in the black

it's the kind of day where umbrellas are rendered useless because they snap before they are even fully open (off to buy another tomorrow)... The Abderdeen wind is something else and has finally convinced me that Dean may not be completely off the mark when he says we'd be smart to buy a car when we move back here next summer.

The boys (Dean, Trevor and mystery guest number two: Joe Cheung) are off to check out the Whiskey Trail today, while I stay at the university hunched over a computer. It's not all bad though--in fact it's fabulous. It means I'll have a nice fat cheque to replenish my bank account just in time for Christmas shopping. I got a fabulous contract job this week which will keep me busy for a chunk of November, and I couldn't be happier. God knows just when to provide.

No Fresh Cuts tomorrow, but I'll post a belated issue from Paris on the weekend!

guess who's coming to dinner

I had a few surprises up my sleeve this weekend. Dean received two unexpected visitors.

The first showed up Friday night on a busy corner of Union Street.



The second showed up just in time for dinner last night.

can you guess who mystery guest #2 is???

history boys

On our way to see The History Boys last night, I observed that the gajillion beauty salons we pass en route were still open and packed even at 6:30pm.

A: Everyone here must get their hair done at least once a week!
D: yeah, it’s like the national pastime.
[a moment or two later]
D: you can blog that, by the way…. I say a lot of funny things that no one knows about. [pouts a bit]

The movie was good overall (well acted, funny), but clearly written for the stage. Some homoerotic overtones that emerged along the way surprised at least a few of us. But I alone seemed disappointed with the dramatic shift it took at the end—the story sets up one teacher as the Dead-Poets-Society-esque renegade teacher-hero, but in the end he’s just a fool and it’s the goofy old pedophilic obese teacher who makes the indelible mark and receives the figurative “oh Captain, my Captain.” It’s fine to have your expectations thwarted in a story, but in this case it seemed more like an inconsistency than a clever made-you-think message. Curious to see how it will go over (if at all) in North America.

**** **** **** **** **** **** ****

For those who are tracking with us, only two episodes of Lost Season 2 remain. Clearly we’ve gone way off schedule and indulged here and there. I blame the windy rainy Aberdeen nights for keeping us indoors.

FAQ

The two questions I keep receiving in emails and phone convos alike are about to be answered here:

Q. What do you do all day?
A. Well, I somehow manage to stay rather busy in spite of my unemployed status. Each morning we wake up without the help of an alarm at 8am. I typically accompany Dean to Forrester Hill Hospital where the University has its medical school. There I retreat to either the library or café where I proceed to email, blog, research articles I’m attempting to write, and read my fave online mags. Then I either stick around and try to do some writing or come home and do the same. I invariably get bored and spend the rest of the afternoon cleaning, cooking, grocery/window shopping, letter writing, painting, novel reading or meeting up with Claire for coffee. Pretty sweet setup eh?

Q. What’s your place like?
A. It’s like this:
Bedroom on a cleaner day

Kitchen on a messier day (and yesterday’s laundry)


Lounge


Toilet

Hall that connects them all


And lastly, just for kicks, some shots from Sunday’s day trip: the Deeside forest, Verity and Dean.

Front Lawn Fresh Cuts vol.VI

your mid-week source from the Granite City

On the Playlist: the new Beck album thanks to the free iTunes downloads Dean gets with all the Coke he buys.

On the Reading List: Tony Parsons' Stories We Could Tell

Current Obsession: Now that I "work" at home I’m quite enamored by the selection of office gear at seejanework

Design of the Times: This list of America's worst fonts is so dead on. It reminds me of Joy's ongoing disdain for the disgustingly overused Papyrus font, and allows me to feel smug about hating the Comic Sans "open" signs on the Coquihala Toll Booth.

Have an ’Art: Dean and I have been drooling over this screenprint For Like Ever (that is, ever since we saw it on the cover of Domino mag).

Blog Log: Abbotsford's Stephen Hubbard continues to impress me with his photo account of his 24th year.

Hipsters on the Web: I finally checked out the new material from Doubting Paris today (though it's been up for months!). Big pat on the back to Zaac and the guys! When these boys are huge don't think I won't brag to everyone that I lived with Z's wife for a year ;)

Crisp of the Week: Somerfield Sea salt & balsamic vinegar. The best UK original we've tried so far [4.5 out of 5 stars]

Scot Slang of the Week: I recently stumbled across a copy of Roald Dahl's The Twits translated into Scots—aptly titled The Eejits

Insider Scoop: TopMan's fall sale has really gorgeous scarves for a paltry 50p. Dean was the lucky recipient of one this week!

Countdown To: Five days until Halloween! It is not such a big deal here, but there is some talk of spending the evening at Slains Castle with sparklers, which would surely produce some fabulous photos for y'all.

To Do List: 1. See Marie Antoinette tomorrow in anticipation of seeing Versailles in person next week! 2. send some postcards!

Lastly: our anniversary was spent over a Scrabble board and Dean beat me by a mere 10 points—but only because I let him get away with "orc." I mean, seriously, have fictional creatures really found their way into the Scrabble dictionary?! I doubt it. To his credit, he did get the high scoring word when he began "quota" on a triple letter score ;)

puddles redefined

ugh.

today wins, hands down, as rainiest Aberdeen day so far.

The fact that am here at the University, having braved the torrents and rivers outside seems to indicate that I may be ill-equipped for a solitary life of literary pursuits. Sometimes you just have to get out of the house though, you know?!

The rain, cruel as it is, cannot put a damper on our four month anniversary today (whew, we made it!). I don't think we'll brave the outside world again after our walk home (with only one umbrella to share between the two of us) so instead we'll celebrate with a night in and a bottle of wine.

I had planned to post some photos of the flat and the neighbourhood at the request of my mother, but it's getting dark. Time to go home. Until tomorrow.