April prepares her green traffic light and the world thinks 'Go'

 ~Christopher Morley, John Mistletoe


For all the horrible, terrible, soul-sucking months of winter that Scotland throws at those of us who live here, once spring comes,  you start to forget just how bad the winter was in a haze of vitamin-D induced euphoria. Then there are the flowers. The lovely, lovely flowers...







And the sun! And trips to the Royal Botanic Gardens! And...and...what was I complaining about all those months? 








Today I'm off to Morocco for a week. I'm feeling very calm. No rush, no last minute worries. This is what happens when you take afternoon flights instead of 6 am flights. I need to remember this, and plan my future travel accordingly. 


So prepare for a taste of Northern Africa next time I write! And everyone enjoy the Royal Wedding! I myself will be sitting in the Marrakesh medina watching snake charmers at that time...


<3 Kim

Londres otra vez y en primavera

Time marches on and it’s another blog written from another train headed south…March almost over, the clocks have sprung forward, and the mythical sun has deemed the British Isles worthy of her presence.

It’s about time, eh? This winter was definitely loooooonger than the last two I spent in Edinburgh. Multiple reasons for that, I know, and many of them explicitly NOT related to the weather or the position of the earth in relation to the sun. Luckily for me, the first day of spring also corresponds with my birthday, meaning that I am able to ring in new life for the earth with a new year of my own life. Poetic, I’m sure. There are cherry blossoms on the trees outside my window as the train crawls into York station, a lovely pink burst of new life. I love flowers, and have started buying them for my flat on a regular basis. I usually buy the ones that are close to their Tesco “expiration date”, both because they are strongly discounted and because I feel like these beautiful buds deserve the chance to brighten a home just as much as the newer ones. There is nothing WRONG with these flowers, but they have been deemed as having a shorter life span then their packaging claims, or else one bud has snapped off and the bouquet is deemed too damaged to be sold full price.

Fittingly reminiscent of our cultural obsession with youth, I think. We want the youngest, most flawless people in our movies and TV, and we want the least damaged fruits-flowers-pets-cars-partners. Personally, I cannot comprehend a life of perfectly undamaged goods. How boring and lacking in character! Character is the one thing that we continue to develop throughout or lifetime, slowly formed by every experience, run-in, and life-affirming event we dance through. The minute we are born we slowly begin to die, one day, one year at a time. It is what we do with the life between birth and death that defines us, and the people and things that we cherish that will remind others of us once we are gone. And if you think about it, all of our worldly goods, no matter how new and shiny and perfect they are now, will someday end up in what anthropology calls a ‘midden’, which is really just another name for a DUMP, mingled with other material goods into a stratified history of society that future archaeologists will dig through with careful excitement, hoping to find the secrets of a society long gone, lost in the sands of time.

Now, I’m not trying to preach about the evils of consumerism. (Anyone who has ever helped me move or stored boxes of my belongings when I move overseas knows that I am a leeeetle bit of a packrat.) I’m just saying, we should value the things we own, see the beauty in items that have already lived one life and still have life left in them instead of immediately throwing them out when the newer model comes out. Think about how ugly the world would be if we were constantly tearing down old buildings to build new, more structurally relevant ones? Or fervently fixing any flaws or cracks that creep into our useful possessions? There would be no amazing Roman architecture left from the time before Christ to draw millions of people into Rome each year, no cracked Liberty Bell to remind us of the struggles that our ancestors went through in order to build a new nation.

This week my family is emptying out my Grandparent’s house in South Carolina to get it ready for rental. A sad, nostalgic time spent revisiting Al and Helen’s past through their material possessions. Unbearably emotional for my parents, Aunts, and Uncles; and unbearably emotional for me, because I cannot be there to help them and to touch the physical remains of my grandparent’s lives together as they were left by my Grandma when she left for the west coast in 2009, not knowing that she would never return to her home. Now the life that was so neatly stored and displayed and lived in the house by the lake will be boxed up and moved to Seattle, for my Grandmother to have near her and for the family to take to their respective homes, bringing new life and purpose to old items that hold memories and sentiment of the last 83 years of my Grandmother’s life and the too-short life that my Grandfather lost 15 years ago.

How much will these items lose by being moved from their home? Will the shadow of sentiment diminish with the passage of hands and time? Yes. But I know that my family will try its hardest to retain the most meaningful pieces, the most fabulous memories, for years to come.

This has turned into a much more depressing and wandering piece than I initially intended. I was going to share news of my birthday, news of the arrival of spring. But I suppose in a circuitous way I have done both of those things. I am 27 years old. I have ushered in spring with the addition of another notch in the belt of my life. And I will, I know, continue to live, continue to collect items of consequence and (hopefully) of character. This is what we as humans do. We give meaning to the most meaningless events and we attach emotion to the most lifeless items. But it is our choosing of these items, our reactions to these events that make an impact.

Remember this the next time you casually toss out an old scarf, or carelessly knock a chip out of your dining room table. Or when you walk past the discounted flowers at the grocery store. What material goods do you want to define you, to define our culture 300 years from now? Would we treat items with such careless abandon if we knew that someone, somehow, would be able to equate their state of being with us personally when they are dug out of the midden? I don’t know…

But I do know that this plastic inflatable man will not be the defining object in my life. He was a good party favour, but I’m pretty sure I won’t be leaving him in my closet for my future family to find when I have gone.


A birthday "gift" haha

<3 Kim

In Like a Lion...

If by "lion" you mean freezing hurricane-like winds, snow, and hail then yes, March has definitely roared right across Scotland for the past 13 days like a big freakin' African lion!

 

This is what the weather has felt like lately

It started off ok, with a few days of sun and temperatures ABOVE 40º (practically summer, in my book!), but the arrival of my friend Sylvia straight from the scorching summer heat and sun of South Africa brought the Edinburgh winter back for a few more weeks. You know, just in case Sylvia needed some instant winter gratification. I was much nicer to Sylv, welcoming her back with wine and a blood orange olive oil cake instead of Baltic breezes. 

The cake was amazing, I highly recommend trying olive oil cakes. They are like a pound cake, but with oil instead of butter. They are amazingly moist but light, and the mix of fruity olive oil and blood orange makes this an amazing treat. Especially topped with a zingy glaze and some fresh fruit. Oh the yum! 

Back to March...

I always connote March with spring, mild temperatures, flowers starting to break through the ground, lighter clothes and lighter days. Alas, that is the March of California. Here, March brings hope after the long, cold, dark Northern winters. It also brings this: 

Makes you scared to go outside, eh? 

So even though the weather outside is frightful, having friends and parties is so delightful! As the Anthro girls slowly trickle back into the country, and the sun slowly starts rising earlier in the morning and setting later in the day, life is getting a little bit better. It is easier to raise your head to see what is ahead of you when you aren't burdened by eternal night. This is especially important as I will be celebrating my official entry into my late 20's next week, and birthdays are a time for focusing on the future. 

Persian Dinner Party with Kate, Siobhan, and Sylvia

I always find it easier to take on lifestyle changes when it's brighter outside. So fingers crossed for some healthier living this spring! If March has come roaring in like a snowy white lion, I hope I can channel that energy to help me focus on myself, my Spanish, and my goals for the future! That is the kind of lion I want to have surrounding me for the next 18 days, until April can take over with it's own special nuances and age old adages...

Happy Weekend!

<3 Kim

2 down, 10 to go!

Months that is, in 2011.

I cannot believe that tomorrow it will be MARCH! Third month of the year, full of fabulous things, like Mardi Gras, the beginning of spring, and my birthday! It seems like New Years was just a few weeks ago, and living through January and February is the hardest part of the year in Edinburgh. Dark, cold, miserable, and seemingly never ending, it makes me so excited to know that the literal darkest part of the year is over!

The other day I saw a flock of birds flying North, and the sun has been shining on Edinburgh for three whole days! Hope springs eternal! I am so excited to not have to wear boots 24/7 any longer! And it is amazing how much brighter everyone's outlook is when the sun returns!

I have really enjoyed the past month, writing and catching everyone up on the last 10 months of my life. I hope you have enjoyed it as well, and while I cannot upkeep a daily blog, I will try my hardest to write as often as I can!



He had been eight years upon a project for extracting sunbeams out of cucumbers, which were to be put into vials hermetically sealed, and let out to warm the air in raw, inclement summers.  ~Jonathan Swift


Happy End of Winter!

<3 Kim

Resolutions

In January I decided to make some of the dreaded resolutions for the year.

A desire to better oneself is normal in January, right? After two months of gluttony, revelry, and debauchery what could be better than some introspection into the things about ourselves that we want to change? Although that introspection may make you want to dive into a bottle of wine to pretend you never ventured into the dark territory of self-improvement and never saw the bits of yourself that are going to be HARD to change.

I have one or two hard ones, but some of the rest were much easier to take on.

Actively learn Spanish
Cook or bake a new recipe every week
Start writing again
Learn how to make really good yeast bread.

Spanish? Check! I'm really enjoying my Spanish class, and I am definitely looking forward to going further with the learning. I would love to do some immersion learning time in a Spanish speaking country to help me become fluent!

New recipes? I'm doing pretty good here too...It can be hard to remember or take the time to follow a new recipe, especially when you're tired/don't have the ingredients/just want to make your basic stand-by dish to get dinner over with! So I usually try to cook or bake something new on Sunday, when I have more time to do so.

Start writing again? Check! Not only have I been doing the blog, but check out my theatre review from Richard III:
http://www.playstosee.com/page.php?sad=play&id=104

Learn how to make yeast bread? errr...It's too soon to tell. I have issues with yeast breads. The wee buggers don't seem to like me enough to want to rise! Soda bread serves me well, but I really want to be able to make my own baguettes! Good thing there is still plenty of time left in the year!

So we'll see how the rest of the year goes! If all goes well, I'll be able to write a whole blog without using a translation website, and I'll get through the hundreds of saved recipes that I've been wanting to make for ages! And maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to stop buying bread! :-)


Happy Sunday!

<3 Kim

New Year...New York

As I was winging my way east towards Manhattan on December 29th, the two people who I was flying to New York to spend New Years with were in two very unideal predicaments.

The blizzard on Manhattan stopped Yara, who lives there, from getting back after christmas. She was stuck in London until the 30th. Adam, coming from Scotland to meet us, had his flight cancelled and had to fly to Boston before taking the Greyhound up to meet me in New York.

Luckily, my lovely cousin Autumn had gotten back to New York before the blizzard, and she was able to save me from sleeping in the airport for the night! After many hours of ridiculousness that I won't bore you with, I arrived in Manhattan after midnight, keeping my poor cousin awake far later than I should have gossiping.

The next day, after a bagel and coffee at my FAVOURITE bagel place in NYC, I wandered the city before picking up Adam at the Bus station, we then whiled away some time in a bakery where I introduced him to the magic of sweet potato-pecan pie before Yara arrived.

Tal's Bagels...yum!

See...Sweet potato pecan pie!

Adam falls instantly in love

Ah, the magic of friends reunited after a long absence! I'm sure Yara's neighbours thought we were all insane. We are a dangerous force when we're together. That night we had dinner and dessert with Autumn at some amazing places who's names I will never remember, followed by a day walking the city, visiting too many after-Chrstmas sales, and getting ready to ring in 2011.

Cousins!

For the festivities, Yara had arranged for the three of us, plus seven of her friends, to have dinner, plus an open bar, and dancing with a DJ at a restaurant on the lower east side. It. Was. Brilliant. The food was amazing, the company was too much fun, and the music kept us going all night long!

Yara, The Birthday Boy, and Faha

Champagne and party favours

Our whole group

<3

On the way home we had to amuse ourselves waiting for the few and far between night subways to arrive...

Hey there Homeless man!

What way? THAT WAY!

hmmm...

How you know it's the end of the night...

New Years Day was celebrated with some greasy food, Central Park, and the Guggenheim Museum...a good mix for those of us that felt less than 100% after too much champagne.

New Years Phone calls with the parents

Colouring while we wait for food!

Central Park

Aww my loveys!

The Gugg

The amazing exhibit we saw

That night we got to meet some of Adam's friends who live in NY, and I got to see Autumn again. The food was memorable only for it's lack of deliciousness, but it was a nice relaxed way to spend my last night.

The next day I flew home. After one last bagel and a stop at Bloomingdales, I cried my way through one last call from my parents, a bus and subway ride, and through the last goodbyes at security.

It was a fabulous way to ring in the New Year, and helped me realise that as much as I love the west coast, New York really is pretty awesome!

Back in the Review Seat

Tonight I'm going to review Shakespeare's Richard III for the website I do theatre review for, PLaystosee.com. I haven't reviewed anything in AGES, and I've never read nor seen Richard III...So I need to do some research! 


Oh, Wikipedia, how I love thee!

"Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591, depicting the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England...It is widely considered to be one of Shakespeare's greatest plays.

After Hamlet, it is the longest play in the canon...The play is rarely performed unabridged; often, certain peripheral characters are removed entirely. In such instances extra lines are often invented or added from elsewhere in the sequence to establish the nature of characters' relationships. A further reason for abridgment is that Shakespeare assumed that his audiences would be familiar with the Henry VI plays, and frequently made indirect references to events in them, such as Richard's murder of Henry VI or the defeat of Henry's queen Margaret."

Hmmm...should be interesting! I've never seen nor read ANY of Shakespeare's histories. I hope it is as interesting as his other stories!  

I'm looking forward to doing this again. I've missed using that part of my brain! If only they would pay me...haha oh well...

Ok off to the Theatre! 

<3 Kim