A Domino Effect

To everyone who helped me celebrate my blog’s first birthday by submitting lovely birthday-themed comments, thank you!  I want to pick you all as winners but I’m afraid there’s not enough free stuff to go round – isn’t that always the way?

So without further ado, the winner is…

Lovely Jane from Cobblestonesea!

Congratulations Jane!  Drop me a line at ralreid@gmail.com with your address and I’ll get some lovely freebies on their way to you very soon!

With that little globule of excitement out of the way, I can move on to boring you all with tales of a wet Edinburgh Autumn.  As is the usual these days, the infrequency of my posting is an issue.  Rather than spread my thoughts out into manageable bites, I invariably find myself vomiting all of my newsworthy tales into the one post, guaranteed to bring even my most patient, kind-hearted readers out in a rash.  For this I can only offer my apologies (again) and promise you that I’ll try my utmost to do better next week.  In the meantime, here’s some useless information about the last seven days…

…Visiting

So last weekend I went to London.  The picture above is of a rainy Portobello market on Saturday morning, chalked to the brim with battered brown satchels, Victorian teapots and enormous vats of delicious-smelling paella.  As you can imagine, the country bumpkin in me found all of this painfully exciting, and I surprised myself considerably by being not even an inch of a bit bothered by the amoeba-like crowds that swamped the stalls and swarmed in and out of the shops in a hapless bid to dodge the showers.  Despite my insatiable satchel obsession, I managed to refrain from buying one, and instead shored up my desire for vintage tan leather by gorging on some market stall falafel instead.  A righteous substitute, I thought.

London excites me.  It carries a mysterious but completely alluring aura that I’ve yet to encounter in another UK city.  It makes Edinburgh look like the Outer Hebrides it’s so vibrant.  Places to go, things to see, bandwagons to jump on (and the people watching is second to none).  Whenever I go I find it almost impossible not to feel both completely ecstatic and utterly baffled at the same time.  I’d love to experience the city in more depth, and after two relatively pain-free train journeys, I’ve come to believe, however foolishly, that this isn’t quite the impossibility I’ve previously imagined.  So with that in mind I’ve firmly scrawled (in ink) the words ‘explore London’ upon my long-term to-do list.  I’ll let you know what comes of it.

…Watching

In other news, I’ve seen a few good films recently.  Last Thursday I went to the always-delightful Dominion to watch Red (Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Bruce Willis), which was absurdly entertaining and laugh-a-second stuff, despite considerable amounts of eye-popping gore.  Then last night I saw The Kids are All Right, which I really enjoyed, despite some initial scepticism.  I also watched The Proposal last week, which really made me laugh despite its much-deserved place on the wholly predictable rom-com trash scale (which I’m by no means averse to now and then).

…Spiritually cleansing

Sadly not cosmic ordering.  Over the past year or so, a couple of my long-term friendships seem to have been causing me more upset and anxiety than happiness and fulfilment.  There aren’t really any concrete reasons as to why, and I don’t even think that there’s any blame or fault to apportion.  I simply haven’t felt positive about things for a long time, and instead have been harbouring considerable amounts of self-reproach and bitterness – rarely a good course of action that one.  So instead of battle on and let things consume me, I decided a few weeks ago to lie low for a while, to make less contact and fewer arrangements with those involved and to generally give myself a bloody break.  It’s not a very easy thing to do, and I have worried a couple of times that I’m doing more harm than good by distancing myself from my problems rather than confronting them head-on in all their ugliness.  At the same time, however, my mind already feels like less of a glass paperweight than it has done for a while.  The break has also freed up time for me to hang out with people who do good things for my soul, which is never something to complain about.

…Meeting

Finally, and speaking of people who do good things for my soul, I met one of my favourite bloggers!  Holly was in town last Wednesday, so we met for a coffee and spent the whole time chatting like old friends.  This was a novel experience for me, given that I’ve never met anyone I know online in person before (and I have to admit to having been a little bit nervous beforehand), but it really was great to transpose our friendship from keyboard to coffee shop after all these months.  I would definitely encourage anyone with blogger friends in the vicinity to take the leap of faith and meet in person.  Who knows what might come of it?

What have you been doing this week?

This is a rather late and awfully photo-less offering to the last round of Friday 5′s. The first week of uni has churned up a surprising amount of homework, and being the diligent, conscientious (or, rather, confused and panicky) student that I am, I’ve been sitting at my desk for most of the weekend, feverishly typing away and attempting to soothe my brain back into study mode (which, by the way, isn’t really happening for me). The topic this week was favourite local hotspots – one that I couldn’t not have posted about. Any excuse to bore people with tales of my beloved Edinburgh is just fine by me. The only problem was that I couldn’t narrow my list down to just five. I know, blatant flouting of the rules and all, but seeing as it’s the last one I didn’t think anyone would mind. So in no particular order, here are my six favourite spots in Caledonia’s capital…

Loopy Lorna’s Tea House

Loopy Lorna’s comes very high on my list of afternoon tea joints as well as my list of favourite local hotspots. Mismatched floral china, hand-knitted tea cosies, three-tier cake stands positively groaning with all sorts of goodies…it’s heavenly. It’s also a little on the expensive side, so I don’t go every Sunday, but the cakes are ludicrously good. I’ve fallen so madly in love with the Victoria sponge at this place that I seem to be ordering it every time I go and rudely neglecting the other tantalising offerings. Loopy’s also does an admirable range of speciality teas, including rose petal and masala chai. My standing favourite is ‘bricks and mortar’ – a proper builder-style brew which is absolutely perfect for all these autumnal afternoons we’re currently experiencing!

The Meadows

Any list of my favourite Edinburgh hangouts would be achingly incomplete without this. The Meadows is really just a series of tree-lined paths bisecting some randomly shaped patches of grass, but it is such a special and interesting place to be. Special because of the atmosphere, interesting because of the people. I once saw a man holding an umbrella over himself while he unicycled home from work, for instance (how cool is that?!). I’ve also seen a rather joyful girl doing cartwheels in the rain stark naked, and a runner who was using his hands to claw the air like a tiger as he jogged (I kid you not). An often-bizarre but ever-brilliant place to pass through, the Meadows is definitely one of my favourite things about Edinburgh.

Dominion Cinema

My boyfriend and I always joke that the Dominion isn’t just a cinema. It’s an experience. And I can’t think of any better way to describe it than that. Set way back from the heart of the city in leafy, lovely Morningside, the Dominion is old-fashioned, traditional and a world, a universe even, away from the mass-produced multiplex conglomerates that are, depressingly, absolutely everywhere. It has huge screens with leather two-seater couches, armchairs and coffee tables. It’s like watching a film in a giant living room with a whole bunch of your friends. It also has a bar serving beer, wine and tea, and which is manned by a barman who wears a suit and a bow-tie, not a garish polo shirt and a baseball cap a la Cineworld, which I love. The sad thing is, of course, that the chain multiplexes with their vast PR coffers are driving places like the Dominion out of business, in the same way that Tesco is forcing the closure of local high street grocery stores left, right and centre. So, here’s my one and only plug of the post: if you’re ever in Edinburgh, looking for a place to watch a film, please please give the Dominion a blast. You’ll love it, I promise!

The Rusty Zip

The Rusty Zip is a branch of Armstrong’s, a vintage clothing emporium with, I think, three stores in Edinburgh all told. The Zip is a tiny place, but it’s packed to the rafters (literally – if you want something from high up they have to get a ladder out) with second hand clothes, shoes and killer accessories. Particularly good finds of mine have included a polka dot dress a la Julia Roberts at the races in Pretty Woman; a pair of black slouch boots that I wore so much they now need to be re-heeled and a purple taffeta dress that properly rocks my world. Think the high school hop in Grease and you’re totally there. The Rusty Zip will always be one of my favourite shops, simply because it’s so quirky and it houses so many weird and wonderful bits of clothing that the high street would simply turn a blind eye to. Cute, kooky and Amazing with a capital ‘A’!

Blackford Hill

Blackford Hill is one of the first places I’ll think of when I need a bit of peace and quiet. It’s only a half hour walk away from my flat and it has a really beautiful view right over the entire city and beyond, across the Firth of Forth to Fife and the surrounding area. I sometimes go on my own, just to sit and think about whatever’s going on in my head, and I go with my boyfriend lots too. I can’t count the number of times we’ve sprinted the last couple of minutes to the top just to catch the sun setting! Blackford is a great place to go with friends as it’s so easily accessible. A group of us went on Bonfire Night two years ago with a tray of home-made toffee apples and a few flasks of tea, and a bunch of us also went on New Year’s Day this year, where we watched the first sunset of 2010 and played in the foot-deep snow. Hmm, all this talking about it has made me want to don my boots and go right now!

Edinburgh University Main Library

My final favorite hotspot is a new one to me, which I’ve only really discovered in the past week or so. From the outside, the main library looks like a multi-storey car park which, oddly enough, it actually was originally intended to be! But inside, the place is a mecca for learning. There are thousands upon thousands of books here, on every subject thinkable, from astronomy to obesity to linguistics to engineering. There are desks, computers and quiet study spaces absolutely everywhere and it even boasts a little cafe where you can refuel yourself on tea while chewing on coursework problems. The thing I like most about this library, however, is its location. It sits right on the edge of the Meadows, so if you’re lucky enough to bag a much-coveted seat by a South-facing window you can punctuate your study or reading sessions with a bit of people-watching and some tree-gazing. It’s a wonderfully relaxing place to spend a bit of time, and I already know I’m going to be truly sorry at the end of this year when I have to relinquish my student card and say goodbye.

What a wonderful topic to come back to after a few weeks’ absence from Friday 5! The thought-provokers have to be my favourite genre of film.  I can appreciate a mindless chick flick, I don’t mind a gun-slinging action fest and hell, I could probably watch the entire Disney backcatalogue in one sitting.  But my absolute favourite type of film is the one that makes me think.  And while some films make us think in the sense that they raise important historical or contemporary issues to the fore, my ultimate definition of a thought-provoking film is one that makes me question. Question life itself, or reality, or space, or time, or even my own mind. So while I’ve seen, thought about and greatly appreciated films like Blood Diamond, The Hurt Locker and The Shawshank Redemption (the list goes on, and on), these escape my compendium of favourite thought-provoking films, simply because they don’t carry this latter quality, that of really lodging themselves within my psyche and forcing me to ask questions. So with that in mind, here are my five…

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Eternal Sunshine is a beautifully constructed story about life, love and the significance of memory. What do our memories do to us and where, or who, would we be without them?  If we could have our memories, or at least our bad memories, deleted, would we really be happy?  Would the sun really shine in the spotless mind?  This is such a poignant, bittersweet, beautiful film, and definitely worth a concentrated watch if you haven’t seen it already. The acting is also fantastic – this film convinced me that Jim Carrey is an extremely talented actor, and not just a lunatic with a rubber face. Epic.

Inception

I’ve already seen Inception twice at the cinema, and I really wouldn’t need much persuading to go a third time either (it was even better the second time, I thought). Let me just make it clear, this film is BRILLIANT. Not only does it have exactly the right balance of ingredients for a ‘pin you to your chair and compel you to lose yourself’ blockbuster – great cast, fantastic acting, ingenious plot and amazing soundtrack – but it’s also furiously provocative. It has made me think repeatedly about the significance of sleep, of dreams and their role and also about the ether of the subconscious mind.  My boyfriend and I discussed it for the entire walk home from the cinema both times and I’ve discussed it at length with other people as well.  Pure brain joy, that’s all I can say really.

Sliding Doors

Sliding Doors is, at one level anyway, a simple, pretty, romantic comedy. At another level, it’s a well-constructed foray into ideas of fate, (mis)fortune and the courses our lives take based on the simplest things we do. Could an ostensibly nondescript, mundane event like the catching or the missing of a train really hold the power to change our lives both fundamentally and irrevocably? I’m not a strong believer in the whole ‘everything happens (or doesn’t happen) for a reason’ adage (I tend to think of this as either a cop out or a really thin justification), but at the same time I don’t entirely refute the idea that fate has something of a role, however small, to play in each of our stories. I’m always left turning these ideas over in my mind when I watch Sliding Doors. A lovely film, with a subtle but nevertheless weirdly powerful message to send.

The Truman Show

Again, The Truman Show is a deceptive one. It could, on one level, be taken as simple, light-hearted entertainment. But it’s also so much more than that. This is the kind of film that makes you (or me) question your own reality. What if your life, everyone you know and everything you’ve ever come to believe, were fictional? What if your entire existence was someone else’s story, and everyone knew it but you? What is “reality” anyway, and who’s to define it? This film is not only incredibly, beautifully bittersweet, but it also has the capacity to turn me into a squirming bag of rabid paranoia and begin to accuse everyone around me of acting in the show of my life (egocentric a touch?!). It is brilliant, nonetheless. If you haven’t seen it, get it sorted.

Love, Actually

Finally, we come to Love, Actually. Paradigmatic chick flick, everyone’s favourite feel-good Christmas romp, the world is a great big jolly bundle of hugs, let’s break out the unicorns, yada yada yada. No, Love, Actually is on my list because I actually (ho ho) do consider it a provocative film. It’s a film about the tapestries formed by human lives. About how they intertwine, how the people we pass in the street, or encounter on the tube or the bus each have their own stories, their own families, friends, lovers, problems, worries, thoughts and opinions. Love Actually never fails to remind me that the world revolves around every one of us, and not simply me. Rarely a bad lesson to learn!

Check out the other Friday Fives if you get the chance – I’m slightly out of the loop and have shamefully little idea of who’s involved these days!  Start with Caroline, check out Holly and Laura (I think Kat‘s away this week) and follow any links you find!

Image above from Flickr.

Happy Mondays everyone!  I hope you have all had enjoyable weekends, and are excitedly anticipating another week!

My own weekend was by turns relaxing and superbly productive.  On Friday night I went to the cinema to see Inception, which was *amazing* (yes I know everyone has said that, but it was), and on Saturday I had dinner with one of my old flatmates and her boyfriend, which was both delicious (the food) and hilarious (the company).

I baked a batch of lemon cupcakes on Saturday afternoon, which were tasty, if not altogether aesthetically pleasing (this is the defining feature of my baking – tastes good, looks a bit wonky – absolutely nothing like the beautiful creation above), and I had a nose around some of the charity shops in my area, picking up a fantastic long-sleeved print dress in one.  It needs a tiny smidge of work on the sewing machine, but it will definitely be a great addition to the USA suitcase (three weeks and counting!!).

I also got round to dyeing a few bits and pieces of clothes that I haven’t worn in ages.  I bought a white cardigan a few months ago which mysteriously turned a dingy shade of grey after only one wash, and I also have a sundress and a couple of shirts that were looking slightly tired.  The dress was that awful shade of bubblegum pink - eeeeugh!  A blast of terracotta dye, however, and everything is ready to shine once more – one of the cheapest, yet most effective, reinvention tactics there is, I’m convinced of it!

Alongside dyeing (not dying), I donated a carrier bag of unwanted clothing and a couple of old books (I think I’m safely passed the stage in my life where I’ll feel the need to read Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, thank God) to the local Shelter shop, and a few small bits of furniture to the Bethany trust.

This week, I have a number of ‘boring but necessary’ things to do, which are thankfully offset by several things I’m really looking forward to.  In the boring but necessary corner, we have sorting and posting off documentation for uni next year; making an appointment with a careers advisor to discuss finances and listing a bunch of new stuff on eBay.  I was so busy cupcake baking and enjoying myself at the weekend that I completely missed out on the two free listing days – fail.

In the ‘really looking forward to’ corner, however, I have: a vintage fashion fair tomorrow evening at a hotel in the West End; swimming/sauna-ing on Wednesday after work; cushion cover-making with the gorgeous Ikea fabric I wrote about here, and a little bit of writing practice as well, hopefully.

What about you?  What does this week have in store?

Thanks to everyone who left a comment on Friday’s “Choice: Friend or Foe?” post (below).  It’s comforting to know that I’m not the only person who doesn’t deal well with having too many options!  As always, the input of readers to this blog is much appreciated, and the simplest of comments really can make my day, so cheers guys!

Image above courtesy of Flickr – chotda.

As part of a post-Lent celebration (which also involved spending £3 on an *amazing* vintage-style tea tray in my favourite charity shop) I finally saw Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland on Saturday and I have to say, contrary to the views of almost everyone I’ve spoken to, that I absolutely loved it.  It was a complete feast for the eyes – the setting, the costumes (drool, drool and more drool) and the make-up were all totally incredible and the acting wasn’t half bad either.  I particularly enjoyed Helena Bonham Carter who portrayed a hilarious yet simultaneously pretty darn scary Red Queen.

What disappointed me about the evening had nothing to do with the film itself, but with the price of the cinema experience (there’s a surprise).  The movie has been out for a while now, which meant that my boyfriend and I had to clench our teeth, tighten our fists and grudgingly enter the hallowed halls of one of Edinburgh’s big multiplex cinemas to see it.  In terms of costs I was by no means expecting miracles but it nevertheless came as quite a shock to be hit with a single ticket price of £10.60.  I mean, seriously, just where do they get off!?  Ponder, if you will, the sheer pulse of human traffic throbbing across the threshold of these places up and down the country on a typical Saturday evening.  If each person pays, as we did, around £10, the profits accruing to those at the top of the picture house tree completely escape my imagination.  Even the thought makes my blood boil, especially when there are so many small, independent cinemas visibly struggling to get by at the moment (if you are ever in the Edinburgh vicinity do please visit the Dominion cinema in Morningside – leather couches, reclining seats and a jolly barman with a *bow tie*, all on the cheap).  I would without question have gone to one of these over the big branch, but sadly it wasn’t an option on Saturday.  I instead paid the snotty, poloshirt-clad cashier with gritted teeth and spent most of the trailer time inwardly huffing about how ridiculous an expense the cinema has become.

It’s true when you think about it.  When I was a student, the cinema was a cheap and cheerful alternative to a night out at the weekends.  The cost of a ticket was roughly the same as that of two drinks, and if you didn’t buy any snacks the whole evening would set you back less than a fiver.  With the incessant hiking in prices, however, it’s probably a lot cheaper nowadays to get ingloriously drunk than it is to see a new film (something about typing that sentence just made me feel queasy).  What a great message to send to young people – ‘oh don’t worry about expanding your horizons kids, better to buy some cheap cider and get off your faces instead’.  It’s my guess that the cinema is just a no-go zone for many people these days, and I wince at the thought of how much it costs for a family of four or five.  After my experience on Saturday I can’t say that I’m overly enthusiastic about the idea of rushing back there this weekend myself.  It’s so painfully disappointing to witness what was once a completely affordable means of entertainment become so inaccessible that I almost can’t watch anymore.  I’m just glad that this time I enjoyed the film – paying £10.60 for two hours of dark room boredom would have left a particularly sour taste in my mouth.

Image above courtesy of Flickr – Wahlander.