Fay Young

Category: Diary

  • Going hyperlocal – or into the hall of mirrors?

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    What’s the news today?  To find out, I have several choices. I can scan the latest electronic updates in my inbox; I can flit through Twitter or other social media gatherings in cyberspace; or  I can take my newspaper and cup of coffee into the garden and sit in the sun while real birds twitter…

  • Cybraphon blows a fuse

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    “If you think we are rubbish,” says Ziggy, “you can always go upstairs and listen to Cybraphon.”  Actually he put it stronger than that but this is a family blog (sort of) and however he put it, Ziggy knew there was a risk people might just do that.  Found has created a formidable cyber celebrity…

  • When a house is a home

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    A new dawn, a new neighbour, a new kitchen Poor old house. I can almost hear it groaning through the adjoining walls as the banging and drilling, the sawing and sanding, the breaking down and tearing up begin all over again. Yet another new neighbour means new paint, new carpets, new bathroom suite and, of…

  • Publish and be blessed

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    There was sparkling water for the MSPs and glasses of wine for the rest of us. A book launch in Edinburgh is a nice night out, especially when the book has been written by a friend. Even when that book is a  serious and sobering deconstruction of Glasgow.

  • Is beatblogging the future? If so what does it mean?

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    Stop press: The Guardian has just announced their Edinburgh beatblogger On a mild and misty morning your friendly neighbourhood beatblogger slips a mobile phone in her pocket and sets off hoping to catch sight of the local community policeman breaking into an old railway tunnel.

  • Welcome to Britain?

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    An environmental message in the Eurostar waiting room at Brussels We’re waiting for the eco-friendly Eurostar to take us home and I am looking forward to the ride.  It’s a nice cheery scene. The multicultural mix of folk ready to board the train has managed to get past the daft, defensive  UK Border.  Unfortunately the…

  • Because I can

    Because I can

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    If I can, anyone can. Admittedly it was with a little help from my sons Dougal and Tommy, but I have uploaded my first YouTube video, shot (in case you want to know) on my Nokia N95 when I peered through a hole in the wall enjoying the experience of seeing Scotland’s National Portrait gallery…

  • Myth of the month

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    You could have someone’s eye out with that It’s been another good year for Health and Safety myths.  If you have five minutes to spare take a look at the Myth of the Month on the HSE website, it is a cracking good read. In  September they did not stop school kids wearing ties. In…

  • Fight, flight or tweet

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    Not Monet’s garden, these lilies are at Taynish on the west coast of Scotland. What’s happened to living in the here and now?  When we were in Paris last week I was amazed to discover art gallery attendants now allow people to take mobile phone pictures of paintings.  The rooms are full of happy snappers…

  • Written in blood: a message of hope and peace

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    Emmanuel Jal, author and hip hop artist, will be talking about his book War Child at Edinburgh Book Festival. It is likely to be an unforgettable experience. Thanks to Bobby I have a short audio clip of an extraordinary conversation between Emmanuel Jal, the Sudanese ‘war child’ and two young Somali refugees living in Glasgow. …

  • Swans rule at Pond Cottage

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    They shall not pass… The picture is not very clear but you get the idea. These swans have no intention of letting anyone get past. When I stand up the adults stand up, when I move  forward so do they, hissing and opening their wings to make sure I get the message. It takes a…

  • Natural Progression at Pond Cottage

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    I have a new routine before I start the hard labour of gardening; a nice half hour or so of delaying tactics, wandering round, cup of tea in hand, counting ducklings (four, nearly full grown) and cygnets (still seven a month after hatching) and then, oh go on, just another few minutes to check the…