Point and Shoot... Randomosity

So, you may have noticed (or you have completely not noticed at all, which is fine, really, since that makes me feel less guilty) that I have not been blogging lately.  I have a couple of excuses.  First, there's the whole camera fiasco, which is ongoing.  The camera is back at the Nikon store in America and should hopefully be fixed soon.  I haven't heard about that yet.  It's still under warranty (yay!) so at least I don't have to stress about how expensive a fix it is.

My second excuse is university.

What?  I'm using schoolwork as an excuse for not blogging about my adventures in Scotland?  I know - lame.  But that's the way it is these days, and I doubt it will change much in the next few months, if the last couple weeks were any indication.

I basically had an essay crisis.  The paper that I worked on with great hope and care for a couple of weeks before Christmas and then for a week after Christmas turned out to be, well, wrong.  When I met with my supervisors, they were very encouraging and enthusiastic about the premise behind the essay and what I said I wanted to do, but the essay itself just wasn't doing what I said it was doing.

I'm not disagreeing.  It was a Fail Essay and I realized this with shocked dismay during the course of the hour long meeting with my supervisors.  So, they gave me loads of helpful advice on how to go about fixing my problem and sent me on my way with a total of four days to fix it up.

It turned out that I had to rewrite the entire (twenty page, footnoted) thing.  I came back the day before it was due and talked to my supervisor and she decided that an extra weekend to finish it would be good for both the paper and my sanity.  I'm not sure about either, but I do know that if I'd been expected to hand it in on Friday, I would probably not have survived.

Not that this was a dramatic situation or anything.

But the paper is finished and handed in this afternoon (I confess I almost bolted back into the office to grab it and save it before my profs have a chance to, you know, read it), so I am free and have an afternoon to rest before diving into Paper #3.

I haven't been taking photo walks like I used to since all I have is a little point and shoot camera kindly donated for the cause by my parents.  However, I have taken a few shots over the past few weeks.  So here you go:

 I was walking down the streets one evening and was captured, once again, by the lovely lamp posts that are scattered throughout the city.

They light up the old brick and stone buildings and long, cobblestone walkways with an eery, but beautiful glow.

This one has become a particular favorite of mine, standing at the edge of a raised walkway next to St Columba's Church.

 My little point and shoot stand-in camera has trouble with night shots.  Most cameras do unless they are advanced models (like my beloved sick camera in the shop!).

So it is always a trick getting any night shot to turn out without using a flash (which destroys most night shots, in my opinion).

 The lighting was really bad in this one, but I like the shot itself, so I gave the B&W effect a try.  It's now quite a good shot and looks deliberate and everything!

 There is no really good segue for this, but oh well.

A couple weeks ago, I realized that I had yet to take photos of my church.  Point-and-Shoot (shall I call this camera PS?) is not as good for taking really top quality, carefully modified shots like dear DSLR does, but PS has a few excellent advantages.

For instance, I can slip it in my purse without thinking about it and have a camera with me for random shots.  When I take DSLR out, I normally have to think about it more because it's so big.

Anyway, this is my church, St Catherine's Argyle.

 It was a truly gorgeous Sunday afternoon, with fluffy clouds and bright blue and a brilliant sun bursting over the horizon.  It looks so warm and inviting...

 It was not warm at all.

 Still, Sunday walks back from church are my favorite time of the week.  I feel refreshed from the amazing service, good fellowship with friends, and the student lunch that St Cath's so kindly provides each week.

And having this sort of weather, where it might be cold, but the sun is shining and the sky is blue, is just a bonus.

 My favorite things about The Meadows:

Giant old trees
Green, green grass
Distant church spires along the horizon

 I was trying to show how blue the sky is over this street, but it got completely washed out.

The picture below is a little better.

 Oh, look, is this a sunset?  No, in fact, it is a sunrise!  I know, you are shocked.  Melissa was up and about at the break of day?  Admittedly, day doesn't break until about 8:30, but still, for me, that is early.  This morning, I met up with Hannah for our almost-a-tradition Monday morning breakfast/study session.  I like to take the long way around to the cafe because I can walk through the park and watch the sky brighten.

 Today had amazing clouds so I decided to snap shots of the sky with some nice building silhouettes.  Edinburgh kindly obliges when it comes to pretty buildings.

 This is Bedlam Theatre, which has plays, though not your usual Shakespeare and friends.  I never recognize the play titles.

 Arthur's Seat looks compelling and magical off in the distance beneath the clouds.

Every time I see a building with a round, pointed tower, I want to find a way in to climb up and see if that tower is as adorable and awesome as it looks from down below.

I dearly want a round tower like this in my home someday.

So those are some pictures that I have taken.  I know I have failed in my usual habit of overloading posts with far too many pictures, but maybe the less-is-more saying can hold true for my photo posts.  I will try to snap the occasional shot here and there and stick them up so that I am not quite such a failed blogger.

The Boyfriend Comes to Scotland: And then He Goes Away Again

 Two weeks might seem like a long time, but it starts to pick up speed halfway through.

We reached our last couple of days before we realized where the time had gone.

I was still under the weather, so we took it easy, but I was determined to get Erik out and about and seeing things on his last days in Scotland.

So one of those days, we did a tour of Places Melissa Goes Frequently.

Starting from Mylne's Court, where I live, we proceeded down toward campus.

 Obligatory shot next to a bagpiper...

 By the way, Erik has been staying at a hostel above this shop.

 Apparently, people get hungry sometimes and need food before proceeding on adventures.  So we stopped in our chosen favorite food place, World's End, for some lunch.

 Someone likes coffee...




We heartily enjoyed the tavern rules.

 Erik's making sure we don't break any of the rules... or at least get caught.

 The view from our window out onto the Royal Mile.  So much touristyness!

 Ewwwwwww....

 Starting to get annoyed with me photographing him all the time...

 So, I needed entertainment while waiting for my food.  Guess what each packet contains!

 Atmospheric old place.

 Artsy shot by me above...





Erik's attempt at artsy shot on the left.

 Seriously.  Food.  Now.

 Enough with the pictures!

 Erik retreats until food appears...

 Mmmmmmmmm!!!!


Classic win fish and chips for Erik.


Lamb with veggies for me!

 Okay, so there might be something to this whole food thing.  Nom nom nom!

 Onward to campus.  Here are the impressive oldish looking buildings that make it look like we all have classes in castles.


They are lies.

 Teviot looks like something out of a fantasy film, but it's just full of bars.





We passed by all the ugly newer buildings, including this travesty: the library.  Who builds a university library and makes it ugly like this when they are surrounded by beautiful old architecture?

My mind cannot fathom it.

 My townhouse where the School of Scottish Studies has all of its offices and classrooms.  It is properly old.

 Along the same row of townhomes is one formerly belonging to Sir Walter Scott...

 ... and another where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle lived.

 On Monday, I was still feeling kind of bad, but well enough that (once medicated) I was prepared to go on a six mile adventure to Craigmillar Castle and back.  We needed to add one more castle to Erik's list before he left.

 Into the mysterious foliage tunnel.

 Will he ever return?

 Apparently, he wants to live there.

 Why are there flowers duct taped to the tree?  Whyyyy?





Erik was too cheap to pay for a ticket into the castle...

 Actually, we'd already paid for his ticket.  He just wanted to scale the wall.

 The wall was too hard, so he settled for a gate.  Look at him climb that gate! 

 Clearly, the stone circle at the top of the wall was a posing platform.

Clearly.

 Surveying my domain.

 This fireplace is not quite tall enough.

 I swear, I can't take him anywhere...

 Into the latrine with you!

 Looking down.  This castle seems to be missing ceilings here and there.

 The flash did odd things to these pictures.

 I don't know why he likes the fireplaces so much.  Really.  It makes no sense.

 Creeper!

 Hanging again.

 People were either much shorter back in the day, or they just didn't measure everything properly.

 It was even too short for me!

 Imposing.

 And now he's taken to levitating in fireplaces...

 A hobbit sized door.

 Peeking through a narrow window.

 The unclimbable tree.  Someday, I will climb it.

 The crows were being all properly creepy in the trees around the castle ruins.

 There's just something about this field that demands goofy poses. 

 P in the pool!

 Pretty sunset!  This is the second time I've been at this castle, and both times, the sunset was amazing.

 The city turned on as the sun disappeared.

 Dork.

 This candy shop is just a delight to stand in and absorb the sugary atmosphere.



Erik: 'Hmmm.... hearts above my head... I must be In Love!'



Darn right, you are.

 Our final morning required indulging in tasty treats, so we went to Peter's Yard (delightful cafe with Scandinavian inspired desserts, such as our danishes).


It was a win with this one.

 My hot chocolate was almost too pretty to drink!

 Almost.






Later on, we walked down to dinner at World's End one last time.  The moon was all ghostly and beautiful behind St Giles.

 One of my favorite shots - it looks like the moon is rising.

 We like this place very much.  We ended up going three times total.  Erik got the fish and chips every single time.  They are that good here.

 See?  Biggest and Best.  It says so right on the sign!

 Magical door!  I love those!




We stayed up until 4AM when Erik had to be packed away onto a bus heading for the airport. 

I hate goodbyes in general, but this one was a tough one.  We had so much fun together for two weeks and it will be some time before I see him in person again.

 This was not my favorite moment ever.

But he is awfully cute in the bus window.






















Goodbye for now!