Remember how back at the Fresher's Fair I signed up for stuff? Well, I ended up auditioning for one of the choral groups on campus, Madrigirls, an all female madrigals group. After eight years absence from this kind of high-commitment singing group, it was a bit nerve racking to audition (especially since I could hear the pair auditioning before me through the door). All went fairly well though. I think they were short on altos to begin with, but I can't have done too bad. So, I'm in! Huzzah! I chose Madrigirls over, say, the Choral Society or the Chapel Choir because the little info section on Madrigirls said they specialized in early music. I'm hoping this means I'll be expanding my repertoire of medieval and Renaissance music. Our performance this term is December 8--not that most of you reading this will be in Glasgow then, but just in case. ;)
Whee! Well, first rehearsal is this Thursday. Here goes. La la la la!
Sunday 30 September 2007
Friday 28 September 2007
The Wonders of a Working Heater
Well, the heater more or less works. Huzzah! Leaving it on full blast (for the hours when it works at all), I am no longer cold when dressed in several layers. So I guess we won't freeze to death after all.
Whereas the heater does not always work when it should, the oven sometimes works when it shouldn't. I have to remember to turn the whole stove/oven off at the wall because otherwise the main oven works at some reasonably-low temperature full time even when set to "off." Disturbing. And did I mention yet that a 7'x2' section of the kitchen ceiling caved in? Yes, about a month and a half ago. And yes the landlord knows. He had the rubble cleared away but hasn't done anything about fixing the ceiling nor checking to make sure the rest of the ceiling isn't likely to follow it. I'm therefore a bit nervous about time spent in the kitchen, always alert for any sign that it's time to run. On the plus side, the hole revealed more window so there is now more natural light in the kitchen. (To clarify, the ceiling in the main room is not subject to the same fate. The building is one those old high-ceilinged tenement buildings that has been converted to be a set of sort-of bed-sits, that is, six or seven almost-studio-apartments except that everyone has to share the two bathrooms. Some just have kitchens worked into the one room; our kitchen is behind one of the bathrooms and is more of its own room. I guess they felt the high ceiling was weird in such a tiny closet-like space and they put in a false ceiling, less than an inch thick, at a more "normal" ceiling hight. That is what caved in.)
Whereas the heater does not always work when it should, the oven sometimes works when it shouldn't. I have to remember to turn the whole stove/oven off at the wall because otherwise the main oven works at some reasonably-low temperature full time even when set to "off." Disturbing. And did I mention yet that a 7'x2' section of the kitchen ceiling caved in? Yes, about a month and a half ago. And yes the landlord knows. He had the rubble cleared away but hasn't done anything about fixing the ceiling nor checking to make sure the rest of the ceiling isn't likely to follow it. I'm therefore a bit nervous about time spent in the kitchen, always alert for any sign that it's time to run. On the plus side, the hole revealed more window so there is now more natural light in the kitchen. (To clarify, the ceiling in the main room is not subject to the same fate. The building is one those old high-ceilinged tenement buildings that has been converted to be a set of sort-of bed-sits, that is, six or seven almost-studio-apartments except that everyone has to share the two bathrooms. Some just have kitchens worked into the one room; our kitchen is behind one of the bathrooms and is more of its own room. I guess they felt the high ceiling was weird in such a tiny closet-like space and they put in a false ceiling, less than an inch thick, at a more "normal" ceiling hight. That is what caved in.)
Thursday 27 September 2007
Winter in September
I remember LA, Santa Cruz, Altanta. I remember September being one of the "hot" months. In LA even October might well be so warm you would want to choose your Halloween costume by how light-weight and breezy it was.
Not here. I'm already wearing long-johns under my jeans and layering sweaters. And that's for inside. And I'm still cold. The winter coat, hat and gloves have come out already and I'm still cold outside unless I've been walking awhile. You know, I used to pride myself on my resistance to the cold. Not now. I think it was last winter that broke my nerve--because it is nerve as much as biology, I'm convinced. Now I don't want to wear down my resistance, my immune system. Because we're still in the same blasted building as last year. We tried to turn on the heat today, finally admitting the summer was long gone. Nothing happened. Then we remembered that the heat only works at certain times of day (and then, not well). At least the light it better in the new room. I remember huddling near the narrow basement window--the coldest point in the flat and farthest possible from the heater--wrapped in blankets and trying to read to get my mind off my flu.
It has occurred to me that it is somewhat suspicious that I don't have terribly fond memories of any of the books I read that winter. I remember them all fairly well since I read most of them twice having few to choose from and no energy to go out to shop for more. Diana Wynn Jones' Chrestomanci books are quite good, but there is a sort of horror in me at the thought of re-reading them. I read a David Gemmell book for the first time and while I have legitimate complaints--yet another story where the woman only shows up long enough to be a martyred love interest, her death providing the motivation for the hero to go on his relentless nothing-to-loose-now quest for victory...Braveheart anyone? Gladiator? You get the idea--and yet still I wonder if reading it during that miserable flu biased me against it. The Ropemaker similarly gets only a grumpy "pretty good, I guess" from me. The Wheel of the Infinite escapes the doom of the others I read simply because it was a re-read, having first read it the previous summer during the wedding madness.
Then again, I don't think I could hate anything Martha Wells wrote. I suppose Wheel of the Infinite is my, dare I say it, least favorite of her books. But that is only because the others are so incredibly awesome. The Fall of Ile-Rien series, my first introduction to Wells, was superb and I'm trying to figure out how to get my hands on the prequel short stories appearing in Black Gate (maybe they deliver to the UK? Oh yeah, need money. Keep forgetting that minor detail. Oh well, I'll figure it out somehow. I've already tortured myself by reading the clip they give you for free online and of course they cut away just as things are getting tense for our heroes.) But The Element of Fire and The Death of the Necromancer are both fantastic as well. Maybe Wheel of the Infinite feels like the odd man out to me because it is the only one that doesn't belong to one of the two main worlds from The Fall of Ile-Rien? I'm still trying to get my hands on City of Bones which is out of print. Last year I tried ordering a used copy but it never came and the book seller did not respond to my emails. Very vexing. I have little hope of running across a copy here, but I'm keeping an eye peeled just in case.
Ron and I did go to an interesting "Book Fair" this weekend. We were rather skeptical seeing the sign on the entrance to the Botanical Gardens--we figured they had to either have the books outside which was just asking for soaked books, or they were inside the Botanical Gardens which was asking for damp books given the very high humidity in such places. Instead we followed little signs through quite a maze of back-buildings until we were sure they were luring people to be eaten by the carnivorous plants or something when finally we came to a non-descript back door which proved to have quite a good used book fair inside. Lots of Scottish history which was great. After much deliberation I limited myself to two: one for the great pictures of ancient sites and the other, on Queen Mary's Women, because it seemed like a good read and pertinent to a few of the books I'm writing (ok, mostly "Prophesy Girl" which still needs a new name). Ron, however, chose as one of his two a book he quite liked so that I could read it: Magician. I'm nearly half way and it is quite good (in fact, yesterday is the first time since I got here that I squandered almost an entire day reading, well, the day until I went to prayer meeting).
Speaking of which, prayer meeting is hard. Many of the prayers are for individuals I don't know. So while I can certainly join my energies in praying for health or safe travel or comfort during grief for these people, I can't really add any prayers up (and it's done in a "jump in" kind of way). And the larger issues they pray about...well I know my beliefs do not quite align with theirs (these are not followers of the Church of Find Your Own Way, not by any stretch) and so, well, it's awkward. Plus I have a low attention span and keep finding myself wanting to write. However, I find this to be more a reason to stick it out and try to learn to concentrate in prayer than a reason to give up on it. The funny thing is I prayed the whole way there. I know community is supposed to be important but really, it can be far easier to talk to God one on one than to try to filter what you say for an additional audience (which is why I end up mostly silent in prayer meetings). And they are lovely welcoming people...yet I feel more at home in the community of gamers in Glasgow. What does this say about me, I wonder?
I played in a very fun one-off on Tuesday. I forget what it was called, but it most certainly did not resemble the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in any way. Nope, nope. We played our 17-year-old selves, but all living in Elgin, Scotland (which took the most mental adjustments for me, I think) and talking 6th-year English together. I ended up Green Ranger with a mighty Pterodactyl robot and a big green axe. Rwaw! We beat the bad guys of course. Great fun.
People keep asking when I'm running my Serenity game so I guess I'd better finish preparing it, huh? It's rather scary in some ways. The not-PowerRangers game was the first I'd played in in many months (since Amanda's game at Easter I believe) and it's been years now since I played in regular week-to-week game, let alone tried to GM one. And I also remember how the last one I GMed fell apart, though I maintain that that was as much inter-player angst as my own GMing skills. Of course the one game I have been playing is Witchfire (which is not based on the Witchfire books but on the Black Jewels books. Long story.). That at least is going fairly well. (Kharian's queen up and left! With no warning! Now what on earth is she supposed to do, stuck in a foreign land with a title she doesn't really deserve at such a young age (not even 100 yet!) and an unknown enemy who tried to kill her a few months back? Agathar on the other hand has just conquered the neighboring province and named it a district within his own province. So I guess that counts as "doing well." His loyal advisor seems not to be posting right now though. I may have to prod her and see if she is still around. I quite like Kalian, I hope she's still playing.)
By the way, Ron mailed (or Ron prepaired and I mailed, more accurately) a real honest to goodness job application off on Monday. (rolls eyes) While this should not be such a monumental event, it is a good start. That one is for Cambridge and he has several in Dundee he's applying for. Did I mention it's COLD here? And that it's probably still relatively warm in California? Oh well, if we can get him settled in a good job and get me living at his side I'll be content...for a little while anyway. If there are plenty of blankets and sweaters around. I'll try to get him to apply for some California jobs too. I think he was looking at one in San Diego the other day. That's at least in California. I hear they're being rather bastardy about housing and some other things. I didn't get the whole story on that though, so I'll have to look into it myself if that begins to look like a likely location. As for Dundee, it seems I did not get to see the nice part of the city (I didn't even know the coast was nearby!) so perhaps I misjudged it. It would be nice to have a coast again even if I can't have the coast I want.
All right, I think that was sufficiently rambly, don't you?
Not here. I'm already wearing long-johns under my jeans and layering sweaters. And that's for inside. And I'm still cold. The winter coat, hat and gloves have come out already and I'm still cold outside unless I've been walking awhile. You know, I used to pride myself on my resistance to the cold. Not now. I think it was last winter that broke my nerve--because it is nerve as much as biology, I'm convinced. Now I don't want to wear down my resistance, my immune system. Because we're still in the same blasted building as last year. We tried to turn on the heat today, finally admitting the summer was long gone. Nothing happened. Then we remembered that the heat only works at certain times of day (and then, not well). At least the light it better in the new room. I remember huddling near the narrow basement window--the coldest point in the flat and farthest possible from the heater--wrapped in blankets and trying to read to get my mind off my flu.
It has occurred to me that it is somewhat suspicious that I don't have terribly fond memories of any of the books I read that winter. I remember them all fairly well since I read most of them twice having few to choose from and no energy to go out to shop for more. Diana Wynn Jones' Chrestomanci books are quite good, but there is a sort of horror in me at the thought of re-reading them. I read a David Gemmell book for the first time and while I have legitimate complaints--yet another story where the woman only shows up long enough to be a martyred love interest, her death providing the motivation for the hero to go on his relentless nothing-to-loose-now quest for victory...Braveheart anyone? Gladiator? You get the idea--and yet still I wonder if reading it during that miserable flu biased me against it. The Ropemaker similarly gets only a grumpy "pretty good, I guess" from me. The Wheel of the Infinite escapes the doom of the others I read simply because it was a re-read, having first read it the previous summer during the wedding madness.
Then again, I don't think I could hate anything Martha Wells wrote. I suppose Wheel of the Infinite is my, dare I say it, least favorite of her books. But that is only because the others are so incredibly awesome. The Fall of Ile-Rien series, my first introduction to Wells, was superb and I'm trying to figure out how to get my hands on the prequel short stories appearing in Black Gate (maybe they deliver to the UK? Oh yeah, need money. Keep forgetting that minor detail. Oh well, I'll figure it out somehow. I've already tortured myself by reading the clip they give you for free online and of course they cut away just as things are getting tense for our heroes.) But The Element of Fire and The Death of the Necromancer are both fantastic as well. Maybe Wheel of the Infinite feels like the odd man out to me because it is the only one that doesn't belong to one of the two main worlds from The Fall of Ile-Rien? I'm still trying to get my hands on City of Bones which is out of print. Last year I tried ordering a used copy but it never came and the book seller did not respond to my emails. Very vexing. I have little hope of running across a copy here, but I'm keeping an eye peeled just in case.
Ron and I did go to an interesting "Book Fair" this weekend. We were rather skeptical seeing the sign on the entrance to the Botanical Gardens--we figured they had to either have the books outside which was just asking for soaked books, or they were inside the Botanical Gardens which was asking for damp books given the very high humidity in such places. Instead we followed little signs through quite a maze of back-buildings until we were sure they were luring people to be eaten by the carnivorous plants or something when finally we came to a non-descript back door which proved to have quite a good used book fair inside. Lots of Scottish history which was great. After much deliberation I limited myself to two: one for the great pictures of ancient sites and the other, on Queen Mary's Women, because it seemed like a good read and pertinent to a few of the books I'm writing (ok, mostly "Prophesy Girl" which still needs a new name). Ron, however, chose as one of his two a book he quite liked so that I could read it: Magician. I'm nearly half way and it is quite good (in fact, yesterday is the first time since I got here that I squandered almost an entire day reading, well, the day until I went to prayer meeting).
Speaking of which, prayer meeting is hard. Many of the prayers are for individuals I don't know. So while I can certainly join my energies in praying for health or safe travel or comfort during grief for these people, I can't really add any prayers up (and it's done in a "jump in" kind of way). And the larger issues they pray about...well I know my beliefs do not quite align with theirs (these are not followers of the Church of Find Your Own Way, not by any stretch) and so, well, it's awkward. Plus I have a low attention span and keep finding myself wanting to write. However, I find this to be more a reason to stick it out and try to learn to concentrate in prayer than a reason to give up on it. The funny thing is I prayed the whole way there. I know community is supposed to be important but really, it can be far easier to talk to God one on one than to try to filter what you say for an additional audience (which is why I end up mostly silent in prayer meetings). And they are lovely welcoming people...yet I feel more at home in the community of gamers in Glasgow. What does this say about me, I wonder?
I played in a very fun one-off on Tuesday. I forget what it was called, but it most certainly did not resemble the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in any way. Nope, nope. We played our 17-year-old selves, but all living in Elgin, Scotland (which took the most mental adjustments for me, I think) and talking 6th-year English together. I ended up Green Ranger with a mighty Pterodactyl robot and a big green axe. Rwaw! We beat the bad guys of course. Great fun.
People keep asking when I'm running my Serenity game so I guess I'd better finish preparing it, huh? It's rather scary in some ways. The not-PowerRangers game was the first I'd played in in many months (since Amanda's game at Easter I believe) and it's been years now since I played in regular week-to-week game, let alone tried to GM one. And I also remember how the last one I GMed fell apart, though I maintain that that was as much inter-player angst as my own GMing skills. Of course the one game I have been playing is Witchfire (which is not based on the Witchfire books but on the Black Jewels books. Long story.). That at least is going fairly well. (Kharian's queen up and left! With no warning! Now what on earth is she supposed to do, stuck in a foreign land with a title she doesn't really deserve at such a young age (not even 100 yet!) and an unknown enemy who tried to kill her a few months back? Agathar on the other hand has just conquered the neighboring province and named it a district within his own province. So I guess that counts as "doing well." His loyal advisor seems not to be posting right now though. I may have to prod her and see if she is still around. I quite like Kalian, I hope she's still playing.)
By the way, Ron mailed (or Ron prepaired and I mailed, more accurately) a real honest to goodness job application off on Monday. (rolls eyes) While this should not be such a monumental event, it is a good start. That one is for Cambridge and he has several in Dundee he's applying for. Did I mention it's COLD here? And that it's probably still relatively warm in California? Oh well, if we can get him settled in a good job and get me living at his side I'll be content...for a little while anyway. If there are plenty of blankets and sweaters around. I'll try to get him to apply for some California jobs too. I think he was looking at one in San Diego the other day. That's at least in California. I hear they're being rather bastardy about housing and some other things. I didn't get the whole story on that though, so I'll have to look into it myself if that begins to look like a likely location. As for Dundee, it seems I did not get to see the nice part of the city (I didn't even know the coast was nearby!) so perhaps I misjudged it. It would be nice to have a coast again even if I can't have the coast I want.
All right, I think that was sufficiently rambly, don't you?
Tuesday 25 September 2007
A Break in the Clouds
I actually saw sunlight for a moment a minute ago. Very impressive. I can still see two very small patches of blue sky peaking out from the white and grey. Exciting.
I realized I hadn't yet mentioned my reasons for naming my very first blog "Adventures of a Soaked Kitten." It's simple really: impulse of the moment. My two best friends at UCSC and I were known collectively as "the three kittens" and this has led to many many side jokes. So this is yet another one. Here I am back in Glasgow, an incredibly rainy city, and one rainy day I finally got around to starting this blog (an idea given to me by one of the other kittens) and so as I sat in an iCafe soaking wet trying to name my new blog, well, what else would I call it?
Yesterday was fun, although I finally overloaded on social interaction. This past year I've spent most of my time buried in books and laptop finishing my thesis. Even my procrastination usually took book or computer form. Then, for the final stages, I moved "home" out to speck-ville, GA where for two months social interaction involved occasional insane but fascinating conversations with my step-father (What? It's true!) and weekly trips to the next county over to go to the live music at the farmer's market. (I'm not sure that's the really-o, truly-o farmer's market website but I found it by googling for "Everything's for Sale, except the Market Dog!" --hello, Hannah!!).
So, suddenly, from thesis-writing-world and rural South I find myself not only living in a big city again but talking to lots of people. First it was volunteering to work the Fresher's Fair. Then it was going to the GUGS Fresher's Meet in a local bar. Then it was catching up with all sorts of people including Janet (named because I've spent the most time at once catching up with her) and then getting to know a new friend better, once again by talking most of a day away (yesterday). Then, still yesterday, after talking for hours I grabbed a quick dinner before heading off to talk for hours more. Volunteering at the International Cafe at Sandyford Church was the final overload. Dozens of people. All from different parts of the globe. Almost none of them at all familiar. I don't do well in crowds anyway. Not that I actually had any problems last night. It was just exhausting. Sociability overload. Still, it was very fun meeting people from Australia, Germany, France, India, Japan, Poland, and some other places I can't recall just now.
And in twenty minutes I'll go to GUGS and meet and talk to yet more people...
Ah! More people!!
(Don't mind me. I'll just be over here hiding in the corner.)
I realized I hadn't yet mentioned my reasons for naming my very first blog "Adventures of a Soaked Kitten." It's simple really: impulse of the moment. My two best friends at UCSC and I were known collectively as "the three kittens" and this has led to many many side jokes. So this is yet another one. Here I am back in Glasgow, an incredibly rainy city, and one rainy day I finally got around to starting this blog (an idea given to me by one of the other kittens) and so as I sat in an iCafe soaking wet trying to name my new blog, well, what else would I call it?
Yesterday was fun, although I finally overloaded on social interaction. This past year I've spent most of my time buried in books and laptop finishing my thesis. Even my procrastination usually took book or computer form. Then, for the final stages, I moved "home" out to speck-ville, GA where for two months social interaction involved occasional insane but fascinating conversations with my step-father (What? It's true!) and weekly trips to the next county over to go to the live music at the farmer's market. (I'm not sure that's the really-o, truly-o farmer's market website but I found it by googling for "Everything's for Sale, except the Market Dog!" --hello, Hannah!!).
So, suddenly, from thesis-writing-world and rural South I find myself not only living in a big city again but talking to lots of people. First it was volunteering to work the Fresher's Fair. Then it was going to the GUGS Fresher's Meet in a local bar. Then it was catching up with all sorts of people including Janet (named because I've spent the most time at once catching up with her) and then getting to know a new friend better, once again by talking most of a day away (yesterday). Then, still yesterday, after talking for hours I grabbed a quick dinner before heading off to talk for hours more. Volunteering at the International Cafe at Sandyford Church was the final overload. Dozens of people. All from different parts of the globe. Almost none of them at all familiar. I don't do well in crowds anyway. Not that I actually had any problems last night. It was just exhausting. Sociability overload. Still, it was very fun meeting people from Australia, Germany, France, India, Japan, Poland, and some other places I can't recall just now.
And in twenty minutes I'll go to GUGS and meet and talk to yet more people...
Ah! More people!!
(Don't mind me. I'll just be over here hiding in the corner.)
Monday 24 September 2007
Another Rainy Day in Glasgow
Well, today is a bank holiday but Ron doesn't have the day off. I'm meeting up with a new friend though so today will probably be unproductive again. I was going to go pick up my library card today, but they may actually have the day off over there. So we'll see.
I seem to have volunteered myself to help out fortnightly at the International Cafe at Sandyford Church (where Ron and I attend). It was funny last night. Someone asked me when I first came to Sandyford and I said "2001" and then stopped and marveled at how long ago that is! Of course I attend "on and off" where the "off" has often involved year or more long gaps where I'm in the US. But no matter. It's still a long time to be going back to the same church, at least for me.
A funny thing about Sandyford. I leave upset or angry about the sermon as often as not (perhaps more often than not) yet I still like going there. I suppose I'd rather be challenged to think than to be handed easy mush. The minister has a very careful, textual approach to biblical interpretation. But that doesn't mean I don't disagree with some of those interpretations. In this case though, my desire to learn Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic has been renewed since my only counterargument is based on hearsay about the translation of the Greek words in question and I have no information at all about the corresponding Hebrew words. The issue, in this case, is homosexual behavior. It's always something though.
They are all very nice, caring people though and, when I'm feeling up to it, they are very considerate and cordial in the ensuing theological debates. When I'm not feeling up to it, I keep my mouth shut, have a cup of tea and ask how they've been. I'm on the look out to meet and greet new students (when led into being drafted for the International Cafe where they have tea and coffee for the international students). It all comes full circle.
I seem to have volunteered myself to help out fortnightly at the International Cafe at Sandyford Church (where Ron and I attend). It was funny last night. Someone asked me when I first came to Sandyford and I said "2001" and then stopped and marveled at how long ago that is! Of course I attend "on and off" where the "off" has often involved year or more long gaps where I'm in the US. But no matter. It's still a long time to be going back to the same church, at least for me.
A funny thing about Sandyford. I leave upset or angry about the sermon as often as not (perhaps more often than not) yet I still like going there. I suppose I'd rather be challenged to think than to be handed easy mush. The minister has a very careful, textual approach to biblical interpretation. But that doesn't mean I don't disagree with some of those interpretations. In this case though, my desire to learn Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic has been renewed since my only counterargument is based on hearsay about the translation of the Greek words in question and I have no information at all about the corresponding Hebrew words. The issue, in this case, is homosexual behavior. It's always something though.
They are all very nice, caring people though and, when I'm feeling up to it, they are very considerate and cordial in the ensuing theological debates. When I'm not feeling up to it, I keep my mouth shut, have a cup of tea and ask how they've been. I'm on the look out to meet and greet new students (when led into being drafted for the International Cafe where they have tea and coffee for the international students). It all comes full circle.
Friday 21 September 2007
Sitting in Offshore
I suppose I should have started this as soon as I set foot on "shore" again, because already I have a lot to catch up on and I'm only just beginning!
In case you didn't hear or guess already, I arrived in Glasgow safe and sound back on Sept 10. No problems with border control, but I'm only here as a visitor which means I can't work. My return is scheduled for mid-January but in reality life is very up in the air right now so that is somewhat subject to change. The plan is to play housewife, help Ron get job apps out, keep immigration papers moving, try to get some academic publications and finally write some fiction of my own. Oh, and maybe volunteer with the Red Cross (long story, more later if I get that far). And maybe GM a short game of Serenity.
Highlights so far:
Ron. Oh my, actually being in the same place as my husband! Yay! Woohoo!!
Museum of Scotland. Ron and I took the train over to Edinburgh and, being a loving husband, he let me dominate the trip with exploring the ancient and medieval Scotland sections of the museum. They have a huge collection of Pictish stones including the Hilton of Cadboll stone which I've been trying to study through bad photos for years. It boasts the best (arguably only non-biblical) depiction (no pun intended) of a Pictish woman from the extant stones. I still don't have an answer to the puzzle of what the curve above her hands is, nor solved the debate of hair versus hair-covering, but it was still very exciting to see in person. I had no idea how huge that particular stone is; I could really have used a ladder to see the woman properly. Plus I now have two more potential-women to contemplate. And the museum curators seem to come down on the ogam debate translating "dttrr" as "daughter" which lends credence to the Norse-written-in-ogam theory and gives another possibly Pictish/Picto-Norse feminine name: Nectudadd or something along that line. The "Nectu-" certainly points to Pictish origin or influence but "dottir" or "daughter" would indicate a Norse/Germanic naming pattern...I'm getting carried away aren't I?
Glasgow Uni's Fresher's Fair. I got drafted to work the GUGS (gaming society) table in the Fresher's Fair for all three days (about 6 1/2 hours a day) and that was fun and exhausting. The third day was very slow and I wandered the other stalls a bit and signed up for a few things (including Red Cross volunteering). Among other things, I saw there is a new society this year: The Chivalric Dream Society. It turns out they are a sort of daughter society from a society that split off from the SCA. Their fighting style sounds closest to "sidesword" which has not been generally approved in the SCA yet (next closest would be fencing, but I'm worried I might learn bad "habits" from them, like slashing moves.) Anyway, I may check them out if I have time. At the very least it could be fun to hang out and learn some chainmail making and leather working (which they advertised). I was going to go on the Tower tour but, as usual, it was canceled due to bad weather. I've still never been up, and the tours are over for the year. So the questions remains: shall I ever climb Glasgow Uni's tower?
Friends! Yay! Friends! I've gotten to catch up with Johanna, Molly, Brian, Janet and many more wonderful residents of Glasgow, which has been grand. Molly's pulling me into her Harry Potter game which begins tomorrow. I'm playing an American pure-blood who has come overseas to Hogwarts because it is more snooty and prestigious. She'll be in Slitherin for sure. (Grin.)
Library. I sent a lengthy email detailing all the reasons it would be absolutely awesome if I could study in Glasgow's library as an independent scholar. And now they've said "yes"! Yay! Books! Lots and lots of Celtic and Medieval Studies books! Whee!
Well, my internet access consists of using Ron's laptop (thus denying him access) either in the limited hours of the public library or by paying for coffee drinks in one of the internet cafes. Today's method is the latter, and my beloved is with me and wants his turn, so I'll have to call it a day.
In case you didn't hear or guess already, I arrived in Glasgow safe and sound back on Sept 10. No problems with border control, but I'm only here as a visitor which means I can't work. My return is scheduled for mid-January but in reality life is very up in the air right now so that is somewhat subject to change. The plan is to play housewife, help Ron get job apps out, keep immigration papers moving, try to get some academic publications and finally write some fiction of my own. Oh, and maybe volunteer with the Red Cross (long story, more later if I get that far). And maybe GM a short game of Serenity.
Highlights so far:
Ron. Oh my, actually being in the same place as my husband! Yay! Woohoo!!
Museum of Scotland. Ron and I took the train over to Edinburgh and, being a loving husband, he let me dominate the trip with exploring the ancient and medieval Scotland sections of the museum. They have a huge collection of Pictish stones including the Hilton of Cadboll stone which I've been trying to study through bad photos for years. It boasts the best (arguably only non-biblical) depiction (no pun intended) of a Pictish woman from the extant stones. I still don't have an answer to the puzzle of what the curve above her hands is, nor solved the debate of hair versus hair-covering, but it was still very exciting to see in person. I had no idea how huge that particular stone is; I could really have used a ladder to see the woman properly. Plus I now have two more potential-women to contemplate. And the museum curators seem to come down on the ogam debate translating "dttrr" as "daughter" which lends credence to the Norse-written-in-ogam theory and gives another possibly Pictish/Picto-Norse feminine name: Nectudadd or something along that line. The "Nectu-" certainly points to Pictish origin or influence but "dottir" or "daughter" would indicate a Norse/Germanic naming pattern...I'm getting carried away aren't I?
Glasgow Uni's Fresher's Fair. I got drafted to work the GUGS (gaming society) table in the Fresher's Fair for all three days (about 6 1/2 hours a day) and that was fun and exhausting. The third day was very slow and I wandered the other stalls a bit and signed up for a few things (including Red Cross volunteering). Among other things, I saw there is a new society this year: The Chivalric Dream Society. It turns out they are a sort of daughter society from a society that split off from the SCA. Their fighting style sounds closest to "sidesword" which has not been generally approved in the SCA yet (next closest would be fencing, but I'm worried I might learn bad "habits" from them, like slashing moves.) Anyway, I may check them out if I have time. At the very least it could be fun to hang out and learn some chainmail making and leather working (which they advertised). I was going to go on the Tower tour but, as usual, it was canceled due to bad weather. I've still never been up, and the tours are over for the year. So the questions remains: shall I ever climb Glasgow Uni's tower?
Friends! Yay! Friends! I've gotten to catch up with Johanna, Molly, Brian, Janet and many more wonderful residents of Glasgow, which has been grand. Molly's pulling me into her Harry Potter game which begins tomorrow. I'm playing an American pure-blood who has come overseas to Hogwarts because it is more snooty and prestigious. She'll be in Slitherin for sure. (Grin.)
Library. I sent a lengthy email detailing all the reasons it would be absolutely awesome if I could study in Glasgow's library as an independent scholar. And now they've said "yes"! Yay! Books! Lots and lots of Celtic and Medieval Studies books! Whee!
Well, my internet access consists of using Ron's laptop (thus denying him access) either in the limited hours of the public library or by paying for coffee drinks in one of the internet cafes. Today's method is the latter, and my beloved is with me and wants his turn, so I'll have to call it a day.
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