Freedom From The Mundane

Image: 13

Today is a special day in our house. It’s my daughter’s birthday—she’s 13 years old! That’s 13 I said; Thirteen; 1 decade and 3! Do I feel like an old fart? Well, yeah, kind of, which is why I’m still baffled about constantly being branded a big kid.
Anyway, we’re off out tonight to celebrate [...]

March 1st, 2010 | Tags: 13, birthday, Canada, Family, GDR's, Goals Dreams and Resolutions, Hockey, Ice Hockey, meal, seasons, spring, teenager, thirteen, USA, Vancouver, winter, Winter Olympics | Category: Family, Food, Drink, and Bevvy, Sport, Writing, Writing Process | Comments (3)

Image: Jeff Edoe

Set in London and Brighton at the height of the Mod era, Quadrophenia is told through the eyes of Jimmy, a hedonistic style-conscious teenager searching for a place to belong and a girl to love. Misunderstood by his parents and stuck in a dead end job, he sets off on a trip to [...]

May 27th, 2009 | Tags: 1960s, Ben Sherman, Blonde Restaurant, Brighton, Britain, dining, Edinburgh: the City & the Festivals, Festival Theater, London, meal, Mods, musical show, punks, Quadrophenia, Rebus, rockers, scooters, St Leonards, The Who, Union Jack | Category: Edinburgh: the City & the Festivals, Food, Drink, and Bevvy, Music, Theatre, UK | Comments (1)

Image: The Punch Pizza

I had six hours of sleep before I had to log back into the Company network to complete yesterday’s marathon software installation. It felt like I’d had half an hour. Thankfully, it all went reasonably well, despite me running on autopilot for the first hour or so.
My boss came to see me [...]

March 3rd, 2009 | Tags: Anderson Close, birthday, Cowgate, crime, Day Job, Devil, Edinburgh: the City & the Festivals, Editing, Family, Fiction, ghost, Grassmarket, history, Major Weir, meal, pizza, Publishing and Marketing, Ranfurly Review, rejection, Research, Sleep, West Bow, witchcraft, Writing | Category: Day Job, Edinburgh: the City & the Festivals, Family, Fiction, Food, Drink, and Bevvy, Publishing and Marketing, Writing, Writing Process | Comments (3)

Image: John McTarnaghan

I hope you all had a great Valentine’s weekend whatever you chose to do – and whoever with.
Gail and I had a nice time yesterday. Our initial plan had been to drop Laura off at her Gran’s house, go and see an afternoon movie, then come home and have a few drinks and [...]

February 15th, 2009 | Tags: Bevvy, coffee shop, computers, Editing, Fiction, Freelance, Indian, meal, movie, pets, Rabbits, Reading, Research, Shopping, Valentine's Day, websites, Writing | Category: Animals, Edinburgh: the City & the Festivals, Fiction, Film & TV, Food, Drink, and Bevvy, Freelance, I.T., Reading, Writing | Comments (2)

I was out for the count by around half past nine last night. As Gail was heading out for a drink with her sister-in-law, after dropping Laura off at her pals for another sleepover, I found myself nodding in and out of sleep with the TV playing in the background. I could hardly keep my [...]

August 16th, 2008 | Tags: Books, Ds, Edinburgh: the City & the Festivals, Editing, famil, Fiction, Gatecrash, Greener is the Grass, Hunting Jack, meal, Music, novels, Reading, Slick, tired, Writing | Category: Edinburgh: the City & the Festivals, Family, Food, Drink, and Bevvy, Music, Publishing and Marketing, Reading, Scotland, Writing | Comments (1)

Well that’s us booked our summer holiday for 2009! Talk about organised? Yesterday morning sharp Gail and I popped into the local agent and came out with a booking. We’ve become the grabbers of good holiday deals over the last couple of years and this one’s a cracker. It’s the last holiday we’ll get with [...]

June 15th, 2008 | Tags: drink, Family, Father's Day, fish tea, Food, Drink, and Bevvy, gardening, grass, haddock, health, holidays, meal, Newhaven, Peacock Inn, plants, Rabbits, restaurant, upset stomach, weeding | Category: Family, Food, Drink, and Bevvy, Poetry, Reading, Scotland, Travel, Writing | Comments (1)

This is only going to be a very quick summary because not only do I start the “new” day job tomorrow, I want to get up at 5am to get stuck into the new Jackie McCann novel, which has been delayed through one thing or another – mostly this day job nonsense and the amount [...]

May 18th, 2008 | Tags: Day Job, Family, Fiction, Film & TV, Glasgow, Hangover, home office, Jackie McCann, Linford Christie, meal, novel, OAPs, retirement, spring clean, Toni's restaurant, Writing | Category: Day Job, Family, Food, Drink, and Bevvy, Freelance, Poetry, Writing | Comments (1)

I was quite tired yesterday after only getting about five hours sleep. While Gail and Lindsay both had long lies to sleep off the effects of Saturday night, I was back out my bed five hours later when my father in law showed up with hammers and whistles; just what I needed that early on [...]

May 5th, 2008 | Tags: Australian Pink Floyd, Edinburgh: the City & the Festivals, Editorial Comment, Family, gig, life, meal, Music, Playhouse, Rabbits, Theatre, Tropical Fish | Category: Edinburgh: the City & the Festivals, Editorial Comment, Family, Food, Drink, and Bevvy, Music, Theatre, Writing, Writing Process | Comments (1)

I had a fabulous weekend. On Saturday I headed through to Glasgow on the train with only one mission in mind: to spoil my mother. I was taking her out on the town for the night; for a meal and to a show – her Christmas present from December.
Lindsay, my younger sister, gave us a [...]

April 20th, 2008 | Tags: Anita Dobson, Dance, Darren Day, DVD, Editorial Comment, Family, Film & TV, fine dining, Glasgow, Hello Dolly, Kings Theatre, Mal Maison, meal, movie | Category: Edinburgh: the City & the Festivals, Editorial Comment, Family, Food, Drink, and Bevvy, Theatre | Comments (2)