(no subject)
I passed my driving test yesterday! I'm now licensed to drive manual transmission vehicles with up to 8 passenger spaces. Despite attempting to do a substantial chunk of the turn-in-the-road - aka the 3-point turn - with the handbrake on, I only got 3 minor faults (you're allowed up to 15 in total, although if you get more than 3 or 4 in the same category it counts as a major fault, and you fail the test), which is pretty good result. The test certificate is probably the most expensive piece of paper I've ever laid eyes on, and since I must have spent over £1000 on lessons, that will make my driving licence the most expensive thing I've ever owned. At the moment I have no plans to get a car, and it'll be a year before I can join the City Car Club (a scheme which provides cheap short-term car hire), so I'm just enjoying the fact that I've reclaimed my weekend scheduling and about 10% of my take-home pay.
Last weekend was my mother's 50th birthday, so I headed up the road for the party with Youngest Sister in her new car (she passed her test earlier in the year) which is called Fernando, as in the Spanish footballer, Torres. I hardly slept all weekend, but it was good, even despite the awful DJ who seemed to be auditioning for local radio, and kept talking and/or singing over the music. Thankfully there was also some live music provided by family friends, and there was a nice wee singalong (which gave me the idea of re-writing "I'm On My Way" by The Proclaimers as a protest song - I must look into that properly, since the Proclaimers' music has the kind of status in Scottish popular culture that could make this pretty effective), lots of miniature cakes, and a bit of drunken carnage. Plus I got to see lots of relatives, and met my cousin's new girlfriend, who is lovely, although it's very strange to see them together because it's very obvious that he's utterly crazy about her, and he has this kind of serene glow about him, whereas before he would have been talking and joking with everyone, or maybe winding someone up (he's a first-class stirrer and always has been), so this is a side of him that we've never seen before.
And now, here's a public service announcement: on 25th and 26th September, the Feminist Soapbox Weekend will be taking place in Edinburgh. It's two days of workshops on topics such as feminism and mental health, feminism for men, introduction to anarchafeminism, feminism and comedy - and my own wee contribution, feminism and geek culture. It's free to get in to the workshops, although donations/corkage charges will be requested for the evening entertainments. The full schedule should be finalised early next week, so watch this space.
Last weekend was my mother's 50th birthday, so I headed up the road for the party with Youngest Sister in her new car (she passed her test earlier in the year) which is called Fernando, as in the Spanish footballer, Torres. I hardly slept all weekend, but it was good, even despite the awful DJ who seemed to be auditioning for local radio, and kept talking and/or singing over the music. Thankfully there was also some live music provided by family friends, and there was a nice wee singalong (which gave me the idea of re-writing "I'm On My Way" by The Proclaimers as a protest song - I must look into that properly, since the Proclaimers' music has the kind of status in Scottish popular culture that could make this pretty effective), lots of miniature cakes, and a bit of drunken carnage. Plus I got to see lots of relatives, and met my cousin's new girlfriend, who is lovely, although it's very strange to see them together because it's very obvious that he's utterly crazy about her, and he has this kind of serene glow about him, whereas before he would have been talking and joking with everyone, or maybe winding someone up (he's a first-class stirrer and always has been), so this is a side of him that we've never seen before.
And now, here's a public service announcement: on 25th and 26th September, the Feminist Soapbox Weekend will be taking place in Edinburgh. It's two days of workshops on topics such as feminism and mental health, feminism for men, introduction to anarchafeminism, feminism and comedy - and my own wee contribution, feminism and geek culture. It's free to get in to the workshops, although donations/corkage charges will be requested for the evening entertainments. The full schedule should be finalised early next week, so watch this space.