Congratulations are long, long overdue to Francis and his husband. On a related note, this makes me very, very happy and hopeful for the US (via):
The times, they are a-changing.
Welcome to Pig Island
Radiant Copenhagen (via) is both most most fascinating and disturbing thing I have seen in a long time.
Global warming has flooded the tunnels of the Christianshavn part of the Copenhagen metro network. Now the metro is occupied by whales and the occasional diver. Other strange things are happening to Copenhagen too.This scenario is part of an elaborate and whimsical futurist mapping project called Radiant Copenhagen. If you navigate around the Copenhagen city map created by people working on the project, you'll discover information about everything from bizarre new venereal diseases (..) to a crucial research organization called the Center of Improbability and Invisibility.
Looking at a well-known shopping centre and seeing what happens to it in RC's alternative history feel like .. it feels very probable and thus completely freaky.
I realise that I might be extraordinarily swayed by RC because Copenhagen was my home for more than a decade. I know the streets and buildings. I recognise the political satire in some of the outlandish events (like what happens to the University). I even recognise some of the contributors' names. Still, you don't need to know Copenhagen to get a big kick out of Radiant Copenhagen. It's bizarre, trippy and maybe the most involving online "game" I've seen in a long time. Enjoy.
The Good Life
Sunday afternoons. Don't you just love them? Depending upon our mood and energy level, we either curl up with books or head out to explore our neighbourhood on foot.
Yesterday we donned our coats and went for a walk along the Forth and Clyde canal. Glasgow Council had obviously decided the footpaths needed a spring overhaul, as the topsoil had been scraped off the sides of the paths by diggers. Quite quickly our walk turned into something else: a treasure hunt. It started off with us noticing some lumps of jet-black glass, but when I started digging with a stick, something white started emerging. Clay tobacco pipes - most likely 19th century and quite possibly from when the canals were built? We found several stems and one bowl (which you can see in the photo). I'm fairly used to finding things in the ground - I grew up in a part of Denmark which has been populated since the Neolithic period and I have found flint arrow heads etc - but it is the first time I have found anything in Scotland. It makes me want to learn even more about our local history.
Knitting continues, of course. I have a few inches to go on the body before I'm starting the edging. I'm dragging it out a bit as I'll be knitting the button band next and my buttons won't arrive for a few days.
I'm a tiny bit concerned about the fit as the cardigan is quite tight on me at the moment, but I think the alpaca yarn will stretch considerably during blocking, so it will be okay. I hope blocking will also sort out the difference between the handspun yarn (which is relatively loose) and the alpaca yarn (which is relatively tight and curling a great deal). Blocking solves everything, right?
As the cardigan grows bigger every day, I have begun to think about tiny, portable projects. Recently I promised five friends that I'd make them a little handmade something each, so I have that in the back of my head too. I was wondering whether it would be possible for me to make five items using five different crafts - and while it would becompletely feasible, I'm slightly worried about quality control. Surely I'm not the only one who's a bit paranoid about the quality of the things I make?
Thank you all for the books and TV suggestions. One of these days I should take photos of our bookshelves because I suspect you think I'm slightly bonkers when I say "oh, we already have that" or "oooh, David has that tucked away". We have a lot of books (although not quite as many I used to have in Denmark, but that's another story for another day).
PS. I cannot find my iPod. I'm mildly distressed.
There And Back Again
Today we saw ..
.. our new nephew (three weeks old!)..
.. the "Eye of Grampian" ferris wheel..
.. and Aberdeen beach where I found lava rocks.
(Thank you so much for your helpful and insightful comments. I'll reply to each and everyone of you once I've had some much needed sleep. We've been on quite a bus journey today.)
Help Me Out
I have no idea what this will become although I'm thinking "strange necklace" or "very strange necklace". I just liked the colour combination of the turquoise waxed cotton and the matte red beads. I have some big opaque white beads too which I think might also make an interesting necklace. I don't tend to wear much jewellery, so this is certainly a departure for me.
Regular readers might have spotted that I am dealing with persistent medical matters and that I tend to visit doctors and/or hospitals with alarming frequency (actually, there is nothing alarming about the medical matters but I prefer not to blog about very personal things. I never was a confessional blogger). Anyway, this week I was advised by my NHS person to relax as much as possible in the weeks to come and, I quote, "watch some trashy TV and read crap books".
Huh.
Trashy TV: I don't think I will ever be able to stomach this. I tried watching some nonsense "middle-age female TV presenter investigates cosmetic surgery" programme yesterday but I only lasted ten minutes before switching to G20 coverage on BBC News. Is there a trashy TV programme which I would potentially enjoy? Recommendations for standard UK networks (remember, I'm in Scotland).
Crap books: Granted the actual words were "light reading which won't rot your brain but won't tax you either" but the gist is certainly crap books. Any recs? I think I'd prefer historical fiction, regency romances, fantasy or crime novels set in the early 20th C, but I'm open to suggestions. I'm not keen on contemporary chick lit, hard-boiled crime novels or writers who have graphic sex scenes every 18th pages or less (Laurell K. Hamilton, I'm looking at you in utter disgust).
Today I trawled through the seedy secondhand shops in Glagow's Partick area and managed to pick up 9 books for less than £5 plus a fabulous knitting magazine from 1983 with hilarious sweater patterns, stress-inducing lace socks and a curtain for the auto-camper.. and the beads you see in the photo. I tried to go for "crap books" but sadly I ended up with mostly Booker prize nominees and post-colonial classics. I clearly need recommendations.
I Was Just Here. Where Did I Go?
Kirsten Marie, my good friend and erstwhile bookish.dk contributor, visited Scotland this week. We spent a few days walking around Glasgow's West End, drinking coffee, and I talked her into buying some expensive Japanese yarn(!) too. It felt really good to talk in Danish again and I really enjoyed being able to make culture-specific jokes (like quoting Lars von Trier's Riget in a wholly inappropriate context). Walking around with Kirsten Marie, I realised how much more settled I feel here in Glasgow now than I did just a year ago or so. I can navigate Glasgow now and do so with ever increasing confidence. Vegan food? Oh, go to Sith, the 78 or Mono. Fair trade, you say? Bolshie's the place. Arty? There's a really great mural just down by Kelvinbridge subway station. Okay, so I wouldn't be able to point you to the local gun range, but I wouldn't have been able to do that in Copenhagen either
Knitting-wise, I have done a lot in the last few days owing to the fact that Kirsten Marie has been bitten by the knitting bug and not only demanded to be taken to yarn shops(!!) but also thought knitting in public to be a perfectly agreeable way of spending her holiday here. So I only have 6" to go on the body of my green cardigan before I can start the sleeves. I am still unsure about which buttons to use. Having been VERY monogamous with my knitting lately, I am dying to cast on one or two new projects (I never have more three WIPs on the go - I know it's sickening) but first I need to re-organise my stash. Other Half had to get something in the closet behind my yarn containers and everything's now all a-jumble. It's really lucky that I love organising books and balls of wool.
A few random links from the last few days:
+ The Other G20. My postcode happens to be G20 and a BBC journalist went to see what it's like here. One comment at the buttom nails it: "The schizophrenia of the postcode is emphasised by a local running joke: those originally from Glasgow who live in G20 say they live in Maryhill; those who have moved to G20 to the middle-class developments refer to it as North Kelvinside". I live in .. North Kelvinside. + Seven Abandoned Cities and Towns of Europe. Beautiful urban/rural decay. + Cornify: "the #1 unicorn and rainbow service worldwide, giving websites sparkle around the world." Yes, Cornify is really for all your unicorn and rainbow needs. + Sound Comparisons: accents of English from around the world.