Coin a Phrase

- A "Skea Moment" - when one does something of an extremely ditsy nature e.g completely misses the thread of a conversation or what is going on right in front of one's eyes. Synonym: blonde moment: "That was a skea moment", "she just had a skea moment" Origins of word - the word "skea" a certain Mr Skea, who lives perpetually in the moment. Also comes from the gaelic word "sgith" /ski/ - tired.


- Anyone remember Captain BuckyoHare - been singing the theme tune all weekend! (thanks to Irish Gav and his flatmates dvd collection)

Don't blame it on the sunshine!

even though I am tempted to:
this lightnessinmystepeyewideningglowinducing is not normal!



The last few days have been quality!

Voici les points forts...
- Crazy Dancing at the QM!
- silly TV and a jam at his!
- sunshine
- hanging out with non-blogging flatmate
- eating with lots of different people... mmmm...
- sunshine
- shopping with mother and sister
- finally getting round to getting a haircut
- sunshine
- playing a grand piano in the RSAMD
- 2 band practices
- sunshine
- sausages @ his
- getting my lab report in
- sunshine
- pretending to be a medic

In response to your comment Jonny... I did enjoy it! Though at times did feel a little out of place and was almost overcome by a strong desire to thrown in all those abbreviations I know "How was your PBL... Oh yeah I had him as my VS tutor... I spent all of yesterday in the SL"

Thankfully I didn't!

:D

Bugs that turn blue!

Aaaaaahhhh the amaaaazingness


Must see items include:

- Karaoke (watch till the end!)
- The Weekly Prayer Song (looovely!)
- The Daily Song does actually change everyday (more procrastination hooraah!)
- Everything musically related!
- Joke of the week! (this week's is quality)
- The daily prayer

Watch out for bugs that turn blue :)

Special acknowledgments to my non-blogging flatmate who pointed me in the direction of the site!

Resplendent In Gowns!

... the motto spoken when port glasses are raised by the Glasgow University Academic Dress Appreciation society, the society at whose meeting Michie and I were meant to be playing music. Unfortunately a piano did not materialise but instead we had the joys of experiencing the first ever meeting of the society!
Highlights include...

- Singing the French national anthem with our left hands on our heads after all "our French cousins are very stylish" but we had to have our left hands on our heads "to show that we don't agree with it".

- Elections of positions such as President/Madame Binky, Keeper of the Robes (Secretary), The Whip and Adhoc Song Committee

- Narrowly escaping being lumped into the Stylistic committee which el Presidente suggested the three of us who are going to France next year should do, since of course we will be exposed to much style in France

- A minutes silence so we could all think about academic dress and how much we appreciate it

- Passing round a Calvin and Hobbes book as a talking stick

- Learning that our current academic dress robes are bright orange/red

- Eating far too many fairy cakes iced in faculty colours

Afterwards once everyone has gone there was a session en secret of chair climbing in the GUU reading room. The aim of the game, to get from one side of the room to the other without touching the floor.

Funniest night I've had in weeks!

Heure de Pointe

Ever felt like a high speed train whoooooooshing along and you've forgotten how to brake...?



Thank God for sunshine and Fridays!

....pas-grand-chose

- With much sleep deprivation post-exam time was spent.

- With much splish, splash and moaning, la rue blanche traversed

- With far too much caffiene this week has crept by

- With plenty of music, as always... bien-sur

- With many potatoes an afternoon a la Burns, kept busy

- With many laughs that evening, a Burns play... played... silly

- And with an "oooooffff" and a "thud" a Glasgow drunk hurls himself over an underground station ticket barrier.

With not much of a bang, this term has started...

Les atermoiements

my last exam is over yipppeeeeee! The question is ... now what do I do with my time?! Procrastination is great as long as there is something to procrastinate from... though I suppose I could getting reading done for French, do some food shopping, tidy my room...
I suppose I'll always have something to procrastinate from, and while that's the case, life is always entertaining!

After a voyage on the Dawn Treader

On a milk-white sea I sail, in calm.
Where warm, soft breezes sweet are breathing,
Depths are calling
Anchor wanting
Sleep is pending
I'm just drifting...

Calm, though storms around rage wildly
Rains drench blindly
Lightning strikes me
Skies are falling
I'm still drifting...

Calm, hemmed by a current, guiding
Steers behind me
Draws before me waves
that hold me
so you drift me
... on

Je trouve toujours un moyen d'atermoyer!

Was talking to my fellow blogger and flatmate about the fact that neither of us have really blogged since coming back to Glasgow as there hasn't really been anything to blog. Life has very much been all library and not much else. A continuous humdrum of studying and psychology and form filling (the form filling is far more stressful than the studying to be honest!) It's not that I don't appreciate the place... I love the library in fact! We're pretty fortunate I might add; not many universities have a 12 floor wonder like ours. And now that they've added those wonderful leather couches that are comfortable enough to sit on for a few hours at a time and yet not too comfy that you could easily fall asleep, on on some of the levels: Could studying ever reach better heights?!

(that last question was not rhetorical)

l'esprit d'escalier

I had always thought that I understood this until a recent French lecture where my favourite French tutor explained what it actually meant. (sorry Sonj if I'm spilling your secrets here!) Apparently tis a uniquely French concept: that feeling we all get, having just left a room, from an interview for example, and suddenly remembering all those things that we'd intended to say and had forgotten whilst on our way down the stairs, that feeling we get when we want to turn back time and redo the whole thing again.
L'esprit d'escalier pretty much sums up how I feel about resolution-making. Oh I always make them! Year in, year out. Usually the same ones each year. They do have their good points, on the one hand I love being able to look back to them and see how I have actually moved on in the year, even though it doesn't And yet just a few weeks into the year I always manage to mess them up. And by the middle of the year they're completely forgotten about. There are little ones, like trying to revoke those silly bad habits I've never quite got rid of to, my most used one has to be "Keep Room Tidy" and then there's the one I've used more commonly in recent years "Spend more time with God" which I've always messed up within the week.
This year I've decided not to make any resolutions. That doesn't mean I'm not going to continue striving for more, seeking more... For me it just means a change in attitude; going into the New Year grateful for the exciting stuff that's gone on before, and it has been soooo exciting! God has exceeded my expectations, demonstrating that he is so much greater than any box I try to put him in countless times, and pouring so much grace and love into my life even though it's so undeserved! There have been plenty of changes, many new friendships, and I've learnt soooo much! And yet this this new year holds many more changes, especially with the fact that I'll be heading out to France for 9 months. So I'm stepping into this new year with eyes open, expectant and excited and ready to live whatever lies in store!

And so to all Je vous souhaite une Bonne Année!

Bizarreries de derniers jours! (tis a real french word, I kid you not!)

... the last few days has been full of these...

- Much noise and banter, particuarly when one eccentric uncle who hasn't ever really cooked before seriously exclaimed that he was going to write a book delving into the science of cooking; answering questions we all secretly have such as "Why does salt make things taste better?" and "Why do flour and water make dough"... apparently this will make cooking easier for those who struggle with it... hmmm...
- Appreciation of the Scouse accent in the form of a prospective cousin-in-law!
- Un peu trop de classic period dramas with my dear mother
- Un peu trop de sales shopping avec ma famille
- Un peu trop de lack of sleep
- Un peu trop de freezingness during a period of standing at the side of the M6 for an hour waiting for the RAC because my Dad was unable to loosen the screws connecting flat tyre to car.

Other than that... tis nice to be one of the "grown ups" in the British contingent of our family now. You see there's my sis, moi and then a 9 year age gap before the next youngest cousin! I was the baby that always had to go to bed early whilst all my teenage cousins got to stay up late! Not anymore!

Mwahahahaahahaha.... ha... ahem... clearly bizarrerie is contagious!

Joyeux Noël!!!

Christmas is a bizarre time of year... seems like one of the few times of year we value traditions so highly, fairy lights, turkey, those particular things that we do every christmas day in that particular order...
I loooove carols, and I've sung them over and over and over again often without giving second thought to what I'm actually singing... At one carol service (of many) this month, I sang the carols, and yet for some reason, this time, I actually realised that the words I was singing actually meant sooo much...

"Mild He lays His glory by.
Born that man no more may die.
Born to raise the sons of earth.
Born to give them second birth"

"The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friend.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger."

Wow!!! Thankyou God :)

Merry Christmas!!!

Quel étourneau!!!

Yesterday I proved myself worthy of that title!
I feel like telling this story in bullet points! if that's possible?!

It all started when I went to catch the 43 bus that runs from the ferry to Edinburgh to meet a friend from school. I was already running late when I left the house since I was waiting for Christmas cards to dry...

- So I ran to the bp garage (just over 5 minutes away) to get money out but then discovered I had no money in my account!
- So I ran back home again to transfer money from savings to current account
- But then of course the account page decided to crash
- But after a lot of faffing about, I restarted the computer and it worked
- So ran back to the BP garage again and got money out
- But as I was coming out and walking towards the bus stop which is just across the road, the bus drove right past me so I had to wait an additional 15 minutes for the next bus.
- The result being that I was 40 minutes late to meet my friend

- Then the dizziness continued later on when I had to catch another bus which I had never caught before to a friends flat for my old bible study groups dinner as I went to the wrong side of the road to catch the bus and so missed the one I needed to get as it went past me whilst I was talking to the bus driver!

But on the whole twas a good day! Good quality chats and getting to see the uni flat o my school friend Laura, and as ever, coming back to me old bible study group and leaping straight back into endless slagging matches, trivial tangents, goooood food, and laughing fit inducing banter! Quality!

Managed to get into town ok today, so clearly have learnt my lesson!

Foooooooooooood!!!

yipeeeeee.... I know it was almost 2 months ago now but....

Our Milan PHOTOS!!!!


on other notes...

I am finally safely back home in South Queensferry despite getting to the house and being locked out because my family were still not back from their respective carol service!
After many a carol concert/service, a statistics exam (bleugh!), far too many essays at the one time, gatherings at our flat requiring almost no organisation (the cu grapevine when it comes to random gatherings is comparable to Neal's seeming ominiscence in the blogosphere!) though a lot of tidying, nocturnal nights (I blame it on a certain flatmate), busking on ashton lane (a very efficient money earner I must say!), far too many mince pies, far too many tomatoes, generally not enough variety in my diet, Christmas shopping, many a quality chat and an abundance of fairy lights in the last couple o weeks I definitely feel in need of a break!

Hoooooray for chicken curries so much better than anything I make, tumble driers and warm houses!!!

je veux le plus...

Feelings, I know I cannot
base my life upon them, cannot
base my faith upon them, cannot
ground my thinking on them.
Yet still I’m yearning for them.
For emotion… feel in motion
Feel a burning, feel a stirring
Feeling heavy, feel like bouncing
Feel alive!
But I’ve been drained…
Where did they leak?
Is there a puddle on the street?
Could I go back and fish them out?
Lie where they fell and soak them up?
No… must move on
Must hold on
Must trust you

le lion, la sorcière blanche et l'armoire magique

I have yet to use this blog to rave about a film I love, but woke up this morning smiling in the aftermath of this film so decided it was the bloggage!
Characterisation was spot on (which is something I like in a film), especially loved their portrayal of Aslan, soundtrack was fantastic, twas visually stunning, and there was just something about the film was positively magical!
This is high praise coming from someone who is an absolute purist when it comes to film versions of books, who grew up reading the books over and over and over. Ok there were some very cheesy moments, and bits of cheesy dialogue but those were the bits that made me cry the most...

But definitely one of my favourite aspects of the film, and also my favourite aspects of the books is what seems to me like blatantly obvious symbolism. Everything about the film seemed to be whispering "hope doesn't disappoint us!"
My favourite character has always been Edmund, even though I always want to give him a good kick in the shins at first, by the end he seems to me, the wisest. He is the one I most identify with, simply because he understands...

I'm just a little kid at heart. Think I always will be...

Juste au coin de la rue!

3 words... CHRISTMAS IS COMING!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't usually get this excited about Christmas this early. However several events of the weekend have precipiated anticipation in me...

- Playing the cello in the New Scottish at advent Christmas carol concert on Saturday night with veeeery good choir in beautiful candle-lit church
- eating mince pies and drinking mulled tea afterwards... mmmm....
- making gingerbread biscuits with Beth and singing carols at the top of our voices
- staring at fairy lights in my room (even thought they have been up since September!)
- singing Hanson medley accapella at Christmas carol practice for concert tonight at QM Halls
- eating gingerbread biscuits

Christmas this year is also my proverbial light at the end of a tunnel. Not that these past few weeks, and next few weeks are particuarly tunnel-like... just that I'm reeeeally needing a break!
Also starting to miss my family a wee bit!
And last year flying on Christmas day was not so fun, so I'm especially looking forward to being at home, and engaging in the usual nonsensical traditions! In fact, twill be the first time I've been home for Christmas since moving out.

The geese are getting fat.

C'est demander un peu trop!

Yeeees... ouais... the todo list is indeed far too long for the number of hours left in the next few days! As Sonja I think said, I have a negative amount of time to do an essay and project and play in 2 concerts, and do church, and bake and eat and sleep... hmmm...

On the + side... mes points forts des derniers jours...
- Toby's amaaazing food... mmmmmm (sampling his gourmet cooking on a Monday night after band practice has become a regular thing! Music+food=quality time spent) Twas also well needed after the mad day of polishing off essays and arranging things for Wednesday which leads me to my second bullet point
- lunch with Maddy on Wednesday
- haggis on Wednesday night (I'm beginning to see a trend here!)
- all 3 of us being in for dinner last night for a change!
- God being so faithful on Wednesday, just as he always is!
- not being stressed the last few days when I should really have been
- talking to the random Moroccan in French last night at house group
- Dancing round the kitchen to beautiful rendition of Happy Birthday stuck on repeat at 8am (grace à Mr Breakey)
- talking to my mother on the phone (tho it made me late for a lecture, but then what's new?!)
- getting an advent calender from her in the post! yipeeee!
- Ben Folds Five

So all in all, it has been a mixed few days, but good!
In fact... as a few people have said to me a few times in the last few days

God is good!

RAndoM

Think I should definitely curb my use of this word... Yet it seems to slip off my tongue at every possible occasion, in every possible context.
For example it was the first word that came to mind when I thought of this weekend. I don't see why it should be, when so many other words would better describe it...
spontaneous, erratic, bizarre, chaotic, untypical, exceptional, unusual...
I could go on... instead I will let the thesaurus speak for me. In fact just looking at that thesaurus has made me realise why I use the word random... I mean 36 entries! That's 36 possible meanings!

In other words, je ne suis que paresseuse ;)

Pourquoi?! Ca c'est la question.

Ok, just going back on what I said in the previous post about not making more than one in the same day! Having one of those dilemna which seem to frequently crop up in my life where I suddenly have a several options of things to do, all of which will undoubtedly be class, all of which I want to do, all on the same night! Options include...
- Spending time with people I haven't seen in ages
- Doing things I haven't done before and are reasonably exciting but with people I know
- Doing something I haven't done in aaages with people I know and don't know!

Many questions have cropped up in my head as a result of this.

- Why can't people ask me to do things on different nights?!
- Will I always be this indecisive?
- Why do I stress about such trivial things and then not stress about the fact that I have piles of work to do?