So, how do Britain’s up-and-coming trapeze artists relax?

Well, the answer is simple when you think about it – a night out at Renfrew Ferry’s “Vegas” themed club night. The perfect combination of music, dance and dressing up! Its a great place. Nobody takes themselves too seriously and its a lot of fun.

It all takes place in a ferry on the Clyde. There is gambling, but all you can win is a free drink. If you want to fit in, wear a feather boa, or stick a feather in your hair. Guys, just add a 1940s style hat. Easy peasy, glamorous and fun.

Good things:

- got a lift there and back

- happened to have a feather boa and long black gloves already, so the outfit was easy

- good company

- lovely moonlit night with great view over the Clyde as we came out

I believe in doing things that scare me.  Generally I’m quite good at it, if it involves hanging upside down, climbing somewhere high or putting my trust in someone who knows how to manage the risks involved.  However I’m really really bad at it if it involves medical stuff.

And I’ve never ever given blood.  I was thinking it through today.. I’m not scared of pain (well, not that level of pain) and I’m not really scared of needles.  But somehow, I’m scared of the idea that I’ve got blood in my body and that it could be redirected somewhere else.  And I’m scared of that hospital smell.  And I’m scared that there is something about my biological make-up which is somehow different from everyone else’s, which means a routine thing like blood donation is likely to bring me to the brink of death in a way that the medical staff will not be able to deal with.

So I didn’t volunteer for giving blood at work.  But half way through the day a colleague randomly said she was going at 2:30 and did I want to go with her.  Never one to turn down a face-to-face challenge, I said yes.  And then wandered off to the toilet and nearly collapsed from fear.   And pulled myself together again. And went.

And survived the thumb-prick

And survived the needle-in-the-arm

And didn’t visualise my life-blood seeping away

And only got slightly freaked out

And got lots of nice sympathy from the medical people

And got a free biscuit.

Went to Durham with J to visit F. And it was glorious autumn weather. Bright sunshine, clear skies. On Friday night we just chilled out and chatted. On Saturday (after a leisurely start) we went for a walk through a forest of beech trees. We stopped for a delicious lunch, then did some shopping. Its always fun to shop with friends, makes you consider buying things you’d normally walk straight past!

That evening we watched the rubgy (England against South Africa, world cup final). I don’t think I’ve ever watched a full game of rugby from start to finish before, and I have to admit, I haven’t been converted (ee is there a wordplay in there somewhere?!). But apparently it was a dull game, they were playing it safe, so maybe one day I will discover the true beauty of watching sport. In the meantime, I think playing sports is better than watching sports.

And on Sunday we went to F’s new church and it was lovely. Friendly people, simple and practical sermon, and lots of life about the place.

Durham itself is gorgeous – it has a river (always a good start) – which when we passed was populated with teams of rowers, it has deciduous woods, it has a castle and a cathedral on a hill. It has a manageable number of shops (i.e. not too many) and some great coffee shops. And based on a sample of 2 days, it is the land of constant sunshine.

Glasgow has an annual “Doors Open Day“, basically a chance to explore buildings old and new that aren’t usually open to the public, or to see sections of public buildings that you don’t normally have access to. Its a great idea, the hardest bit is deciding which of the hundreds of options on offer to go to.

I went to:

Glasgow Film Theatre – got shown behind the screen and around the projection room. Saw a demo of how they splice the reel together (bizarre, they basically just chop it and sellotape it back together again, seems like a harsh way to treat precious footage, but appears to work) AND, best of all, got given a small strip of free film. It looks a bit like photographic negatives (except its not negative) and the amazing bit is that the sound information is all stored in a section up the left-hand side. Living in a world where squillions of stuff can be stored on a microchip that shouldn’t really amaze me, but it does. And its nice to be amazed.

Aloysius school (new and old). The old school was gorgeous, I think we may have accidentally scared the schoolkids who showed us round it in our attempt to ask friendly questions. The new school is modern, bright and airy and the girl who took us around that was a complete contrast to the frightened rabbits in the first building. She was outgoing and vivacious and clearly loved her school. It was good to see. If I had kids I’d seriously consider sending them there if I thought they might turn out like her.

St Mary’s Cathedral – a beautiful and recently renovated episcopal church. Got talking to an Acolyte. Not even sure what that is, but it sounds REALLY cool and he had a long flowing robe which gave him a certain presence.

Lansdowne- a church of Scotland in serious need of renovation. Got chatting to the minister there; they have an unusual set-up where they’re selling the building to private enterprise and will then rent the church section of the building back, while private enterprise gets funds for renovation by building a cafe. Interesting idea, I’ll be watching to see how that one pans out. At least they’re not turning into flats I suppose but I do wonder if sooner or later there will be a conflict of interest.

Architect’s office – met some happy architects who have a very cool building with a great view of the river and some impressively scary Giant Hogweed.

Coachhouse trust – this is a great place and a great concept. They take in people who are generally hard to employ and train them up in woodwork skills among other things. They’re very into recycling and they have a lovely garden plus a market garden and several wormeries. Its not every day you come across a wormery in the city!

Fun. And a good cultural mix. There are so many people in this city who are doing good, and creative things.

Had a strange and stressful day, involving some strange requests and a friend going through a hard time. Then there followed an incident of much strangeness but that made me smile.

I got on the underground to go to a friend’s house for cake (mm that too was a Good Thing), had about 8 stops to go. Half-way along, the underground train stopped for a few minutes longer than usual. Finally an underground worker got on our carriage and very purposefully strode up it, looking at all the passengers in turn. Felt a bit worried, maybe he’d heard rumours of a terrorist travelling with us. Didn’t seem like the right time of day for terrorists somehow. He made rapid progress along the carriage until he got to me.

He looked at me, stopped, and said “Are you French?”

All the other passengers looked on in anticipation.

I said, “No”.

He walked out, explaining as he went “we’ve lost a wee French lassie”.

And everyone in the carriage exchanged bemused smiles. I was very chuffed to have looked French. And isn’t it nice that the people who run the underground system care enough about their passengers to send out a search party?

It was the final day of the event where I was volunteering for the weekend.

People from all around the world had met, exchanged ideas, encouraged one another and even had the chance to “vote” using very cool voting pads. I’d never seen these things before, but they make a conference a very interactive thing (“if you think membership of this organisation is too expensive, press 3 now”).

Anyway, the event ended with an inspiring speech and a nice metaphor comparing NGOs to Christopher Columbus (he didn’t know where he was going, when he got there he didn’t know where he was, when he got back he didn’t know where he’d been, but he changed the world and he did it all on other people’s money!).

Then there was the inevitable list of thank-yous, which only differed from usual thank-yous by the fact that as well as thanking all the volunteers, staff, waiting staff etc they even thanked the producers of the food! Nice thought.

And then came the bit that was different to any other secular conference I’ve ever been to. They sang a song! And did a dance! It was a calypso, possibly the only calypso in the universe with the words “accountability” and “responsibility” in it?!?

Much nicer way to end than with just thanking everyone and lots of clapping. It got everyone smiling, even the ones who were far too british to join in!!

uh-oh, and its even made it onto You-tube ! (warning, it will make you dizzy!)

Oh and another good thing was that while tidying up at the end of the conference, recyling was done as a matter of course, and they paid attention to how much was left over in order to better plan for even less waste next year.

I’m doing some volunteering this week, at an event for volunteers and NGOs. That makes me volunteer to the volunteers!

First task was to meet delegates at the airport, and what an enjoyable task that was. Many of the delegates had been travelling for 24 hours and were very tired, but still managed to be friendly. I met people from ALL over, from the US, the Philippines, the Cook Islands, India, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Chile, Uruguay, the Gambia.

Felt embarassed at my lack of knowledge about some of these places, but am now motivated to find out more, and really enjoyed meeting so many lovely people, who could still make the effort to be lovely after a long and tiring day.