gonfler

I somehow managed to acquire 2 balloon modelling kits in the last week.
Contents include: 2 balloon pumps, 3 instruction booklets, lots and lots and lots of balloons

So to end a day in the great city of the East with my good friend Jen, we picked up the kit and decided to have a go.... and we were hooked.

I would have taken many photos to show you exactly what wonderous models we made, unfortunately you will have to make do with my verbose descriptions and this picture here...

An illustrative example of what our models should have looked like... but didn't. Although our pink elephant wasn't far off that blue model there (a model that's probably supposed to be a dog)... We attempted and sort of managed to complete the aforementioned pink elephant (by far our best attempt) which looked more like a mouse, a 2 headed dog (that didn't start it's life off with 2 heads), a dog that looked more like a rat, attempted and failed a monkey, which I then tried to turn into a nessie... didn't quite work.

Balloon modelling is both easier and harder than it seems. Once you get over the intial terrified to burst it phase it seems fairly easy. You move from normal twists, to loop twists, pinch twists, toe twists and it's all fine and dandy... until you start to make animals.
You see... what they don't tell you is that giving animals the correct proportions is reeeeally rather tricky. Our monkey had arms 3 times longer than it's legs, the elephant started off with ears bigger than it's body...

These are your words of warning... for you competitive/persistent circus hooligans, it is addictive!

40 sleepless hours

... let's just ignore the fact that I did have a half an hour nap in the afternoon... I was pretty much awake the full 24 hours of my 20th... (not something I recommend, just so you know!) I guess that's what happens when you try to split your day between 2 cities and 3 different groups of people! (5 if you include Sunday) Aaaaahhhhh....

Just a little experimentation with my new toy...



a small taster of "the homeland"...

How to spend your time when you are "between jobs"...

Take a trip to the newly opened kelvingrove...



and invite strange looks by taking silly photos by exhibits

And then when you're hungry, drive all the way to loch lomond
in order to be a cheap skate
and bahdebahbabuy a...

engage in some obligatory paddling (even if it is absolutely baltic!)

and spend the journey home blasting out the "choons" and taking pictures of posers driving cars...

Some words of advice folks...
1. pick up as many freebies as you can ----------------------->
2. Being a cheap skate is the way forward
3. When navigating the kelvingrove, play a word assocation game...
animals, eeer... extinct... errr... guns,
fish... sea... painting of boat..., Glasgow... err... sectarianism!
4. There is time to be serious, there is a time to be silly

photos courtesy of Jamie's camera

franchouillard

In honour of the Frenchness of the last wee while consisting of:

- finding out exactly where I'm going to teach in Grenoble
- acquiring a French slang dictionary
- a 3 day English Language Assistant course (tips for teaching english, practising lesson planning, listening to long promotional talks about the "ohsouseful" online tools we could promote to English teachers when we're over there, meeting other cool assistants)
- acquiring an's arm length postitnote list of things to do before I go to Grenoble
- and writing 6 formal letters in French to 3 different schools this afternoon (bleeeeugh)

...I thought I would share with you a few snippets of joy from my slang dictionary

From the a and b sections

azimuté - crackers, barking, wacko (interesting choice of definitions)

se faire appeler Arthur - to get one's head bitten off

baba - flabbergastered or gobsmacked or hippy or ( in the context of l'avoir dans le baba) - to be had or conned

bachotage - cramming (something I have done often)

et tout le bataclan - blah blah blah

and for no other reason than the hilarity of the beautifully rhyming contextual example given - "et lui il se tournait ses pouces, a l'aise, Blaise!" - and he was, twiddling his thumbs without a care in the world! -
a l'aise (easily, no problem, no probs)

bric a brac ∴ mic a mac = perfect logic

- Random gigs rock the mike!
- Flatmates here and elsewhere rock the mike
- Chats with 55 year old women who have entertaining stories about their childhoods and upbringing rock the mike!
- Kids rock the mike (but they are hard work!) : Does anyone have any ideas of how to entertain the mostgorgeousbuthyperactiveandintoeverythingkinda one and a half year old, an opinionated six year old girl, a very shy eleven year old boy alongside 2 very entertaining sisters aged 8 and 9 to whom I'm know as "scuseme" and who all continuously demand my attention en même temps?!?! Your suggestions would be muuuuch appreciated!

Click on mes fantomes and Smile!

I did :)

P.S If you're going to pronounce mic as mike, spell it as such! Mac however does not = make :P

à contre-courant

Recently I've been gradually coming to realise that what I want to do and what God might actually want me to do could well be 2 different things! It's a bit of a shock to the system to realise that, even though I did kindaknowbutdidn'treallywanttokknowsoinsteadburieditatthebackofmymind, and even more of a struggle to move towards actually doing it. And then that started me reflecting on the perfect example and I came to realise a few things
- He was willing to stoop down and meet people where they were, do things outwith the acceptable norm; not afraid to get his hands dirty
- He was willing to endure the cross
- and He went through with what he said he would do willingly though he had the power to evade it
- He understands


How completely contrary this is to my mindset, how contrary it is to the mindset of our culture, how utterly counter-cultural Jesus was, then and now. In a culture where all that matters is that we please ourselves, living a life with the objective to please God simply goes against the grain...

please


Just so you know, I did actually publish this on Thursday! ... silly date formatting on blogger grumphlimfrgrmph...

Talk about a direct answer...

One night I'm ridiculously worried about my lack of job and debating with family and with God about where I should be for the summer, the following night I am frantically filling in forms for a 2 week admin placement which started the following day (i.e today)! There aren't many things which better cups of tea, lady chats (mostly about babies), and labelling files... oh yaaaas... God is soooo GOOD!

Diversecity...

This wonderfully cheesy phrase is painted all over the walls of this lady's old school... but over the last few days, the very concept of diversity has become fresh and exciting once more to me! To think God actually bothered to create such a diversity of peoples on this earth, of so many cultures, , colours, languages sights, music, foods... I know I'm singing an old cliched tune here but after this weekend...
- 28 degree heat (resulting in the odd waterfight)
- the start of the westend festival
- sweaty silly swashbuckling sambasambaSAMBA
- an Asian-swamped Mela in Kelvingrove, full of pretty pretty material, bangra pop, where there was a falooda stall and it was surreal not to be in the minority
... I feel like I've just returned from a holiday in some exotic country! (I'm sure photos will appear at some point from various different corners in the near future.) The travelling bug has been fed and I didn't even need to leave the bubble that is the westend this time.

But I think the awesomeness of diversity really hit me while I stood waiting for a bus outside a 30 floor tower block in Springburn containing around 200 asylum seekers of over 25 nationalities still in the process of trying to make asylum claims, ... standing in a Glasgow bustop and listening to banter in 3 or 4 languages... the language student in me jumped for joy!

A few words of advice: DO NOT try to climb 28 flights of stairs in one of these...


...even if you can't find the lift. Be sensible and ask where the lift is. This is far more favourable than nearing colapse as you reach the 20th floor.

If you go to Springburn, do not be misled by deceptively short train journeys, because if you add on findingyourdestinationandgettinglostontheway time, it will be inevitably be a lot longer than getting the bus that goes straight to outside the door of where you're meant to be.

Samba is cooolio... anyone feel like forming a samba band with an aspiring conducteress and me?!

Soyez cultivé

Jamie and I spent a productive silly late night last night looking into what's happening in Glasgow summer... Here is an itinery of what we may try and see (i.e all that's cheap and decent and free!).



Saturday 10th - Brel
2pm: Tom Colquhoun, innovative virtuoso solo guitarist.
4pm: Paul Tracey Quintet: contemporary standards and originals from energetic quintet.
6pm: The Jazz Collective, from standards to drum and bass.
(all FREE)

QMU 9pm -> Samba Ya Bamba (an awesome band!) £5

Sunday 11th June -
Surely there's no age restriction on this!
Carnival 2pm-7pm Byres Road (whole road's gonna be closed off and open to chaos! Main stage on uni place just across from the greatest street there is)
8pm-12pm The Goat - Gary Devenay (My Latest Novel) &
Jim Lang (No.1Son) + David McGinty (Endor) + BELA (all FREE)

Tuesday 13th - Brel - 7.30pm Endor (acoustic set) and Wake the President 3 quid

Wed 14th/21st - "Talking the West-End Talk" - all about languages (especially made for linguists like me! :) ) - Hillhead Library 1pm FREE
9pm - The Goat - The Zephyrs FREE

Tue 13th/Thurs 15 June 8pm - The Liquid Ship
Free Candy Live Acoustic Night. Apparently it's "Glasgow’s best acoustic music evening!" (I dunno if calling Free Candy means that we get free sweeties, but I hope it does!) FREE

Sunday 18th June - Cottiers Bar 4pm till 7pm - Michael Dean Jazz Quintet 4pm till 7pm . FREE

Wednesday 21st June - Oran Mor A FREE gig with a French title should at least be interesting if not decent... with these bands... a bargain I conclude.

23rd June - 2nd July - Lots and lots and lots of Jazz! Most of the free stuff seems to be in either Brel or The Goat.

And for those of who will be kicking about in August - yuuuummmmmm!

If you want to check things out more thoroughly for yourselves, information was gleaned from

www.westendfestival.co.uk

http://www.jazzfest.co.uk/

Photo by Neal

The date on this post is totally inaccurate

It actually tells you the day on which I started writing this (yes I know Neal, limitations of blogger, yadayadayada ;P) There's just been far too much to blog about...
What with my exams having finished, and silly colds being passed on, and library living grinding to a halt, and X-men 3 and Da Vinci Code films having been seen, and much hanging out accomplished, and wallowing in endless reminiscence (a trait I just realised I've inherited), and the science centre visited, and many a communal meal shared, a ceilidh, the last CU of the season, birthdays, a jamming session resulting in this song on perpetual repeat in my head (his fault), books that refuse to be put down, cakes and fry-ups and foodfoodfoooood, and having had so much time for his chipping away at me, I think as preparation for all that's to come... What with my head being so full to brim-levels, I've been struggling to focus anything into a blog entry. So instead I'll let you read this...


by: George Herbert (1593-1632)


LOVE bade me welcome; yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
If I lack'd anything.

'A guest,' I answer'd, 'worthy to be here:'
Love said, 'You shall be he.'
'I, the unkind, ungrateful? Ah, my dear,
I cannot look on Thee.'
Love took my hand and smiling did reply,
'Who made the eyes but I?'

'Truth, Lord; but I have marr'd them: let my shame
Go where it doth deserve.'
'And know you not,' says Love, 'Who bore the blame?'
'My dear, then I will serve.'
'You must sit down,' says Love, 'and taste my meat.'
So I did sit and eat.


End - June 2nd

(drawing by Mac, poem by Dish)

I hope that if you're feeling stressed
Mac's sunshine pic will lay to rest
a burden caused by too much work,
looming exams in misty murk.

It represents the week I think,
when sunshine reigned the Glasgow rink.
Such beauty drove our misery
right way back into history

Alas the sunshine did not last
But Ailsa Mac's is not yet past
It's shines on my sweet page just here
and fills us all with song and cheer!

Smile! :)

5 months have gone since I handed in the paperwork et enfin...

... I find out I'm going to Grenoble to teach at a secondary school for 7 months!!!!!!

YAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSS!!!!



I still don't know where in Grenoble I'm going (it's a big academie) or what kind of schools I'll be teaching in - college ou bien lycee, and I certainly don't what the schools are or whereabouts they are in the region... but it's so exciting to get the region I put down as my first preference and to actually know something!

Grenoble, me voilà !!!!!

préconiser

Talking of chilled atmospheric music, a suggestion (and shameless plug) for some musical accompaniment to your studying (or procrastinating) - my cousin and her husband. And if you liked any of that, have a look at some of their other projects.


What on earth has happened to Glasgow weather?!?!?!
.. There seems to be an overall and ever so slight decrease in beboage in the last couple o days. :D

Note to self: a + b + me = very silly late nights with very silly conversation

And now for some more sunshine...

Un peu plus doucement s'il vous plait?

That French exam yesterday morning wasn't easy by any means, but was definitely not worth my uncharacteristic yo-yo bounces up and down, in and out of that lava pool that is stress.
I did learn a few things tho... other than lots of the French language and about every single significant and not so significant political and social problem in the country...

God is bigger than me

:)

D'you see what rare but prolonged exposure to sunshine does to students!

Silliest weekend I've had in aaaaaages...

Friday
- Being fed fabby lasagne (Who ever said men can't cook?!)
- Actually getting some studying done in the park
- Slack-roping in the silly hours with these suspects
- Observing Fox and Cat (the latter of which Neal took a strong aversion to) in stand off
- A random drunk guy coming up to us and ending up chatting about the validity of the bible and Jesus

Saturday
An afternoon/evening of
- More slack-roping
- Poying
- Me getting very frustrated whilst attempting poying
- Many other crazy antics
- BBQ on Great George St
- Reading The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe out loud (voiced by Beth - narrator, Almostadoctor McHardy - Mr Beaver/Morgrim the wolf Mac - Lucy/Susan Afroless man - Peter/Father Christmas, Tom - Peter (when the afroless man was Father Christmas) moi - Mrs Beaver/The White Witch)
- Baking a cake and watching Lost in Translation in the silly hours
- Getting hit on the back of the head by a pack of frozen sausages thrown by a certain doctor to be in an attempt to scare Michie into wakefulness (I still bear the bump!)

The sun was gone by Sunday... as was the silliness... siiiiigh

P.S Don't ever let Dr Breakey drink 2l of Dr Pepper in one evening. The consequences are quite frightening.

The entry in which Dish discloses another of her secret loves

Linus... siiiiiigh...

Un Jour

Give me the splendid silent sun, with all his beams full-dazzling!
Walt Whitman

If eyes were made for seeing, Then Beauty is its own excuse for being
Ralph Waldo Emerson

It's a beautiful day
Sky falls, you feel like
It's a beautiful day
Don't let it get away
U2

...qu'elle soit futile ou profonde, jamais une chanson ne sauvra le monde...

I recommend the gigging appearance to all you who music! All the gigs I've done so far with mes bandes (can count them on one hand so far... but that's not the point) have been so very different and sooo very class!

1. With "Simpletones" (cello, trumpet, drums, guitar/singer) (watch this space - the name could change for the third time - that Toby's never satisfied!)
Venue: RSAMD.
Highlights included
- Phil the drummer getting a throne to play on
- nice lighting and smoke machine
- 3 amaaazing bands playing after us, an accoustic jazz trio who poached our drummer, a crazy ska reggae band with many veeery good brassists and an awesome acid jazz/funk band
(the best part was I had "dish moments" with them all! hehe )

2. With "Simpletones" again.
Venue: This guy's flat as a charity band night/80s party to raise money for some girl going to save squirrels (or something similar) in Peru. (This was raised through selling drink as the guys had a bar in their flat)
The best bits had to be
- The fact that this was the night when it snowed buckets! thus resulting in a snowball fight at 3am
- Meeting lots of crazy PDE students
- jamming scottish tunes at half 4 in the morning

3. With "Potential Strangers" (2 acoustic guitars, cello, all vocalists) Unfortunately only 2 of us could make it, since Terry was sick :( However...
- We got to play to a reasonably filled up Albert Hall in Stirling!
- We got fed pizza by son pere
- There were lots of other quality acts who played including them

4. With "Simpletones" just this weekend.
Highlights included:
- The venue
- banter on stage, eversoslightdisorganisation turning into a source of much amusement
- Finally getting to socialise with all the boys afterwards (out of band context)

NB - I do not include jamming/busking experiences on this list. It would get too long if I were to do that. But I recommend that people try this out too. (I do however include this photo courtesy of Jamie)





P.S I took a fair few photos on that page anyway


En conclusion: Playing music in random places = gallons and gallons of fun!

Noooooooooooo...

My heart has been broken!


I'm still excited about the film tho! A quality post exams treat!

Oral exams are cancelled for definite!

Even if does make tutor Dougal sad :( je dois avouer que I can't help but feel happy!

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!

That's one less exam to worry about!