MIND body MUSIC soul

My Sunday Sermon (on a Wednesday)

2010-07-28T21:39:00.001+01:00

I have recently become a regular church attendee after a fairly lengthy dispute with God. I won’t bore you with the details of our altercation, suffice it to say that we’ve come to a settlement.

So I found myself last Sunday sitting in church listening to the minister and thinking about blogging. I admit, that’s not really what I was supposed to be thinking about, but the minister was not our usual one and when he started his sermon he could almost have been reading it from his blog. Honestly, that’s what it sounded like. I especially enjoyed the part where he turned the page. I know for a fact that our usual rev. writes and reads his sermon, but he at least does it discreetly. Funny, that during a sermon that was about listening – I wasn’t!

Here’s what I was thinking. “If the minister’s sermon is his blog, then is my blog my sermon?” Are we all [bloggers] spending our precious time, preaching our beliefs and thoughts to those who will sit down and listen?

Well, no, not exactly. I sort of liked the idea that this is my sermon. Until I used the word preaching. I think my blog is more like a discussion group. You come here with your own thoughts and opinions and leave with your own thoughts and opinions, and if you care to comment in between then even better. You don’t have to agree with what I say, you don’t even have to like it. But if you are here, and you do have something to say, then please feel free. It makes it a much more interesting place!

Scrap that …

2010-07-27T09:16:00.001+01:00

I change my mind more often than the weather!

I’ve read through some of my blog and decided that I’m just going to stay put. There are lots of little things I don’t like, but I think it’s because I’m too close to it and I’m too much of a perfectionist.

One of the reasons that I stopped posting here was because someone that I know stumbled across my blog and then emailed me about it and it’s taken me a long time to deal with my sudden loss of anonymity. Whilst that person is in no way malicious or nasty, I could just imagine them sitting around (with other acquaintances that I am no longer in contact with) having a good laugh at me. The strange thing is, I actually feel guilty for writing that because the person in question, in my mind, is such a nice person he wouldn’t do that. Why does it bother me so much?

Ultimately though it’s my issue. But it’s also my blog and I’m not going to let my little paranoid brain run me out of town. So I’m staying. Going to spend some time today (I have a baby free afternoon!) looking at the layout and trying to brighten it up a bit. I loved my layout and colour scheme when I uploaded it, but, it reflects the way I felt before my daughter was born and I feel now it’s a bit dull. My life is much brighter now and my blog should reflect that.

Hopefully, you’ll like the difference.

What’s in a name?

2010-07-22T21:49:00.001+01:00

I’m thinking about starting a new blog. This one hasn’t lived up to my expectations. When I started it, I knew nothing about the world of blogging, nothing about netiquette and I was not the world’s greatest writer. Now, I am, at best, an amateur blogger with a vague idea about netiquette and I am still a fairly poor writer. Fact. I’m not here looking for sympathy or reassurance, my blog has always disappointed me.

So, should I start a new blog. Leave this one behind, start a fresh, promise to post ~~every day~~ regularly? Yep, I’m thinking about it. But this time it’s got to be perfect (I just burst into song in my head!) and firstly I need a perfect name.

I loved my name when I started this blog. It disappointed me very quickly. So now, if I’m going to do it right, I need a perfect name. I very often browse through other people’s blog-rolls and click on the one with the most attractive name. So this time, I’m going to do it right.

Honestly, it was easier coming up with a name for my new daughter!

Dear friends,

2010-04-26T19:09:00.002+01:00

I'm really sorry that I've been away for so long. I have popped into your blogs from a distance a handful of times but have visited my own even less. I am a bad blogger! I popped in today to come have a look and thought maybe I'd better give you all an ~~excuse~~ explanation.

She's small (in fact she turned 6 months today), beautiful, happy and the best thing that ever happened to me! In fact, I retract the above strike through. It's a damn good excuse. My time has been occupied totally with my fantastic daughter.

I'd love to say I'll be on here more regularly. I can't say that though, so instead I promise to try!

Hope you are all good

xx

I'm back ... again ... virus free!

2009-02-25T21:40:00.001Z

I've been away for a while again. I'm kind of struggling to find things to write about these days. Apart from that I have had a nasty nasty virus infecting my computer. Glad to say that the computer is now back to full running capability a the only casualty was my bank balance.

I just don't understand the whole virus thing. Who creates them? And why? Maybe I'm totally daft, but I just don't see the amusement in ruining other people's computers, files and privacy. I assume that these people have no way of knowing what damage their virus has done once it's out there. So why bother? It's just nasty. It's almost like someone saying "I'm smarter than you in IT and therefore I must ruin all your innocent fun"

I have no idea where I picked mine up from. I don't look at "dodgy" websites as far as I'm aware. I have no email set up on this computer either. Thankfully I am a fairly aware person and I noticed instantly that my google search pages had suddenly changed their font. I clicked carefully and was instantly sent to an online gambling site. The virus managed to disable my system restore option and even stopped me running SpyBot search and Destroy. Put McAffee on it and it didn't pick it up. Downloaded Windows Defender and it picked it up but couldn't get rid of it. Eventually we tried a windows repair. DISASTER! That didn't solve it and almost seemed to make it worse. Suddenly I could barely boot up the computer.

So I had no choice but to call an expert. Who wiped the computer entirely. That's how bad it had got. But at least I know it's gone now and I have virus security up to the eyeballs.

So fingers crossed that I will remain virus free. I'll try catch up with all your pages in the next few days.

Loch Lomond

2009-01-23T18:19:00.003Z

Loch Lomond

By yon bonnie banks and by yon bonnie braes
where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond
Where me and my true love were ever want tae gae
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond

Oh, ye'll tak the high road and I'll tak the low road
And I'll be in Scotland afore ye
For me and my true love will never meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond

T'was there that we parted in yon shady glen
On the steep, steep sides of Ben Lomond
Where in purple hue, the hieland hills we view
And the moon coming out in the gloamin'

CHORUS

The wee birdies sing and the wild flowers spring
And in sunshine the waters are sleeping
But the broken heart it kens nae second spring again
tho' the waefu' may cease fae their greetin'

CHORUS

I've chosen this song today because it is just beautiful. It's actually becoming more popular to have this song at the end of a wedding these days than Auld Lang Syne. Of course, it is Runrig's version that the well-oiled wedding party is most likely to use. I've put a recording of a slower version, close to how I would perform it and also a recording of the famous Runrig version of the song.

Here is the Runrig version. It is worth noting that they use slightly altered words. They also have a Gaelic section in the middle -

Ho, ho mo leannan
Ho mo leannan bhoidheach

This means something along the lines of Oh my sweetheart, oh my beautiful sweetheart, but don't quote me because I don't speak Gaelic unfortunately.

There are a few ideas on the meaning to the words of this song. The most popular that I have heard is that it was about a Jacobite soldier who was captured in Carlisle whilst another fellow soldier (or sometimes I've heard it was his lover) managed to escape. The captured soldier sings of how he will have to take the "low road" back to Scotland which means he will be executed and travel the underworld back to Scotland.

If you're ever in Scotland, Loch Lomond is well worth a visit.

The Dark Island

2009-01-15T22:30:00.002Z

I love this song. It's the first thing I teach to P5 evey year, and I always tell them that this is my favourite Scottish song. It was written by David Silver about the small Scottish Island of Benbecula. I haven't found a version that I totally love yet but here are the lyrics and a version of the song. I like this version but she sings a few rhythms slightly different from the way I would sing them.

You need to skip to 40 seconds before she starts!

Away to the west where I'm longing to be,
Where the beauties of heaven unfold by the sea
Where the sweet purple heather blooms fragrant and free
On a hilltop high above The Dark Island

Oh, isle of my childhood, I'm dreaming of thee,
As the steamer leaves Oban and passes Tiree
Soon I'll capture the magic that lingers for me
When I'm back once more upon The Dark Island

So Gentle the sea breeze that ripples the bay
Where the stream joins the ocean and young children play
On the strand of pure silver I'll welcome each day
And I'll roam forever more The Dark Island

True Gems of the Hebrides bathed in the light
Of the mid-summer dawning that follows the night
How I yearn for the cries of the seagull in flight
As they circle high above The Dark Island

I'm Back!!!

2009-01-12T21:41:00.002Z

I know, I know, you're all just so excited. I use the term ALL there very loosely!
Well I must apologise for my absence. The run up to Christmas was mental! and the holidays were busy, busy, busy. Back at work now and it's already getting busy again but I promise to try my best to blog.

At this time of year I find myself singing all the Scottish songs. It starts with Auld Lang Syne to see in the new year and is followed with preparing songs for Burns day on Jan 25th. So I thought I'd share with you all my favourite Scots songs over the next week or so. Some will be Burns and some won't. I also apologise now for the recordings (if I even find recordings!). They will not all be to the standard that I would prefer and they will not always be played with the same interpretation that I would play, but I will explain as best I can why I have chosen each song and how I would perform it.

Song 1
Ae Fond Kiss
Lyric by: Robert Burns

Ae fond kiss, and then we sever [ae = one]
Ae fareweel, alas, for ever!
Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee,
Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee.

Who shall say that Fortune grieves him,
While the star of hope she leaves him?
Me, nae cheerful twinkle lights me; [nae = no]
Dark despair around benights me.

I'll ne'er blame my partial fancy,
Nothing can resist my Nancy:
For to see her was to love her;
Love but her, and love for ever.

Had we never loved sae kindly, [sae = so]
Had we never loved sae blindly,
Nor never met - nor never parted,
We would never have been sae broken-hearted.

Fare-thee-weel, my first and fairest
Fare-thee-week, my best and dearest
Thine be ilka joy and treasure, [ilka = every]
Peace, Enjoyment, Love and Pleasure!

Ae fond kiss, and then we sever
Ae fareweel, alas, for ever
Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee,
Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee.

This is the first Burns song that I actually fell in love with. I liked a few before this, but never loved them. This performance is by Eddie Reader. If you fancy hearing some Burns songs sung nicely her album Eddie Reader sings the songs of Robert Burns is a real good place to begin. She has a real knack of making the melodies flow. I hope you like it.

How old?

2008-11-22T11:35:00.004Z

It was my birthday last week and my dear (younger) friends have had a great time telling me how old I'm getting now. But none of their taunts will top some of the kids from school.

A few weeks ago was guy fawkes, and as I've said before I don't like fireworks. The kids at school were asking if I was going to a display and when I said "no, I don't like fireworks" I got the following response.

"Oh that's right Miss, some old folk don't like fireworks cos it reminds them of the war"

To which I said "I'm not that old children" and got the response

"Yeah, you were only probably a baby during the war"

I have always been told I look young for my age. Apparently the kids think I'm double the age I actually am!

Phew!

2008-11-08T21:22:00.004Z

Oh gosh, I am getting slower at this blogging malarkey!

Quick update of the week that was...

Sunday : Me and my girl rehearsals. Show is next week and I'm playing me oboe.

Monday : Worked hard, went to chiropractor, went to bed early.

Tuesday : Worked hard, ate dinner, worked hard.

Wednesday : Guy Fawkes. Now I hate guy fawkes. I trully believe that fireworks should only be available to licensed, trained professionals. I hate fireworks. The kids blew our neighbours wheelie bin up last year by putting a firework inside it. Who knew though that 403 years after the gunpowder plot that a football game would be able to move the date of the celebration? Glasgow Green always have a big display and this year it was on Nov 6th because Celtic and Man U were playing football on the 5th. Surely if the two events can't coincide then it should be the football that moves? Oh no, that's right, football rules the world! Also had Me and My Girl rehearsal.

Thursday : Worked very hard, got a chippie, ran through the shower to wash hair, ran up to sister in laws to wish her Happy Birthday, wolfed down a bit of cake, rushed to the cinema to see the new James Bond. There are two facts which led to this viewing in the cinema. 1. I hate James Bond films. 2. I like to go to bed early on a Sunday. So two Sundays ago (at 7pm) (and no, I'm not ashamed of that) Hubby and I were getting ready to crawl into bed to watch some TV as we do every Sunday. Hubby then says "I'm going to watch Casino Royale" To which I respond "nnnnnooooooooo". But, as I am a mere woman and have no right to choose TV programmes I gave in. With the intention of snoozing my way through it or reading my book. Much to my annoyance I loved it. So I decided to go see the new one. Bit of a let down really. If I had been lying in my bed watching it on DVD then fair enough, it would have been fine. But I paid money to go see it. Oh well, I got in as a senior citizen, saving myself £1.25 on the ticket because I used to date the teller.

Friday : Went to a Body Shop party. I hate the Body Shop I'm afraid. I'm a clinique girl through and through. Wine flowed though and the party was good. We were supposed to take a basin and a towel to do some pampering on our feet. Bugger that. I'm not sitting in a room full of people who I know but am not really good friends with, with my feet in a bucket of water. Yuck. I hate feet. I actually think I have pretty feet. But yuck, yuck, yuck. No chance. Left the party earlyish (earlyish for a Friday night partier like myself) and got dropped off at the pub where I drank way too much.

Saturday : Hubby doesn't seem to be aware of how to turn his alarm clock off and it went off at 5.30 this morning. Hubby also goes deaf when he's been drinking. And also apparently impervious to pain as I thumped him fairly hard and he didn't flinch. I then leaned right across him, making sure I leaned damn hard and he still didn't flinch. Then, as often happens, the caffeine from the diet coke kicked in and I was wide awake. Well, as wide awake as a half drunk half hungover person after 4 hours sleep can be! I stoated about the house trying to gulp some water and then tried to get back to sleep, but it wasn't to be.

Tomorrow I intend to lie about in PJs all day, get dressed at dinner time and go see a gospel choir at night. Then it's another busy week. Hopefully I'll get a chance to log on again before Christmas!

Are you kidding me?

2008-11-01T18:18:00.003Z

Let me start this post by stating that "I do not read The Sun newspaper!"... but I was in the Chinese takeaway tonight and Thursday's paper was lying there begging to be read while we waited for our food.

They reported that ASDA are currently considering changing their sign from green to blue on their new shop in Larkhall so as not to offend the Rangers mad fans there. According to the report residents have also forced Subway and Moss Chemists to change their green shop fronts to blue because of the association with green/white and Celtic football club. The local council have also been forced to put metal grills in front of most of the towns green traffic lights after residents shattered or stole the lights.

I'm sorry. This is appalling. Next there will be a witch hunt for anyone with green eyes or they will go round painting all the trees blue. I have a sudden recollection of the cards in Alice in Wonderland "painting the roses red"

Are we really living in a world where we are going to bow down to football fanatics?

Bryan Adams

2008-10-31T16:38:00.003Z

It's been another busy busy week.

I did, however, find a little time for socialising.

Way back earlier in the year we heard that Bryan Adams was coming to Glasgow. (After a few bacardis) I thought it would be great to get tickets and go see him. So a bunch of us bought tickets (in the standing area).

As the gig approached I got less and less enthusiastic and topped with the mood I've been in I would have given my ticket away to anyone who asked. I was fuming because it was going to be such a late night and it was a Monday. On top of that two of the people we were going with don't drive and there is no chance I could expect them to get public transport while I drove myself home but they live at least 30mins out my way. So I DID NOT want to go.

We arrived and I began to cheer up. No choice really. Then we got ourselves into the auditorium. He came on the stage and I was blown away. He sang for 2 hours 15 mins non stop. He was fantastic. And when he came over to the side of the stage we were standing at there was only about 10 people in front of us. Who'd have guessed it would be so good. Who'd have guessed he'd be so good looking?

I'm sorry I'm SAD

2008-10-29T17:05:00.004Z

I'm sorry I've been neglecting you all again. I've been in a rotten mood all week for various reasons and couldn't even be bothered to turn on the computer. It's really only on now because I want to email someone I can't be bothered to phone!

Why am I in a bad mood? Many reasons. One is the horrendous weather from last week. I know it's passed now and I do feel better about that but I can't stand all that stormy weather. I travel the Erskine Bridge every day to work and back. That's a 25 min trip. Last year you only had too blow in the direction of the bridge and they shut it for high winds. The result of which is a 2 hour traffic jam through the tunnel to work and back! So as soon as the wind picks up my blood pressure goes up and my mood goes down.

Then there's the rain. If it rains the children are stuck inside all day and are not pleasant little human beings to try to teach. They need to get outside. And because it's also Autumn the dirty leaves are blocking all the drains and it floods everywhere.

There's also the dark nights. This is THE main reason for my mood. I start to panic about the dark nights on June 22nd every year. I hate them. I hate the dark mornings too, obviously, especially as I am not a morning person, but I cope with them because I have a Natural Dawn Clock that calmly brightens my room in the morning and gently lulls me from sleep (it wakes me kicking and screaming actually but it's not any different from the summer months!). But the dark nights really get me. They're so depressing. Darkness is for sleeping. So i need to be in my pyjamas as soon as it's dark. Which it is now (17.11) and the only reason I don't have the pjs on yet is because I am going for a shower after finishing this massive moan.

There are some other reasons but I feel you may all be running wildly from my blog right now refusing to ever visit again so I shall refrain from tipping you all over the edge! I am sorry if I have neglected you. I promise to brighten up soon. The shortest day is only 7 and a half weeks away and then there shall be some light at the end of the tunnel.

Connecting Kawai CA91 to the computer

2008-10-17T11:41:00.006+01:00

Way back in July I bought myself a Kawai CA91. It is an amazing digital piano. Up until July I had been a huge fan of the Yamaha Clavinova range. The guy in the shop told me that you are either a Kawai or a Yamaha type of person and my response was "well I'm definitely a Yamaha person". Then I tried the Kawai. Amazing.

After I had it delivered I spent hours and hours just playing the piano for fun, but as the school year is now in full swing I find myself getting ever closer to needing it hooked up to my computer. Simple. So the manual says. Connect the USB cable and the computer will automatically install the driver. I have two computers, both running windows XP and this didn't happen on either of them. Sure, the computer installed something, but it wasn't the driver required to have the piano become a midi device.

I was at a loss. So I turned to "old faithful". Google. I googled "connecting my kawai CA91 to my computer" and the only even slightly hopeful result was a forum where many people couldn't connect there piano. But no solution.

So here is the solution for anyone who is at a loss.

Go to www.kawai.co.uk and scroll across the service button at the top. Click "downloads" then scroll to the bottom of the screen and download the USB driver package for windows. Unzip the files and open the 'read me' file which gives you full instructions for installing the correct driver (it gives vista first but scroll down if you're an xp user). Follow the instructions and it works perfectly.

I hope this helps.

Caledonia

2008-10-17T08:59:00.003+01:00

Muzzerino, a fellow Scot, recently posted the old Tennents Lager advert. That song, Caledonia, was THE song that got me interested in Scottish folk music. It has been covered by many, many musicians but was originally written and performed by Dougie Maclean and his version is still the best. The video took a while to load on my computer but it's well worth the wait.

Caledonia

I dont know if you can see, the changes that have come over me
In these last few days, I've been afraid that I might drift away
And I've been telling old stories, singing songs
That made me think about where I came from
Thats the reason why I seem so far away today.

CHORUS
Oh but let me tell you that I love you
And I think about you all the time
Caledonia your callin me and im goin home
But if I should become a stranger
You know that it would make me more than sad
Caledonia your everythin I've ever had.

Well I've been moved, and I've kept on movinh
Proved the points that I needed proving
Lost the friends I needed loosing
Found others on the way
And I have kissed the ladies and left them crying
Stolen dreams there's no denying
Travelled hard with concience flying
Somewhere with the wind

REPEAT CHORUS

Now I'm sitting here, beside the fire
The empty room, the forest choir
Flames that couldn't get any higher
They've withered now there gone
But I'm steady thinking my way is clear,
And I know what I must do tomorrow
When the hands I've shaken and the flown I will dissapear.

REPEAT CHORUS

This is just blatent stealing!

2008-10-15T18:35:00.006+01:00

I have spent loads of time thinking about what to post today but I'm afraid I can't really think of much. So I thought I'd go snooping around other people's blogs and maybe ~~steal some ideas~~ get some inspiration. Just A Girl has provided me with just that.

She posted 5 "If" questions and gave her answers. Here are the questions and my answers.

1. If you had to name the time when you came closest to death, when would it have been?

I was out running a few years back. We were running on the pavement facing the on-coming traffic. The pavement got kind of narrow and there was no traffic coming towards us so I hopped off the pavement and onto the road. Should have looked behind me though because a car on the other side of the road had decided to overtake another car. It must have missed me by inches. Don't like to think of it too much because it would have been really bad.

2. If you were to name one possession that means the most to you, what would it be?

My rings. There's three (I know that's cheating) my engagement ring, wedding ring and a ring that I split in for with both my grans who are no longer here.

3. If you had to name the one thing about your life right now that you would NOT change, what would it be?

My husband and our life together.

4. If you had to eat in only one restaurant for the rest of your life, which one would you choose?

Di Maggio's in Glasgow. It's the only place I eat in Glasgow. I love the food, the atmosphere, the fact it's like an Aladdin's cave when you go in, I love that you have to queue for a table at any time of the day. It's fab!

5. If you had to name the one most important ingredient of human beauty, what would it be?

Kindness. Some people blow me away with how caring they can be (obviously not everyone falls into this category!)

What's your answers. But if you decide to answer then please pop over and see Just A Girl and read her answers too. After all I stole this from her! Thanks JAG.

Fascinating Facts

2008-10-14T09:14:00.005+01:00

I just learned something fascinating.

Ok, so I say fascintating (see my 11 times table post) and you say " ... *snore* ..."

According to Christopher Lloyd on BBC Breakfast this morning who was plugging his book 'What on Earth Happened' about 1% (or 1 in every 100) of the little dots you see on your TV screen when it's not tuned in is actually an echo of the big bang.

Fascinating

Do you have any fascinating and useful/useless facts?

Doing the splits

2008-10-12T19:45:00.004+01:00

Disturbed!

I am disturbed!

I have recently developed a liking for the TV programme Miami Ink. I don't have a tattoo and truthfully I'm not dreadfully keen on them. My husband has three, two of which I love, and one that I barely see - it's at the top of his arm and I'm not as keen on it. So, as I was saying, I have recently discovered the programme Miami Ink (and LA ink and London ink) and find it fascinating.

This one girl came on the other day who had had her tongue split. I have never heard of this before. It has disturbed me! To the point that I was going to put pics on here but I really can't. So here is a link to the google image results page. YUCK. And here's another to a page which tells you about this strange practice (practise?). YUCK YUCK

The girl also had skin implants (see here, here and here)

Question is, if I'm so disturbed why share it? Why write about it?

Why not?

Here's a nice picture to help you recover

Well I never!

2008-10-11T10:51:00.006+01:00

A few weeks back I told you about 5 things I have never done. More things have since come into my head and I have decided to tell you 5 more things I have never done.

1. I have never seen a skyscraper
2. I have never got a body piercing other than my ears *See note*
3. I have never dyed my hair
4. I have never been to London
5. I have never tasted any kind of shellfish

Any more stuff you have never done?

*note* This picture is.not.me!

Is this boring or what?

2008-10-11T10:09:00.003+01:00

When I was younger my grandpa used to like to see how much we were learning at school and share with us lots of tips, tricks and general information that might help us. My favourite tip that he taught us was his 11 times table trick. I don't care if this is a weird thing to share with you. It's brilliant. Well, it's brilliant if you're a weirdo like me who loves maths.

If you need to work out 11 times any number between 10 and 99 this trick works.

Let's say for example you want to do the sum 32 x 11
The answer would be 352. You take the numbers you start with (3 and 2) add them together (3+2=5) and stick that number in between the them. So 352.

27x11=297
33x11=363

Isn't that amazing? And obviously so useful!

Difficulty comes if you have two numbers that add up to over 10.
e.g 75x11

You obviously start with 7 and 5. Add them together to get 12. The sum always ends with whatever the last number is. In this case 5. You put the 2 in the middle and ADD the 1 to the first number. So you get 825.

77x11=847
59x11=649
99x11=1089

Now I bet your day is now complete from reading that. I can't believe how hard that was to explain. I haven't actually checked these sums on a calculator because I am so sure of my trick. But feel free to tell me if any of them are wrong.

Do you have any cool tricks like this?

Why can't people drive in the rain?

2008-10-10T19:30:00.004+01:00

I am on holiday for a week! WOOHOO!

All of the following are bad driving habits that raise my blood pressure to the point that I can feel it rising as I am typing.

1. People who don't say thank you when you let them in. DO YOU HAVE NO MANNERS?

2. People in traffic jams who zoom up the closed lane and barge their way in. YOUR TIME IS NOT MORE IMPORTANT THAN MINE SO GET IN LINE AND THE TRAFFIC WOULD MOVE FOR US ALL!

3. People who sit in the middle lane. OOOO, THE INSIDE LANE IS SOOOOO SCAREY. PEOPLE MERGE ONTO IT AND SOMETIMES IT SPLITS OFF TO GO SOMEWHERE ELSE AND ONLY GIVES YOU A WHOLE MILES NOTICE. SCAREY!

4. People who drive everywhere at 40 mph.

5. People who sit in the outside lane of the Erskine Bridge. THE BRIDGE IS OVER A MILE LONG SO MOVE OVER.

6. People who can't drive when it rains.

Maybe Ken will know the answer to this one. Do people actually lose the ability to drive when it rains or does the rain encourage shit drivers out?

In the beginning

2008-10-04T13:50:00.003+01:00

Yesterday at school I was showing some of the kids this video.

It got us talking about how long I have been playing musical instruments.

When I was in P6 (about 10 years old) my Grandpa decided that he was going to get rid of his piano. He offered it to my parents, with the proviso that I got lessons. Guess I am just lucky that it was me who got the piano. There were at least 9 grandkids he could have chosen to give it to. One of the kids in my class (they were fairly young kids) said to me at the end of this story, "wow, you must have been playing for about 2 years then." Bless. He's now my favourite child!

At the same time that I got the piano I also got chosen to learn to play the flute in school and I joined the recorder class. My flute career was short lived. I totally sucked (which might have been my problem as you're meant to blow!) but I was really good at the recorder. I even got a treble recorder and taught myself the new fingering so that I could change between the two. I still teach the recorder at school, it's such a good and cheap way of introducing kids to music.

When I went to high school I must have shone at least a little in music class because they offered me lessons on the oboe. Again, luck. If it hadn't have been for that opportunity I doubt I'd be where I am today.

At uni I started to learn the classical guitar but I'm afraid I've let that slip. My brother in law has recently tried to teach me to play but I'm afraid I wasn't a good pupil and I can only strum the simplest tunes.

And most recently (today in fact) I have decided to return way back to the beginning and bought myself a flute. I still suck, but at least I know now that practice makes perfect.

Have a nice weekend everyone, from the youngest teacher in the world!

Bla bla bla

2008-10-02T16:24:00.004+01:00

I'm sorry. I've been neglecting my blog again. In all honesty I just have nothing to say. Full Stop.

Read this today though. It's really bothering me. I knew this person - vaguely, but I would NEVER have imagined this. It has really bothered me.

The last two weeks I have been working hard, training hard and then relaxing hard in front of the TV. I just can't think of anything to say. I have nothing to moan about apart from bad drivers, but they'll never go away. Nothing funny is happening. Life is just a bit bla just now. I'm sure I'll be back soon though.

I want one!

2008-09-25T20:08:00.003+01:00

We've been cat-sitting for the last 2 weeks as my parents are on holiday. They're back tomorrow and I am really going to miss having the cat here.

Here is an amazing cat that seems to be fast becoming an internet star just now.

My cat is amazing... but she knows better than to touch my piano. Even my husband isn't allowed to do that!

The wonder of children

2008-09-21T18:20:00.003+01:00

Herbert Hoover once said "children are our most valuable resources".

Children amaze me every day.

You need to go and read this story about this amazing little 3 year old boy from Fife, Scotland, who called 999 for his mother after she had an epileptic fit.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7627133.stm
Absolutely amazing.

What did we do without it?

2008-09-17T20:23:00.003+01:00

I'm sorry. You may feel I've been neglecting you. I haven't had a chance to catch up with everyone's posts or to comment since the weekend. Was all set yesterday to come in from the gym and settle down to a night of surfing and commenting. One minute before the end of me cooking dinner the power went off. Thankfully my dinner was edible by this point. The power was off until after midnight. I was totally lost. It was the perfect end to a rotten day!

It started raining on Monday morning. It stopped some time during Tuesday night.

The summer that we didn't see is well and truly just a dream now!

It didn't rain today though and I even saw a glimpse of blue. I'm also totally chuffed because yesterday I swam 1km (40 lengths) in 29 mins. Now that might seem slow but I am a rotten swimmer. I can only swim breaststroke and I can barely put my head under the water (although I do). [I am not a keep your hair dry swimmer] Then today I went out and ran a 5km in 28 mins 34 sec. That is my fastest ever by far. So the week began rubbish, but it's picking up.

So I'm sorry if I've neglected you. I'll be back commenting as soon as I can. And fingers crossed we don't have any more power cuts because it's totally ruined my plans this week.

And the thighs have it.

2008-09-14T19:14:00.004+01:00

The finish line! Woo!

Today was part two of a biathalon that I have been training for. Last Sunday I took part in the Great Scottish Run and today in Pedal for Scotland.

[I'm too tired to be bothered finding the links for these events but I've linked them at least 40 times in the last few weeks so if your desperate go back and read some older posts]

The Pedal for Scotland event today was surprisingly well organised. I say that because they have not filled me with confidence in the build up to the race. They sent the packs out with the envelopes open, they didn't actually get any medium t-shirts so a whole load of people didn't get their t-shirt till the end of the race, they sent me a flyer about 4 weeks ago that said "as a previous entrant to the pedal for Scotland event we thought you might be interested in entering this year (I've never entered before and I had already entered this year) and they didn't ever update the route on their web page.

These facts have not filled me with hope for today.

However it was well organised. It wasn't perfect. But it was good.

Their miles didn't match my bike computer. Now I'm willing to admit my computer could well be slightly out. But I've been out cycling with it and my running GPS and it's nowhere near as off as it appeared to be today. Plus, they said we would cycle 55 miles and that's exactly what my computer read at the end. But I was over 2 miles out at all their later signs.

They also sent out route maps with stops in different places than they actually were. According to the map the second last stop would be at 47 miles, 17 miles from the previous stop. So we siked ourselves for this longer leg and 7 miles later (37 miles) met the stop. Which unfortunately left us wondering if it was an extra stop or the last stop. It was the last stop. Leaving a grueling 17 mile leg to last. But because we didn't know the 17 miles went on for an eternity. I don't know the reason for the change but it really did not do wonders psycologically to have it.

Anyway, moaning over. We finished with a total cycling time of 5 hours 32 and a full time of 6 hours 39. It didn't rain a drop and the bus and lorry home was really smoothly organised.

I really thought my bum would be sore, and don't get me wrong it is, but my thighs are definitely burning worse. The smell of deep heat round the house is over powering and I think I might look a bit like John Wayne tomorrow. But it was worth it. That was quite an achievement for me today and I've raised over £400 for my charity which is brilliant. Thank God it's over though and I am happy to say I will not be entering again next year.

The man with all the answers!

2008-09-13T21:49:00.002+01:00

Do you know what? I've written this post like 100 times and deleted it, rewritten it, deleted it etc etc.

All I have to say is if you are here reading this then please go visit Ken. He has two blogs and I can't put in words how entertained he has kept me. He has made me laugh, regularly, he has said nice things when his sixth sense knew I was feeling rubbish and he's just always there being fantastic.

So go visit Ken at Ken's Blog or Ask me why?. Tell him you're there or ask him a question. You might even save him from going crazy with all my questions!

Wish me luck

2008-09-13T21:07:00.002+01:00

The big day is finally here. No, not the wedding day, done that one! Tomorrow we are going to cycle the 55 miles from Glasgow to Edinburgh in an organised event called Pedal for Scotland. Really looking forward to the event. Bags packed, tyres pumped up (they were about 1/3 of what they should be! oops), sandwiches made and clothes laid out. Will let you know how we get on tomorrow. Anticipating about 5.5 hours and a very sore bottom!

Why am I always fat on a Friday?

2008-09-11T16:45:00.003+01:00

I have two posts today. If you haven't read the first one, especially if your name is Ken, please go read it. If you have read it then read on ...

Women + Weight = Disaster

This is my official, mathematical equation!

According to the NHS I am overweight.

According to my husband, friends and one of my doctors I am not overweight.

My BMI is too high. But I actually don’t agree with the BMI measurement. It doesn’t take into account the fact that muscle weighs more than fat. Many elite athletes have a BMI that is too high. I’m not an elite athlete! But I do have less body fat and more muscle than my friend who is at least a size smaller than me, and, I weigh more than a friend who is at least two sizes bigger than me. So I actually do know that I should not be obsessed with my weight and should really just be happy being a normal size. The average UK woman is at least 1 size bigger than me and perhaps even 2.

Since I started running again I have lost maybe 1 pound although I have lost nearly 3inches of my tummy and 2 inches of my waist. Surely that’s what counts? Surely I should throw my scales out the window. Unfortunately they are like my addiction, along with eating, and I can weigh myself easily two times a day and sometimes three.

I know this is obsessive. You don’t have to comment on that. But I just can’t help myself. But I do also know in my head that I am not fat. (that’s the first time I’ve used that word in this post to describe actual weight you may have noticed!) I know I’m not. I also know I’ll never be a size 8 (that’s a size 4 in the US). It’s never going to happen.

Recently I’ve been looking back at photos of me when I was younger. I have never had a good body image of myself apparently because in some of those photos I look damn thin! But I can remember thinking at those times “Oh my God I’m huge”. I had a friend for years and years who I strived to look as good as. Looking back at photos of us together last week I discovered I was always thinner than her. Why is my body image so tainted then?

I guess I’ll never be happy. But I do have one problem that I’m sure can’t be simply psychological. I am always fat on a Friday. We go to the pub every Friday. And whilst it’s only my local pub, I always like to get a little dressed. Not ball gown stuff or clubbing gear but dressy jeans or trousers and a nice top. I got dressed this morning and the top that I put on was fairly tight fitting and I reckon I looked pretty good. In fact, other colleagues commented on my outfit today. But I know that come tomorrow evening I will try on every single item in my wardrobe, throw a hissy fit, put on something my husband loves, change into something he hates and mope around in a bad mood until the alcohol flows. No wonder I drink too much at the weekend.

So why is it that I’m always fat on a Friday?

Thank you

2008-09-11T16:17:00.003+01:00

I just wanted to say a huge thank you to Ken from Ken's Blog and Ask Me Why. He wrote a fantastic post yesterday about little old blue-eyed me. Those are my eyes. Honestly. Although the picture has obviously been photoshopped as my skin isn't grey!

Anyway, Thank you very much Ken. As I've already said I don't deserve it. I write rubbish to entertain myself. English was my poorest subject at school. But I don't care. This blogging milarkey is great fun.

If you happen to pop in here please leave a comment just to say hi. And please go visit some of the people on my Blogroll, they're all fantastic. And whatever you do please go visit Ken and comment on his page because he is the kindest blogger there is.

One Day ...

2008-09-09T20:26:00.003+01:00

I am 31 years old. Yes I know a lady shouldn't reveal her age. But well. I'm 31! We went to a 21st birthday party in a night club up in Glasgow last week and started talking about age. Truthfully I didn't enjoy school. My school year had four distinct cliques. The popular kids, The bad kids, The unpopular kids and The snobs. Strangely the snobs weren't the popular kids. I had friends in 3 of these groups but was probably in the unpopular group. Now don't go running or screaming. I was shy. I didn't smoke (at that point anyway) or do drugs. I didn't hang out in bus shelters or go drinking underage in the village streets. But did I deserve to be in the unpopular group? Well, yes. Because looking back now that's where all the decent people were.

I left school at 16 to go to university and found a bit of confidence. I was the youngest person on my course but I actually managed to fit in. And I had a ball!

Five years later I left university with a degree and post graduate degree and started working. For years my friends and I went out every Friday and Saturday night. In fact I met my husband in a local pub. Well actually he was in the year below me at school (the unpopular group too) but I didn't know him very well in school. We continued until recently to go out Friday and Saturday nights and we have had a ball.

So I guess that was a long winded way of saying... I'm enjoying my life more the older I get. I would never ever consider turning back time and going back to my teens or early twetnties.

But in 31 years there are some things that I have never done.

1. I have never eaten with chopsticks
2. I have never watched The Exorcist
3. I have never been on a motorbike
4. I have never had children
5. I have never tasted a steak

Do you have anything you've never done? I'd like to do 1, 3 and 4. Maybe 2 but definitely not 5. Maybe one day ...

The Glasgow race with the parking disgrace!

2008-09-07T13:06:00.005+01:00

Well part one of the biathalon is over. This morning I ran my first 10k for a year and half. I have been out of running for a while. Partly because of my running hell and partly for another reason which we shant go into. But anyway, I'm back. I'm also dead slow. But I'm back.

Finished in 66mins 16sec. That's my watch time. Official chip times aren't actually out till tomorrow evening.

The race was brilliant. I intended going slow (slower than I did anyway) and estimated finishing at 70 mins so as you can imagine I am delighted with my time. My personal best is only 61mins so not too far off. One day I will break that hour.

Here's a picture of George Square just before the start.

The race was once again perfectly organised. Those Run Glasgow people really know what they're doing. Apart from when it comes to parking. The official car park has 1000 spaces and is very handy for the start and finish of the race. They encourage you to use it because they give you a free ticket to park there. So we finished the race and headed back to the car park. Where we sat in the car for 1hour 10mins without moving because the car park was totally grid locked. The main problem was that everyone wants to turn right at the exit. But a set of lights close by allows maybe only 1 car a turn out. Easy solution - make everyone turn left. Glasgow's streets are a grid system so if everyone turns left, then left, then left then they are back at the junction they wanted to be at! It's not rocket sience! The parking attendent was an oh so helpful man. He said "I've informed my boss. I can't make people turn left I can only suggest it would help!" Although he must be a master of telepathy because he wasn't verbally suggesting anything to anyone!

I assure you Glasgow Council you will be hearing a few more words of complaint on this matter!

So, apart from the parking disgrace I've had a great day. My friend also managed to break the hour for the first time ever. Well done everyone who took part. Fab day!

Only a 55 mile cycle next Sunday to go!

Evita

2008-09-06T11:11:00.010+01:00

I went to see Evita last night at the King's Theatre, Glasgow. I LOVE the show Evita, although I am fully aware that it is not necessarily a fully factual account of her life. Eva Peron was played by Louise Dearman and Che was played by Robbie Towns (the understudy). I found it really strange that they used an understudy on a Friday evening show but I guess the other actor must have been ill.

I thought the show as a whole was excellent. There were a couple of weak voices here and there and I have to say that by the interval I wasn't impressed by Eva at all. But she shone in the second half. During the final scenes she really seemed to get more and more ill. She almost shrank in front of your eyes. And when she and Juan realised that the end was near I honestly could have cried.

I'm afraid I wasn't overly impressed with the choreography though. Looked more West Side Story than Argentinian Tango to me. But I'm not an expert.

In the very last moments of the show there was unfortunately a disturbance. A few voices in the stalls shouting really loudly. The cast continued anyway, but the voices got louder and more frantic. The cast left the stage, the house lights came on and we all just sat in kind of shock. As we were upstairs we still don't actually know what happened but we think perhaps someone had a fit or something similar. There were a good few sets of strobe/flashing lights through the show and there was no warning of this before the performance. After a few weird minutes the house lights went out and the cast did the curtain call. Poor Che didn't look to happy. Maybe shock at the disturbance. Pity we missed his last few lines. I'm in the lucky position that I know the show so well that I know what he had left to say.

All in all a great show.

Here's a couple of photos that I took when we went to Buenos Aires on our honeymoon of some of the places in her story.

The Casa Rosada

The front of Recoletta Cemetery

Eva's grave in Recoleta Cemetery

Sidenote: Tomorrow is the Great Scottish Run 10k. Wish me luck. It will be slow but I'll let you know how I get on!

Final Friday

2008-09-03T21:25:00.008+01:00

Well it's the last day of my five days of random facts. I hope you've enjoyed reading them. I've learned loads this week and enjoyed writing about this stuff. Which lets face it, is why I started my Blog. And I've had a whole five days without moaning, which I was beginning to feel was all I ever did.

I toyed with a few ideas for today. Fingal's cave, The Loch Ness Monster, The electric braes or Tam O'Shanter.

But I've decided to save them for another day and instead just tell you some short random facts about Scotland.

1. The population of Scotland is just over 5,000,000

2. The official language is English and 1.4% of the population speak Gaelic

3. The Lake of Menteith is the only natural lake in Scotland (there are a couple of man made lakes now) but there are at least 138 Lochs.

4. A munro is a mountain that is over 3,000ft

5. The highest munro is Ben Nevis at 1,343m or 4,409ft

6. I have climbed Ben Ime which is the 119th highest munro coming in at 1,011m or 3,317 ft. I will NEVER climb another munro!

7. There is some debate over the national anthem. It is commonly Flower Of Scotland but Scotland the Brave has also been used.

9. Nessie lives in Loch Ness

10. The haggis is a FOOD! Not a cute wee beastie. See here for more info

Thank you for reading this week.

The Corryvreckan

2008-09-03T19:49:00.008+01:00

Day 4 and this isn't quite in my local area but it is cool anyway!

The Corryvreckan

The gulf of Corryvreckan is a strait of water situated between Jura and Scarba on the West Coast of Scotland. Due to it's very narrow features, a deep hole and a rising pinnacle the world's 3rd largest Whirlpool forms here.

I first learned about the Corryvreckan years ago when I went out with someone who's dad had a yacht and we used to go sailing regularly. I've never actually seen the whirlpool as you can't take wee yachts into the whirlpool! It was only when I started researching it for this post (researching meaning googling) that I discovered that there are a couple of legends associated with the whirlpool.

Legend one - Cailleach Bheur

The hag goddess of winter, Cailleach Bheur, uses the gulf to wash her plaid of hair. This causes summer to become autumn. As winter approaches she uses the gulf as a bathtub and bathes for three days. After that she dries herself with a towel that is so pure white that it becomes the white blanket of snow that covers the land.

Legend two - The Norse King Brecan

The Norse King Brecan wished to marry a local princess. Her father gave permission if he was able to moor in the whirlpool for three days. He returned to Norway and got the hair of young pure Norse maidens and made himself a rope plaid. He anchored in the whirlpool with an anchor warp made of wool, hemp and the maiden's hair. On the first day the wool broke. On the second day the hemp broke. On the third day three strands of the maiden's hair were holding the boat, but suddenly they broke and Brecan drowned. When the story got back to Norway, one of the young maiden's felt very guilty because she was not as "pure" as she had led Brecan to believe and it was her hair that had caused his death.

Corryvreckan means Cauldron of the Plaid.

The Glen Cinema

2008-09-03T18:37:00.007+01:00

Day 3

WOO!

The Glen Cinema

During the afternoon of hogmanay (31st December for you non-Scots!) 1929, 1000 children were crammed into The Glen Cinema in Paisley for an afternoon matinee show.

A film cannister in the projection room began to smoke and soon the whole cinema filled with smoke. The children began to panic and ran towards the exits, particularly at the back of the cinema, away from the smoke. One of the exits at the back had a lattice gate in front of it that was locked close with a padlock and the children kept piling towards it with nowhere to go. Sadly, 69 (or 71 depending where you look) children lost their lives. What adds most to this tradedgy is that there was no fire. An old film reel was smoking but did not catch on fire. All of the children who died were crushed in the panic.

If you have 24 mins to spare you should go and watch the documentary about the Glen Cinema over on you tube. Links below as it's in 3 parts. It has interviews with survivors and shows how the cinema looks now. Every time I walk passed the furniture shop that now hides the cinema I think about these poor children. There is a memorial on the wall just slightly down the alley way from the furniture shop and all the children who died are commemorated on a memorial in Hawkhead cemmetry.

You Tube videos here, here and here

George square

2008-09-03T16:39:00.001+01:00

This isn't actually today's post. But i am sitting in george square, glasgow just now waiting for hubby and thought i'd pass a moment or two by taking a photo of what looks like a fairly nice evening. It is actually raining but it's still nice.

The Paisley Horseshoe

2008-09-02T17:20:00.009+01:00

Day 2 of "The world's most exciting and interesting week" that is my week full of random facts about my local area.

I know! Yesterday was just so exciting! How will we ever top that?

Well here goes ...

The Paisley Horseshoe

The Paisley Horseshoe

In 1696, 11 year old Christian Shaw, daughter of Lord Bargarran from near Erskine, suddenly suffered a strange illness. She began bringing up hot coals, pins, straw, bones and other small items and witnesses concluded that witchcraft was the reason.

Christian accused her servant Katherine and several others of witchcraft and of casting spells on her and seven people were found guilty of the crimes.

One of the accused died in prison and the other six were strangled on Paisley's Gallow Green, burned, and buried at Maxwellton Cross. A ring of cobbled stones and a horseshoe was placed over the site.

All that remains of Gallow Green, Paisley

The horseshoe and ring of stones still exists today in the middle of a busy junction. It is claimed by the superstitious locals that if the horseshoe is removed then bad luck will fall on Paisley as it will allow the spirits of the witches to go free.

The horseshoe has been removed in the past and misfortune did seem to hit the once thriving town.

Recently the memorial to the witches was upgraded with a bronze and silver horseshoe and piece designed by local craftsman, Sandy Stoddart.

The new memorial

A working week of randomness

2008-08-31T20:34:00.008+01:00

I've decided to tell you all lots of random, yet interesting, things about my local area.

The week is going to shape up like this
Monday The Clochoderick Stone
Tuesday The Paisley horseshoe
Wednesday The Glen cinema
Thursday The Correyvreckan
Friday ... well I haven't quite decided. Do you have any suggestions?

I know, I know, you're all just about dying from the anticipation. It's like Christmas for goodness sake. Well here's Monday's

The Clochoderick Stone

I've passed this stone loads of times and thought "what is a mighty big boulder like that doing in the middle of that field?", but by the time I've gotten home I've forgotten about it. Finally I've remembered to look it up.

There are a few stories about this rocking stone that doesn't rock anymore. My two favourites are ...

The first story says that a giant was out for a wander when he felt a stone in his shoe. He took off his shoe, shook the stone out and this is where it landed.

The second story says that the ancient Druids used to use the stone to determine a perpetrators guilt or innocence. They placed the person on the rock and if it rocked one way they were guilty and the other they were innocent.

Now that is what I call a justice system!

A good week to you all

2008-08-31T19:00:00.005+01:00

Yesterday I started with "oh my goodness, doesn't time fly"

Today I saw Santa at Braehead Shopping Centre!

Which was better than what I saw yesterday at the same shopping centre.

A whopping great rat!

Braehead was fairly quiet today as it was Old Firm day (no.1)

Celtic 2 - 4 Rangers

I hate football and have absolutely no thoughts either way on this score. I have friends and family who support Celtic and friends and family who support Rangers. The Old Firm games make me nervous though. Thankfully, thanks to Virgin Media who provide my nearly perfect TV, my dear husband watched the match from the safety of our own sofa rather than down in the pub where one wrong word might spark problems.

Anyway, that's another weekend over. Last week was a really bad week! So I wish you all a good week this week. Please wish me a good week too!

The flying scots(wo)man

2008-08-30T08:54:00.005+01:00

Oh my goodness doesn't time fly?

It's September on Monday. Did we not just finish the left over turkey from Christmas and clean up after the hogmanay party? Now we're talking about this year's festive season. Time needs to slow down and let me get stuff done!

Away back at the beginning of July I decided to start running again and entered The Great Scottish Run 10k. I knew that I would need to train hard and I have. The race is next Sunday and although it's going to be a slow one for me I know I will finish it having run the whole way!

Yesterday I went running with a friend in Paisley. We have always run round the villages where I live and we also used to run up in Glasgow's West-end. Both places are used to runners, cyclists, people who actually care about themselves. Of course you get idiots. Guys in cars who beep there horns (this REALLY pisses me off). Old men who say "come on, pick it up". But generally we get left alone. Yesterday though we met the Paisley Ned!

Very close to the start of our run were three ~~guys~~ boys who were walking towards us as we were running. The ned in the middle decided it would be HILARIOUS to push his friend right into my path at about 1 metre away from me. HILARIOUS! *feel free to inject the most sarcastic tone you can in there* Thankfully I managed to grind to a halt/swear (A LOT)/swerve round the little shit. But it did freak me out a bit. Think of the injury they could have caused me if I hadn't have been paying attention.

So I'm now entering my last week of training before the race. I'll be staying clear of Paisley. And a little advice ... Leave runners alone!

please, please, be quiet.

2008-08-27T19:36:00.003+01:00

When I was ~~young~~ younger I played oboe in various different orchestras and wind bands. Some were rubbish (school for example) but others were amazing! The Strathclyde Schools Wind band (now the West of Scotland Wind Band) was the first to really spark my lust for music. Now, I really thought hard about using the word lust there as opposed to love. But my love for music was also fuelled with a desire to learn, play and experience as many of the most amazing pieces as I could so I decided lust was the winner there! I left school and went to uni. I played in two of the university orchestras and got invited to play with a few other Glasgow orchestras when they needed an extra oboe player.

But then something happened. I was going to say I don't know what happened but as I was writing this it actually all became clear. Musical theatre happened.

I started playing piano for a local drama group. I spent at least 6 years rehearsing for up to 4 shows at a time. I left uni and lost the orchestra connection. And with it my lust for orchestral music kind of vanished. Eventually I burned out. I met my hubby and realised things had to slow down. So now I don't do rehearsal pianist and mainly play oboe for the shows (which requires only attending 1 rehearsal, the band call and the show). In the last 12 years I have played in more amateur dramatic shows than years I have lived! And that isn't counting school stuff.

So recently this little spark has been kindling away. I've been reading books about music again. At the moment I'm reading 3 books. A novel (which is RUBBISH), Experimental music - Cage and Beyond by Michael Nyman and This is your brain on music by Daniel Levtin. I've been playing my piano. I've been playing my oboe. BOTH FOR FUN RATHER THAN NECESSITY! And I've been listening to music again. I am once again obsessed.

But I've hit a problem.

I spent ages last night on itunes putting stuff on my lovely wee ipod. Then I sat down and listened. TV thought I'd fallen out with it. Then I went to my bed.

Then I woke up every hour with music screaming in my head.

AAAAGGGGHHHH

I'm a music teacher. Songs NEVER get stuck in my head. I have an off switch. But it's developed a fault.

When I come home from a show my head can be buzzing a bit. But I've discovered if I consciously sing to the end of the song in my head then it goes away. But I don't know every bar of Shostakovich Piano Concerto no.2 so my OFF mechanism failed. I've barely slept. And I desperately want to listen to some more stuff but I really need to sleep.

Please help. All suggestions greatly appreciated.

close, but no cigar

2008-08-23T17:26:00.003+01:00

Dear Virgin Media.

You provide me with nearly perfect TV, nearly perfect telephone and mediocre broadband. Now that sounds like I'm being harsh but it's true.

TV
You won't allow us sky1 so I can't watch Lost. You won't get the red button on sky sports so we only get 70% of that service. The V+ box is fabulous though and the OnDemand feature is a spot of genius. So it's nearly perfect.

Phone
Well it's a phone. But you charge me £1.75 a month for caller ID and that annoys me. I want to be able to screen calls for free!

Broadband
20mb my arse! But it's much faster than my dad's BT so thumbs up there.

What I really want to talk to you about though is the intellect of one of your 'British' [whatever] customer service advisers. I just want my direct debit moved so it comes out the bank 1 day later than it does now. Why? Because you take the money 1 day before pay day. So I phoned and asked.

[me] Please can you change my direct debit to the 4th of every month?
[you] why?
[me] Because at the moment it comes out the day before pay day
[you] Right, *pause while said man taps his vic20* Well I've had a look and I can't move your direct debit to the 4th of every month but the 3rd is very close to the 4th. It's only the day before!

So now to go along with my nearly perfect services I have a nearly perfect bill payment. Great. Thanks.

Random post

2008-08-22T17:13:00.005+01:00

At some point two weird posts should show up here. I've been mucking about with my mobile to hopefully set it up to be able to post from it. The reason for this is purely because I'm not able to access my blog at work. So now I can! So apologies for the random posts!

Other sites I also can't access from work are googlemail, you tube, bebo, facebook, itunes store, bbc iplayer and ebay. All of which are my favourite sites. I got blocked out one day because I looked up elephants in Microsoft Word Clipart online. Then had to go begging to be granted access to the internet again because I really wasn't looking up anything inappropriate!

We were singing Nellie the Elephant in one of my classes today. One of the kids said " that sounds jist like wan a' they songs wi' Jesus in" (translation"that sounds just like a hymn I know.") Now you might not find that funny but I nearly exploded trying not to laugh.

When I was driving home I passed a bench that I pass nearly every day. It had loads of bunches of flowers on it to commemorate someone who committed suicide there about two years ago. I know this is really sad, but it's something I'm not sure I like. In fact that's me being polite. If I ever die in public, car accident or whatever, I really really don't want to be remembered by the side of the road. When people die in hospital we don't lay flowers at their bed. So why do we do it on the roadside? I'd much rather that my family planted me a tree somewhere or laid flowers somewhere that they knew meant something to me. Although I'm not sure the pub would be happy having flowers laid there!

Wow. what a happy note that was.

Happy weekend everyone!

Roll on the weekend

2008-08-21T18:34:00.003+01:00

Don't really have anything to say today.

Don't have any questions either.

Roll on the weekend when I'll be here!

I'm Sorry

2008-08-20T20:15:00.003+01:00

Sorry!

I feel I must apologise for ranting in my last post. I was so annoyed that I forgot to even put a name on the post. Which is particularly odd because I had edited the thing around 2,984,409 times just to get the pictures and paragraphs to sit properly.

You may be aware by now that I have (not really) OCD. This means everything must line up. Paragraphs must be equally spaced or else I'll literally explode. I know it's weird. But it's me.

At the pub last Friday evening one of my so called friends set my OCD in full swing by turning the bevel on their watch so that the 0 didn't line up with the 12. OMG I nearly had kittens. I also love love love the sound of the bevel turning though and my dear friends were enjoying winding me up by turning the bevel (I have supersonic hearing) a couple of clicks and then watching my reaction during every conversation. It set me off so bad that by the end of the night I was actually lining all of their drinks up in the centre of ther beer mats as well as my own.

I used to teach children with autism. Well actually I still do but these children were at the particularly sever end of the spectrum. It totally intrigued me how some of them had an infatuation with certain materials and sounds. One of the kids loved blonde hair. Which meant I became her favourite of course, and another had a thing for the musical instruments with leather on. I am not autistic. But I love sounds. My favourite sound is definitely the bevel of a watch turning. Although we went to Dublin for a holiday this year and I fell in love with their pelican crossing sound. Drove hubby up the wall for the whole holidays because I had to imitate it every time we went near one, which was every 4 seconds. My touch thing is that crinkle paper they put in baby toys. No idea what it's called but I love it.

Am I weird? I think that's pretty normal!

P.S. That is not a question to be answered!!!!! (you know who you are! And your video is definitely the most calming in the world)

2008-08-20T18:08:00.008+01:00

Every Wednesday afternoon I travel up to Glasgow to attend an appointment. Whilst I've been on holiday it's been fine because I've gone during the day. But now I'm back at work I have to make the appointment later in the day and travel in the hours leading up to rush hour. The rest of the week I travel on quieter roads to and from work. So one week back and I am up to high doe because some people have bad manners and apparently a more important need to be at their destination than me.

So I would like to say a big public F%*K YOU to the following -

All the people I kindly let in even though they knew fine well they were in the wrong lane way back when they duked the entire queue.

NEXT WEEK I'M GOING TO CRASH INTO YOU RATHER THAN LET YOU IN!

All the above people who DID NOT say thank you.

GET SOME MANNERS.

All of the people who were sitting in the middle lane on the M8.

LEARN TO DRIVE.

Thank God I had Scott Mills on radio 1 to keep me smiling.

I apologise for the bad language (even though I didn't even write it properly) but today it was most certainly necessary.

and now I am calm.

If only ...

2008-08-19T19:42:00.003+01:00

My friend has been over visiting from Qatar where she moved to about 7 years ago. She moved out there, got married, had 2 kids, did her PGCE (teaching qualification) and got herself a job in an international school as a music teacher. She wanted her kids to be British citizens so she came back to Scotland to have both of them. So I was asking her if she thought that they might all move back here one day.

Life in Qatar is obviously very different than here in Scotland. My friend and her husband are not part of the "upper classes" but they do have a live in nanny/housekeeper who takes care of the kids, feeds the whole family and cleans the house. So my friend's reply about coming back here was

"I'd love to come home one day. But can you imagine having a full time job, two kids and keeping a house without any help?"

Eh? Ok, I don't have two kids but you haven't been away so long that you can't remember reality have you?

I HATE sunday night

2008-08-17T20:11:00.005+01:00

It is now Sunday night before Monday morning at work. I actually hate Sunday night more than I hate Monday morning.

So in honour of my bad mood on a Sunday night I thought I'd share another pet hate of mine.

I HATE sunday night

and

I HATE

strangers in the street who say "cheer up, it might never happen"

Firstly - This is my face. Deal with it. I am not torn faced. But I also don't need to walk down the street with an inane grin on my face.

Secondly - It might already have happened.

mmmmmmm

2008-08-15T15:57:00.015+01:00

Two days back at work and my brain is melting. And the kids aren't even back till Monday!

Some hae meat and cannae eat

Some would eat that want it

But we hae meat and we can eat

Sae let the Lord be thankit

Robert Burns

Anyway, After I put my favourite Scottish words on the other day. Downbeat commented that a couple of her friends had visited this fantastic country and had come home talking about something called haggis. So I thought I would give you some info on this fabulous thing.

There are those out there, who for some reason, are keen for people to believe that the haggis is some kind of animal which can be hunted. Or that it's a wee cute thing that runs wild and free round the great glens. O.....K.....

This is not a haggis

This is not a haggis

This is not a haggis

This is not a haggis (although I have run in this race!)

There is also a whole website dedicated to "Haggis Hunting" which you can look at if you click here.

Although be warned it has more cutsie cutsie pictures that are not HAGGIS.

So for those ~~fortunate~~ unfortunate people who have never had the delight of being introduced to haggis. Here is what it is.

According to Answers.com : A Scottish dish consisting of a mixture of the minced heart, lungs, and liver of a sheep or calf mixed with suet, onions, oatmeal, and seasonings and boiled in the stomach of the slaughtered animal.

mmmmmmmmmm I hear you say.

This IS Haggis

This IS Haggis. Presented as it is traditionally eaten (a Burn's supper) - Haggis, Neepes and Tatties (Haggis, turnip and potatoes)

Do Scottish people actually eat this?

Actually we do. Well ... My husband and I have a Burns supper with friends every Jan 25th. But I'm afraid we buy one real Haggis and one vegetarian Haggis. When I say 'real' haggis we also don't buy one in an actual sheep's stomach because that is just foul! I love the veggie haggis and I will eat a bite or two of the real stuff once it's cooked. It is a lovely dish, despite it's definition. Hubby also quite often get's a Haggis supper from the chippie.

So, yes, we do it eat it. Although it's not on my weekly shopping list.

The poem at the top is from a Robert Burns poem and I am aware it is not "To a Haggis" but I like this one better!

Totally off the subject. My husband thinks that listening to Anne Robinson on the weakest link is like grating his own face.

I love my holidays

2008-08-13T19:43:00.003+01:00

Back to work tomorrow.

Scottish summer time is officially over!

Now the sun is bound to come out.

A wee ditty

2008-08-12T09:32:00.004+01:00

I'm very proud of being Scottish. But I hate that any time the media get a Glaswegian to speak they always get the most guttural sounding person in the central belt. I reckon they've actually got some neds on their payroll just waiting for the opportunity to speak. Because we do not all sound like this.

Although they do make me laugh.

So I thought I'd share with you a few of my favourite Scottish words.

Blether - I love a good old gossip

Dreich - The most common way to describe the weather. Raining!

Dwam - I also love a good daydream.

Glaikit - The expression on my face when I'm off in a dwam.

Fa' doons - I love my comfy trousers.

Jaggy - spikey object. Like thistles. Or nettles. Or scratchy jumpers.

Thingmie - A word to describe something or someone when you can't remember a name.
"ask thingmie to pass me that thinmie-bob off the table, ta"

Peely-Wally - The average scottish complexion. So pale you're almost blue.

In Scottish summer time (this is usually around May 6th - May 7th) we are plagued by the Scottish Midgie. Actually they don't bite me. But they bite hubby to bits (hahahaha). Looked them up and here was the definition

Midgie - Terrifying, tiny, blood-sucking, wee bastard of an insect that chews
lumps out of folk, mostly on the West coast.

Do you have any favourite words?

Silence is insert word

2008-08-11T21:35:00.005+01:00

I feel bad. I have been totally silent since Friday. I've been here. But I'm in such a weird mood. I have written this post about 7 million times* and I still have nothing to say.

Been reading a book by Michael Nyman (composer for the film The Piano) called "Experimental music". It's not light night time reading! But when I was ~~young~~ younger I hated a great deal of the more "way out there"** 20th Century music. As I've got older I've become more open to the idea but I still think that a great deal of it is just beyond me.

But as a tribute to my weird and silent mood, and to my new interest*** here is John Cage 4' 33"

It's a controversial piece, I know, but ... any thoughts?

*may be an exaggeration
** That's not a technical term
*** note it is an interest as opposed to an actual enjoyment

My running hell - an added note

2008-08-08T13:58:00.003+01:00

After I wrote about my running hell. I read this.

"When you run long, cells in the kidneys may leak and bleed," says Dr Lewis Maharam, medical director of the New York Road Runners. "The bladder can also suffer minor injury on the run." But there isn't any need for concern; no serious damage is done.

*dumbfounded silence*

My running hell

2008-08-07T21:23:00.006+01:00

You probably know by now that I hate the rain and I love laziness.

Unfortunately yesterday it was raining and because I am doing this

(I'm doing the 10k. More details here)

followed the week after by this

(a 51 mile cycle from Glasgow to Edinburgh. More details here)

I had to go running in the rain.

For a mere two years of my life I was very into running.

At school I spent most of my PE classes avoiding exercise. I laughably joined a gym after university. Most expensive waste of time ever. Then I heard a few women talking about running in the Glasgow Women's 10k. I knew I couldn't do it, but I decided that I WAS going to run it the following year. I went out for my first run. Carefully planned so that I would be seen by as few folk as possible. I managed about 1 min before I thought I might cough up a lung or two. But I kept at this tiny route, stopping to walk every time my lungs screamed "help" and eventually I managed the whole route without stopping. You can't imagine what an achievement that was for me.

I ran that first 10k. Exactly as I promised myself. It was slow. But I did it.

I ran loads more that year too. To this day though I have never finished under the hour. And that really pisses me off. My best is 61mins 1 sec.

The following year, also the year I was getting married, I decided to run a marathon. Clever planning, I know. I trained and trained and trained. Then I got injured and stopped training. I rested my bloody knee. I went to sports therapists. I prayed. I had raised £400 sponsorship and I didn't want to lose that so I decided, injured or not, to run the marathon.

I pulled out at the 17th mile. Shit. 2 years on and I'm still devastated. Almost all the people who sponsored me paid up anyway as they reckoned 17miles was still damn good. I'm still devastated. But I made the right choice. I wanted to walk, not limp, down the aisle. And by mile 17 I assure you I was nearly in hospital. But it doesn't make defeat any easier.

I ran one more race after that. The great Scottish Run half marathon. Then I stopped running.

I joined a good gym and have kept some level of fitness although not much.

So I'm starting out again. I know I'll be slow in the run and even slower in the cycle. But I know I'll finish.

Lost

2008-08-07T11:15:00.005+01:00

I couldn't sleep last night and instead I wrote a fantastic post in my head.

Then I fell asleep and left my post in dreamland.

But it would have been brilliant.

The Sun and the Moon

2008-08-06T15:24:00.003+01:00

I got an email from a friend (and fellow teacher) this morning about her (not liked) sister in law. It read ...

"H passed her maths exam and will be a qualified teacher in a mere 9 months- how can someone who thinks there's 2 suns, doesn't know that tadpoles turn into frogs and thinks that driving faster shortens the distance of a journey as well as the time it takes to travel it possibly be charged with educating impressionable children?!"

H understands that when it is night time in Scotland it is day time in Australia. But she honestly thought that there were TWO suns. One for this side of the world and one for the other side. Gobsmacked! Never mind the tadpoles and travel thing.

But she's not the only one.

My brother, oh yes, my brother, believes in "The moon conspiracy".

Now he doesn't believe in the conspiracy that has probably sprung into your mind. NO. NO. NO. He believes that the entire moon doesn't exist. It is just a big light that our governments "turn on" at night. Again ... gobsmacked!

Thankfully my brother is an IT guy with no plans of becoming a teacher.

I fear for the future of children everywhere.

I hate mess!

2008-08-05T10:29:00.007+01:00

I am suffering from Blog withdrawal after having not logged on at all yesterday. I was too busy being a good and dutiful housewife. Well, fair enough, I actually spent most of the day sorting out my own wardrobe but it's all for the good of the house! I now have a pile in the bin, a pile for the charity shop and a pile for ebay (don't judge me, we're skint! and the charity shop pile is the biggest.)

But it was while I was clearing all the junk that I suddenly had my epiphany!

I now know the difference between men and women.

Ok, so that's a fairly bold statement to make. I can't really speak for other men and women. So really I just know the difference between hubby and me.

We both hate mess. And we both blame each other for mess in the house.

I make lovely neat piles of things that "need further attention". Piles of work, piles of filing, piles of hubby's rubbish etc. But they are lovely and neat piles.

Hubby stuffs things in cupboards and drawers and believes that he is tidy because you can't see the mess.

I can't put my neat piles away because there's no space in the drawers or cupboards.

I can't open the drawers because they are so full they are stuck.

I can't open the cupboards because things fall out.

So the difference between ~~men and women~~ hubby and me is that hubby hides all the mess inside and one day it'll all coming pouring out. I, on the other hand, neatly and carefully deal with things when they need to be dealt with.

I love this clip. It's has nothing to do with mess but it seemed appropriate.

Etiquette

2008-08-02T22:46:00.005+01:00

I am fairly new to blogging. I have had a few attempts at it in the past but this blog has BY FAR lasted the longest.

I am not a writer (I'm well aware of that) but I am just loving my new blog. I find myself thinking about it all day. I am here to laugh a bit, rant a bit, moan a bit, and ultimately just have some fun.

But there is one thing that really worries me about blogging.

Etiquette.

I have no idea what the etiquette is regarding other people's blogs. If indeed there even is one.

Comments -
Is it ok to just stop by and leave a comment?
I would, by the way, never comment anonymously or leave negative comments

Blogrolls -
Is it ok for me to put people's blogs on this list that I have never left a comment on or never spoken to?

I'm really worried.

I would HATE to offend someone by breaking rules that I just wasn't aware of.

To the people who do read and comment here

I am sorry if I have in any way offended you by popping in and commenting on your blog if it goes against some blogging etiquette that I am just totally oblivious too. But if I have commented then it is because I really have admired something that you have written.

Relax

2008-08-02T20:34:00.006+01:00

Things to do on a Saturday

*Prefect World*

Inhale

Exhale

Relax

*Real World*

Go shopping, put shopping away, clean kitchen, make lunch, eat lunch, take hubby shopping, make dinner, eat dinner, clean kitchen, ~~win~~ lose lottery, drink wine, Relax

The day the sky fell in.

2008-07-31T23:05:00.007+01:00

I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but, it's raining again. I know I'm obsessed but I'm on holiday and nice weather would be good.

I remember watching an interview with Billy Connoly once talking about his children who lived with him in the USA. He could remember bringing his son to Glasgow and his son asking "Daddy, why is the sky falling in?"

Went on a tourist day round Glasgow (I know I live here but it was fun)

Here's a picture I took.

Glasgow Necropolis just before the sky fell in.

A public apology to my postman

2008-07-31T20:41:00.004+01:00

My mum, friend, cousin and I decided to be (posh)"ladies who lunch" and booked into Mar Hall, Bishopton for afternoon tea. Mar Hall is by far THE poshest place I have ever been to. Apart from, perhaps, when I went with folks to The Queen's garden party years ago as an "eligible other".

So in honour of our posh afternoon I decided to spend a little time getting ready this morning.

I popped into the bathroom, turned the shower on and covered my legs in Veet. Hubby was at work and I left the bathroom door open so that I could watch some morning TV whilst I was waiting for the magical hair removing formula to work. (Classy, I know!)

Then suddenly my smoke alarm went off!

No smoke, no fire, just a bloody racket!

But I had Veet all over my legs so I couldn't pull on my dressing gown or even a towel. So I crouched down as low as possible and pulled the blinds down in my kitchen to prevent the entire main street of the village where I live being able to see me hopping up on a stool to pull the battery out.

I went for my shower and came to the conclusion that it had probably been the steam from the shower that had set the alarm off. So when I was done I wrapped a towel round me, stuck the battery in and pulled up the blinds.

Two minutes later my smoke alarm went off again!

So this time I ran to the kitchen and pulled one curtain across rather than the blind. Hopped up on my stool and pulled the battery. Just as the battery came out my towel fell off. No big deal! I jumped down off the stool. Turned round. And noticed that in actual fact the curtain didn't really cover the whole window and my poor postman was standing at his box taking a little break. Think he may have got more than he bargained for.

So I'd like to publicly apologise to my postman. Sorry. I promise to close the blind from now on.

Afternoon tea was amazing though!

Disclaimer : UNFORTUNATELY all the events described are entirely factual and one postman may have been harmed in the writing of this blog.

Forecasting a lazy day

2008-07-30T23:15:00.003+01:00

Shock horror it rained today. It gave me a good excuse to spend the day attached to my computer though. I had intended going for a wee run. But it rained and my hair was lovely and straight!

That's a total lie. It's totally frizzy having not straightened it after swimming yesterday.

And yes, I could have gone to the gym but I didn't want to use petrol unnecessarily with the price of fuel being so high.

Another total lie. I passed the gym on the way home from my appointment up in town.

So it turns out I just fancied a day being totally and utterly lazy.

Today's diary would look like this

A.M

Short appointment in Glasgow

P.M

Lie about on couch with laptop

Dinner

Chippie

Evening

Round to brother in law's to wish him Happy Birthday and enjoy the banter

What a nice day. Apart from the rain.

Rain in Scotland goes down. But it also goes sideways and has even been known to go up. It can be heavy and it can be fine. It can drizzle or it can totally piss down all day.

So here's a nice picture of a sunny day/evening looking out over Loch Lomond to remind me why I really do love this country.

10 Random things about me

2008-07-29T21:23:00.004+01:00

1. I spent last year's summer holidays learning to touch type.

2. I hate feet

3. I make a delicious spaghetti bolognese. But I hate mince. So I put the sauce through a sieve.

4. I have never been stung by a wasp.

5. I start worrying in July about dark mornings and nights.

6. I always drink some of my husbands juice at dinner time before he comes to the table.

7. I pick up other people's accents within minutes of chatting to them.

8. The first 'gig' (I use this term loosely because of the info that follows) that I attended was New Kids On The Block.

9. My first car was a Rover Metro GTA (oh yes GTA!)

10. I bought a hula hoop today.

I really thought that it would be easy to come up with 10 Random things about me. But it's taken me ages! Should have stuck with my original post that had me flummoxed after only one paragraph!

Any Random facts you fancy sharing?

Is music compulsive?

2008-07-28T16:59:00.006+01:00

I love being on holiday. I particularly love to wake up without the beeping of an alarm clock. So I was lying in bed this morning lazily watching a spider crawl around my ceiling and I started thinking again about music. Actually I was thinking about music and compulsive behaviour - quite ironic, as I recently decided not to think about my love of music any more and yet my compulsive brain refuses to let it lie!

I do not have OCD and do not claim to even begin to understand what it would be like to have it, but I do have a lot of little compulsive type behaviours that my friends often tease me for. I like ... no ... I need ... straightness, symmetry, order and patterns. Here's a few examples.

In the last general election I had no idea who to vote for. So I started reading through all of the campaign leaflets that came through the door. One of the candidates, who I might actually have considered voting for, sent a leaflet through that was personally adressed to me. "Nice touch" I thought to myself. Then, without reading a word, I immediately decided that I would not be voting for this person. I showed the leaflet to a friend and because she knew me she just laughed and surmised that I would not be voting for the candidate because the address label was stuck on the leaflet squint. Exactly! To me it shows they just don't care for details.

Another example
When I am out at a bar I always have to have my glass placed exactly in the middle of the beer mat. A stranger would not notice this behaviour, but I assure you it's there.
Although sometimes, I might push the boat out and have the glass sitting so that it was perfectly touching two sides of the mat instead. But, if I do this, then I have to sit in the exact position I am in because moving my head makes the sides of the glass no longer line up with the sides.

There are many, many more examples of my compulsive behaviours, but, what I was really thinking about this morning was compulsive behaviour and music. I am a big classical fan but I'm not so keen on some of the 20th Century classical movements. Particularly those where there is no rigid structure.

When I was at uni I played Benjamin Britten, Six Metamorphoses after Ovid. Movement 1 is marked Senza misura - without measure. I can honestly say that I just never 'got' the piece. I could not cope with the lack of actual beats and it was not only the worst piece I've ever performed but it was a miserable experience learning it.

I was also supposed to take part in jazz improvisation classes at uni. To this day I am hopeless at this. I understand the theory, I get the chords, but the freedom is just too much for me.

I can totally relate to Mozart, Handel, Bach, Beethoven, as varied as they may be from each other, but John Cage, Steve Reich and Phillip Glass I struggle with ... and I really have tried to understand their music.

I like straight lines. I like symmetry. I like structure. I like measure. So whilst my friends might love to make fun of me when I move their teacups to a more pleasing position I am safe in the knowledge that it is these quirks that make me who I am.

Is this honestly fun?

2008-07-27T01:47:00.004+01:00

Friday night : Drink far (far, far) too much wine.

Early Saturday morning : Wake up with the driest mouth ever and down the glass of water that I put next to my bed for such a situation.

Early Saturday morning + 30 seconds : Brain slowly realises that the water tastes absolutely foul and is actually the glass from the previous night.

Early Saturday morning + 1 min : Down the actual glass of water that I put next to my bed for such a situation.

Saturday morning : Get up, lie on couch.

Saturday afternoon : Sleep on couch.

Saturday evening : Enjoy an MSG saturated Chinese meal, go to pub.

I take it back. It's great fun.

Music, magic and a change of direction

2008-07-25T07:54:00.005+01:00

When I started this blog less than a week ago my intent was to investigate my likes, loves and hates of music. To work out why I was so interested in music and to answer the question that I was asked - "what does music do to you?"

The problem is that I am strangely not inspired to answer this question. For a few days I thought about the answer. I started writing my blog. I got my new piano and started playing all my favourite music. And still I thought about the answer. Well it turns out I don't know the answer and I don't think I want to know. The more I though about it, the more a new question arose in my mind - "why over analyse something?". I am clearly one of the lucky people in this world who has an understanding of, and a relationship with music. Shouldn't that be enough?

When I was younger I loved to watch Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee (this is going somewhere, honestly). The magic to me was just that - 'magic'. As I got older I developed an understanding of how the magic was actually performed and now they're just tricks. Now, every time I watch a magician, I think about how the trick is actually being done and it has totally spoiled the magic for me.

I am a music teacher in Scotland who works as a music specialist in primary school. We are currently in the process of changing our curriculum from 5-14 to A Curriculum for Excellence. The first outcome and experience that is listed in the new guidelines for expressive arts is -
At all levels, my learning in, through and about the expressive arts:
• enables me to experience the magic, wonder and power of the arts

To tell you the truth, the first time I read this I though "how airy fairy". But, now I appreciate that I indeed have "experienced the magic, wonder and power of the arts". So if I over analyse my love for music will I loose my relationship with it. Will the magic be lost?

I'm afraid I don't want to find out.

So my blog has changed direction already, and the magical thing is that even I don't know where it is going now.

A piano, a phone and a bat!

2008-07-23T23:30:00.003+01:00

Three exciting things happened today.

Firstly, and most importantly, I finally got my new piano delivered today. It is a Kawai CA91 and it is a dream! Not going to say too much about it now. It is soooo good it definitely deserves a post all of it's own.

Also got myself a new phone and a new network today. Have left Orange after over 10 years as their customer and gone to O2. My new phone is a Sony Ericsson W760 and so far so good. I actually have a signal in my house, without pressing myself heavily against the windows!

Last, but not least, we went to a preview of The Dark Knight. It is fantastic. Well worth the ticket price being double the normal cinema price.

I'm afraid after all that excitement though I am too tired to write any more. Need to get some beauty sleep if I am going to enjoy my piano tomorrow.

Sweet dreams

Optimism

2008-07-20T21:29:00.003+01:00

From 'God's Little Book of Hope'

"No-one ever damaged their eyesight by looking on the brighter side of life"

Isn't that just lovely?

Music in the Womb

2008-07-19T23:27:00.004+01:00

Apparently the first song that I ever responded to was Mull of Kintyre by Paul Macartney. Guess we'll never know if I was kicking because I loved it or hated it.

The troublesome FIRST post

2008-07-19T20:54:00.002+01:00

I've spent a lot of time over the past few days thinking about blogging. The name, the colour scheme, the first post. It is all most troublesome! I guess the first post should be a straight forward "why am I doing this?". Well the answer to that is easy. Someone asked me recently "What exactly is it that makes you love music so much? What does it do?". And my answer was " ... ... ... ...".

Unfortunately my answer is still the same.

No-one has ever before asked me what it is that makes me love music so much. Or what it actually does to me. So I thought I might start to think about it.

Here goes!

MIND body MUSIC soul

My Sunday Sermon (on a Wednesday)

Scrap that …

What’s in a name?

Dear friends,

I'm back ... again ... virus free!

Loch Lomond

The Dark Island

I'm Back!!!

How old?

Phew!

Are you kidding me?

Bryan Adams

I'm sorry I'm SAD

Connecting Kawai CA91 to the computer

Caledonia

This is just blatent stealing!

Fascinating Facts

Doing the splits

Well I never!

Is this boring or what?

Why can't people drive in the rain?

In the beginning

Bla bla bla

I want one!

The wonder of children

What did we do without it?

And the thighs have it.

The man with all the answers!

Wish me luck

Why am I always fat on a Friday?

Thank you

One Day ...

The Glasgow race with the parking disgrace!

Evita

Final Friday

The Corryvreckan

The Glen Cinema

George square

The Paisley Horseshoe

A working week of randomness

A good week to you all

The flying scots(wo)man

please, please, be quiet.

close, but no cigar

Random post

Roll on the weekend

I'm Sorry

If only ...

I HATE sunday night

mmmmmmm

I love my holidays

A wee ditty

Silence is *insert word*

My running hell - an added note

My running hell

Lost

The Sun and the Moon

I hate mess!

Etiquette

Relax

The day the sky fell in.

A public apology to my postman

Forecasting a lazy day

10 Random things about me

Is music compulsive?

Is this honestly fun?

Music, magic and a change of direction

A piano, a phone and a bat!

Optimism

Music in the Womb

The troublesome FIRST post

Silence is insert word