perfect fall music, hence the cup of tea, and, though you can't see it, warm scarves and a lot of academic readings scattered all over the place... ;)

I think I might be battling a cold or something; I've been rather lethargic for the last couple of days. But this could have to do also with the colder weather and clear need to hunker down with school work now that deadlines are fast approaching. I might also be missing home a bit, too, or at least the people I associate with home (Ironically, some of them aren't even living there at the moment, but I think that's beside the point!) I get so, so nostalgic sometimes for certain times and particular people in a way that feels very similar to homesickness. Saudade at its most maddening! However, I have also realized (yet again; does this just happen over again every time I leave home?) what I really appreciate about home, and there's a real value in that. I think being on my own, far away and frankly out of touch with some people I consider myself quite close to, gives me a perspective on them and myself and on my future that is really useful.

So I'm not really homesick in that I want to go home... yet. I do look forward to January when I can go home! But I think this time of year, when I spend more time indoors or go through phases of listening to melancholy (occasionally nostalgia-inducing) music, it's easy to start remembering how things were before I hopped to this most recent stepping stone. Happens every time. It's a perspective from which to view future decisions, because it becomes so clear what means the most to me. And what was that study about recently, regarding nostalgia not being bad? ;)

Cheers!
Kate x

Remember, remember...

Remember, remember the 5th of November. So the saying goes, and it is indeed Guy Fawkes Day/Night... also known as Bonfire Night. Tonight there's to be a big fireworks display at Meadowbank Stadium, and although I'm probably not going to go into the stadium, I may traipse around outdoors (weather permitting) to see if there's a spot to catch them from.

November is also Crunch Time. I feel it deserves capitalization because, as of yesterday, my first essay is due in one month. It so happens that I just wrote the first page yesterday, and although I would like to call that a coincidence, it was more a result of sudden panic. (When was the last time I even wrote a research paper? I don't know.)

My classes also finish up at the end of this month. (This seems awfully quick.) I believe my internship will probably continue more or less through the break, or as time allows, but I think it's good to spread it out. Where that's concerned, I have no set routine at all (yet), but plenty of work to do (eventually). But the overall routine of this semester has been, well... almost nonexistent.

Differences I've experienced in the academic setup alone are vast and varied -- more than I expected, and not necessarily bad. Just different. For a 12 month program, it has not been nearly as demanding as I presumed, but perhaps that says something about my previous experience at university, or about my workload prior to returning to school, or... I don't know what. But having two classes that meet 11 times apiece, once per week for an hour or two, and one graded essay at the end for each, plus an internship... I mean, I kind of chuckled along when a friend of mine at home went, "That's it? You do that for two semesters, then write a 15,000 word paper, and you get a Masters degree?"

"Well... yes."

I'm well enough into the year (but it's only been about two months, amazingly) to know that my work load next semester will be tougher than this one. That's probably good, seeing that I hadn't been in school for several years and now have sort of been eased back in, as it were. My conscience is constantly reprimanding me for not taking it seriously enough--for not reading and taking notes and writing for four or five hours every day. There are days when I feel like all I do is grab a cup of coffee, wander around, take pictures, go to a gallery or two. Of course there are other days where I hole up in a corner at a coffee shop for a few hours with my laptop and academic journal articles, highlighter at the ready, and pore over whatever it is I'm supposed to be poring over. Those are the days I'm reminded that I'm a student, so it goes both ways.

We also had a "reading week," which was essentially a week off halfway through the semester in order to, well... read. And organize. Or something like that. A lot of people went on trips (myself included), but then in addition to this week off, there was a strike by three university unions against a pay freeze for staff, so my fullest day of class last week was entirely cancelled. As an undergraduate I would have rejoiced at the opportunity for a day off... right now, I'm irritated that I haven't had a proper class in two and a half weeks.

Tomorrow, and there is no complaint here: my Medieval and Renaissance Scottish Architecture class is headed to St. Andrew's for the afternoon. BOOM. Just love it.

So the beginning of November marks a point where academics take precedence. I might not be posting quite as much on the blog while I (attempt to) hunker down and do some real work, but I'll keep the updates coming as much as possible!



Photos are from yesterday afternoon as the sun began to set. The view is from my kitchen, overlooking New Town, the Firth of Forth and the hills of the Kingdom of Fife! One of my favorite times of day, even if it is coming a bit earlier these days... ;)

Cheers!
Kate x

Samhuinn

I'm a few days behind, but I thought I'd do just a brief Instagram/phone photo roundup of my Halloween... most notably my makeup and the Beltane Fire Society's Samhuinn on the Royal Mile. The link takes you to their blog with a ton of photographs and some videos of the event, which are far, far superior to anything that I was able to get in the crowd--with my phone. ;)

It was a really exciting evening, the Celtic New Year, where summer gives over to winter. Also known as Halloween. :) Mainly, two groups representing summer and winter (I was on winter's side), stood at opposite ends of a portion of the Royal Mile, and with lots of drumming, torch-bearing, and some serious swagger, they advanced toward one another and then battled it out in the street, in front of St. Giles High Kirk. Winter inevitably won and then the groups continued to dance and partake in performative rituals on a stage with fire-throwing and more drumming and... it went on and on. But it was a true spectacle, and the crowd was huge. I'm glad I went to see it. Dressed like this:

 

 I fit right in! ;)

 

 And a few quick snaps to give you the idea of how elaborate some of the costuming was:



After the Samhuinn festival, I went to a Twin Peaks themed party at the Edinburgh College of Art's student bar, called The Wee Red Bar... they had it decked out just like the Black Lodge. A fitting end to a surreal kind of evening!

Cheers!
Kate x

 P.S. And happy November! It's starting to really feel like fall here in Edinburgh... with some occasional wintry wind.