ben lomond

Just a quick one to say that I finally got it together to edit some of the footage from the walk back in October (?) into a very short vid: here it is for your viewing pleasure. Gets a bit blurry at the end due to it getting dark, but what can you do.

Hanna xx

the fine line between inspiration and defeatism

I often feel like all I ever do is write about the possibility of doing something great, without actually doing it. Perhaps that's part of the problem - thinking that it has to be great. 

I spent most of last night watching and re-watching Bo Burnham's new stand-up show "what." and a short documentary by the comedian/filmmaker Olan Rogers. Vastly different people creating different things with completely distinct perspectives (Burnham's comedy can be superficially crude but often strikes a much darker note, verging on depression, while Rogers' sense of humour is expressed through his seemingly boundless positivity) and yet they both elicited the same confusing mixture of feeling inspired and also really shit about myself. 

These people have found a way to express their passion and creativity, while I just contemplate it. I feel my insignificance like a physical weight on my chest, but this must mean that I recognise the same ability to DO something within me as well. Surely I wouldn't feel so deeply, strongly, terribly about it if I didn't know that I too can create something just as good as the people I admire (and that extends to everyone I admire, not just these two). I need to accept that doing something small and seemingly insignificant is still so much better than being too afraid to do anything. But this is all cliché... The pain comes from the realisation and knowledge that while they are doing it, I'm watching them do it. Could I one day be the one being admired? And even if no one ever knows of me, could I be content with what I have done? Not content - proud.

Be More
I wrote Be More on my wrist to keep myself motivated during long nights of editing. I don't know why I choose these two words but it has gotten me through a good bit of nights where I just wanted to give up. - Olan Rogers


Sorry for this rather emotional post. Normal service resuming shortly.
Hanna xx

an italian education

I'm in Sardinia at the moment in a human rights summer school. The work is fascinating (I'm rarely enthusiastic about my course content) and the other students are a great bunch of people (coming from Scotland, Italy, Germany and Spain)... and Sardinia is as beautiful as I hoped. We're spending a fortnight in Cagliari and although the classes are the reason for us being here, they really only take up a small portion of our time. I've learned a lot of things that have nothing to do with human rights too, and have been inspired by Hanna's list-making to do likewise.

1. Sardinia and mainland Italy's relationship is not unlike Scotland and the UK's. It is a small state with a drastically different history to Italy (Sardinia was originally under Spanish rule before being "seized by the Italian royals for a pretty holiday island"- in the words of one Italian friend). Sardinian independence has long been a contested issue, plus the language spoken is Italian but they have retained some of their distinctiveness by adding a Sardinian gloss. So basically we're both nations with a bit of a chip on our shoulder.

2. Sardinian iced teas are a superb drink.

3. The Spanish are night owls - a standard night out begins at midnight and finishes around five in the morning. This is taking a while to get used to as us Scottish girls have been generally wrecked by 10pm (partly due to the above point).

4. I really must slow down when talking. I'm forever being told this but the point is hammered home when speaking to a roomful of people who speak english as a second language.

5. There's no such thing as too much gelato, or good seafood.

6. Some obscure spanish words to add to my schoolgirl vocabulary. Cejas-eyebrows, Canela-cinnamon.

7. High-waisted bikinis are darling but the white tummy I'm left with is not.

8. I should be less cynical. I've always expected most other people on my course to be competitive and unpleasant, so I've hardly been a social butterfly among the law crowd. However, the other nine Scots here are all very lovely and I've even made a couple of new friends for life. This is probably what I'm most pleased to have learned-people will usually surpass expectations.


My photos are on my camera mainly but I took a few on my phone last night at dinner. These are Eidann before, and me after, a fair amount of good italian wine (also pictured).

Natalie xX

lots of little things

Little thing 1

Glastonbury was amazing (of course) and while I wait for my disposable photos to be ready, here is a pic of the festival from above at night:

Ah I miss it already! I always thought that Glastonbury wasn't a festival I ever wanted to go to... I guess I made assumptions about it based on very little... but now that I've been I'm sure that I will go again. Our best discovery (in my opinion at least!) was the tranquil and beautiful Green Fields, which felt like the 'true Glastonbury' I had heard about. There were so many different areas (and they really were completely different from one another) that we couldn't see them all - next time I'm definitely visiting Shangri-La!

Little thing 2

I'm self-learning Japanese. Yes, really. And yes, it is hard! But I'm really enjoying it and the thought of visiting Japan some day soon and being able to speak and understand the language (at least on a basic level) is pushing me to study harder. So far I can say some potentially useful things such as これはにくじゃないですね。(That's not meat, is it?), and すみません。としょかんはどこですか。(Excuse me, where is the library?). I've also starting learning some basic Kanji (which are the characters that represent whole words or ideas) such as 月 (moon, month) and 木 (tree).

Little thing 3

I've got two exciting film-related work experiences coming up. In July/August I'll be interning at Revolution film production company (who have produced films such as A Cock and Bull Story and 24 Hour Party People to name a few), and then in late October I'm going to be a runner for a film being shot in the famous Elstree studios.. Can't wait!

Last little thing

Here's the finished short film I put together from the footage taken in Inverness. I am pleased with it but as always I want to do better. I actually submitted it to the Virgin Media Shorts competition (I hope you don't mind Natalie!) just as practise in doing such things. I know I won't win it but maybe next time! My favourite part is when the elk (is it an elk? who knows) walks in time with the music for a little bit!

Bonnie: Wanderings through Scotland

Here's to a long, productive and great summer

Hanna xx

edinburgh

The beginning of summer has been lovely. Hanna's back in London and I can't wait to catch up with her at Glastonbury in a few weeks. Our trip up north was great, providing a bunch of nice photos like this (a weird yet pretty old cottage of death we stumbled upon while trying to find our place).

Hanna's making a film of the trip I believe and has kindly posted a video of 'outtakes' in the interim on facebook-basically clips of us being silly and tripping over (mainly me...) I've been working in Edinburgh, and will be for the rest of the summer, with an immigration law firm. The work is interesting and the people are among the nicest I've met! The office is in a beautiful old flat in a leafy terrace, made even lovelier in the sun. 

The views of the city are gorgeous too-I really think I'd like to live in Edinburgh at some point, during summer months anyway...

Natalie xX

lost and found

I was over the moon to come across some spools I thought I had lost/ forgot I had the other day. Some photos are from things we've mentioned on here before, like the Mitchell Library,

Hanna filming in the park,

and from even before then when my hair was longer and my nose was big and glowing...

We're off to a little house near Inverness next week with our friend Angharad for a post-exams wind down. Our cameras will be accompanying us so photos of hills, lochs, food and our daft big grins will be coming soon. 

Natalie xX

sweet lyme

Just a little update from me - spent Easter in Lyme Regis and despite the freezing cold, the sun came out and I managed to take a few photos of this beautiful seaside town. Apparently my mum used to take me there a lot when I was little but of course I can't remember much!

Here's a foot photo for you Natalie! Two seconds after, my feet were engulfed by a freak massive wave.. sadly there is no photo of that moment.

I only noticed the fisherman in red after I took this one - but I think he looks rather good against that stark black wall. I just couldn't resist those bright yellow and orange buoys.. and took far too many photos.

I find myself very interested in the things people get carved into memorial benches, and this one was particularly intriguing and strange - "After noise solitude". Take from that what you will...

 

(In case you're interested here is one of my favourite benches, in Glasgow's Botanic Gardens. "Pure heavy beautiful here man". I think one of the reasons I like it so much is because of the way it sounds so Glaswegian to me, and of course because it's so bittersweet.)

Going to start editing/cobbling together some footage I took in Lyme into some sort of tiny film soon, but should really prioritise exam revision...

Until next time!

Hanna xx