Sinister: this one is about glasgow.

[Andrea Kittenmouse]

Dear Sinister,
Wow. I think I haven't posted for almost six months. Why? Because I've 
actually been so busy that I haven't had time to read it since then. And I 
felt kind of guilty, for some reason, like if I hadn't read it, I shouldn't 
post, so I didn't.

So, I was in Glasgow last fall for three months studying at the art school. 
No, I'm not from there, I'm from Portland, Oregon, if you forgot. Maybe I 
should sum up my trip. Before I left, I saw Belle and Sebastian twice in 
Portland and Seattle, and it was amazing. They really rehearse their songs. 
At least, they sound like it. After they played, I was happy to get the hell 
out of the country, considering it was September and a tidal wave of creepy 
right wing patriotism was beginning to flood the U.S.  Is liberalism dead? 
(This is a rhetorical question, of course, so please, don't start).

By the way, I did NOT, for the record, go to Glasgow in hopes of seeing, 
meeting, or stalking any of Belle and Sebastian, despite them being my 
favorite band. It's a big city, and while I did catch a glimpse of a few 
members of Idlewild at an Ikari Colt show at Nice'n'Sleazy, saw some guy 
from Elbow at a bar in Manchester, and almost bumped into (literally) the 
football player Juan Veron on the street in downtown Manchester, I wouldn't 
have recognised any of these people if someone hadn't pointed them out to 
me. In the case of Idlewild it was a drunken 16 year old girl in her school 
blazer who was too drunk to stop screaming "Oh my god, it's ___ from 
Idlewild, I'm so f*cked (ed.-as in, drunk), he's so cute, should I go talk 
to him??!!" To which I replied, in proper order "Oh, how interesting, 
really, yes, you should go talk to him." Charming girl, really. Nah, Glasgow 
is too big to really expect to see famous people. And I've learned this 
lesson from working in radio: don't try to meet famous people whose work you 
admire, it only makes it weirder to listen to them sing if you have heard 
their voice in person.

Anyway, I had a really good time, and met some nice people. I stayed in the 
art school dorms, which, while kind of ghetto, were lots of fun. We had our 
own rooms and didn't have to share bathrooms, which was nice. We were always 
running out of those weird little cards you buy and use for electricity. And 
we had a pay phone. That really sucked. That's really why I never called 
anyone from the list, because it was really expensive to call mobile phones 
from pay phones. The dorms are right near the art school in city center up 
the hill from Sauchiehall Street. Our closest subway station was called 
Cowcaddens. We liked the chip shop around the corner from the Variety Bar on 
Sauchiehall Street. I got to see Pulp and Hefner live. That was kind of 
neat. I got to learn lithography and silkscreen. I saw the Tate Modern and 
an end of term show at Central St. Martins school of fashion in London. 
Bought a lot of silly clothes at shops that I probably wouldn't buy from if 
I actually lived in Scotland, like Topshop and H&M. Actually, H&M is so 
cheap, I probably would shop there. Now I just shop at the Goodwill, because 
it's the only place where you can buy men's trousers and turn them into a 
skirt.

top ten slang heard often while in glasgow (in no particular order):
1. get your skates on
2. couldn't be asked
3. stupid muppet
4. innit (from ali g., along with slag, punani, and boyakasha)
5. that's boss (from a person from liverpool)
6. posh
7. go on then
8. dodgy (I don't know how to spell this one)
9. ring (like to call someone on the phone)
10. and my fave: easy peazy lemon squeezy

If any of these are actually really bad words and you are offended by them, 
I apologize. I am just an ignorant American, y'know.

Anyway, I'm back in America, wondering how skeleton is an Olympic sport, and 
again, doing a weekly radio show on which I try to talk as little as 
possible. More info and bad html code can be found at 
http://web.pdx.edu/~andreay/.

Thank you for your time, and I apologize for having ignored you all for so 
long. It wasn't cuz I don't like ya.

Your friend,
Andrea K. Mouse

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