Scottish Ruby Conference Talk

I thought I would share my talk from Scottish Ruby Conference back in April of 2011. You didn't think I was in Scotland just to entertain you did you? :-)

Where are all the Women?

Day Thirteen: I'm a liarface from Liarsville (Pictures!!)

I know I said there wouldn't be anymore pictures, but the sun just keeps shining. What am I supposed to do? :-)

Let's go for another short tour of Edinburgh (and maybe some repeats). My friend Diarmid took me to Greyfriars for a walk around the cemetery on Friday.

We stopped at one tomb, of one Bloody Mackenzie, and peeked in. It's said to be haunted, but Diarmid didn't think so...that is until I proved him otherwise. Buy me a beer and I will tell you the not-so-fascinating-story of why someday. Here's a picture of his tomb...can you feel a presence?

Bloody Mackenzie's tomb. 

One of the awesome family tombs they have had this wonderful saying that I want people to say about me when I die...

A woman of great virtue and good sense. 

Thinking about it, I may need to change my ways.

HA! This statue has no arms in which to come and get me. 

Flodden Wall: One of the walls erected around the city to stave off the British. 

View of the castle from Greyfriars.

We met up with Ellen and headed down Candlemaker Row. It takes you into the Grassmarket where there are a ton of pubs. :-)

Peeking into the Grassmarket where the castle looms overhead. 

There is a walking path in front of the buildings. 

Looking up towards the Mile. That's the tollbooth Kirk sticking out. 

Even the Doctor needs to stop in for refreshments every now and then. 

Looking up Victoria St with loads of cute shops. 

See the railing above the shops in the picture above? Well...

View from the railing. The castle-looking thing in the distance is a school. Yes, a school. 

Same view up Victoria St. just at a slightly higher altitude. 

I think these pictures were taken over several days. It was beautiful when I was walking with Diarmid and Ellen, but I kept forgetting I had my camera. That's a sign of good company! Well, Ellen and I are psychically linked after all. ;-) So I had to go back another day and retrace our steps, just not all 10,000 of them. haha

Winding around the railing and up a staircase I popped out onto Johnston Terrace by the Tollbooth Kirk. 

See that BLUE sky? It's gorgeous here. 

With yet another view of the castle. Sorry, but this never gets old to me. 

It sits on top of a volcano. 

And back up to the Mile where I wandered around. I didn't get many post-worthy shots of some of the closes while I was wandering. It's a shame since they are so cool. But I did manage these two:

The big spire is of the Scott Monument on Princes Street. 

Looking at Calton Hill over Waverley Station. 

One of the reasons I love this city so much is the buildings. They are just so damn interesting to look at. And they aren't all from the same time period, as in different centuries. We just don't get to see that all the time in the States.

Awesomesauce carvings!

St. Giles Cathedral is such a dynamic building.

OMG KILTS!! I've certainly seen my fair share of kilts, mostly hanging in price-gouging, tourist shops, but occasionally on a real-life human too. I didn't ask if he was a True Scotsman, but I did leave a tip for the music he was providing. :-) 

Saturday night I went out with my friends Caitlin and Brian again. They are a blast to hang out with and it turns out that Caitlin and I share a birthday. Soulmates! We ate a Oishii where I had legit ramen soup (not the crap I eat at home). 

It was totally delish!

Then I had to embarrass them and pull my camera out as we walked to the bar/restaurant called Rick's. 

I couldn't resist another castle shot. 

The night was so much fun: drinking and chatting and drinking and drinking and thinking I lost an earring that I never actually put on. The next day was a little rough, but it was totally worth it. Hopefully I didn't embarrass myself (or my friends) as I tend to do when I drink. I somehow thought taking night shots on the way home would be a good idea...without a tripod....drunk. It wasn't my brightest idea ever but I did get one decent shot, it just also came with taxi and stoplights.  

My brother Joe made it in the next day and we went out for food. 

First up: hair of the dog.

This was my first time eating fish and chips since I've been here. That is a total travesty considering I've been craving it forever. Good news is that it was delicious!

Fish and chips and peas and some sauce that claimed to be tartar sauce but tasted like honey mustard (good either way).

Joe had the veggie haggis.

His wasn't as good as mine. :-( 

Well I see the sun shining again and there are a couple things I haven't seen yet... I can hear my advisor saying "I told you so" right now. :-) 

It's hard to be away sometimes

No matter where you are, it's sometimes difficult to be away. This is true even for single, childless people.

I am in a constant state of planning trips. Whether or not I am actually going to go on the trip doesn't matter, as long as I am planning something. When I do get to travel, I am thrilled to get away. I've always been this way. My life isn't so bad that I need to run away all the time. Let's face it, I'm a totally privileged person. I'm writing this blog post in an apartment I am renting in Edinburgh, Scotland for crying out loud. It likely stems from being an Army brat and moving around every so often (though not as much as A.C. Slater).  Even after dad retired, I still managed to move around even if it was within the same city. So the need to travel is in me to stay.

I'm privileged enough to be able to go on trips too. Remember my Thanksgiving getaway? This is my third time in Scotland since 2008 (and my fifth trip to Scotland in total). Being single allows for me to be able to pick up and go pretty much at a moments notice. I once planned a two-week trip to Colorado, packed, and drove out there (by myself) in a matter of about 3 weeks. It's easy because I am not leaving anyone behind. That's technically not true, but I'm not leaving anyone who needs me to be with them. It's a refreshing feeling. It can also be terrifying, but I'll save that for another post.

While I may not be leaving anyone behind, I do leave my dog (ongoing debate about whether that should be plural), usually with my mom since that is where he lives anyway. I don't generally miss his barking every time his nap gets interrupted or the way he makes a huge display when I get into MY bed and he has to move (I know, I'm such a meanie). Regardless, I got him when he was just a cute 8-week old puppy 9 years ago and he is as close to having a child as I'll ever get.

OMG! He was so cute!

Please disregard the ex's ass, but seriously, wasn't that puppy so darn cute?

So when he has to go to the vet to get his ear probed (his most hated thing in life, ever, just ask him) while I am away, I get sad. He's been fighting an ear infection for several years now. They hurt him so much that he will yelp sometimes when he's roughhousing with his playmate. Actually, his whole attitude changes and he becomes depressed: less energetic, disinterested in food and play. It's depressing to watch. And then we have to follow all this up with several visits to the vet where he gets poked and prodded and it kills me a little more each time.


Without going into too much detail, Jack had to go back to the vet to get his ear prodded (something I didn't want to have him go through without his mommy there) and it had to be done after I left on this trip. I was pretty upset. He's my baby and I wasn't there for him. :-( And then mom sends me these super pathetic pictures of the poor guy:

A typical dog: if I can't see them, they can't see me and then they won't be able to touch me. 

If I sit in the chair like a human then they won't know I'm a dog and they won't have to touch me. 

Blerg!! The good news is that we think we found the culprit (we'd been treating the wrong thing) and so he should get better permanently. The even better news for him is that he gets extra treats with breakfast and dinner because he's on so many medications. Well, he is ~56 human years old. I guess it's pretty typical to be on 30 medications at that age. :-)

While I am not wanting to rush home and leave this place, the only place I feel at home, I will be happy to see my baby and my girls. I do miss them all when I'm gone and it can get hard to be away, though nothing like what a spouse/parent feels like to be sure.

Day Seven: A midnight stroll

Midnight isn't really accurate, it was more like 10:30pm, but close enough. I snuck up Bull's close (connecting my apartment to the Mile) and headed up towards the castle. Turns out night photography is a bitch without a tripod. If you remember, I had issues packing, and my tripod was one of the casualties.

First stop was St. Giles cathedral:

Memorial outside Edinburgh City Chambers:

Bank of Scotland (thanks Alan!!):

And the castle:

It wasn't nearly that bright and I'm surprised it wasn't more blurry considering my hands shake like I'm going through withdrawals sometimes.

This may be the last set of pictures for awhile since it is supposed to rain for the next week. Maybe I will pull it out for social events, we'll see. :-)

Let's take a walk

Today started off pretty lazy, it is Sunday after all and I had to give up another hour of my life. The threat of sunshine and nice weather pulled me out of my shell and I decided to take a quick loop around Old Town to take pictures (I hope you are ready for a ton of pictures).

First let's start with my part of town (gawd, I love saying that).

Looking out from the side door of the apartment complex. That's the crags in the background. 

Looking out the front of the apartment complex: Our Dynamic Earth (a fantastically cool science museum) and the crags.

My apartment complex on the left and Parliament on the right. See how close I am??

Parliament: so much prettier on the inside (or from above). I wave to Diarmid every time I walk by. :-)

The Park. My posh apartment complex. Squatter's Rights!!!!!

So that's my awesome and spectacular neighborhood. I'm.never.leaving. Ok, so maybe I will, but it will be against my will.

Then I meandered up to the Royal Mile:

Proof I was on the Royal Mile....along with a bunch of other tourists.

This mile is what made me fall in love with this city in the first place (The clouds kept coming and going, as is kinda their thing, so some of the pictures had great lighting and others not so much.):

St. Giles Cathedral

Looking towards Holyrood and the Firth of Forth.

Looking towards the castle (be patient, you'll see it in a sec.).

Tolbooth Kirk, though now it is apparently the office for all things festival. 

I managed to purchase another photo from a guy that I bought a picture off of back in 2008. He does great work and I was so excited to see his stuff there again.

This will go nicely with my other Arthur's Seat picture. His are way better than mine. :-) Photo is of the crags and the city.

That was all the shopping I managed. I kept walking up towards the castle. Here I just stopped for pictures. I didn't go inside. Another day.

The Edinburgh Castle. 

View south from the castle.

Side shot. 

View of Arthur's Seat from the castle.

Looking over the edge into the Grassmarket (loads of pubs here). 

Looking North towards Princes Street and the gardens. 

I was *finally* getting the nerve to ask this adorablesauce couple to take my picture (you know, for proof) and someone beat me in asking them. So I chickened out. lol I'm.an.idiot.

Another amazing Royal Mile shot. Who couldn't LOVE this place??

Then it was time to head towards New Town, so I picked a close (a small pathway leading away/to the Mile) and walked towards Princes Street and Waverley Station.

Lady Stair's Close. It's the writer's close...

because there's a writer's museum and because they have these awesome carvings in the stones. "My roots in the Soil of Alba." - fionn maccolla (1906-1975?)

"Auld Reakie wale o ilka town." - Robert Ferguson (1756-1794?)

This close comes out right by the National Gallery and provides some very nice views of the castle.

And of course the statues...everywhere statues...so scary!! (Watch the Doctor Who episode of Blink to understand the fear.)

And this jerk had a sword to boot....I had to walk down the hill backwards.

View over Waverley Station, the gardens, Scott Monument, and the Balmoral.

The gardens, Waverley, and the two bridges leading to/from the Old Town. 

Had a peek down Princes Street:

Always construction....

all the time.

And of course Jenners.

This needs a slight explanation. See, I met some friends for dinner and drinks last night and they said to meet them at House of Fraser on Princes Street. No problem, I say. Long story short, I went to the wrong HoF and made them walk an extra 15 minutes to get me. Yes, I'm.an.idiot. Luckily they are good friends and didn't hold it against me. :-)

OH, and we went to this awesome tappas place! The food was delish. AND we managed to stay there longer than an hour and 45 minutes (OH THE HORROR!!!). Haha, inside joke. :-) Then drinks at The Inside Bar (I think that's the name of it). Good times with good friends!!

Back to today. My walk continued towards the Scott Monument.

The gardens are just starting to bloom and they are already gorgeous. Can't imagine what they are like in a couple more weeks. 

Another castle shot in between the Galleries.

Sir Walter Scott, sitting peacefully. He's very patient for pictures.  

One final parting shot. 

Then I made my way over the bridge and back to my part of town to pick up dinner: Chicken Tikki Pasanda, Nan, and HFCS-free Dr Pepper.

Dinner. Yummy!! (and slightly messy)

I also managed to watch Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban while writing postcards, which I will mail tomorrow...assuming I have your address.

I'm never this productive at home, but then again, I haven't exactly gotten 'work' done. Maybe tomorrow...maybe. :-)