spontaneous jollies/the disgorging head/filthy gorgeous

Craigmillar Castle, erm, a few centuries back ...

Hearne The Hunter (-not just a bad song by Emla or whatever they were called) Rosslyn Chapel

Odin/The Hanged Man - Rosslyn Chapel

Last sunday I wrote on lj: "I think I may be going to Edinburgh and maybe other parts of Scotland for a few days, er within the hour. *WHOOT!* I've never packed so quick IN MY LIFE.

Knickers-check,

plentiful Factor VIII-check,

meds-check

and a few t's and leggings-check,

stuff that's safe for a cholestatic person to eat-check.

*SQUEAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

Obviously I'm nervous about my health holding out but having just read this email need to quash the fear and grasp the positive...

"Present Chances. If we get involved in fears about the future, we shall miss the chances that the present offers us." "

Consequently...

3 wonderful days in and around Edinburgh, I spent a fare portion of my late 20's getting very drunk in Edinburgh,but with my LFTs through the roof I have the perfect excuse to 'do the tourist thang' and nor at 35 am I as regularly inclined to drink until er I bleed and climb up scaffolding, dance to spoon-playing, or what-ever hilarious(not) activities I got up to. So, first day went shopping up and around the Royal Mile, did the Underground tour of the Vaults with an easy-on-the-eye actor, in period dress and with a big black stick (it's all in the detail) and a woman more frightened of life than me. Imagine going on a tour of underground vaults if you are claustrophobic?! She will be forever more known as the Oklahoma cling-on. Says me... imagine going on a tour of underground vaults, whilst your imagination is being force-fed the damp, dank, slimy, cobbled, murderous, paedophilic, witch-craft, torture, occult, the homeless burning alive, supernatural imagery, if you are prone to a nervous disposition and nightmares. LOL!(that was a nervous lol by the way).

So back to shopping. Ah yes and out of the centre to Rosslin, near Rosewell, which me and Just mis-read as Roswell, confused? Anyway Rosslin, home of the curiously spelt Rosslyn Chapel, purported home of the Holy grail, lay-lines, God, JHC, aliens, The Knights Templar, Mary and Jesus's children, and all things written about in Dan Browns novel(that's right NOVEL) The Da Vinci Code. What an awesome piece of gothic architecture and obviously getting in better shape by the month with the £7 entrance fee and bus-loads of American tourists. Despite this I found myself drawn in and standing face-to-face with a handsome little fellow, yes practically nose to nose with a green man. Awesome! The typically disgorging head spewing forth a gob full of foliage. And(I have no problem using And to start a sentence with, after all the Bible does it often enough) not just one but over a hundred of the little buggers :-). It's always been a 'should do' of mine to go on road trips round the British isles searching and finding green men and sheelagh-na-gigs. To this end I shall do it! So Rosslyn chapel - stand under the Rose stone and below 30 metres may, just may, be the Holy Grail, some people report strange energies and mystical/spiritual feelings. Well there were feelings alright, but not entirely those to be expected... erm I felt really very horny. Er... in light of my aforementioned pilgrimage to sites of the green man and symbol of sheelagh-na-gigs maybe not entirely alarming, they are of course pagan fertility symbols. I took myself outside for a bit to bask in the ;) energies of the place and the absorb the smouldering whispered sweet-nothings of the winds in the trees. This is my temple. This is my religion.

Day 2 - oh shit, I've come to Scotland without a road map and my sense of direction is lost partying in Ibiza somewhere without me. Hell. I'll just have to see where the moment takes me :). It took me to a beautifully and pretty well preserved Craigmillar Castle, once again you could enter the vaults, take the staircase up to the tower and delight in the views between Edinburgh to Arthurs Seat. I hung out there with some operatic performers for a while and just sipped at the chalice of a glorious relaxed, peaceful and warm day. On the way back to the car I received a text "have you read my email about the gig". No I'm away from home and the internet, for once. We have free tickets to...

...In that moment carefully vague plans of hooking up with rellies in Ayrshire were prematurely abandoned in favour of FREE TICKETS TO SEE THE SCISSOR SISTERS on last night of their 14 month tour, at MEN Arena. COME ON! What a fantastic gig. Jake Shears dropped his pants! We went back to the top floor of the NCP car-park and realised it would take an hour to leave the building, by now there were middlle-aged folk gyrating on the roof to a car-stereo of Scissor Sisters sounds. Time to hit the bar to let this disco inferno simmer down, we thought! Imagine the hilarity when we came back to find layers of fire-men and their accompanying hose to hand!(maybe you had to be there). The night of the gay stereotype.

The following day me and Ben slept in, hung out and in the afternoon went to the Lowry Centre. It's free in, but they asked for a donation. There was a special installation on 'What it means to be Northern' so in true northern fashion we didn't donate a penny. I'm pleased to report that pies/fish n chips/Alan Bennett/Morrissey/ Bet Lynch and Fred Dibnah had all made it to the hearts of the nation and the walls of the exhibition. Neat.

Thursday night home via a steamy evening in Huddersfield with Dave, he decided that one of 'our songs' is Filthy/Gorgeous. We are Filthy/gorgeous, but with a shelf life.

The Scissor Sisters were a band on my 'bands to see before you die list' - prompted by gillywoo, may blog that as a separate issue. Hell, let's do it. Comin' next to a blog near you bands to see before you die...

x

Soundtrack to road-trip: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds-The Boatmans Call