the city that the light made

something very strange just happened, and being a member of 'generation share everything now' i decided to spend my last 70p on an hours internet in order to tell you all about it.

i had a nap in Princes Street Garden, doing my best not to attract dogs and small children. failed miserably, attracted a black puppy called Miles and a small child called Siobhan. gave up on my new book, and decided to walk back to the hostel to challenge my Canadian roommate to a rematch of last night's chess game. was happily plotting my opening move when i saw someone i didn't expect to see. Michael Patrick Lloyd. commonly known as Mickey, Purple Sneakers Favourite Leprechaun. we embraced and were confused. turned out he's nipped over here for his girlfriend's 21st and i've come here to try and throw up all over Edinburgh. it was great to see him - his hugs are always awesome.

my quest to throw up all over Edinburgh is going well. this morning i climbed up Arthur's Seat, which stands 823ft above the rest of the city. it's got no real connection to the fabled King Arthur, but derives its name from "Ar-na-sied" which is scots for "that lump of rock that we make tourists climb." no Scottish person would do this walk, they're all too busy dying of heart disease. instead they watch stupid Australians climb it. i stopped every 50m to try and convince my heart not to explode, my stomach not to projectile, my head not to fall off, my lungs not to collapse. in short, i was trying not to die. i didn't, but when i reached the top, i appreciated the view for a good five seconds before lurching over the edge to chunder. very glamourous. once i'd recovered (theres nothing in my stomach but bile.) i took some photos, appreciated the view a bit more, and made note to drag Emma up there at sunrise one day. she'll kill me, but the view is spectacular - you can see all of the city, and all the way out to Fife. on a clear day you could probably see the ocean and the English border.

once i'd climbed back down, again trying not to die, i wandered into the New Town, took a peek at the Oxford Bar, where Rebus and Rankin drink. didn't go in as i'm not quite Rebus when it comes to drinking alone. still, its what i expected. wandered to Fruitmarket Gallery, which was nifty and full of postmodern Scottish works, then back up to the High Street via Fleshmarket Close. grabbed lunch from tescos, wandered through Grassmarket, then down to Princes Street Garden. managed not to puke up lunch, grand success!!! (small plain bread roll.) Napped, saw Mickey. decided to blog about it.

i'm doing my best not to buy that unicorn dress - for starters, its got a white background. disaster. for seconds, money is needed for living, not dressing. for thirds, i'm about tothrow all my money away on a £50 Blue Nashville acoustic guitar. it's sooooooooooooooo pretty. the fact i can't play guitar is a moot point.

it's a good thing i'm leaving tomorrow morning. otherwise i'd do something very silly. i feel like i should buy something touristy, like a bobble hat. but that feels a bit naff, so i'll just hoard postcards that i keep meaning to send but probably never will. expect to be handed them in five months time.

xxx

The Remote Part by Idlewild is one of my favourite albums. they're an Edinburgh band and i've always considered the album to be about their home city. still, its not till i was on top of Arthur's Seat, listening to "You Held The World In Your Arms" that it hit me how much of the city is in the album. then i had some wanky thoughts about how i've been carrying bits of Edinburgh (idlewild, rankin, welsh, etc) around for years, and thoughts about how cities make people make cities make people etc. then i thought i was going to be sick again, so i stopped thinking.