West End Girl

Peek-a-boo! Happy Easter to all! ^.^

Where have I been, you ask? Well I was preparing to move, filling in job application forms (and despairing over the condition of my CV), sending my Significant Man Person (SMP) to do the main bulk of the flat hunting in Glasgow for me (bless him!) and freaking out. That was the main part of it anyway, hehe. 

I did attend two fantastic lectures in mid-February, but I need to release the post-moving-jitters first through vicarious blogging before I can get to them, so please bear with me :)

SMP did a lot of the legwork in terms of viewing flats, as I wanted to save my holiday hours from work for emergencies and potential job interviews. The flat we ended up in is beautiful, and I never saw it for myself until the day we moved in! Although I trusted SMP’s opinion (and the many pictures of the flat) implicitly, apparently this caused him some worry, in case he had missed anything I would come to hate (again, awww, bless him!). 

They had originally wanted the flat let out in early March, but SMP wrangled it so they would delay it for two weeks to better suit our budget, hooray! On the 16th I saw my new abode for the first time myself. I HAVE CHANDELIERS ^.^ I may post pictures later, but we still have a box or 5 to unpack, hehe. The first day we moved all of SMP’s things, the next day we moved all of my stuff. My body ached, and my lord, we could not have done it without SMP’s parents and brother, I am so very grateful for their help! 

I was still living halfway in Edinburgh, in a shell of a flat with 2 double mattresses piled on top of each other for a bed, and one armchair in my living room with no cushions. There were other things as well, but unused and sad things, hehe. With the amazing help of SMP and my friends I managed to empty and clean the flat and I said my formal goodbyes and handed in the keys on the 2nd of April. I also said So Long and Farewell to my friends and colleagues at work, which was weird and sad. But I got a lovely send-off with a buffet and a card and vouchers and stuff, so that was awesome :) I trust that they know I shall stay vigilant and fight the good fight against unnecessary complaints (unless I’m bitching about something, then it’s completely valid, of course :P)!

At times it hasn’t quite sunk in, all the changes and stuff. I’m sure one day I’ll wake up at 5 AM and start bawling my eyes out. Not because I’m unhappy, but because of the magnitude of the changes that have been made. I feel like I “came of age” in Edinburgh. I learned a lot about myself, but I suppose that happens when you live so far away from everything familiar, including your parents. I bought my first British sim card in Ali’s Cave on Lothian Road. Through friends at Uni I came to discover The Baked Potato Shop on Cockburn Street, and about Forbidden Planet and those cool little shops along Victoria Street. I conquered the hills of death at Edinburgh Zoo. I love Edinburgh, and found someone in Edinburgh to love, and all was well. I lost that love, and though it hurt I still had a friend on the other side. I let myself down in Edinburgh, and experienced what I felt (and hope) was the lowest point of my life and then I clawed myself back up with the support of those who love me. It’s amazing how much can happen in just over five years! Edinburgh will always be a special place to me, but I think it was right to move. 

Since I am now living with SMP, I think I will re-name him to Man of the House, or MotH for short. MotH sounds and looks better than SMP, the latter reminds me too much of the political party SNP, and I’m really more for the Greens, hehehe. Making a home with MotH has been wonderful so far, even with the occasional disagreement or differences. I think those are just things that always happen when two people who didn’t grow up in the same house start living together, hehe. I have a new job as well, albeit temporary! I think I’ll gain some experience that will be very useful for the kind of jobs I want, and more experience can only be a good thing! 

And with Spring coming along nicely, I think this has been the ideal time to move. Everything looks brighter with flowers and sunshine! :) Now I’m just getting to know all the local areas around my flat (I have a local baker, and a butcher!) and workplace (so many lovely cafes!). I can actually walk to work with MotH (yes I know, we’re so cute it’s disgusting :P) and I’ve even conquered my fear of the Glasgow Subway! I’ve still to find where the 2 farmer’s markets actually are, but fear not! The Internet will tell me ^.^ I do know that there is an antique’s fair in about two weeks time, so that’ll be fun to go to! So yeah, I’m still testing the waters but I’m really looking forward to seeing how far Glasgow and I can go together, and I’m so glad that MotH is with me in this journey! :)

I shall try to post again soon with pictures and shiny things and news about things that are happening in this fair city! Have a lovely holiday and may the Rabbity Representatives of the Implausibly Resurrected Man bring you many Eggs of Ambrosial Chocolate :P

It's spring I tell ya, I have photos to prove it!

Because yesterday’s post was more of a rant, I’ve decided to write a proper update today :)

As always happens this time of year, I’m feeling more and more refreshed by the lighter mornings. I like the comfort of darkness, but the light is so invigorating! I walk in to work and it takes me roughly 50 minutes. Being able to see the sun, for at least parts of my journey, is wonderful. Last weekend SMP and I walked around and saw crocuses of various colours spring up around the Meadows. I snapped a shot of one for you! :)

We also went to see a small exhibit at the National Library of Scotland. It was a little commemorative piece on Scott’s South Pole expedition. It’s free to go on and have a look, follow this link for more info: http://www.nls.uk/news. 

A Shakespeare exhibit followed on after this, so SMP and I had a look here too. It was about Shakespeare through the ages, and I think I was most amused by the magnetic board with lots of fridge magnet words on it that you could re-arrange in to Shakespearian style quotes. My sentence obviously included villainous, lusty harlots or something like that, hehe. In my defence, I don’t think SMP’s sentence was much better! :P

Yesterday I went through to Glasgow to view a flat. From my previous post, you can all see how wonderfully (or not :P) that went, so I won’t go in to that aspect further. What I will say is that we did an awful lot of walking. Miles and miles and miles. After the flat viewing SMP and I decided to indulge in a McDonald’s meal. Here I also picked up a free magazine about events happening in Glasgow in the coming months. There are so many wonderful things happening! One of the things that struck me was an experimental library. Part of the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art, selected works by 50 artists will be available to borrow at the Mitchell Library from late April to early May. The idea is that art shouldn’t just be available in galleries. I think this is a brilliant idea and am hoping SMP and I will be settled enough by then to give this a go! For more information about the festival in general, please see their website: http://www.glasgowinternational.org/. Wear sunglasses, as it has a bright neon green background! :P For information specifically about the Art Lending Library, go here: http://www.glasgowinternational.org/index.php/events/view/art_lending_library/. 

Another fascinating event is No Meal is Complete Without Conversation. It’s odd and interesting, but I think they explain themselves better than I can, so visit their site! http://www.glasgowinternational.org/index.php/events/view/open_glasgow_no_meal_is_complete_without_conversation/. 

While walking around town SMP and I came across an Antique Fair at Kelvin Hall. Apparently there’s one held here every month, and I immediately went in to nesting mode. “We should go!” I announced, and we did! :) It’s £1 to get in, a small price I feel. Don’t get me wrong, the majority of it was a bit naf and musty. Also, I know Blu-Ray is apparently da bomb, but I don’t think DVDs can be classified as antiques just yet! But in between some of the car boot sale items were some gems. A beautiful set of 2 decanters in a stand, each with a small silver (or silver plated) placard, one for Whisky, the other for Gin = £15! Bargain! Another gentleman had properly antique Victorian era silverware, and the prices were in the triple digit regions, beyond my limits at this time! There were also swords, funny little instruments and paraphernalia. I think I shall be returning once I’ve got a home to decorate again!

We also went to a “Vintage Market” just off Buchanan Street, and I was very disappointed. It was more the Basement of Homemade Earrings & Soap, with the occasional old T-shirt strewn about. Nothing was what I would call vintage, but SMP and I did enjoy a homemade cupcake made with Oreos, nom nom nom!

I also managed to snap a wonderful shot of Buchanan Street on my phone. We started the day with sun, but then it snowed and then there was more sun and then more snow! When the snow left the street was wet and it reflected the pale light:

I’m not saying it’s a great photo, by all accounts it’s overexposed, but I like it and the effect of the shiny street! :) I love Buchanan Street for it's beautiful architecture and it's giant metal peacock perched on one of the buildings!

SMP also showed me The Lighthouse (http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/Visitors/TheLighthouse/). This is down a bit of a dark alleyway, so I was hesitant, but it really is lovely! One of their current exhibits is about community culture, specifically surrounding Britain’s High Streets. It was a lovely display, and it also tipped its hat to Copenhagen and its promotion of the bicycle as a means of inner city transport! It made me think about the changing role of exhibits, and if the display of information and fact can be labelled as art. I think in this instance it definitely can! Another of their floors is permanently dedicated to Rennie Mackintosh, a Glaswegian architect. From this floor you can also go up to a viewing tower. From here I shot some pictures of Glasgow’s city centre skyline:

It's definitely a different sight than Edinburgh's skyline! :)

Despite the fact that it snowed, I think Spring is definitely around the corner and there will be much to do! Back in Edinburgh, the Edinburgh Lectures start tomorrow! I’m going to the talk on women in astronomy, and I’m sure it’ll be very interesting (and give me yet another thing to go on about! :P). 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

The Pitfalls of Flat-Hunting

This post isn't as thoughtful and cerebral as I'd like, but I had to share my recent experience!

Flat hunting can be an interesting process. I suppose there are some usual pitfalls, like someone got there before you and the flat is gone before you even viewed it. Or maybe the reality didn’t really match the promises made by the pictures and the description. 

What happened today was a new one on me. Let me tell you a story, dearest readers!

We arrived to The Flat a bit early. I noted some rust on the gate, and how maybe that particular front door wouldn’t be my first choice as a property-owner. The agent arrived on time and opens the doors and finds an activated alarm for which he doesn’t have a de-activation code. “Go on in” he says, looking for his phone for a quick call to the landlord. During the blaring alarm Significant Man Person (SMP) and I have a quick wander, trying to ignore the smell of old person’s flat. Old person’s decor is less easy to escape, but it wasn’t a deal breaker by any means. The kitchen was small-ish, and had an under-the-counter fridge. This is advertised as a two bedroomed property, and I am of the opinion that a halfling fridge is inappropriate in a rental flat for two people. I start to feel not impressed. There’s a room just off the kitchen. At first I think “Ooh, second living room!” but then a dread feeling rises. This is the main bedroom. There are only two other rooms left unseen, the bathroom and the “second” bedroom. While this is an odd layout, I wouldn’t have been overly bothered if it hadn’t been for the fact that SMP and I would have to walk THROUGH the bedroom to get to the kitchen. There is no other access to the kitchen than this supposed “bedroom”. I’ve heard of en-suite bathrooms, but an en-suite kitchen is a bit too much, even for a food-lover like me. 

Okay, so it wasn’t a great flat, I can live with that, but what happened next turned me off completely. Back in the living room the “Property Manager” starts rattling on about how this is gonna go really quickly and they only have 20 properties to let our because, wow, it’s going so fast, you have to get in there, if you like it you can secure it with £250, bla bla bla. Two voices resonate in my head, simultaneously. The first one is The Voice of Arrogance, querying in a sarcastic tone “Is this actually happening?” (usually indicated by me raising my right eyebrow). The second is The Voice of Attitude, and this one is going “Bitch, please” (and is usually accompanied by a raised left eyebrow). Mr Property Manager is trying to stress me in to giving him my hard-earned money! I would like to point out that the property has been listed since the 2nd of February. Oh yeah, Mr Hot Shot, it’s right FLYING off the rack, this ‘un. Please, don’t insult me. I’ve been to more viewings that you’ve had girlfriends, your spiel isn’t going to work on me, especially not since they’re asking £695 a month for it. He asks what else SMP and I are looking for. I advise that we’re looking for 2 bedrooms, unfurnished, around this price range. He offers to show us another flat around the corner, and we agree. Again the spiel begins. “Actually”, he tells us, “there’s a girl flying in from Ireland with the money on Monday, but I told her it’s first come first served, bla bla bla”. He shows us in. It’s a nice flat, nice location, good sun, nice sized rooms, but again, the small fridge. Then it comes; it’s furnished. Hang on a minute, did you not hear me before, Mr Property Manager? And AGAIN with the rush “Yeah, this girl from Ireland, she’s coming in at 9 on Monday morning, but if you want it, just text me, or call me and I’ll meet you in town and get the £250 holding fee”. He even handed me his business card and said he’d call me later. Wow, desperate much?

This is the most appalling behaviour I’ve witnessed in a while. I am NOT forking out my cash for a property I don’t love, or at least like a LOT. And for the second one, come on dude, don’t be nasty! The property went up yesterday, Friday, and there’s someone coming to see it, ready to pay you cash-in-hand on the following Monday. That’s no less than excellent and you’re still trying to rent it ONE day earlier, seriously? You said so yourself that the flat wouldn’t be available to live in until early March, so what's the point?!

A landlord/letting agency duo are not doing me a favour by letting me live in a house, it’s a service that I pay quite dearly for. What happened today has put me off that letting agency entirely. I wish I had the backbone and sass to tell Mr Property Manager where he can stuff his hard sell!

On a more positive note, I have high hopes for another flat closer to town, their staff are lovely and un-pretentious on the phone!

This is really more a rant than a proper blog post, I shall write something less rage-filled in a few days! Thanks for reading and feel free to share tales of doom when viewing flats or houses for sale or rent! :)

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

Decisions are made, plans are drawn up (and you may have noticed that I have a great love of lists :P).

I am revisiting a promise I make to myself often, which is to shift some weight. And by “shift” I mean abandon them on the roadside like a cigarette end or apple core flung out of a car window by a speeding motorist on the motorway. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I am grateful for my lipids, and in the off chance of some horrific disaster I’m sure my saddlebags could keep me sustained for quite a while. But let’s face it, I’m not a camel or an elephant seal (thank the Gods, for they are UGLY as sin!), I could do with becoming leaner, like a leopard or something. Except.. less climbing trees. Getting up isn’t really the problem, but I really don’t like climbing back down again! However, this time I am going to be a bit more relaxed, and chill out about it. I don’t believe in cutting something out forever, because I am never going to stick to that kind of plan. I *like* carbs and protein and vegetables, and all of them are necessary for my body to function. So no, I’m not going to fret over whether I can allow myself one breadstick, as long as I don’t eat the whole box :P My problem has always been that of moderation, I just can’t get enough of a good thing! 

So that’s change number one.

Another thing is that I have made a list of epicness. It’s 101 things to do in 1001 days. If you search the internet for that phrase you will find a million lists like this, filled with peoples’ wishes about what they would like to accomplish in 2 and a half years (roughly). I am not going to post my list, because some of it is personal to me and those I choose to share it with. However I can tell you that one goal on my list is to go without soda for 30 days. I drank way too much of it over the Christmas & New Year period and figured a mini detox from it would do me good now. I started on the 7th of January, and today I admitted defeat. I spent the last two weekends with my Significant Man Person (SMP) at his house, and it’s easier to decline the offer of soda when you’re a guest in someone’s home! But this weekend he visited me, and a bottle was brought in to my house. Even the smell of coke in a glass was tempting me, and I was trying to be good. But by the end of his visit there was enough left in the bottle for a small glass. Defeat never tasted so sugary and delicious! :P I will of course re-visit my 30 day challenge at a later time, but I am glad I had these two weeks off!

Another new happening in my life: My phone broke. My iPhone lasted for years until my constant use killed it. My replacement HTC barely lasted a month before it started acting up. It started off with it thinking I had pressed a button I hadn’t, and delayed reaction time. I put it down to the cold, but as it carried on I got increasingly frustrated. Then my home and back buttons stopped working. Then, right in the middle of texting someone, the spacebar stopped working. So I was forced to either writemysentenceswiththewordsaltogetherlikethis OR to_write_like_some_teenager_with_a_mopey_attitude. I was not pleased. I went to O2 and spoke to a Guru (Guru, really? Come on O2, what’s wrong with Tech Support?). They said “Yes, hmmm, it’s probably a software error”. I was recommended to back up my stuff and return afterwards so that my new baby could be sent away to the mobile hospital (the baby and hospital thing is me talking, not the Guru! :P). On Saturday the 21st I returned, ready for my phone to be shipped off and doctored. In the mean time I was given a courtesy phone. IT’S A NOKIA!!! I haven’t had a Nokia in what feels like a million years. And wow, after several years with a touch screen and qwerty keyboard it’s really weird texting “old school” (or morse code style according to my dad! :P). I am disappointed that this Nokia C1-01 does not have the game Snake, but hey, it calls and sends texts, I won’t complain! It’s also infinitely lighter than all the fancy smart phones it almost feels like a toy, hehe. It’s so cute!!!

The three updates above are really about rather shallow things, body & accessories topics “R” us was not really the main theme of this blog, now was it? What’s happening in the brains department, Miss Sophie?

Well, I am in the middle of reading Life on Air by David Attenborough. I say “middle”, but I’m really three quarters through, hehe. I have admired David Attenborough for a long time, he’s been an institution in my life since I can remember. As a child I was the one who’d watch Discovery Channel & Animal Planet and the like, I loved natural history and animals with a passion. So it’s no surprise that several of the productions featuring him have crossed my path. This winter I’ve been wanting to learn more about people, and so more biographies have been added to my wishlist than ever before. After seeing Frozen Planet on BB iPlayer, this book landed itself in to my Christmas Wishlist. I was very kindly given it as a present and I’ve been working my way through it. Normally I can devour a book of this size (some 400 odd pages) within an evening or two, but I felt like savouring this one. My respect and admiration for David Attenborough has risen from its already elevated position in my estimation. The book is incredibly well written and covers his life from being hired by BBC up until near present day. The anecdotes are well placed and often witty and tell a story of a remarkable life and career. It is mostly centered around his professional life, but he brings in comments about his personal life to bring it in to context. He is generous with his “name dropping”, which is wonderful for an inquisitive person like me, as I’m now tempted to look up these other remarkable people he’s met! I could go on about this book forever, but seriously, just go read it. I’ll lend it to you! 

What other things should tantalize my brain? Well, the Edinburgh Lectures programme for the next half year has been posted! It can be found here: http://edinburghlectures.wordpress.com/programme-2012/. For a very small sum of money I have the opportunity to attend varied and interesting lectures on various topics. I have chosen the first one on the programme,  A Celebration of Women in Astronomy, and am awaiting my ticket arriving in the post. £6 for an interesting lecture is money well spent in my opinion. I don’t know overly much about astronomy, but here’s my chance to hear more about those who do (or did). 

So we’ve covered mind, body and tech today, not bad really :P I’ve not mentioned heart or soul, but I hope you’ll trust me when I say I have both areas covered! :)

I hope everyone has had a lovely weekend and wishing you all the best in the week ahead!

Now.. How Long Until Easter?

Hello again, Friends!

I hope everyone has had a thoroughly enjoyable Christmas and New Years Eve. If you haven’t, then chin up! There’s plenty of time to make it better for next time round! :)

I had a most excellent time back with my family who live in Norway. My mum has three dogs, each with an enormous capacity for cuddles, so needless to say I was covered in dog hair for most of the trip. Luckily I don’t care about that sort of thing :)

As per usual Christmas included the development of the additional Christmas Stomach. There is no logic or science behind this, but it is clearly the only way that much food can exist inside a person. Now, for me the stuffing of my face is partly due to the fact that I can’t get some of this food in Britain. At least not without taking a picture of a pig to a butcher and going “yes, that bit!”. It’s a bit more effort than I normally would make, so Christmas (or any trip home really) is an ideal excuse to eat ALL the food I can’t get here, from roast pig to snacks and yes, even a type of breakfast yoghurt! 

Our dinner table on the 24th (when we celebrate Christmas in Scandinavia)

Apart from the dogs and the food my trip was excellent, which made the idea of going back to Edinburgh and back to work all the worse. But I survived! As we often do, despite the end-of-weekend/holiday fear. 

New Years Eve was also lovely! My Significant Man Person (we’ll call him SMP for short, shall we?) came through to Edinburgh and we had a lovely dinner. It was not the dinner I had planned, but it was still delicious! Breast of chicken stuffed with slices of chorizo, with fried potatoes. Cheesecake and ice cream for dessert. The New Year was laughed in with stand up comedy DVDs and snuggles. New Years Eve doesn’t really do much for me as the first of January doesn’t really feel very “new” :P SMP and I slung back and relaxed with excessive violence, watching Starship Troopers and then onwards to the cinema for a showing of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Excellent film, but there were scenes that made me very uncomfortable, and it is most definitely appropriately rated at 18. Having said that, I can recommend it, both Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara did very well, and I love Stellan Skarsgaard, so it was two thumbs up from me! :)

New Years Quests

Resolution. Res-o-lu-tion. Rez-uh-loo-shuhn. 

According to the Dictionary, the definition of the above is as follows:

1. A formal expression of opinion or intention made, usually after voting, by a formal organisation, a legislature, a club or other group.
2. A resolve or determination.
3. The act of resolving or determining upon an action or course of action, method or procedure, etc.
4. The mental state or quality of being resolved or resolute; firmness of purpose.
5. The act or process of resolving or separating into constituent or elementary parts. 

Yes, there will be a short test later! Hehe. 

If you add the word New Year’s before Resolution it essentially translates in to: “Stuff I told myself I would do last year which I never got round to because I was so busy doing that life things”. Or perhaps, like me, you were exceptionally vague in your last years resolution that you aren’t satisfied with the result and need to repeat the experience. An example from my life is putting “Lose weight”, but never adding the pressure of stating how many kilos or pounds need to get trimmed off before I stuff my face with Christmas food again! 

Sometimes I get an overwhelming sense of deja vu and I think some of it is partly due to magazine headlines. This time of year they are all the same! “How to stick to your resolutions!”, “How to drop a dress size by Valentines Day”, “Tone your flab so the ladies will love you” (I’m obviously (or hopefully) paraphrasing). Without fail these headlines appear in publications both frivolous and supposedly serious. Maybe they should be honest and write “We know you hate yourself a little right now, so here’s how we can re-inforce this by pretending to help you!” What a boring way to spend my year! I’ve decided to keep important lifestyle decisions separate to jolly New Years wishes. I’ve also decided that I am renouncing the depressing resolution style that reads “I wasn’t good enough at something last year, I need to do better this time”. 

So, in keeping with the blog in general, I am making some New Years Quests instead. These will be fun things that will require some effort and money on my part, but I am certain I will enjoy! If I enjoy them I am more likely to actually carry them out, hehe. 

A few of them include:

1. Host a Christmas party (so I have some time to plan, haha!).
2. Complete the cross stitch pattern I bought because it reminded me of a friend (I’m not telling too much so it’ll still be a bit of a surprise! :P).
3. Go on a Scottish holiday with SMP.
4. Take at least three singing lessons - because singing is great and makes me feel good.

I haven’t finished thinking up all the fun things I’d like to do, but it’s certainly enough to start with. I want to make 2012 fun, not kickstart it with a guilt trip about the pretty good year I have just had! 2011 was good to me, but I suppose it helped that I was good to me too! :D

I am going to finish off now, with best wishes to you all for a fabulous new year. Live it wonderful and live it well, we'll never get a 2012 again! :)