David Foster Wallace has died aged just 46. Infinite Jest is one of those books that I have always meant to read but thus far haven't managed for a number of reasons. + The Guardian mourns his death + Slate looks back at Wallace's political involvement and asks questions about USA in 2008. + Chicago Tribune also looks back at Wallace's life and literary career.
Third-Party Candidate?
Just a quick link before I go out to face the world: Palin For President! That is, Michael Palin For President! The case for him is strong (you know, apart from him being Michael Palin which is an awesome reason as it is). Addendum: Saturday Night Live sketch ft Tina Fey as The Other Palin. "And I can see Russia from my house!"
Cadder Excursion
The HarperCollins visit was a great success. They marketed the event as a chance to see original Peter Pan artwork and unseen letters from famous authors such as JRR Tolkien and Agatha Christie, but in reality we enjoyed the visit to the cartographic offices much more. We also had a chance to peek into the process of making dictionaries. Very cool, very interesting and very cheap because the on-site bookshop was closed. Boo.
The Antonine Wall/the Cadder Fort? Underwhelming as the site was excavated in the 1930s and subsequently turned into a sand quarry during World War II. So we stood in the rain, looked across the Forth and Clyde canal and saw a bunch of trees. However, as the Antonine Wall now has been declared a World Heritage Site, we might get to see something a bit more involving in the future. We did learn that the Roughcastle fort in Falkirk is well-preserved and well worth a visit, so we might head up there at some point.
Finally, we spent some time at Cadder Parish Church which stands in the middle of a forest. There has been a church on site since the mid-12th century and although the church has been rebuilt and refurbished many times since, you could still see the passing of ages in the surroundings. Dave loves his stained glass windows and was thrilled to see stained glass windows featuring World War I tanks. I was more taken in by the graveyard and its odd open iron coffin.. It was used during the 19th c to deter grave robbers (who'd sell fresh bodies to the anatomy schools). You'd simply put the coffin on top of the grave, fill it with stones and just sit in a little waiting house nearby until you heard the unmistakable sound of men trying to remove stones from the iron coffin. The waiting house is still there -- it looks to be a favourite spot for the local foxes.
And what is this? Could this be a sighting of the increasingly common februarii ladius sweaterae? I believe this one is the organic Scottish Gray variant with mother-of-pearl features..
This photo was actually taken a day earlier during our bramble picking adventure. Bramble is the Scottish word for blackberry and we have had quite a few bramble crumbles lately. Yum, yum.
Saturday Linkage
As Ms Bookish and her Other Half are off examining Roman ruins and the HarperCollins Archives, here are some links to tide you over.
- Test Your Colour IQ. The lower your number, the better. I managed a respectable 8 with slightly flaws in the blue spectrum (I don't like that colour, anyway)
- Television Tropes and Idioms. "Trope refers to story components or elements which have become standardized through decades (or more) of use." From Cross Cultural Kerfluffle via Because Destiny Says So to Uncanny Family Resemblance, this Wiki will suck away hours of your life.
- To Die By Your Side is an excellent music blog. A good place to start is when his girlfriend takes him to see James Blunt at Glastonbury
- Out.com's The 100 Greatest, Gayest Albums (of All Time). Interesting, if slightly random (Sgt. Pepper, anyone?!) and notable absentees like Jimmy Somerville (only Bronski Beat are represented) or Tegan & Sara while Queen and Pet Shop Boys are richly represented.
- LHC Compact Muon Solenoid Experiment Webcams. CERN has been kind enough to set up a live streaming webcam to watch the CMS in action. Quite ingenious.
Enjoy.
West End Girl
Not everyone can say that they've had their knitting-in-progress cooed over by a BAFTA winner and OBE recipient but now I can. My mother's quite excited. Yesterday David and I went out for dinner to celebrate my two years in Scotland. On our way to the restaurant we stumbled across 'Polish Taste' - a little Polish deli here in the West End. David suggested we could take a look as we were running a bit early and I am very grateful that he did. I found all the things I hadn't managed to find anywhere during my first two years in Glasgow: affordable buttermilk and live yeast! They also had some very, very delicious sourdough bread. Wooh. I never thought of Danish food as being very 'Baltic cuisine' but, according to manager Joanna Korzeniowski, I was not the first Dane to be ridiculously pleased about buttermilk.
And, finally, Lost in Fiction is opening down the street soon. The shop front is all pretty and mysterious. I'm rather excited about its Ffordian/Nextian name. Ooh!
Anniversary
I've now been in Scotland two years. It seems longer than that. I could lie and say they have been the best two years of my life but they haven't. They've been stressful, hurtful and a lot of work. I think they can best be described in terms of a grieving process. I lost a part of my life when I moved across the North Sea and I needed to work through my grief before I could see what my new life was giving me. That was very hard - especially because I failed to recognise my grief.
But here I am two years later and I have managed to build a new life. This takes time, I was told, but I never believed it.
Here's to many more years in Scotland. May they be so much better than the last two.
And, finally, was it worth it? Yes. Yes, it has been worth it. Yes.