yipyipyipyipyip

So... in the last few days I have

a. Aqcuired a job - receptionist temping in Milngavie in a garage where everyone is delightfully Glaswegian, and switchboards are huge!

b. Acquired a pseudo-flatmate. I say pseudo in that both of us are going through the transition period, i.e she's moving into my room when I leave for France, but right now we're just living together and loving it. Nothing like an afternoon on the comfiest sofa ever of tea and deep chat when it's pouring it down with rain!

c. Acquired a mild addiction/healthy love of retro sesame street videos on youtube... I enclose a favourite below...
Enjoy!

Je ne vais pas tempêter

So on Sunday I get a txt from a friend with a spare ticket to see Radiohead in Meadowbank stadium in Edinburgh, apparently desperate to get rid of it... and so on Tuesday I do just that.
A veeeery long afternoon/evening of 3 fabdabbydosy bands



Memorable moments include:
- Getting confused between meadowbank and the football stadium in Leith
- Beck puppets moving in perfect synchronisation with their real-life counterparts
- Some glass/plate/table tapping accompaniment to acoustic guitar
- Winning the "how many people can I recognise/know at this gig" game (I'm sooo sad!)
- Much over-excitement from big bald guys with huge beer bellies over songs such as "creep"
- Walls of unusual tall people in all corners of the crowd
- Good asian style train journey back to the west, cramming us in everywhichway
- Listening to a crazy woman on the train describing the difference between a "munter" and a "muntor" to a complete stranger - "a muntor" apparently is someone who is part o your gang...
hmmm...


I refuse to wax-lyrical about radiohead, there are plenty folk more than willing to do that

Other things worth a mention

- Dish has another temp job (waaaaaaaaaaayyyyy!!!) Working as a receptionist with a bunch of boys (sounds familiar) in a secondhand car garage
- Do not busk on Buchanan Street during the day, people are stingy, even if you stand on a bench with a cello and a guitar and sing "Hit me baby one more time" at the top of your voices in harmony

park diaries

A large portion of my summer has been spent in the park.



When I say "the park" however I am not just referring to one single patch of grass which I frequented. No I have tried my hardest to maintain a sense of diversity in my life. And have thus visited a handful of parks in the west of Scotland... and so I thought for those of you who desire some parkage whilst the sun still shines bright in Glasgow, I would include some craic on a few of my favourites.

- Dowanhill
Especially wonderful due to it's close proxmity to la rue blanche. Good for a quiet read as the chances of bumping into someone you know are minutely smaller than in other parks. It has swings and the taps are particuarly useful for waterfights!

- Kelvingrove
An old favourite, plenty of space and trees for slack-lining/tree-climbing/poi/silliness/frisbee action/football action/forbidden bbqs/surprise picnics




- The Botanics
The pigeons and children are extradorinarily friendly. There is a high chance that you will make a new friend if you take some bread of a ball of any size with you.

- Victoria Park
Worth a trek in order to experience it's wealth of "secret gardens", stunningly brightly coloured flowers and fossilised tree trunks. Also sports a very large pond in which it's seemingly legal to fish for tadpoles in.

- Hamilton Park
Hamilton believe it or not is a wonderful place...
brimming with motorways, streets with interesting poetry segements paved into them, and very bright purple flowers...


Take a trek for a while, you don't have to search for long before you find a lovely large expanse of green to sit on.




- Behind Glasgow University
Stunning views and relative peace and quiet make this a perfect for a spot of reading and philosophical chat.
If you run fast enough towards the flagpole you can just about make a mini-kite lift in the air for about 20 seconds.
And there's always the GUU just down the road if you wish to visit the loo/get some tap water from the beer bar.




Only a month left of Summer 2006: A summer of learning in green pastures.

Ever feel like you've been walking around with your eyes closed?

I have for the last few days... and then 3 things happened

I saw this from the window of a train...



and I read this...

and this - "Praise is response. Praise happens when there is revelation, and there is revelation waiting for us around every bend, in places we would not suspect. Our task is to live with eyes wide open to God's greatness because when we see the imprint of the Creator, our insides will swell with devotion, our hearts will erupt with thankfulness. You will live, breathe, and radiate praise. The habit isn't in learning how to praise; it is in reminding yourself who to praise. It is a remembering of who you are. It is a remembering of your identity."

And so I remembered... looked around... and my heart sang in delight...

Rising Generation

I present to you here some random thoughts in bullet point form

- Sleep deprivation is a nasty... especially if it has been caused by 8 days of non-stop go, running after kids, teaching them music and about God... and then when you get home your body clock has set itself to wake up before 7am every morning!

- Music camps are weird... especially Christian music camps... the kids learn a song you teach them in about 30 seconds flat, they all can sing in tune and some even in harmony round the camp fire...

- I ended up with the the 5 nutter-est girls you could possibly imagine around my sister's age, in my dorm. So as you can imagine, we got on all well, (like with like and all that) By the end of the week they had pronounced me as their "adopted sister" :)

So... what have I learnt this week? Much! But more than anything - this - that God's grace is enough. Enough for any teenager no matter how great or small their issues are, enough when things are easy, enough when things are tough, enough for me even when I feel messed up, in all my weakness... enough