Author Archives: Dreamaticus

An insider’s view of the Edinburgh Fringe (Rousse)

Posted on July 30, 2015 by Dreamaticus

It was Fringe time in Edinburgh but this year was different because I was now one of the organisers. (I actually resented the extra work as committee secretary, and resolved to resign as soon as I was promoted.) BR and … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged audience, basement, clothes, committee, dry, Edinburgh, Fringe, hall, hang, organiser, performer, promoted, puppet, resign, secretary, show, TPR, venue | Leave a comment

Trapped in JK Rowling’s producer’s tent (Rousse)

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Dreamaticus

JK Rowling’s TV producer Lisa let me sit in her tent. I was there so long that I got sewn up inside it.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged JK Rowling, Lisa, producer, sew, tent, trap | Leave a comment

Poisonous crabs and unpierced ears in Australia (Rousse)

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Dreamaticus

I took TPR’s Auntie Rita on a trip to Australia. On the first day we bought some provisions from a chemist and took them to the park where poisonous crabs ran through the grass. I met a lovely father of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged aunt, Australia, chemist, crab, crabs, ear, earrings, ears, father, girls, grass, park, pierced, poison, poisonous, provisions, Rita, street, TPR, trader, traders, unpierced | Leave a comment

Academic highs and lows (Rousse)

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Dreamaticus

There it was in print: my first co-authored paper with BC. Best of all, when BC read it out loud to me from the pages of the journal it was the sweetest bedtime story ever. Granted it was only a … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged academic, afternoon, autumn, bedtime, belongings, class, colleagues, corridor, family, forget, high, Hillside Road, low, module, modules, office, paper, room, story, Sunday, teaching, term, tidy, tip | Leave a comment

Sailing the Scottish coastline by log (Rousse)

Posted on July 26, 2015 by Dreamaticus

ST and I planned to take the boat to Uig Community Centre. We wandered over to the pontoon where we also found JG, with TPR and JC, aboard his boat ‘Mary’. I remained in the queue for the community boat. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bed and breakfast, boat, brother, centre, coastline, community, deck, east, eat, evening, families, family, fjord, husband, journey, local, locals, log, Mary, pontoon, pretend, queue, restaurant, sailing, Scandinavian, Scotland, Scottish, seating, TPR, Uig, west | Leave a comment

A second PhD (Rousse)

Posted on July 26, 2015 by Dreamaticus

They say that you should never go back, but I still took the job at Queen Margaret University – and embarked on study towards another PhD.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged job, PhD, Queen Margaret University, study | Leave a comment

From drinks in Ambridge with the Aldridges to an open air party on Princes Street (Rousse)

Posted on July 25, 2015 by Dreamaticus

I met the illegitimate man of Thomastown at Brian and Jennifer Aldridge’s drinks party. He had thoughtfully brought with him a 3D paper model of Thomastown complete with an impressive representation of the Catholic church, and it didn’t take long … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 3D, Aldridge, Aldridges, Ambridge, Brian, business, catholic, celebrity, church, drinks, eat, Edinburgh, family, gigs, hill, illegitimate, Jennifer, model, open air, paper, party, Princes Street, scream, shoo, sponsorhsip, student, table, Thomastown, trestle, Voadphone | Leave a comment

Toronto school reunion disco (Rousse)

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Dreamaticus

Toronto was not the obvious place for a school reunion, and the mix of people at the party was most peculiar. I saw JD, but where was JT, for example? And what were AB and HS doing there? NP was … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged cellar. cellars, children, cities, clientele, council, dance, dancefoor, deprived, disco, gym, inner, music, party, reunion, school, tempt, Toronto, worker | Leave a comment

A presentation on Internet portals (Rousse)

Posted on July 21, 2015 by Dreamaticus

As we left the lecture hall PC said that he would see me in room 4 by the entrance for the next session. I advised him to give it a miss: I was due to be presenting on Internet portals, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged corridor, department, dietetics, entrance, guest, hall, Internet, lecture, lost, memory, miss, module, panel, portal, portals, preparation, presentation, room, session, slide, supper, wood | Leave a comment

The thrill of flying in the Hebrides (Rousse)

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Dreamaticus

The female passenger sitting next to me on the flight followed my example of leaving the aircraft and taking to the skies. We flew over beautiful (and normally inaccessible) Hebridean beaches. The biggest thrill was to soar higher than the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged aircraft, beach, beaches, bird, birds, Canada, flight, fly, Hebrides, inaccessible, passenger, skies, sky, soar, thrill, transatlantic | Leave a comment