A Sassenach Soliloquy

Friday, October 22

Service temporarily suspended

Clearly I am busy, since I have not blogged for about ten days now, and before that entry for a week.

Life is very good; I am motivated and enjoying my studies. I'm playing lots of Ultimate and enjoying Edinburgh. In short, life is too busy to blog.

So service is to be suspended here until early December, when term ends. Some photos may go up, as finding some time to take some photos of Edinburgh is something of a priority at the moment, but, friends, I can't promise any writing for the time being.

So, enjoy your autumn, and I'll be back at Christmas time.

Sunday, October 10

The trials of flathunting: #6 in a series of six

Yep, that's right; I've moved into my new flat.

Four weeks ago I described my criteria. This is what I wrote:

Perfect: Large double-room, kitchen not seperate from living area, wooden floors, bike storage, broadband; one or two non-smoking flatmates, non-British flatmates, female flatmates, late-20s or early-30s flatmates; close to Uni, good greengrocers down the road, good fishmongers down the road, good off-license (Oddbins) down the road, good pub around the corner.

Acceptable: Medium-sized room with one-and-a-half-person-bed, kitchen not a box, carpets, bike allowed in room or in hall, good internet connection at Uni; one or two considerate smokers as flatmates, British flatmates, male flatmates, early-20s flatmates; a 15-minute cycle from Uni, good greengrocers on the cycle to Uni, a fishmonger somewhere nearby, respectable off-license down the road, good pub ten minutes away.


So, how does the place shape up?

Large double-room? Medium-sized double. Kitchen and living area the same? Yes. Wooden floors? Some laminated, some carpet. Bike storage? Yes. Broadband? Yes. One or two flatmates? Yes, one. Non-smoking? Yes. Non-British? No. Female? No. Late-200s or early 30s? No, but he seems mature for his 23 years. Close to Uni? Oh yes: six minutes door-to-door, a short walk across the park where we play Ultimate. Good greengrocers? Yes, three (!). Good fishmongers? Yes, two. Good off-license? Yes. Good pub? Of course: this is Edinburgh. In fact, the row of shops just down the road is the best local row of shops I think I've ever seen, and just another reason I'm really happy with the place.

Life continues to be good.

Wednesday, October 6

"..especially when somebody as cute as you's around"

I found myself having a boogie last night. One of our gang was a girl, J., and there was another J., this one a guy, who fancies the first J.

So there's me, enjoying myself on the dancefloor (of a very nice intimate little bar-cum-club with a middle-eastern flavour, and sofas and beds everywhere) when J. (the girl) starts - how do you describe it? - rubbing herself up and down my body. (That sounds odd, and I just mean the usual knees-between-knees, rhythmic up-and-down movement.)

"What about J..." I ask, "..he'll get jealous y'know."

She rolls her eyes; "Ah, but he doesn't understand I'm not into this whole 'exclusivity' thing at the moment". There's a pause in the conversation, which she chooses to break herself; "..especially when somebody as cute as you's around".

It's nice having your ego massaged.