Today old charges came a-visiting. It’s great to hear how those who have flown the coop are getting on. So much better to hear they are doing great!

I wish the same for all that I have known and shall know. Even the odd loony cow-orker from the past that doesn’t even deserve it! May they never fall foul of life in their pursuit of happiness.

Oddly juxtaposed text for a weird stalker-like pic, but that kinda sums up my day! Weird that is, not stalker-like…

Okay, I’ll get my coat…

When I was at school, school shows were dire things. Stutters and clumsy gestures, lack of projection or extreme and uncontrolled over acting, and that uneasy sense of pity mixed with despair.

It all changes as a parent, when the show becomes an uneasy moment of pride clashing with previous experiences.

And tonight. Yet another amazing school production which, quick honestly, has professional quality performances on a regular basis. I am astounded. Again. And proud. And vaguely disappointed that my own school settled for so much less. Or I did.

Photo comment: usually I would not post something quite so processed, but I thought it pretty and therefore it’s in! :)

My kids love me so!

So much in fact that they were late with recognition of that artificial celebration of fatherhood on Sunday, but still keen to mark it… with things to make me fat… and a beautifully crafted homemade “one day late” card!

And in keeping with the spirit of the whole, crazy laugh-fest, I was presented with it (or rather given instructions as to how I might find it) one day late!

It makes me smile deep down inside that my kids do meta-humour with such panache! :)

The rain fell no more. And the games could commence. The battles of Saturday’s cancelled Sports Day were played out today on the field of dreams in bonnie Dundee! And the spectacle was worth the afternoon as ever.

From the egg and spoon and sack races to the javelin, 1500m, and 4x100m relays there was something for everyone to endure, excel, or be entertained!

Addendum:

I took almost 300 pictures this afternoon, it’s great fun having captive subjects! I just wish I had the time tonight to actually look through them… Another night perhaps.

My only problem is… I never used my iPhone for the image. I feel I have cheated a little. My plan was a year of iPhone photography. Proving the point to myself and all that stuff. Seems I could only manage 170 pictures… but I should be back to normal tomorrow.

If us humans dream of that dog’s life. Then dogs surely must have their own dreams…

And what else could they dream of than a greyhound’s life? They take carefree to new heights, vertigo-enducingly so.

Today I snapped our Pi in a rare moment of focussed excitement. Note the single disapproving eye almost opening to see what I am up to, and the coiled spring posture?

Normally she is much more relaxed than this…

Lovely weather for it.

Nice to have a peaceful family day instead of the excitement of competition. Visiting relatives, ferrying children, and relaxation replace it. And now a movie and a beer!

Some days it’s nice when it rains!

A week since the migraine began, and still the effects grapple with my wellbeing.

Today was a long day, with lots of reasons to think next year will be a long year, but it’s over and time for bed.

Tomorrow I am hoping for rain! Only because I would like a day off. Not too much to ask now and again I think!

What a miserable blip! I will try to do better tomorrow…

There are roses in our house. A romantic gesture thrown towards our youngest lass. What a nice lad she has!

So we thought!

Turns out, they were her idea! A request one might assume, or a demand one might postulate. Nice to see she is taking after her dear mother. I am sure we wouldn’t have it any other way… :-)

Generally I prefer purple, but the powers that be insist on red! Hurrah for rules and regulations.

If I behave, in a couple of weeks I get to use green! Hud me back!

Sitting in Glasgow’s Botanic Gardens enjoying that glorious west coast sunshine, listening to Vangelis, and thinking not much has changed.

The main University buildings still fill me with delight to see and stroll around, though my student days are long gone. And tonight it’s back to my old department for a talk… peculiar.

One.

Two.

Three cranes.

We don’t have a cat!

Half way through my 13 day working ‘week’ and so far, I am still alive! Although I needed a beer, some Tchaikovsky, and a hot bath at the end of the day to take away the pain! :)

Hippy blip night tonight. Not sure if that’s because of the bath, beer, or the Russian symphony. Embrace it while you can!

School trip on the Girl Katherine II today!

The weather was not ideal, and everyone got a little wetter than they hoped! But it was a great morning and always good to be out at sea.

The lighthouse on the Bell Rock is 200 years old this year, and is a wonder of engineering - a treat to visit and see up close! I recommend it!

Was tough getting phone pictures, so this the best I got. I am a little happier with my SLR pics.

For the first time in a few months I had a migraine. Started 40 minutes before end of work. Here’s the routine…

First contact: the world seems a little distant, unsettling, much like that moment just prior to realising you just shared a common world view with your Father. Duration: 5 minutes.

Dawning realisation: despite having suffered countless migraines in the past the time it takes to recognise the onslaught does not change. At this point I should take my super duper prescribed medication - it is 90% effective 90% of the time!

But today. No. Medication. Took painkillers instead.

That vision thing: if you smeared Vaseline in two side by side “W” shapes… thus “WW”… on the lenses of a pair glasses at the centre of your vision - that’s the best I can do to describe what happens to my sight. In can discern large objects and colours, but no chance that I could read, even very large type. Nothing you look at is in focus. In the meantime my head feels like it’s full of damp cotton wool, and I feel like I want to throw up, but never do! Duration: 15-30 minutes.

The payload: the headache starts. Ouch! If possible I should have found a dark room by now. One in which I can sleep. It’s the only reprieve. Avoid light. Avoid noise. Duration: various.

First migraine I ever had last 6 weeks! No, really! And before then if people were off work with “a migraine” I confess I thought they were probably slacking a bit with a headache. Little did I realise. Sorry.

And all that’s before I mention that atypically my arm, hand, then fingers go numb. Very occasionally one half of my face does too. Feels like you are having a stroke! Not pleasant.

And the blip? The weathered flowers, the off coloured lighting, the piercing light source, the vague lack of focus. It is the best I could do to capture the feeling of a migraine - not including the pain!

Tonight when i eventually got home, had an hour of sleep, and recuperated for a bit: we walked the dogs. All’s well that ends well. Apparently!

Today I saw the light. I bathed in it.

Or at least, I blipped it.

Another in the series titled “Obscure Self Portraits Which Don’t Give Too Much Away”…

What is it about not wanting to appear on camera that remains despite loving to take pictures?

And while I am at it, how can I not feel I am imposing by photographing people in the street? I have seen some stunning street photography but, perhaps a result of not liking to be the subject, I never feel like I should do it myself.

My laptop started pinking last night. Got worse today. Worried that it might be the hard drive…

Time for some DIY…

Always bad to drop one of the world’s smallest screws. Always good to find it again!

Timely reminder to reevaluate my backup strategy… if strategy is not too grand a word!

Today my iPhone gained hope. Independence is just around the corner. The possibility of loosing the cable, loosing the computer, loosing the tether, but keeping the connection. Shame it’s only an announcement - I best remember where I stowed that cable.

Until the Fall (sic).

Today we walked along the coast to Scurdieness Lighthouse, just outside Ferryden - a lovely, haphazard, vaguely rundown, old fishing village. A place oozing with photo opportunities, quaint and quirky.

And being the complete amateur I am, I left my camera at home. Hurrah!

The weekend is becoming predictable. Work 16 hour days all week… throw Saturday to the lions, productivity-wise at any rate. Roll on the Summer (which, it should be noted, ended yesterday - again)!

But one dog has a new bed, and the other a toy pheasant that sounds uncannily like a distressed duck when squeezed by the drooling jaws of a hungry, but intellectually challenged hound!

And tonight’s blip? I can haz Chianti?