Dark Dreams And Research

Image: Massimo Faccini

I had some really weird dreams last night.

Dream #1: I’m in a house by the sea. It’s on stilts so not easy to get off in an emergency. Typical then, that there had been a national population wipe-out by wild dogs that had surrounded the house and were trying with all their might to get in. I was only just able to keep them at bay, getting scratched and bitten as I fought to keep the doors closed and the windows secure. They were tearing up the roof and scratching away at the doors to try and get to me. Then a shady figure appeared along the beach wearing a black sea fishing jacket, the hood pulled right up so I couldn’t see his face. He walked through all the dogs, calming them and stopping their attack. He opened the door to the house and just stood there. I looked at him.

Switch to me being on the run through Leith. No matter how hard I ran down the road, thundering down what I knew to be Leith Walk but was more open and led directly to the sea, the hooded figure jut walked but managed to keep up. But now he had assembled a gang of hoodie wearing, Buckie drinking neds to chase me down, also. I ran and ran until I got to the sea – trapped – nowhere else to go and out of breath. [end of dream]

Dream #2: I’m watching television. A man and woman are being interviewed; the woman doing most of the talking. While she’s being spoken to she still has her iPod playing with her earphones wrapped around her neck, so each time she leans forward to listen to the question, her earphone came up to the microphone that was snipped to her cardigan, meaning all the viewer could hear was the latest track by Aerosmith. [end of dream]

Reason #1: I had a late dinner last night. There was cheese in it.
Reason #2: My mind is cultivating a lot of creativity just now because of NaNo.
Reason #3: I’m a head case.

I got home to find the first reply to my Slick submission: a rejection from Canongate. Never mind; onwards and upwards.

As some of you may already know, my wife Gail is a talented photographer. She recently entered a competition, of which the prize was the cover image on a calendar for a large US financial company. She entered four images, two of which came 2nd and 3rd in the competition. She narrowly missed out on first place, purely (we think), because of the subject matter chosen by the judging panel.

After getting kind permission from Gail, here are her images. Personally, I think her 3rd place was better than the 2nd place she got, and that it should have won outright. But then, I am biased.

You can click to enlarge these images in a new window.

3rd Place – Silhouette of Edinburgh from Calton Hill

2nd Place – Edinburgh Castle by Night

Check out Gail’s website for some more excellent photography: Gail Galbraith Photography

Some good progress on Blood Ties: 3019 words to be precise. I hit upon a couple of points of research I am going to have take care of sooner rather than later, though. One visit to the University of Edinburgh is required, as is a trip up to Saughton Prison. Both of those should be pretty interesting. I also contacted the NUS for some procedural information. Hopefully they’ll get back quickly.

You might not hear from me until Saturday. I’m going through to Glasgow tomorrow to see with my sister. We’re going to see Paul Weller on Friday night. If she lets me use her laptop, I’ll post an update tomorrow night.

Blood Ties (NaNoWriMo)

Blood Ties (NaNoWriMo)