Well readers, it has been a while: prepare yourselves for a super long post. The spring semester and the first half of summer were pretty intense- it was probably the busiest period of my life thus far. I feel like it was really transformative too- going through so many different activities at such a rapid speed helped me learn to manage my time better, as well as tackle academic or social problems with more efficiency.

As is my tradition, I have selected a quote to start things off:

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety.
Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities, no doubt crept in. Forget them as soon as you can, tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense.
This new day is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on the yesterdays.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson (also penned title quote)

Some of the wisest and clearest advice I've found throughout my life can be attributed to the Transcendentalists, such as Thoreau, Emerson, Muir, and Whitman. I often read their works when I need to "recenter myself". I chose this quote because not "fretting over the yesterdays" is something that I've been striving for recently. I've adopted an attitude of flexibility, which has opened many doors for me- doing things exactly right is no longer my goal, I aspire to do things for a reason. Cutting down on perfectionism has done wonders for me- I feel more relaxed, I'm less nervous about what I say and write, and I can produce work that is more meaningful to myself. The ability to "move on" and not get fixated on things was a major driving force that kept me going throughout the past few months. 

My assorted jottings to encapsulate February through August as best I can are sorted by activity:

Start of Semester 2

Academics

Cartwheels by Eric Robertson

• Second semester was a lot busier academically than first, simply because I had four classes rather than two. My free time was in the morning, which was nice because I could get some work done before I went out. In early afternoon I'd bike to class (I'm chronically early to things, so would usually have to wait a bit for lectures to start). Around 4 my classes finished, and I would either go home, study, run errands, or participate in a club activity.

• I went to the The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art by myself in February- it was supposed to be a class field trip, but I went early because I planned to go kayaking on the set date. The painting that struck me most (which I ended up writing a paper on) was a work by Scottish artist, Eric Robertson, called "Cartwheels". It was a really interesting blend of abstraction and figuration.

• Sustainable Development this semester featured a lot of group work- luckily I was in a group with a couple friends. During the first half of the semester, we had to plan a seminar presentation- the topic we chose was economic, educational, and governmental practices in ecovillages.

• We also went on a field trip in SD… to the golf course in St. Andrews. It was really interesting seeing the grounds, it's a huge part of town that few people really visit unless they golf. Unfortunately, they kind of failed to show us the sustainable practices at the course- they focused more on the history and every so often would interject with things like, "Oh yes, and we are making a shift to hybrid vehicles" (came across as a second thought).

• Philosophy was tough but intriguing as usual.

Design Team

• In Design Team, we continued to run our weekly movie nights and photoshop classes. We also did a couple of workshops, including a T-Shirt workshop for "Refreshers".

Canoe Club

Koi Cake for Canoe Club Bakesale

• I let go a bit of canoe in second semester, not because I disliked it, but because I felt I needed to spend some more time with my other activities. The main event I did in early spring was the SSS Wild Water Race, which I ended up just taking photos for- I was worried about my shoulder and I was feeling ill when I got there. I also went to the Canoe Club Ceilidh, which was fun as always, and helped out at our bakesale.

• I ran for Gear Officer, and got the position for next year (you can see my fellow committee members here: Canoe Committee Page)

Ents and Mermaids

Ivanov Tech Position

• I got to be the technical officer for the Mermaids show "Ivanov", so was in charge of setting up and running lighting and sound for the production. It was the first time I'd worked in the Barron Theater since the first week of Freshman year, so I had my friend Fraser reacquaint me with it before I started. I worked mainly with the director and producer, trying to make technical reality out of what they envisioned from the script. Overall it was a great experience (though frustrating and nerve-wracking at times), I'd love to do something similar again.

PhotoSoc

Snow Angel

• I was lucky enough to have my photo of Bridget in Tahoe shown at PhotoSoc's "How was Your Break" exhibition. I really enjoyed seeing all the other contestants photos and meeting people interested in photography at St. Andrews.

• I also went to a PhotoSoc movie night, which was nice. We watched "The Bang Bang Club", about combat photographers during the apartheid in South Africa.

Life About Town

• For my birthday, I planned a somewhat elaborate treasure hunt around the town (I wanted to have a celebration- 20 is a pretty significant year!). I made a sheet of clues which led to various magnetic tokens around town. I split my friends in two teams, and I drifted between the two, sometimes offering extra hints. We met up at The VIC for dinner, and I let the team with the most tokens choose a little prize first (then the losing team got second choice). Overall I think it was one of my favorite birthday celebrations!

Birthday celebration at the VIC

• I did a couple fun little photoshoots. In January I took my Brownie 2A camera around town, and developed the film in my bathroom using a tutorial I found on this site: www.chromogenic.net/develop/ In March I decided randomly to go shoot the stars one evening, and had a few nice results.

Spring Break

Mississippi Trip

• For Spring Break we took a road trip from New Orleans all the way to Boston. You can view our blog here: http://www.sixteendayssixteenstates.tumblr.com/ 

16 Days, 16 States + Canada

Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Iowa, Illinois, Alabama, Michigan, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Missouri, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Arkansas

Continuing Semester 2

Academics

Collage Report Images

• I'd have to say my favorite class was "Art, Culture and Politics, from 1900 to Now". I was really scared I would hate it, because I generally dislike modern and contemporary art. Instead, it gave me an appreciation for those blank white canvases or funky installations- I still prefer older works, but I am more open to new pieces now. My least favorite class was "Rationality and Action". I was so confused, and each lecture drove me into further befuddlement rather than clearing things up (philosophy… ahem). Strangely enough, that was the class I got the highest grade in!

• In SD we did Poster Presentations- my graphic design skills came in handy! It was a continuation of the seminar presentation on ecovillages, so was with that same group.

• I wrote an essay on interwar collage and photomontage for Art History- it was one of my favorite essays of the year to research. I especially enjoyed finding out more on Hannah Höch, Max Ernst, and László Moholy-Nagy.

Design Team

• After Spring break, I had my interview for Design Team Convenor. I was super nervous, and did quite poorly. However, I got the position, and am thrilled to be in charge of running the team next year. It will be a lot of responsibility, but it will be a lot of fun! We also held our AGM, so there is a new committee.

Outgoing Design Team Committee

• We held a series of artistic workshops led by Sarune, a member of our committee. One that I particularly liked was a matchbox workshop, where we painted, marked, cut, glued, etc. matchboxes into little creative art pieces.

• We also continued to hold design movie nights, which were largely unsuccessful due to peoples' busy schedules.

• Our final event of the year was an exhibition featuring the work of Design Team designers, as well as some pieces from ArtSoc. It was a nice little gathering- there was wine and music, so things were pretty relaxed.

Canoe Club

• One of my first jobs as a new gear officer (we begin at the end of the semester) was to start fixing up the boat shed. My fellow gear officer and I decided to start with making new racks for the buoyancy aids and doing some general cleanup. The past officers showed us how to repair boats, "welding" together cracks in the plastic with a heat gun. I'm looking forward to more tinkering next year!

Kinnessburn Clean Up

• We did a beach clean up, as well as a clean of the Kinnessburn stream. Among our more interesting finds were 3 umbrellas, half a bicycle, a wringer roller, a friend's wallet, and road signs.

• I attended the Aqua Ball again- it was an exciting night out with other watersports clubs!

• I did the May Dip with Canoe Club, like I did last year. We stayed up all night, then went out to East Sands in the morning to run into the water. Unfortunately, even though the previous days had been beautiful, the day of the dip was dreadful. There were big waves, and it was pretty windy. The police also had giant floodlights for safety, which I didn't remember from before. That made things a little awkward for stripping down and going into the water. Anyways, it was fun, but definitely not the same experience as Freshman year.

• Our final Canoe event of the year was a bonfire, which I was excited to attend since I missed it last year. It was fun seeing the paper plate awards for the year's accomplishments and failures.

Canoe Club End-of-Year Picture

Ents

• I was lucky enough to attend a sound training session by a professional from the industry. I felt like it really clarified and helped linked some concepts which I did not understand (I still have a long way to go!). I was a bit embarrassed because my alarm did not go off, I was late, and had a very bad hair day, but I ended up having an excellent time with my ents crew friends and learned a lot.

Sleepy Nat at Sound Training (pic credit Ryo)

• I went to the end of year meal, which was a nice way to conclude the year and say goodbye to people before summer vacation.

PhotoSoc

• PhotoSoc ran a darkroom workshop, led by my friend CJ. I had been looking forward to it for months because I missed the previous workshop in winter. It ended up being a lot of what I had learned from the website tutorial, but it was really helpful because I learned why certain steps are done, rather than just how.

KnitSoc

• KnitSoc had its AGM, and I ran for publicity officer again. Which reminds me, I really need to get on those Freshers Fayre flyers!

• I also had a Eurovision night with a few friends from KnitSoc. I'd never head of the Eurovision song contest before, but it is very big in Europe, and has been running since 1956. Honestly, it was a bit too tacky for my taste, but I think it is kind of supposed to be that way. It was fun finally seeing what people were talking about.

Life at Home

• I did a design project from afar for the Rocky Horror Show- my high school theater teacher Mr. Holme's retirement show. I wish I could have attended, it was an alumni cast, and sounded very amusing!

A graphic I made for picnic invite- features musical characters

Life About Town

• I went out with a film camera for a second time- this time my Imperial Reflex camera. I tried to capture a juxtaposition of the ancient and new, and was very excited that my pictures of motorcyclists near the Pends Arch came out.

• I went to my first "soaking". A soaking is another odd St. Andrews tradition in which you pour water (and sometimes glitter) over a final year student who has just finished their last exam. It was an exciting way to say farewell to my friend Alison from Design Team- I felt a little guilty since it was so cold out though!

• I had a nice little get together with my friends Lavin and Ryo. We were supposed to teach Lavin how to ride a bike, but ironically on my way over my tire got a flat. It was pretty embarrassing! Nevertheless, we had a lot of fun, and I hope we'll get a chance to do something similar over the next year.

• My bike in general started to fall apart towards the final weeks in St. Andrews. I had to replace the tube on the wheel that got a flat, the leather on my handlebars came off (still need to resew), the chain got very rusty (hooray for WD40- which, yes, I know is not good for bikes but it works!), and I had to change the break pads. The outer part of my helmet also fell off and the spring came out of the inside of my bike lock- I just bought replacements for next year.

Travel

• I finally got a chance to go out and visit the Rock and Spindle formations along the Fife coastline. They were incredible! Way cooler than I thought they would be. To get there, you walk along a relaxing and scenic path, with excellent views of St. Andrews. The area surrounding the formations was almost otherworldly- it had a very alien feel to it!

Journey to the Rock and Spindle

Summer

Travel in Scotland

Canoe Trip

We started near Aviemore and ended in Spey Bay

• At the end of the year I went on a 4 day canoeing trip on the River Spey from the Cairngorms to the ocean. I'd never paddled a canoe before- only kayaks- and I really enjoyed it! It was a very relaxing river, there were not many rapids. We were lucky to have some sunshine as well. We wild-camped alongside the river each night- we were surrounded by nature 24 hours a day (it was quite frightening to step in a Tesco Superstore on our way home!). Overall it was a great experience, I have many cheerful memories from the trip.


Here's a little movie I made with clips from the trip- song choice is not quite as cheerful as it should be, but I wanted to show the "power of the landscape"- will probably recut with a different tune.

Northern Isles Trip

• After my canoe trip I went on my much anticipated journey to the Northern Isles. Unfortunately I got a little mixed up and missed my first ferry, so I had to cut out the first few days of the trip, and did not get to visit Fair Isle (I MUST go someday). However, things went very smoothly after that. I headed out to Lerwick (capital of Shetland) on May 31st via overnight ferry. The ferry was awesome- I'd always wanted to see what it was like to sleep on a boat. Coincidentally, I shared my cabin with a very nice girl from St. Andrews.

• The next morning I set out on foot to explore Lerwick. I decided to take a boat tour with Seabirds and Seals (which I highly recommend) out to the cliffs of Noss Nature Reserve where gannets and other seabirds live. On the way I had spectacular views of the harsh and dramatic landscape (that type of landscape was the main reason for my visit to the north- second reason: knitting!). Being at the cliffs was one of the most breathtaking experiences of my life- thousands of birds had nests on the rocky outcrop, some dove to get fish, some preened their feathers, some flew overhead. There were also seals and clever skuas that followed the boat. In the afternoon I went to the local museum, which was sensational (newly redone). I also went on a stroll through Lerwick's main street, making sure to go down interesting closes along the way. In the evening I went to Clickimin Broch, an iron age drystone structure.

• The next day I met up with James, a guide from Island Trails. Nobody else signed up for the tour, but he was nice enough to take me around the island by myself. We started out going through what was once a crofting township, then went to Sumburgh Head. Sumburgh Head is the southern tip of mainland Shetland, which has a beautiful lighthouse and is a wonderful place to spot seabirds such as puffins. There were quite a few intense birdwatchers there (or "twitchers"- the not so nice term), some had cameras with the most heavy duty long lenses I'd ever seen, so I felt a little pathetic with my dinky little kit lens! We managed to spot some puffins, which were actually a lot smaller than I would have thought- they had a lot of personality to make up for their size though! Going to and from Sumburgh Head we drove right through the landing strip of Sumburgh Airport- it is set up in the same way as a train crossing!

Next we visited the house of Doreen Brown, a friend of James who is a knitwear designer. She was the person who made the sweaters for the Shetland ponies in the commercial to promote "Natural Scotland" in 2013. I loved seeing her workshop, with all her Fair Isle samplers and her knitting machine. She also showed me how to use a traditional knitting belt, which I had never heard of before.



After that, we went to the Old Scatness archeological site, which had various types of roundhouses used over time for different purposes. Nearby we saw the house of Betty Mouat, whose mishap adventures you can read about here: Betty Mouat story.

Next we went to the Dunrossness Croft House Museum, which was simply beautiful. If I were ever brave enough to abandon all my modern accoutrements, I would take up residence in a house like that!

Then we drove to get a view of St. Ninian's Isle, an island which is connected to the mainland by a tombolo, or bridge of sand. Treasure was discovered on the island in 1958.

Lastly we visited Scalloway castle, and looked around for a few minutes before it closed. In the evening I took a ferry to Orkney, and got to my hostel around midnight.

• I spent my first day in Orkney exploring Kirkwall- St. Magnus Cathedral, the Bishop's Palace, and a couple smaller museums. I also took a short bus ride over to the town of Stromness. Stromness had a much sleepier feel than Kirkwall, almost like it had been lost in time- going there felt like entering a dream.

• On my second day I took a tour with John of Tour Orkney. It was a one-on-one tour again, so I got to personalize some of the places we went. We started out at Maeshowe, a neolithic chambered tomb. Though a little morbid, this was one of the most amazing spots on my trip- here are a few fascinating facts about it:

• Each year at winter solstice, a beam of light filters through the tomb's entrance and hits the back wall
• The tomb contains one of the largest collections of secular Viking runes- graffiti written when they used it for a shelter. One of my favorites is, "These runes were carved by the man most skilled in runes in the western ocean"- here's a link to some others.
• The rocks used to build the tomb are up to 30 tons in weight!
• The entrance passage is 36ft long, but only about 3ft tall, so we all had to duck to get inside

Next we went to the Standing Stones of Stenness, and the Ring of Brodgar, stone circles which are likely older than Stonehenge. There was a certain unidentifiable power standing within the circles- perhaps from the fact they had stood the test of time and "seen" so much, rather than something supernatural. Power also lies in the fact that nobody knows how the stones got there. In Easter Island, it is often theorized that they used trees as rollers to move the Moai. However, trees were a scarce resource in Orkney. John told me about a plausible theory, which is still practiced in some parts of the world today- laying out beds of seaweed, throwing on water, and pulling the stones along the slippery surface.

Lastly, we went to Skara Brae, a neolithic settlement (sometimes called the "Scottish Pompeii" for its excellent state of preservation). We also visited the nearby Skaill House, home of the people who discovered the site. We ate lunch at the visitor center, and had a fun time people watching-"classifying" various types of tourists. I spent my afternoon going to places I missed in Kirkwall, then caught the overnight ferry back to Aberdeen. I was astounded over summer to find that the August edition of National Geographic highlighted all the places I visited in Orkney- I would really recommend reading it if you want further detail!

Boston

• The day after coming back to St. Andrews, I flew to Boston, to attend my summer program at Harvard. I was very nervous, but the trip to the Isles made me a bit calmer, and it also helped that my parents met me in Boston to help me get settled (on their way to Bermuda for their 25th anniversary).

The Career Discovery program was excellent- I won't get into too much detail, but I will write out the basic structure of the course. It was centered around three projects, the first a week long, the second two weeks, and the third three weeks. We were split into studio groups of about 12 students- the landscape program had about 40 students total, and the whole program had around 200. Our first lectures were at 9 in the morning, then we'd have a small break, another lecture, lunch, then studio work all afternoon and evening- often not leaving till the building closed at midnight.

I found that I really loved landscape architecture, here's a little list of things I like about it:

My final project presentation board

• Design discipline- creativity for a cause
• Focused on the outdoors and nature
• Focused on people and how they interact with the environment
• An emphasis on sustainability, which you can take as far as you want to
• Designing for "the greater good"
• Using a number of mediums- from physical miniatures to computer software
• Can relate back to history or focus on the future
• The things you create you can be proud of, and will often look better (rather than worse) as they age
• Solving or reducing problems and doing research
• Interacting with people of all different disciplines, and not sticking to one discipline yourself

I really enjoyed meeting new friends with similar interests, and from so many different backgrounds. Overall, the program was very beneficial for determining my next step after St. Andrews.

LA3- my studio group (holding our instructor, Hope)

• I also explored all around the city of Boston (especially the neighborhood of Cambridge)- you can see my photos below:

Home

• I hadn't been home since December, and coming back in July marked the longest time I'd ever been away from Santa Barbara. I arrived right in the middle of our annual Cousin Camp, so got to see my extended family. It was refreshing to come home to perfect weather- not too hot (Boston), not too cold (Scotland). I am always overjoyed to see the Southern California landscape again- the Pacific, the Santa Ynez Mountains, the Channel Islands, the dry Mediterranean foliage.

• I've been working on various projects around home- some personal, others for clubs and outside things. Craft-wise I've been working a bit on my dollhouse, doing some small woodwork, trying a bit of spinning, and finishing my knitting project. I've been working on designing logos for a couple of societies, and redesigning the Design Team website and our backyard lawn.

• I'm starting to get into the grad school application process, which is really a pain. I haven't fully decided on the schools yet, but I know that I will need to be writing essays, taking the GRE, making a resume and portfolio under specific requirements, filling out forms, and getting letters of recommendation. This is going to be so fun... not.

• I had fun when my sister's fashion instructor invited us to do a photoshoot for a documentary during Fiesta. We were dressed in old Spanish style, though I think Bridget and I were supposed to be Irish immigrants or something (it wasn't very clear).

• My family and I went up north to go to the annual car show, visit some colleges, and visit my relatives. I really enjoyed spending time with everyone, as well as attending the various events.

• We just had our family garage sale, full of all the things around our house we wanted to get rid of. It actually went quite well- we had many customers and it was pretty fun!

• Today I picked up my new laptop at the Apple store! The cost made me cringe, but I know it will be worth it- I spend so much of my life in front of the screen, the more efficient it is the better. I'm hoping the speed will allow me new freedoms in my design work- I'm currently constrained by the length of time it takes to render things.

Photos from Summer in California:

So that just about brings you up to the present moment- next week I leave to go back to St. Andrews. I can't make any promises, but I'll try to be more consistent next year with my posts!

It is my last week of winter break, and I've decided to sit down and write a blog post before I jump back into my busy college schedule. The title of this post is a line from Tennyson's Ring Out, Wild Bells, a beautiful poem for the New Year- I won't insert the whole poem, as it is a bit long, but here is a stanza (You can read the rest at this link):

Ring out the old, ring in the new,

Ring, happy bells, across the snow:

The year is going, let him go;

Ring out the false, ring in the true.

2013 was a year of intense activity, but also a year of settling down and becoming at ease with previously unfamiliar surroundings and situations. Some big achievements for the past year were:

• Moving into a flat

• Getting my driver's license

• Completing my first year of college and entering my second

In 2014, my main resolutions fall under the categories of education, organization, and communication.

As with the last post, my ramblings about the past two months are sorted by activity:

U.K. End of Semester

Academics

Ladies Luncheon Room

• On Saturday November 9th, I took a trip to Glasgow with my Art History class to visit the Burrell Collection and Kelvingrove Museum. I'd been to the Kelvingrove already last year, but it was still a very enjoyable day trip. We had to choose from a list of works from the latter half of the 19th century to do a visual analysis report on- I decided to study the Ladies Luncheon Room, part of the Ingram Street tea rooms designed by Mackintosh. I really admire Mackintosh- in fact last year I stayed in Glasgow for a few days to focus on his architectural work- so the essay was about as fun as an essay can get.
• During the week of November 18th I had an particularly intense period of essays and projects due. I had to give a presentation for Sustainable Development, write my essay on the Ladies Luncheon Room, submit a project to my online course, and research and write an essay on bees for SD. It was not very enjoyable, but I guess it is kind of what college is about.
• Studying for exams was stressful, especially since I spent the first revision week traveling (see below). However, I felt like I was much more calm and stable than last year. The exams themselves went all right, though I've always been really horrible at timed writing (I'm quite scatterbrained so find it extremely difficult to write an essay from start to finish- I usually jump around, which isn't possible on paper). After my Art History exam, I went on a short bike ride to Balgove Larder, a lovely farm-shop just outside town which I'd never been to before.
• My online design class has been rather disappointing- I won't go into detail, but basically the way they the way they teach some aspects of the course seem really nonsensical to me. They are constantly making mountains out of molehills, which is really irritating because it does not simulate real world design work.

Design Team

• I've continued to help teach Photoshop classes on Sunday afternoons. It is a really great experience- explaining the program to students forces me to think about it in a whole new way.
• The Design Team committee went out for a Christmas dinner before exams at a nice restaurant called The Dollhouse. It was nice to be able to talk as a team in a relaxed atmosphere rather than in the usual meeting setting. Towards the end of exams we also went out to a new pub called the St Andrews Brewing Company, which serves local and eclectic beers. I tried a sample of one that was made with sourdough yeast, which was probably the best tasting beer I've ever had. Unfortunately they ran out just as I was ordering, so I got a beer with hints of berries instead.

Design Team (sadly missing Allison)

After Design Team Meal

Canoe Club

Thornthwaite Scout Campsite

• On the weekend of the 23rd, I participated in the BUCS Wild Water Race in Yorkshire, England- my first ever kayak race. We left Friday evening and drove about 5 hours to the Thornthwaite Scout Campsite. When we got there it was dark, but luckily the cars that came before us had already set up most of the tents. We spent a little while all huddled together chatting in one tent, but soon we all decided to get some sleep.

When we woke up in the morning everything was frosty- luckily our club had decided to pitch camp under some trees and on higher ground than some of the other clubs, so we were spared from the worst. Around 9:00 we drove over to the River Washburn where the event was to take place.

Thruscross Dam Releasing

When we arrived we were all very impressed with the huge man-made waterfall- really just water being released from the reservoir, but still amazing. Our captain went to the leader's meeting, and the rest of us went on a walk to inspect the river. The more experienced kayakers in the club gave us some guidance about the different features- what to avoid, what to expect, etc. Then the captain gave us a rough idea of what time our turn was for the classic race- I was supposed to go in the afternoon, so I had a long time to wait.

Racing

When it was my turn, I grabbed my gear and headed for the start of the course. I got in my boat, and after a couple of minutes was told I could go by the people keeping time. It was really, really strange being alone on the river- on every other kayak trip I had been following someone, or at least been near another kayaker. The river itself was also different than most of the others I had experienced- it wasn't very wide and therefore there were more trees and rocks to avoid. I did fine up until the main rapid. I didn't quite have a powerful enough stroke to make it though the hole at the bottom, so lost my edge and fell in. Luckily it was in an area with a lot of safety people, so I was able to get back on the river again pretty quickly. My time for the race was 22:15, because of the swim and getting back in the boat (best time was 9:13). After my race, I was supposed to be in a team race but it had gotten too dark. We went back to camp, had a meal provided by the Durham University Canoe Club, and then relaxed in a tent until the dance started. Unfortunately, the DJ was very weird (he kept playing super cliché songs like the Macarena and Cha Cha Slide) so most of us could not be brought to dance. I ended up just going to bed early.

The next day we went back to the river, and this time I raced first thing in the morning. It was a sprint, so was only a small section of the river, and my time was 1:57 (best time was 1:26). When everyone was done, we packed up and drove home- we did not stay for the awards ceremony as we would have to wait for several hours until it was to take place. Overall, our school did pretty well- we tied for 7th place in event points with the University of Edinburgh and apparently we have the best kayaking girls in all the U.K. (for the K1 race at least!).

PhotoSoc and Ents

• PhotoSoc put on a student photography auction and event on November 14th. I helped out setting up for the event with Ents, then enjoyed watching the auction as a PhotoSoc member. Professor Kathryn Rudy of the Art History department, who has a hilarious sense of humor and taught some of my first-year lectures, was the auctioneer. I also did another Bubble Bath show with Lavin and Ryo.

KnitSoc

• Unfortunately, I still did not have time to go to many KnitSoc meetings in the past few months. I'm doing projects on my own and I hope to go more next term.

Life About Town

• My friend Lavin and I went to the Around the World in 80 Minutes Concert put on by Big BUSTA and the Music Society's Concert Wind Band to see our friend Ryo perform. I was really impressed both with the bands and with Ryo, who flawlessly and naturally switched off between conducting, playing a trumpet, and doing percussion. It was great to go to another event at Younger Hall- the last I had been to was the Freshman Induction during my first week.

Travel

• During revision week (the week set aside to study), I went and visited my extended family in Israel. It was really spectacular to visit a place so steeped in history that is also such a vital part of living tradition- for full details and photos, see my trip blog here: nathalieinisrael.blogspot.com/

Floating in the Dead Sea

• Right before leaving to go home, I went on a short trip to the Dunmore Pineapple, the Falkirk Wheel, and the city of Stirling.

The Dunmore Pineapple is an architectural oddity built in the 18th century with a pineapple shaped cupola. It was really awesome- I definitely recommend visiting if you are in that area. There was a short trail to get to the building with some lovely Scots pines and an interesting ruin.

The Falkirk Wheel is a giant rotating boat lift, an engineering marvel that replaced a series of 11 locks between two canals in 2002. Unfortunately, I did not get to see it in action, but it looks like this when it is moving:

I found this paragraph from an article really amazing:

"Based on Archimedes’ principle, floating objects displace their own weight in water, so the caissons always weigh the same! Always remember the classics. By this method, the wheel is always balanced, allowing the most mind-blowing statistic about this wonder to exist—the Falkirk Wheel uses only 30.2 horsepower to rotate! In just over five minutes the wheel makes a half rotation, moving 600 tons to its new canal, using a measly 1.5 kW/h. The same amount of power used to boil eight kettles."

We visited Stirling on my first trip to Scotland in 2009, but for some reason were not able to spend much time exploring. I really enjoyed the city- in fact, I'd have to put it high on the list of my favorite cities in Scotland. I loved how the town was placed on a slope- it made getting lost impossible, and it was awesome seeing how the buildings progressed through time (the castle and oldest structures were at the top, while a new shopping center was at the base of the hill). I arrived in the evening, and checked into the youth hostel, went for a walk, then got some dinner and went to see the second Hobbit movie.

When the movie ended around midnight, I walked back into town. It was very eerie- the wind had picked up significantly while I was inside and was screeching and howling as it swept through the narrow medieval alleys. Nobody was on the streets, and dead leaves were spiraling though the air. I felt like I was in some sort of scary story, like the kind Bridget and I used to read under the covers with a flashlight. The hostel looked fine during the day, but the full moon lighting up the church-like exterior and the surrounding gravestones was a bit too much for me. When I got inside my heart was beating pretty fast! It was hard to sleep that night because the near gale force wind was so strong it shook the entire building.

The next morning I got up early and walked over near the Church of the Holy Rude and John Cowane's Hospital to look for a geocache. I wasn't successful, but it had snowed during the night so I got a great view of the hills of the Trossachs lightly dusted white. Then I went over to St. Mary's Wynd, on the other side of the hill to get a view of the The Wallace Monument (I even found an interesting little raised lookout). After that, I went over to the Old Town Cemetery. It was really an unusual graveyard- the features I found most interesting were The Martyrs Monument, The Star Pyramid, and The Ladies Rock. From there I visited Stirling Castle, which was very impressive- I especially liked the stories on placards throughout the castle, like these about the Great Hall (taken from Stirling Castle website):

"Two royal baptism celebrations were held in the Great Hall. The first was at Christmas 1566, when Mary Queen of Scots hosted a three-day spectacle for her only child, the future James VI. The entertainment culminated in a banquet in the Great Hall. The guests sat at a round table, in imitation of King Arthur and his knights, and the food was brought in on a mobile stage drawn by satyrs and nymphs. A child dressed as an angel was lowered in a giant globe from the ceiling and gave a recitation. The banquet ended with a great fireworks display – the first ever witnessed in Scotland. 

The second celebration came in August 1594, when James VI celebrated the baptism of his firstborn, Prince Henry. The climax was a banquet, the highlight of which was the fish course. This arrived on a model Ship of State, over 5m long and more than 12m high, floating on an artificial sea. As it sailed around the hall‚ 36 brass guns on board fired off a salvo."

You can find more short stories on this page. I also liked the interactive mini-museums within the castle and the tapestry workshop.

After visiting the castle, I went down the Back Walk to the Stirling Art Gallery and Museum. It had quite a few nice historic exhibits including an old dollhouse and projector. Finally, I stopped by the Thistles shopping mall, then took the bus back to St. Andrews.

 

• I flew home on December 20th, just in time for the holidays...

Break in California

Family Time

• We celebrated Christmas early this year, because we decided to meet up with relatives on Christmas day (see below). Christmas is my favorite major holiday (funnily enough, the name Nathalie means "Christmas day" or "birthday"). I love the feel of the Mitchell household during December- we have all kinds of vintage and hand-made decorations we put up, my sister and I decorate mini-trees and as a family put ornaments on our big tree, my dad strings lights out in the driveway, and my mom lights "Christmas candles" which make the whole house smell like the holidays. Bridget and I made fancy gingerbread creations- I made a Steampunk-Victorian house, and Bridget made a carousel.

Our Gingerbread Houses

• On New Year's Eve, I burned the family videos of the year onto a DVD and we watched the past year's adventures together as is our tradition. In the evening we watched some countdown and "top-ten" shows, then watched the ball-drop in New York at 9:00 (as we were sleepy and did not plan on staying up until midnight). Unfortunately, Bridget decided to take a shower 10 minutes before the ball-drop, and did not make it back in time, so she stayed up till 12 with my dad- they are both night-owls anyway.
• January 3rd was my dad's birthday, and he had several of his friends over to celebrate. I had fun being a bartender- I used an app called LiquorCabinet where you can enter all the types of alcohol and mixers you have at home and it generates a list of drinks you can make and how to make them. It was nice to catch up with some of my parents friends who I hadn't seen for quite a while.
• It was great seeing Henry, Lucky, and Lucy again! I got a lot of quality time with all three pets. Lucy has recovered very well from her car accident last year- she is very mellow and lovable. Lucky is almost a "lucky 13" and is doing really well- I just made a nice climbing structure for him in his outside pen. Henry is as wild as ever, but very sweet and fun to play with- he just got neutered on Friday and is not happy about the "cone of shame" he has to wear.

Travel

• On Christmas day we went to Disneyland with my extended family from Oregon. I used the application called RideMax to plan our visit before we got to the park, so we were able to go on pretty much all the rides we wanted to and take advantage of the FastPass system. My favorite Disneyland attractions are Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion (when I was little It's a Small World was at the top of my list). Pirates of the Caribbean was excellent as ever, but I was a bit annoyed with The Haunted Mansion because they changed it to A Nightmare Before Christmas theme for the holidays and barely used the cool Grim Grinning Ghosts song or chilling "Ghost Host" voice at all. Overall it was an fantastic visit and probably the most relaxing time I've ever had at Disneyland.

• The day after Disneyland we went to Palm Springs, and hung out with our relatives on the main street. I went and saw the Hobbit again with some of my family members, and we ate out at the Lulu California Bistro. In the evening my relatives from Oregon headed off to Joshua Tree National Park to see the sights and so my cousin could rock climb. My family stayed overnight, then went to some of our favorite Palm Springs shops in the morning (I tried to visit the store of Shag, one of my favorite artists, but it was closed this time). In the afternoon we went to Shields Date Garden, which my dad remembered visiting when he was little. We watched a documentary there about the super complicated process of producing dates, shared a milkshake made with date-sugar crystals, and bought some dates for at home (my dad likes them raw, but I prefer mine in Sticky Toffee Pudding!).

• After leaving Palm Springs, my parents dropped Bridget and I at LAX to fly to Tahoe. Our grandparents picked us up from there and took us to their house in Northstar. We had a great few days spending time with our relatives, playing in the snow, and skiing (though there was very little snow so conditions were poor). Bridget and I did a Photoshoot:

• I made a couple videos on my Contour camera which you can see below:

Univex Model A

• On Sunday the 12th, my family headed down to the famously gigantic Rose Bowl Swap Meet in Pasadena, California. The amount of stuff there was overwhelming, but we had an excellent time looking for "buried treasures" in the thousands of stalls. Back at home in the evening we had a show-and-tell of all the items we had purchased. My favorite find was a 1930s subminiature bakelite Univex Model A camera, that appears to be in working condition and cost less than the online asking price.

Life About Town

• We had "King Tides" in late December/early January which meant that the water levels were way higher and lower than usual. My parents and I were going to take the dogs for a walk on the beach one morning, but ended up having to walk along the sidewalk as the waves were crashing right up to the sea wall and there was a crowd gathered to watch. Bridget and I met up with my neighbor and childhood best friend Ian to go tidepooling during the afternoon a couple days later. We saw a couple of huge red crabs, a sea hare, tons of anenomes, and many hermit crabs. We brought along jars and had a sea glass finding contest- Ian won at around 100 pieces.

• I met up with my friend Kevin from stage crew, and we visited San Marcos High School during crüe period. We had a chat with Mr. Holmes, our teacher, who is sadly but befittingly retiring this year (this spring will mark his 30th year teaching- see article from 2010 here). It was kind of surreal being back in the theater where I had spent so many hours in high school- many of our jokes and memories were still tacked up on the scene shop walls. After visiting the theater we went and caught up with Ms. Teraoka-Brady, the choir teacher, then caught the bus and headed downtown for lunch.

• My dad and I went kayaking in the harbor with my dogs during the week we had 80°F (26°C) weather almost everyday. Unfortunately, Henry has grown much more bold in the water, and could not sit still in the kayak like he used to. He kept jumping in and swimming around using his tail as a propeller (see video). It was a struggle to get anywhere, but we did a lap around the harbor and went under the Channel Cat as is our tradition.

George Steedman's Workshop

• My parents and I visited the Spanish Colonial Revival style house Casa del Herrerro (House of the Blacksmith) designed by George Washington Smith and inhabited by the Steedman family. I found the architecture and Beaux Arts landscape really stunning- I especially liked George Steedman's workshop. I also found it interesting that they moved in the same day as the great Santa Barbara earthquake, but the house was undamaged.

• I visited my ballet school and went out for coffee with my friend Lorraine. It was really nice catching up while walking along State Street.

• I fixed up my bike at home- I pumped up the tires, cleaned it, and attached a basket. I got a nice couple of bike rides in- one I did a loop around Montecito, stopping at the beach to watch some surfers and going through the Oak woods near Casa Dorinda. The second I went down to the Farmer's Market and to my mom's office.

• Bridget and I met up with her friend at Hendry's beach and brought Henry along. It felt like a summer's day- I went boogie boarding and relaxed in the sun. The waves were absolutely huge and there were surfers everywhere- I wish I had brought my camera!

Crafting and Hobbies

A Castle Wheel

• For Christmas my mom booked a lesson for me with a spinning instructor in Goleta named Edith Ogella. I've been wanting to make my own yarn for knitting for quite some time now, but was having a bit of difficulty teaching myself, so was really excited to learn from a professional. Edith was really amazing and very patient! I learned about the history of spinning, the evolution of the wheel's construction, what types of wool are best for different purposes, and techniques for spinning itself. I was also very impressed with her vintage and antique camera collection and all the different types of spinning wheels she had throughout the house- from giant early American wheels to petite castle wheels.

• I always get really into sewing when I go back home, because I don't have a machine in Scotland. I decided to make an elven outfit since I had a lot of green felt my mom bought at a yard sale. I made a sketch, but sadly did not scan it in before leaving for Scotland. I finished making a warm brown fleece cape, and made a medieval looking coat, but still need to add the finishing touches.

• I did some shopping for my Steampunk dollhouse at Larrianne's Small Wonders in Ventura, but did not have time to work on it much over break. I hope to do more of my clay miniatures this spring to sell on Etsy.

• I have been learning how to use the 2D and 3D design program AutoCAD with Lynda tutorials- I hope to use it combined with a 3D printer one day so I can make intricate objects without taking the time to construct them. I'm also excited about using it for making mock architectural plans.

• I just ordered my own developing tank and photographic chemicals so that I can work on learning to develop photos at home (I'm following these instructions: http://chromogenic.net/develop). I'm really excited, as this will mean I won't have to send my pictures away to be processed. I am hoping I can still use PhotoSoc's darkroom over the next term, but I have to wait until they arrange another information session.

Back to St. Andrews

• My flights back home yesterday were all right- I flew on New Zealand airlines, which was different from what I normally take (the plane was for a flight from Auckland to London with a stopover in LA- I sure felt bad for the New Zealanders!). Luckily, the journey was only 9 1/2 instead of 11 hours due to the fact we had a good wind and flew more directly (not over Greenland as usual, which is also a shame because looking at the glaciers is amazing). On my second flight from Heathrow to Edinburgh I got a really good view of some fantastic clouds.

• I made it back just in time to eat a home-cooked Burns Night dinner with Sarah and her boyfriend Jonty. Being a vegetarian, I did not indulge in the haggis, but had some nice roasted potatoes and vegetables. I slept like a log last night.

• This morning I went to get groceries and on my way back I had an ultimate fail. I have a hook on my bike where I can hang grocery bags, and it normally works just fine. However, I stupidly made a sharp turn just after getting on my bike, and the bag got caught in the wheel. The spokes sliced through the plastic and somehow managed to rip open a bag of carrots. There were carrots all over the ground and stuck in my spokes, and it was a pretty embarrassing situation- luckily nobody was nearby except for some teenage kid smoking at a bus stop who I think was laughing at me. I regained my composure, threw away the carrots (sadly- what a loss of 69p!), and rode home.

• Tomorrow classes begin again- this term I'm taking:

•Art, Culture and Politics, from 1900 to Now

•Aesthetics

•Rationality and Action

•Sustainable Development: Social and Economic Aspects

I'm excited to get back into my daily routine- well, not that there is much of a routine here in St. Andrews- things have a way of changing pretty quickly around here. Talk to you again soon!