(Remember you don’t have to read this shit.
Just look at the photos!!)
I couldn’t believe the beauty of the
Scotland landscape as we drove the timeless countryside. It depressed me a
little that I was heading back to London as we winded along the edge of lush
green cliffs, accommodating the blessed white dots grazing and dozily
overlooking a blue blanket ocean that makes the sky look a little too red and a
little too beautiful for someone to bare, who knows they will back, broke in the
big London bustle. I wanted the bus to drop me off a couple of times, on the
high vantages with sitting rocks where I would lay and drink beer and soak in
the cold rays of light by myself or with anyone else who deemed it as necessary
as me. It is something else out there. It made me feel lousy to be leaving it.
I have never been so aware of the earths domed shape until being on this plain
road splitting the paddocks with equally distant clear land and grass to my
left and right and maybe a hay shed or a small beaten silo probably holding not
much more than some rain water and a story. The clouds were perfectly enclosing
us in this domed earth, where the red seemed to dance as much on the rain made
lakes as between the dark grey clouds. I felt like the windows were ever so
slightly tinted yellow, creating this sepia tone that accentuated the hills and
the sky and the red tinges of cloud. It didn’t look like it could snow and if I
didn’t know any better I would have said it looked warm outside. I like the
cold weather I think. I was born in summer on the 7th of February,
which according to untried pseudo theories passed on by stupid mothers to
stupid children in the playground I should like the heat. I like the heat but I
think I like it most when it’s cold and there’s a fire and I get that sudden
ripple of relief. Maybe that is just my recent feeling formed from being here.
I found this quaint little traditional Scottish pub called the ‘Jolly Judge’,
which I really liked for the reason I just stated. It could be raining buckets
outside and as soon as you duck your head through the low-trussed doorway you
get the greatest feeling of heat and atmosphere you would ever find. The beer
is tasty and the conversations are interesting. There is no music in there, no
Nicky Minaj or some other piece of processed cheese coming through the speakers
and when I looked to the old boys in the corner wearing bland old button farm
shirts, packing wood-grain pipes of tobacco and drinking neat scotch you can
easily forget that it’s the 21st century. I liked that place a lot.
I liked the Beer McEwen 80. A hearty strong Scottish brew that Mitch and I may
have over did. I headed to Edinburgh castle by myself the next day. I like
doing those sorts of things by myself. I like being able to go at my own pace
and read an info panel or not, or take 200 photos of something or not or listen
to the audiotape with my headphones or not. I took my camera out with Georgie
and Jess the other day and kept getting left behind, I like to stop and take a
photo if I see something unfolding or some angle of interest. I think I always
look for those angles or lines of perspective now, regardless of whether I have
my camera or not. A place I was glad to of left my camera at home was the
Hogmany street party. That thing was crazy. It was an amazing, great, crazy day
in fact. I kicked it off by purchasing a double pint of cider for mitch and I
at a pub called ‘The Three Sisters’ on cowgate street under King George the IV,
where they were reigning the Australian new years’ in. I didn’t care too much
about the count downs I was more interested in having some good conversations
and drinking a gut full with some of the people from the hostel. There were
these two odd dudes, one who studied particle physics and another one that had
a degree in animal gentics. They were smart, but socially a little inept in my
honesty. They were nice enough though, but I was rather enjoying the banter
with Lily and Joe from the room. Mitch and I were riffing off our unique style
of wit and they were just as up to it as we were. We joked everything from the
bonehead Australians wearing donning flag capes and thongs to the controversy
in the world darts championship with the much televised push from the Phil ‘The
Power Taylor’ Taylor on his defeated opponent. I never thought I would ever
have interesting conversations about darts (or even watch it for that matter),
but we were having one and they agreed to come watch the finals the next day.
The double pints were getting to get a little low, so I sent Mitch to get
another couple while I chatted with Joe for a while. Joe is the kind of girl I
would loved to of gotten to know better, she interesting, a little shy, likes
photography, has an amazing smile and above all she is incredibly intelligent.
She really did it for me. Too bad I left her and Lily hanging on new years
night because I was vodka drunk in some uni apartment on the other side of
Edinburgh. I felt awful and came up with a scheme to say I was passed out and
that’s why I missed the pick up, but I didn’t feel at all like lying to them.
Plus I didn’t really feel I could because they were so goddam smart. I was
really getting drunk on the otherside of town with some crazy American girls
that our crazy New Zealand girls knew. I got really drunk and was having the
best conversations with them. I think I can be kind of funny when I get into a
half pissed state. I told them the story of how I had kissed a girl once when I
was younger and passed out in a bush at a party and then the next time I heard
her name mentioned she was a full blown lesbian. They loved it, while I took a few
large swigs of my apple and vodka mix. I topped my mix up and took it to the
party. Fast forwarding abit I got talking with this girl in the line to take a
piss. I can’t remember how we got talking but she was really beautiful and what
not and she seemed to kind of be interested in me. I some how got talking music
and she said one of her favourite band was Bon Iver, which interested me no end. There
is nothing I like more than the high tones of Justin Vernon and his solemn acoustic (for emma, forever ago album) on the tube. I got her number and we danced a little and held hands for a
while. I gave her a little new years smooch, and the had to leave her. I’m half tempted to
give her a call and what not as she lives in Camden and I live kind of near
Camden and she is beautiful and I really want to go on a date for some reason.
Probably because I have never really been on a proper one. I’m broke, so maybe
I won’t. I would rather go on one with Joe, because she seemed like the kind of
girl that would understand my destitution, not that she’s poor or anything, but
because she so nice. I also don’t own a phone. Anyway I got really wasted that
night. I kissed or was kissed by Georgie on the new years countdown. Haha we
had a great laugh about it in the morning, it felt really weird actually. I
hate cutting things short but I have to go to work, for my meager pay, which I won’t
get in time to do anything worth while, like buy a phone and call the girl or call Joe. She lives in Nottingham though and I think that
she sees me as a bit of a fool. It’s hard to convince people sometimes that I’m
actually not stupid. Well I don’t think I am, but the continual act of having to prove that I’m not
probably is evidence enough that I am. Catch you next time boys and
girls for my next installment. I’d love to thank Georgie and Jess for the
amazing New Years. My best ever and I thanks those two buddy ol’ pals for it.
They are the greatest.
