On the subject of Shetland and my return
Well I'm back in Edinburgh, after having spent two weeks in Shetland with my girlfriend Jules and her family. I received Christmas and New Year texts from several of you, and I'm sorry I could not reply, as there was absolutely no reception for me where I was staying. At some point I may get round to sticking up one or two photos of where I was staying, or who I was staying with, but until I obtain some more web space that will just have to wait.
I had a fun time, which mostly involved sitting round solving puzzles, watching TV (a lot of that), eating and drinking excessively (my digestive system was constantly complaining about that), and making the odd trip to visit friends of the family. On Christmas day we visited the grave of Jules' mother, who died in 1980, and spent a while in strange contemplation. I wasn't even born when she died, but there was still some connection there.
New Year this time was less painful than last year, although not entirely without its downs. Again, a married couple turned out to be the cause, although under entirely different circumstances to last time.
After midnight we went round to visit the next door neighbours, a married pair called Alma and Tom, aged 52 and 69. We had been round a few days earlier, and Alma had interrogated me about my life and relationship with Jules, while Tom remained fairly quiet in the background.
I'm not entirely sure how it came about, but Tom must have taken some sort of dislike to me, and proceeded to lay into me about how worthless my university education was, and how I had reached 24 and had nothing to show for it, and no skills useful in daily life. Other people at the party either told him to shut up (his wife), or back me up (Jules and her father), or try to take some sort of middle ground (a guy called Tam). This went on for about 20 minutes, and although I was trying very hard to argue back his points, it wasn't helped by him saying "shut up" every time I started to speak.
I'm fully aware that this was a pointless exercise in jealousy by someone who was very drunk and should have known better, but it proved too much to take, and we ended up leaving early.
The day after New Year, Jules' friend Karen came round. There was much discussion about her MS, and the cannabis spray she was using, and the politics thereof. I noticed she wore a pentacle, and asked her about it, and it turns out she is on the board of the Pagan federation, and they will be holding an event in the Pleasance in June.
After spending two weeks in constant contact with Jules, I'm suddenly by myself, as she lives in Falkirk, not Edinburgh. I must confess I'm feeling a bit lonely, and out of touch with everyone. A gaming session round at Sandy's tonight didn't really help much and I'm now stuck waiting for my new uni term to start, wondering how much contact I've lost with everyone around me over the last year due to university and being away.
Anyway, if you've managed to read all through this without being bored rigid, then I hope you all had a good time. I've not kept up with LJ over the holiday, so I'll assume you all had fantastic parties and the rest, and enjoyed the company of your families. Hopefully will see more of you all in the coming months.
Jamie
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P.S. The ferry on the way up turned out to be nowhere near as bad as I was expecting, and I managed to go the distance without any mishap. The return trip however was horrible, and the ship was rocking so badly I could barely keep my footing. Ugh, I have no sea legs worth speaking of. No pirate icon for me this time.
I had a fun time, which mostly involved sitting round solving puzzles, watching TV (a lot of that), eating and drinking excessively (my digestive system was constantly complaining about that), and making the odd trip to visit friends of the family. On Christmas day we visited the grave of Jules' mother, who died in 1980, and spent a while in strange contemplation. I wasn't even born when she died, but there was still some connection there.
New Year this time was less painful than last year, although not entirely without its downs. Again, a married couple turned out to be the cause, although under entirely different circumstances to last time.
After midnight we went round to visit the next door neighbours, a married pair called Alma and Tom, aged 52 and 69. We had been round a few days earlier, and Alma had interrogated me about my life and relationship with Jules, while Tom remained fairly quiet in the background.
I'm not entirely sure how it came about, but Tom must have taken some sort of dislike to me, and proceeded to lay into me about how worthless my university education was, and how I had reached 24 and had nothing to show for it, and no skills useful in daily life. Other people at the party either told him to shut up (his wife), or back me up (Jules and her father), or try to take some sort of middle ground (a guy called Tam). This went on for about 20 minutes, and although I was trying very hard to argue back his points, it wasn't helped by him saying "shut up" every time I started to speak.
I'm fully aware that this was a pointless exercise in jealousy by someone who was very drunk and should have known better, but it proved too much to take, and we ended up leaving early.
The day after New Year, Jules' friend Karen came round. There was much discussion about her MS, and the cannabis spray she was using, and the politics thereof. I noticed she wore a pentacle, and asked her about it, and it turns out she is on the board of the Pagan federation, and they will be holding an event in the Pleasance in June.
After spending two weeks in constant contact with Jules, I'm suddenly by myself, as she lives in Falkirk, not Edinburgh. I must confess I'm feeling a bit lonely, and out of touch with everyone. A gaming session round at Sandy's tonight didn't really help much and I'm now stuck waiting for my new uni term to start, wondering how much contact I've lost with everyone around me over the last year due to university and being away.
Anyway, if you've managed to read all through this without being bored rigid, then I hope you all had a good time. I've not kept up with LJ over the holiday, so I'll assume you all had fantastic parties and the rest, and enjoyed the company of your families. Hopefully will see more of you all in the coming months.
Jamie
--
P.S. The ferry on the way up turned out to be nowhere near as bad as I was expecting, and I managed to go the distance without any mishap. The return trip however was horrible, and the ship was rocking so badly I could barely keep my footing. Ugh, I have no sea legs worth speaking of. No pirate icon for me this time.