mcdonalds similar to heroin?

this morning and most of this afternoon was a beautiful looking day, but outside it was bitter cold and windy. they're even calling for flurries in the city tomorrow.

i was looking up names for potential characters in my play. i ran across this list, which ranks my first two names one and two.

i watched the super bowl last night. the was exceptionally boring (i didn't stay for the entire game), and you don't get the cool commercials in the UK.

Quote out of context of the day: "I have only two potatoes, and i'm keeping them for myself." (Erin)

two things: one, tonight is burns night (or burns nycht). not sure what it entails, but probably pubs and drinking...and haggis. two, i'm sitting here eating grapes for dessert after dinner. but you see, my refrigerator is more like a freezer, so they're actually frozen a bit in the middle. that means each one's like a self wrapped mini grape slushy.

relationships are not a game i ever intend to play half way. anything less than complete, open honesty will not count you as one of my closest, truest friends.
love with self interest isn't love.

haggis, neeps and tatties. yum! (i hope)

every time i eat a kellogs nutri-grain bar, i can't help but think of backpacking in the sierras w/ ryan. we ate so many of those things in 3 days.

just came out of a reading with Alan Spence. i really want to read both his poetry and latest novel Way to Go; rarely do i find that i want to read both genres of an author at first exposure. most of his poetry is short and in the zen tradition--a lot of haiku or other short forms of highly specific detail. and on top of that, he was the easiest author to talk to after a reading, just an average guy and down to earth.

dawn's a.lifeuncommon.org has received a little more attention. dawn was my internet secret santa a couple years back when i was living in menlo park, ca. i still drop in on her site occasionally, just to check out some of her superb pictures.

teaching difficult lessons can be just as hard as learning them.

i saw the Two Towers today. fantastic. i think it far out did the first one. of course, there was much more action in this one i think. but i'm also very much excited about seeing the third one. but i really want to see this one again, and i don't say that about movies often.

why am i cynical? because nearly all my experience leads me to that conclusion.
"welcome to my life, this is the real thing.
things fall out that i never knew where there.
how else can i phrase this when you fucked me over again?
you tried to kill me again, but i still breathe."
- "Anatomy of Anger", the unpronounceable

one of the joys of living on the royal mile: jackhammers at 9am in the morning. this is especially appreciated during bouts of insomnia, when that's about the time you fall asleep.

i hate when i feel impatient.

i listened to the steelers game last night over the web. it made me feel like i was back in the states (particularly pittsburgh) since i got to listen to myron cope himself. myron has been doing steeler play-by-play since i can ever remember. and he's got some interesting phrases and exclamations all his own.

oops. i just realized that i forgot to set my time zone back to GMT when i got back, so the times/dates of my posts are a little wacky. technology will be really good when it changes automatically for you.

yesterday was the first drama workshop. i decided to take the drama option this term since the prose will be more of a sequel to the first term, and i didn't do that one. douglas maxwell is teaching the workshop. he is a professional playwrite here in scotland, and he absolutely loves his work. it's always inspirational to see someone loving their work so much. and in the first hour of class, it's obvious he knows a lot about writing for the stage. although i have no idea if i'll be any good at this at all, i think it will be a fun challenge with douglas leading it.

for your visual stimulation, the latest picture from my flat window.

my bags arrived late last night, only 36 hours after me.

that sun in edinburgh, yeah, it's gone. back to windy, overcast and rainy. yes, that's how i remember you.

back in edinburgh. feels strangly familiar to come back to after only living here for 3 months before i left. a not all together uneventful trip here. when i got to detroit, there was a minute left of the steelers-browns game. well, the steelers won and held on to win. we left a little late in detroit, and when i got to amsterdam, i had to walk a good ways to get to my gate for my connection. i made it, apparently my bag didn't. when i went thru immigration, since i was staying longer than 6 months, he asked me more questions than normal. it made me more nervous, plus i had been up for nearly 22 hrs at that point, but he stamped me with the long term student pass in my passport and there wasn't a problem. actually, that's better, because i can legally work with that stamp. i didn't really want to sleep before tonight, but i don't think i'm going to make it. i'll set my alarm and try to keep it a short nap. oh, one more quick note, it's sunny in edinburgh for my arrival, again. i think it means she likes me.

tomorrow is my last day in pgh. i head to the airport tomorrow morning. from there i have to go to detroit, then amsterdam, then edinburgh. yeah, this is going to be a fun flight. but hey, it was cheap.

it's simple. it's so damn simple. and yet, i don't think they'll ever understand.