Edinburgh International Film Festival 2012
Edinburgh has many festivals of all shapes and sizes. After a rocky few years the Edinburgh International Film Festival is often the one with the most gossip and speculation attached, but it’s also easily one of the most glamorous. This year a new structure and a new director seem to be taking it back to … Continue reading
National Library of Scotland’s Conservation Workshop
I spent this afternoon in the bowels of the National Library of Scotland. While deliciously labyrinthine, I was glad to have a guide. I think I was nine floors below street level before I saw a window. In among the nation’s treasured King James Bible and the First Folio of Shakespeare, I was observing in … Continue reading
The Book of Awesome
Do you ever have these people who are on the fringes of your life – acquaintances, maybe, or folk in your work network – who you think are just totally awesome? The sort of people who light up rooms and change the world and smile with their eyes. You’re not really close, but everything you … Continue reading
The Pentlands
Edinburgh is nestled among the hills, a little oasis on the waterfront. Each peak and each range have their own character – from the imposing volcanic mass of Arthur’s Seat to the sweetly suburban greenery on Blackford Hill. Now we have Ollie, I am spending a good deal more time out south, in the Pentland … Continue reading
Scottish Ballet: A Streetcar Named Desire
Given the choice, dance isn’t top of my theatre-going agenda. I find traditional ballet is usually stuffy, keeping me at arm’s length, while the often abstract nature of modern dance asks me to take large leaps, and I’m not always willing or able to oblige on a tired Tuesday evening. But the burgeoning movement of … Continue reading
The Gardens
The garden is absolutely the best thing about our house. It’s a shared garden – a football shaped greenspace created in the hollow between two concave crescent roads, accessible by application to the inimitable (and slightly absurd) Garden Committee. I’d much prefer a backyard of my own, but in this city I’m willing to take … Continue reading
Roger M Jones Fellowship
Did I ever tell you the story of how I moved to Edinburgh? The short version goes something like this: Once upon a time, Sara was a college student in the grips of terrible ennui. Her chosen major was not shaping up as she expected. Life ahead seemed terrifyingly uncertain. Her freetime was consumed with … Continue reading
International Women’s Day: Hard as Nails
Yesterday was International Women’s Day. So while I am not into soapboxing most days [for fear I’d never get back off once I’ve begun], I did celebrate a little. How, you ask? By visiting a pop-up Hard as Nails feminist nail bar of course! A quick (and nominally political) manicure, a lot of lovely chat … Continue reading
Extra Credit: The Cameo Double Bill
Edinburgh is awash with indy film opportunities. It’s the sort of thing we often take for granted. The old and lovely Cameo Cinema is one of my favourite irregular haunts. Sure the bathrooms are crap and the popcorn is stale, but it has a lovely old-school vibe. Not great for blockbusters or 3D, but a … Continue reading
Be by the sea. On Cramond Island
I love the sea. Always have, always will. It’s in my blood. My grandpa used to joke that my family is part-selkie. Sometimes I half believe him. More than a few weeks without a shoreline and I get a little stir crazy. So, as one of my thirty things for being 30, I’ve promised myself … Continue reading
Que Sera Sara? 