i finally made it to the start of a morning session 🥱
“my modalities will just be box and diamond… the OGs”
wow the sun sets at 10pm here
I forgot about natalie dee’s comics. they’re good
things i forgot as casualties to getting to the conference on time:
- my name tag
- breakfast
omg i just realized the current speaker is NOT fred. that would explain why he was at the hotel and also did not recognize me
(noticing they’re running out of time) “i think i’ll skip the intuition”
i am very sleepy but doing my best to stay awake for the @zanzi show!
the glasgow subway is so cute. it’s bb8 in train form
locals explained “we only have a circle line” and i replied that boston has everything *except* a circle line
we love a rainy night street photo
ramshorn: ram’s horn? ram shorn?
borb mural
feral flora
more glasgow weed patches
there’s a queue for the coffee machine at the hotel and my american brain can’t help but go you know what would solve this….
I THOUGHT I knew what a scone was but this was labeled “potato scone”
“what’s on the glasgow salad?”
“it’s just chips” lmao eat your heart out pittsburgh
cullen skink > boston clam chowder
sorry what
surprised no one has commented on “app only” yet
anyway i’m in edinburgh now.
conversation with my mother
wow they really just made the country's motto "don't fuck with me" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemo_me_impune_lacessit
Nemo me impune lacessit - Wikipedia

I went to the castle and it was alright. ate cake in the tea room. got stuck in tourist hell for a little longer than is good for the soul. came back down and saw that “cinema in the park” was playing Twisters, which i stayed to watch to the end
i appreciate that what we stateside rubes might call “mixed berries” is here known as “fruit of the forest”. probably not much more botanically accurate but much more evocative of being at a feast in a Redwall novel
love to see it
tripped and fell into phil wadler’s retirement party
ok
golden hour last couple of days
(i’m trying to get better at photo composition! if any of you who know what you’re doing behind a camera have suggestions or constructive critiques i’d be happy to hear it, with the caveat that “the camera i have with me” is probably going to be an outdated one-lens iphone for the foreseeable future)
I understand things like focal points/rule of thirds and perspective lines from my drawing/collage/mixed media experience, and I’ve read enough photo 101 to know about depth of field and looking for tangent lines and shadows and reflections and stuff. i’m a lot less confident about choosing angles, places to stand, and how to crop to balance fore/mid/background elements, stuff like that
last day here, finally drinking a scotch (bowmore 15)
the thing is i *like* scotch, but i don’t like tourist traps, and unfortunately i’m in a very touristy area. so i had to convince myself that it was really ok to go to some random pub on the royal mile and order a possibly-overpriced scotch. it’s really delicious, no one is currently being rowdy nearby, and I have no regrets
i’m probably misusing the word pub. tavern? restaurant? it has full meal food as well. does that disqualify it from pub status?
i had an exciting moment today spotting a ground nesting bird on a hilltop in holyrood park, which I assumed was a skylark based on the sign (pictured), but reading their Wikipedia page (we don’t have them in the US) i think this bird was larger. all i have is two bad photos with unfortunate lighting (I was trying to keep my distance per signage) but would be curious if anyone can identify!
encountered a familiar Kris in the airport and we had a conversation on subjects including our colleagues Chris and Kris.
thanks for the hospitality and good times, scotland! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
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i had an exciting moment today spotting a ground nesting bird on a hilltop in holyrood park, which I assumed was a skylark based on the sign (pictured), but reading their Wikipedia page (we don’t have them in the US) i think this bird was larger. all i have is two bad photos with unfortunate lighting (I was trying to keep my distance per signage) but would be curious if anyone can identify!
encountered a familiar Kris in the airport and we had a conversation on subjects including our colleagues Chris and Kris.
thanks for the hospitality and good times, scotland! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

@chrisamaphone My SO enjoys the ID a bird from a bad pic game... I'll run it by her.

Side note. I didn't realize you were still in Edinburgh or I would have reached out! I was in Holyrood just this morning.

@chrisamaphone At first glance, that beak in the second picture looks more corvidy, or possibly raptory. At least, assuming I'm interpreting the pic correctly. How big was it?
@okennedy yeah I had the same thought! I am not very sure about the size, but like, closer to duck than songbird?
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@okennedy pheasant does seem plausible - there was some movement that made me think it had a long tail
@okennedy oh no way! sorry to miss you; enjoy your time here!