Saturday, April 30th

Happy Birthday


Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday to meeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeee
Happy Birthday to me

Age does not come alone (didn't sleep well last night and any time I did I had nightmares!)
Teenage daughters with a sense of humour helps though. I love this card, it catches the spirit of the demented red-head perfectly (well this demented red-head - notice the touch of grey!). I'm glad my children understand me. Nice family day planned and hopefully some fizzy stuff later.
Red Writer on 04.30.05 @ 09:41 AM gmt [link]


Friday, April 29th

Confidence


Wouldn't you just love to hear that the "fuel tank, which triggered the 2003 Columbia disaster, is not quite ready to fly." if you were one of the astronauts due to be on it?

And talking of confidence (!), this time next week we should know who the new Government is......are you excited yet? Where are all the coloured posters in windows? Banners on lamp posts? Where are the cars going around the streets encouraging you to vote for who ever is in them? Where is the atmosphere? Where are the politicians? All I've seen of this pre-election campaign is a few flyers through the door. And where is my voting card? What is going on? This is the dullest election I can remember. And Newsnight's finding political love speed-dating horror doesn't inspire me with any confidence about the state of UK political enthusiasm. It's good to know that I live in an area which "regularly has the highest electoral turnout of any in Scotland". Let's hope the majority think the same way as me :-)

Mind you, last night's Question Time special did clash with ER! I might get around to watching the bits I missed on link from the BBC website. Then again, I only missed Howard and Blair - Charlie was on form though. I will definitely give this a miss. This was a pretty 'cool' (did you see what I did there?) sculpture.
Red Writer on 04.29.05 @ 06:49 PM gmt [link]


Thursday, April 28th

Nice Surprise


Someone just brought me a bunch of flowers for my up-and-coming birthday. It was a lovely surprise. You know who you are - Thank you :-)
Red Writer on 04.28.05 @ 12:58 PM gmt [link]


Teenage Fan Club


Good chance to hear a few tracks from the new Teenage Fanclub CD if you can get a copy of the Scotland on Sunday this weekend.

This is great news for Malcolm Archibald. I've heard about this book recently, will get around to it when I've finished the Da Vinci Code.
Red Writer on 04.28.05 @ 08:54 AM gmt [link]


Wednesday, April 27th

Black and White


Have been playing with Flickr again and added a new selection of black and white photos. All taken by me, developed in the old fashioned way, printed by me, scanned and uploaded by me. I'd never have been able to do all that this time last year. What a difference a year can make. rolls eyes
Red Writer on 04.27.05 @ 06:28 PM gmt [link]


New Air Bus & Prizes


That's one very big bus. How does it stay up?

Interesting different spin from north and south of the border on the Beck's Futures Prize - Scottish version. English version. Not that we think we were robbed or anything!! LOL
Red Writer on 04.27.05 @ 10:32 AM gmt [link]


Sunday, April 24th

Sunshine, Art and Sand


What a wonderful weekend it has been. Friday I got back to classes and it was really great to be cutting glass and painting in the studio again. Yesterday, I had a study day so missed most of the beautiful sunshine, choosing instead to sit through a three hour lecture on 'abstractivism' in the morning and a further two hours at the modern art gallery discussing a Mondrian 'composition' (a bit like this one but not quite - the one we discussed was one of the first to use the double black line).

The plan for today was to go for a long walk and then visit a friends exhibition opening "Extreme Drawing" at the GR Gallery in Dunbar. However, SO had bumped into friends during the day and invited them over last night, so the early morning walk didn't happen. We did go to the opening which was really good. There is some great work and I even persuaded SO to buy me a painting for my birthday :D

We then went for a really nice walk along the beach at North Berwick. I took a few photos with the SLR and hope they will develop because I need a few new images to work on.

I Can't believe the weekend is over already. Ah well, at least I have photography tomorrow night to look forward to.
Red Writer on 04.24.05 @ 06:31 PM gmt [link]


Saturday, April 23rd

Photos of Skye


I've put photos onto Flickr under a new name (RR Photos). The link to the slideshow should be available here but I've also added them on the left bar under my paintings.
Red Writer on 04.23.05 @ 06:45 PM gmt [link]


Paolozzi


Sir Eduardo Paolozzi died yesterday. I was in an art studio and the tutor got a call, came back and told us the sad news. There is a good obituary here. But I think what I will remember him best by is the gigantic 7.3m high sculpture called 'Vulcan' in the Dean Gallery, Edinburgh. Standing underneath the sculpture is a sobering experience. It is so vast. A great legacy from a wonderful artist.
Red Writer on 04.23.05 @ 01:59 PM gmt [link]


Wednesday, April 20th

Hacks and Security


This morning someone tried to hack the blog. This afternoon I was made aware of a potential security threat to my email system and my home pc. I have spent the best part of two hours changing passwords and deleting old emails. I had to phone SED and SYD at home and explain why they could not revise for exams online - they were not pleased. I don't have time for this. I am so busy at work and at home. I don't think I have felt so angry. So violated. If I caught...........
Red Writer on 04.20.05 @ 07:00 PM gmt [link]


Tuesday, April 19th

Exhibition


Last night's opening of the eca exhibition went well. I managed to get in to fix the broken pieces of mine during the day yesterday which I was happier with. Many people said it wasn't obvious before but I'm glad I fixed them because I knew they were broken and it would have just irritated me. There was a good turnout and I think staff and students were all really pleased with the reception. Although the work is not for sale, I did get an enquiry which was nice.
Red Writer on 04.19.05 @ 01:24 PM gmt [link]


Monday, April 18th

Updated


I've updated the flickr badge, (requires flash) let me know if it causes any problems.
Red Writer on 04.18.05 @ 10:06 AM gmt [link]


Sunday, April 17th

Inspiration


Inspired by watching Paula Radcliffe win the London Marathon, I (got up! and) went for a walk near Peebles. If Paula can run 26.2 miles around London on a Sunday morning then I can surely climb a little hill. SO and I climbed Kailzie Hill in record time. Not quite running but I was in the mood for a brisk walk so left him behind on the uphill sections. It was a bit breezy at the top so we didn't linger and went back down as quickly as we had come up. It was good to get out into the fresh air though.

I did feel very sorry for Paula who, caught short, took a quick diversion to squat at the side of the road. Not quite working out what had happened and thinking she possibly had either a ham string injury or cramp, the commentators said, "let's just have another look at that..." They were a little speechless when they realised she didn't have cramp or a ham string injury! Who would be a professional marathon runner? I don't see why she felt she had to apologise to the Nation though - I think the camera man might have been a little more discreet and stopped filming her for ten seconds. Well done Paula a) for winning and b) for making light of things (literally!)
Red Writer on 04.17.05 @ 05:12 PM gmt [link]


Friday, April 15th

Invitation


This is a general invitation to all. Please feel free to come along, if not to the opening then anytime next week. And no I'm afraid I don't pay travel costs.
big grin
Red Writer on 04.15.05 @ 12:55 PM gmt [link]


Thursday, April 14th

External Art


This sounds a great idea.
Red Writer on 04.14.05 @ 08:41 AM gmt [link]


Wednesday, April 13th

Spooky


I think an aeroplane just flew overhead. It is a bity breezy. The sound was so like Dr Who's Tardis materialising in the garden I had to look out of the window to check it hadn't. Weird.
Red Writer on 04.13.05 @ 07:18 PM gmt [link]


Finding Neverland


There are times when watching a film like Neverland is not a good idea. I enjoyed it but we're talking flood gates here!
Red Writer on 04.13.05 @ 08:29 AM gmt [link]


Tuesday, April 12th

How long does it take?



Q: How long does it take to wish you were still on holiday and not at all glad to be back?
A: About a day.
Red Writer on 04.12.05 @ 07:21 PM gmt [more..]


Sunday, April 10th

Back from Holiday



Back from a fantastic week's holiday. We had a wonderful time and managed to fit in a reasonable amount of walking, drinking, eating. Friends joined us for one night and we had a really nice time sampling local fare. It was just so nice to be away and to relax for a bit. Nice to wake up to the sound of water lapping the shore and fantastic views - and occassionally hailstones thrashing against the window and no view. We managed to fit in a (very scary but exhilarating due to the weather!) boat trip to Loch Coruisk, did walks to Healabhal Bheag, the Quirang, The Coral Beaches and visited Dunvegan Castle (info here). There is an abundance of wildlife on Skye and sightings of otter, sperm wales, seals and eagles were greatly appreciated.
Red Writer on 04.10.05 @ 08:53 AM gmt [more..]


Friday, April 1st

More Fool?


Not me....I got 7 out of 9 in the Guardian's April Fool's quiz. Try it.
Red Writer on 04.01.05 @ 06:47 PM gmt [link]


April Fool's Day


I forgot it was the first today - mainly because it's the first day of my holiday and I have been catching up on a bit of sleep. I did find an interesting fact which I don't think I knew "April Fool's Day is known by some in Scotland as "Hunt the Gowk" (a gowk is a cuckoo). The origins of April Fool's day are unclear but are thought to come from the 16th century in France, when the new year was changed from 1 April to 1 January. Those who were slow to catch on were mocked as fools." (The Scotsman). I wonder if that's because they still overindulged the night before and were in fact just horribly hung-over?

I think this may be the Scotsman's funny story - and if it isn't it should be! I'm off to do some washing and packing. We're going to the Islands for a week of r&r and hopefully catch up with some walking, drawing and photography and of course the usual over eating and drinking. There is a slight tinge of sadness though becuase I think it may be the last time all four of us go on holiday together as SED doesn't want to come with us in the summer - A sobering thought. Back soon.
Red Writer on 04.01.05 @ 12:27 PM gmt [link]