Hanging Prints!

When I was given the chance to have my very own, very first, very last minute exhibition at Kilau, I leapt at it! Because so much of my photography this year has been prompted by our joint projects, I asked Lola if she would like to fill one wall with work of her own… and she said yes.

So yesterday we spent two hours hanging our work!

Instead of using frames, we opted to hang our prints by pegging them to bits of ribbon. The end result was pretty pleasing – reminiscent of darkrooms or of fluttery washing drying on a line.

Hanging the first couple of prints was terrifying, half expecting the staff to all start pointing and laughing at our attempts to pass ourselves off as artists!

But they didn’t.

Kilau’s a lovely laidback place; the only restrictions on us were to remember it’s a family venue and not to use velcro! We were even allowed to draw on the walls – and we found clues to old exhibitions still lurking on them, too.

And before we knew it… we were done!

(I should point out, we’re not responsible for the ace lightshades!)

Time to head home and rest up for the opening night!

(photos of me by Lola)

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The Week I’ve Had (2nd January 2011)

Some pictures of my friends’ flat. I could take hundreds of photos in there – it’s full of vintage curios and comic book creations.

And a couple from dinner with Lola on Wednesday. We went to see Love and Other Drugs, which we both really liked:

Also this week, I read The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which I had been putting off for ages because I’m just not that keen on coming of age tales – when I was a teenager I thought I moaned more articulately; now I’m a grown up I’ve lost interest in whether or not people’s parents understand them. I loved it.

Friday, I did a few minor repairs and touch ups around the flat. More rewarding than making it clean for the new year.

And here’s a random non-Hogmanay-related one from Stonehaven, just because Elinor and I liked the building (though these days it’s a supermarket):

Lola’s Party, Cellar 35

Saturday night was Lola‘s birthday party at Cellar 35 on Rosemount Viaduct.

Having always had to compete with Christmas for festive attention, she had never made a fuss of her birthday before; this year, a few of her friends talked her into having a proper celebration – and it turned out to be a wonderful night!

Here I am with the birthday girl:

It was a snowy night, so we were all glammed up in kneehigh boots and wellies:

Sue made cute little lactose-free cupcakes:

And Lola went snap happy with her camera:

The venue is this tiny little basement, kitted out like a bohemian slacker’s living room. Here are a few shots I took on the night:

And one from Steve:

 

One for Lola

Today is Lola‘s birthday!

I’ve known this girl less than a year but I think she’s ace. She sees the good in everyone (except sometimes herself!), was the first to construct a crown last weekend and never fails to cheer me up with her madcap stories.

She’s also a damn good photographer.

Here’s to a super awesome year for her!

10 Things Which Make Me Happy

A few days ago, Lola and I swapped blog challenges. She is to post about all the ways in which her life is better now than it was on her last birthday (mid-December), and I was to post a list of ten things which make me happy.

So here’s mine:

1. Flowers where I wasn’t expecting them.
2. A good book.
3. A freshly made bed at the end of a long day.
4. Cats and kittens. All of them. Even stroppy ones. Sometimes even especially the stroppy ones.
5. Unplanned trips to the cinema.
6. Exploring unfamiliar places.
7. Good Humor by Saint Etienne.
8. Bold, brightly coloured artwork (and imagining I’d bother to make something similar myself).
9. Beautiful vintage dresses which fit as though they’d been made for me.
10. Dancing around the kitchen with Steve.

What about you? Which ten things put a smile on your face? Or, alternatively, is there anything you’d like to challenge me to blog about? Comments are Things Which Make Me Happy #11.

A Shout Out to Some Friends!

Over the last month, four of my friends have started lovely new blogs; I thought I’d point you in their directions!

First up was Alistair with Pointless Ephemera, his blog on “the geekier parts of popular culture and history”. So far, this has included comic reviews and updates on his model building – okay, so this is more my boyfriend’s sort of thing than mine, but Alistair writes so engagingly that I’ve found myself drawn in!

Second was Karen who is involved in Ted’s Excellent Adventures. Karen handmade Ted the Tooth as a good luck mascot for a colleague to take up Kilimanjaro, but the team at her work loved him so much that they’ve started a blog to record all of his adventures, big and small.

Next came Lola with Cherrystones & Cwtchs (a cwtch is a sort of Welsh cuddle). Lola and I used to do a joint blog which was intended to get us both looking for and taking more photos… and it worked! When real life got in the way of our weekly project, we both ended up with individual blogs which would let us do things our own way.

And, finally, just last week Rhona started Red Wine Runner, primarily to chart her progress with running, but expect her love of music, photography, wine… etc… to creep in, too! I found her first post particulary open and touching.

Why not pay them all a visit?

Old Aberdeen

My friend Lola lives right beside the Aberdeen University campus. It’s absolutely gorgeous around there so yesterday we went for a short walk with our cameras.

First, we explored the grounds of an old nursery school which is disused and for sale just up the hill:

Then we explored the High Street and a couple of the university buildings which sit along it:

And then I realised my spare camera battery was in my other bag!