Stop December, let's catch our breaths

I did promise I was going to blog more in December but it hasn't happened, as you can see. After my chance meeting with Barry I was all blogged out last week. I couldn't think what to write about and to me it should be natural and not forced. You shouldn't be wracking your brain giving yourself a headache because you must blog four days out of seven in a week. That's not the way I work. Since its getting to mid month I decided I'd tell you a little bit of what I've been up to recently. I've been quite busy to be honest. I finally finished my Christmas shopping at the weekend, phew. Now all I need to do is wrap it all. I quite like that part. Friday I was meant to be going out but it was cancelled, however I ended up spending two hours in a toy shop on a Friday night with mum and dad. We were looking for toys for the boys for their Christmas. We managed to get a few things. It was good.

Saturday I headed into town. Didn't buy much except a few bits from the pound shop. Essentials. You know, like cheap cans of Cola and sweeties. At night I headed to Edinburgh to meet lovely Karlie MacG. We had a bite to eat at Illegal Jacks then headed to the cinema to see New Years Eve. A proper girls night it was. Chat, about stuff, you know... The film was good. I'd heard a few folk say it was disappointing but I quite enjoyed it. Lots of stories that intertwined like Love Actually, without the posh accents. It wasn't Love Actually but it was about love and new beginnings and forgiving and love. Did I say that already? There was an array of stars in it from Ashton Kutcher to Jon Bon Jovi and an almost unrecognisable Michelle Pfiefer. Hey I even forgot that Zac Efron used to be in high school musical. I liked his character in this film. There were really touching moments as well as moments that made you smile. All round a lovely movie.

Sunday I headed through to Glasgow again. THIS was to be the day when I did finish my Christmas shopping. A few bits from Hamleys and Fraser's and I was done. I headed home in the dusky early evening light.

Monday night I headed to the #XmasEdtweetup that was organised a few weeks ago. It was in Edinburgh in case you didn't know. It was busy and hot with the wearing of my Christmas jumper, but a really good night. There were faces old and faces new, or rather faces I knew but had never met yet. As usual they were a total delight in person, including @Miss_Smidge whose blog I read on a regular basis. Also a treat were the two elves, otherwise known as Fraser and Simon. They gamely took part in the Christmas jumper wearing too. I was torn though. Simon's jumper was fab but Fraser's hat was the best Santa one. Simon's effort was more of a gnome one. Sorry but you know it's true.

Sometimes when you meet the people behind the avatars, you get a surprise because sometimes they are a bit awkward or not very chatty or they are exactly as they appear on Twitter and that's not a surprise but a great delight. The new people I met were totally that, a delight.

I headed home on the train. This time there was no Barry.

My plans now are to get things tidied up at work (almost finished exam processing - yay!) and then finish up on Friday. I'll be heading out to spin class tonight and Friday night too. Then the big day will have arrived. I hope to have a few blog ideas written and typed and published soon too. But they may come to nothing. Ideas are all very well in your head. When you put the words on the screen sometimes they just don't jump out at you. We'll see.

Angela x

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Path: find yours

Do you have a Path? Or should that be Path? No, I don't mean some great journey in life that you were always meant to follow, no. I mean another social network. Oh no not another one I hear you cry. Yeah. Another one. I actually joined Path on 17 November 2010. I know this because Path tells me this. I don't think people took it on and so I was left on this Path on my own. No real updates, just a few photos I uploaded. Then a few weeks ago it kinda burst onto the scene again. I'll have to actually find out the reason for this. Probably to do with a new round of funding going around Silicon Valley, or something like that.

Anyway I decided to give it a go again. There's been a few updates but still no iPad app yet. That would be lovely. I like Path. And here's a few reasons why...

Path has a timeline, since way back last year. Not sure who thought about that idea first. Was it Facebook, or was it Path? Who knows. So what's different about it then. Well it's a much slicker interface I think. You have your own Path (let's say it's the Wall if we're to compare it to Facebook). On your Path there is all your photos, check ins, comments, everything you've done on your Path. All dated and timed. Yes! Timed. There's a really cool little feature that appears when you scroll up or down your Path. A little bar and clock appears down the right hand side. You can actually see when you uploaded your update. Pretty neat I think.

Click on your Home page and you can see all the updates from people you share your Path with and who share with you. What i like here are the little icons you see in the updates. There's check ins with knives and forks, coffee cups (a nod to Foursquare perhaps). There's also little sun and moon icons that appear when you change your Path to sleeping and awake.

In the bottom left hand corner there's a red circle with a plus sign in it. Click on that and out spring 6 little black circles with various icons in them. This is how you update your Path. Set your status so to speak. There's photos, people, check in, music, thought and the moon sign. See the picture here. Click the camera icon and your camera pops up. Only, there's quite a few different lenses and filters to play with. Very nice in app feature. Take the photo and you then get the option to leave a note with it, say who you're with, check in/location and then you can also share it to Twitter Facebook etc. All in all a very good feature and the camera filters are lovely.

Click on the person icon and this is basically you saying who you are with at any one time. The check in icon is pretty much the same places that there are on Foursquare. I know this because I added a secret place on Foursquare and it appears in Path too. Again clicking on a place means you can leave a comment and add who you are with. Cool. 

The music icon lets you say what you are listening to. It gives me some suggestions. I don't know where they come from. I've never really used this feature to any real extent. Actually, just tried it. Type in your favourite band and it will give you a list and then you can add it to your Path. A window appears in the middle of the screen, the music plays for about 20 seconds and you have the option of buying it. Hmmm. But I've already got those tunes on my phone? Yes, I think this just gives you the option of letting people know what you're listening to. Oh but in the Home page (timeline) a little orange musical note icon appears. Nice. These little circular icons are a real favourite of mine. No kidding.

Next thing, click the speech bubble. This is your Thought. But again the question is 'what's on your mind?'. This is very much your status update. Go and update it. Again the option to check in and say who you're with is there.

Last of all we have the moon icon. Click that and you get only 2 options. Go to sleep. Or I'm awake. Click on these at the appropriate times and wow! you say your going to sleep and the Path change colour, disappears and a moon appears in its current state - full, half, quarter. Pretty awesome. It also gives the time and then a button to click on Awake when you...well, wake!

Click on that button and you are taken back to your home page. And there's little icons in your Path letting people know when you sleep and are awake. 

The best part I like is that at the top of your Home page there's the option to set your own cover picture. This is like the header photo in your new Facebook page. But the standard Path ones are quite nice too, in fact so much so I haven't changed mine yet.

In the Activity tab you can see who has looked at your Path, who has commented and who has smiled at your check ins, photos etc. Yes for you can also add little smiley faces, sad faces, winky faces and hearts to your friends' photos, check ins, comments etc. These are also little cute features I like.

All in all Path is another social network and you're probably wondering why you'd need it or want it. But I like it. The only downside is that not many people have adopted it yet. Well, not here anyway. I have four friends on there just now. So come on over and join me. If you want to that is. I mean how may social networks do we actually need? I sometimes wonder if too many social networks are making quite unsociable? That will be for another post though.

Angela x

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Barry, my chance meeting with an angel

There I was minding my own business, sat in a seat on the quite busy train. Checking Twitter. "Hiya, d'you want a can?" said a voice from the aisle in a thick Glaswegian accent. No thanks I replied. That was to be the start of one of the most bizarre and very funny chance meetings I've ever had in my life. After moving up and down the aisle, his friendly voice chatting all the while, he eventually sat in the seat next to me. I budged over and moved my bags to give him room. I'd been in Edinburgh hoping to finish my Christmas shopping but all i seemed to have bought were sweeties from the newly opened Hotel Chocolat in Frederick Street. A bit small but nice all the same.

Anyway, "are you sure you don't want a can? I'm Barry by the way". "No thanks. Angela" I replied. "Nice to meet you Angela, what you been up to?". I proceeded to tell him about my day. And then he launched into what can only be described as a cross between a therapy session and a weird other-world dream like scenario where he seemed to be able to tell every little character trait and nuance I have. His banter was good though. He'd been to the Hibs V Rangers match and was now heading home. Well, Stirling wasn't his home but he was a student at the Uni (where I work!) and had lived here for 4 years. "I like your wellies, are you an outdoors kinda person? do you go hill walking?" Now, granted, my outfit that day probably gave that away since not many folk outside the outdoors scene may not recognise my Rab down jacket. "I've done the West Highland Way" he told me. 5 days it  had taken them. "Bet you've not done anything like that Angela...?". "I've been to Nepal, trekking the Himalayas, I think that's 1-0 to me". "Naw, I've done the WHW it's 1 each". We laughed. He took another swig from his can of Tennents lager. It's strange. I normally hate drunks, especially drunks on the train. But Barry wasn't drunk. Yes, you could tell he'd been drinking but not that full on leaning over slurring your words drunk. Just merry and apparently totally happy with life.

B: "Is that you going home to watch XFactor and get your dinner? What you having?"
A: "Steak"
B: "What fillet, rump, ribeye...?"
A: "Fillet"
B: "Oh get you!"
...... rare moment of silence.....
"Oh here's the ticket wife coming. She'll gie me a row for having a can. I'll just put it on your tray. Here" and he set down the can on the fold down tray in the seat on front of me.
"she'll chuck you off instead of me, haha!"
A: "I don't even drink"
B: "WHIT?! What not ever? not even when you were 15 and your pals were all getting drunk and being sick, never?"
A: "nope. Never"
B: "wow that's...em...good, and bad..."

B: "I can't believe you've never had a drink"
A "I've got my orange juice" I'd bought a bottle of fresh orange to tide me over until I got home.
B: "Aye you wi your orange juice and your wee bit fillet steak for one. What a life!"

I laughed. It was funny. It WAS funny, but at the same time it had started to make me think.

B: "Let me guess, you're single Angela" WTF! "you don't really like the soaps...but you catch Emmerdale every now and again".
A: "yep"
B: "you don't really read books nor magazines either"
A: "correct"
B: "What DO you do Angela? apart from walking up hills and cooking your steak"
A: "I go out on my bike" Admittedly i was stuck. What do I do? Really? WHAT? "Anyway, what do you do?"
B: "I'm a student. I've been a printer, a [something else I can't quite remember] and i did the taxis. Then I decided I was too clever for that and believe it or not i want to be a teacher".
A: "ooft"
B: "don't you think I'd be a good teacher? I think I'd be great"

By this point the conductor had come along. I'd seen on her badge she was called Liz. "Here's Liz coming, better get your ticket out"
B: "do you know her?
A: "no, I seen her name on the badge".... we laughed again.

B: "Awright Liz hen, how are you?"
Conductor: "fine thanks!"
She drew a squiggle on our tickets and was gone. Meanwhile Barry was checking that everyone around about us was okay and were they sure they didn't want a can!

B: "see that's the thing Angela pal. Folk just look at me weirdly, they don't make eye contact. But all I want to do is just chat to people. I'm a happy kinda guy".
A: "Happy as Larry"
B: "Naw, happy as Barry, hahahaaa".

I was warming to Barry. It was surreal. At one point I said i might have to punch him to see if this situation was real. He said not to punch him but offered his arm for me to pinch it. And in true Barry form said "aya, that was my sore tricep". I swear, it was like a scene from a Christmas movie where a ghost (or something) is sent to guide you through and take you through a sentimental journey of your life so far and help you to change what you should've done years ago.

There were other topics we covered on that train journey. I don't want to share here. Lets just say Barry was like a gift from above who'd been sent to enlighten me on a few things. I told him this. He said "Angela, I was with my family at Edinburgh festival in the summer and we did the tarot readings. The guy told me i had the gift. I could read people" and he could. Barry read me like a book. Granted, some things, like the outdoors thing, could probably have been guessed from the look I was projecting that day. But others, well, I thought to myself that I must carry my life with me in my every face twitch, smile, frown, gesture. "are you nervous?" I was playing with the label on the now empty orange juice bottle. "No, me, no". I wasn't nervous, but I was antsy, and a little bit overwhelmed by it all. The only thing he didn't guess right was my age. He had me at 28. I gave him points for that!

Although I heard my phone buzzing away in my pocket, I never checked it once, so good was Barry's company. He'd gone to the toilet, so out the phone came. A few Twitter notifications. He returned to his seat and opened another can. His last one. "Aw look, you've got an iPhone. I never had you down as having an iPhone Angela. See, there's more layers to you than meets the eye. We just need to unravel them".

I almost cried in his face at this point. Instead I looked out of the window into the darkness and mentally gave myself a kick up the arse.

The train pulled into Stirling and Barry's friend joined him. "This is my pal Angela" he told him. "Hey she goes hill walking, we should all go up a munro" Are you coming for a pint Angela?"

"no thanks guys".

And with that I left Barry and his friends at the ticket barrier in Stirling station.
I felt weird. I was smiling, my jaw ached with laughing in fact. I felt sad that my life seemed to be etched across every last wrinkle free inch of my face. But i felt invigorated having had the pleasure of spending an hour in the company of Barry. My friend Barry.

I'm now in the process of unravelling those layers to make Barry proud.

"See, there's more layers to you than meets the eye. We just need to unravel them".

Angela xx