News Dump Oct 4
A: Ok, so we’ve changed the title of our weekly(ish) updates to reflect what they actually are: more of a sort of newsletter than an instagram post. It doesn’t mean we’re going to start using instagram again though because we’re still enjoying the effects of not being glued to social media!
L: Yeah I think it also reflects the ways we’d like to give this life beyond social media &c.
A: This week has been super hectic and also really nice. My little sister, who’s 15, was up with us which kind of forced us to get out a bit more. We spent a lot of time watching old movies that she’d never seen (and really needed to) like Rocky Horror, Moulin Rouge, Ms Congeniality and Romeo and Juliet (the Baz Luhrmann version obvs) which actually felt pretty damn good for us too. We played a load of Mysterium, which was so much fun. Rosie also brought the kite up and we spent a nice morning at Burntisland flying it. It was tiring balancing hanging out with Rosie, the house, our relationship. Boba and our respective work, but worth it. Although I am looking forward to being able to walk around the house naked again.
A: I had my first driving lesson this week and I actually enjoyed it! I decided to learn automatic only, which seems to be a decision that people have a lot of thoughts about. When I tried to learn in a manual before, I found it very stressful getting my brain round working gears and pedals at the same time (as well as signalling and steering and blah and blah) so having one of these things removed made it infinitely better learning how to drive. And, frankly, automatics are becoming much more readily available in the UK, all electric cars are automatic, automatics are much more accessible and easy to drive, so like, why the weird obsession/snobbiness about manuals?
We also had a pretty epic week in which we came second in the local pub quiz (by one point! argh!) and are now 4th on the leaderboard at the Inverkeithing escape room! TRY AND BEAT US, I DARE YOU.
L: One of the things I was up to was sending my zine to the printers for Take It Back, a project I’m working on which was funded by an Unlimited Emerging Artists Award and which is all around making zines and madness, mental illness, neurodivergence. I’m really proud of the zine-workbook, which brings my work together with four other artists. You can find out more about it at www.takeitbackzine.com.
L: OK I’m going to do a bit of a photo dump (this may have inspired our new name). I ate this great vegan hot dog at the merchant’s house cafe, which is below our studio on the high street in Kirkcaldy. I love our studio, pictured in the middle, but I’m also wondering if we should set up somewhere closer to home, and this also may have something to do with the wasps nest in our roof (there are disadvantages to being in such an old building). I also had a hospital appointment for a hysterosalpingogram which is an xray of your womb and tubes and such. It sucked, not helped by the fact that no one tells you how to put on a hospital gown. As shown in this photo I improvised a wrap dress style top. They should put a poster in the changing areas imho. Anyway I was feeling pretty bad anyway (although having some time off phd has definitely helped my mh) and what other way is there to reclaim your bodily autonomy than dying your hair (can’t afford a tattoo right now so…)
L: We haven’t mentioned the book for a while, idk why! Bad self-promo lol. Seriously though, christmas is coming up and it’s a great present? We’ll sign and wrap it for you if you buy it from our shop. Anyway, a pal spotted it in a bookshop in Dunfermline ON A TABLE which got me feeling really proud and excited. It was probably a terrible mistake, but I’ll take it!
L: Lastly, dropping through our door from the amazing Haunt Publishing was this amazing poetry collection. Well timed for the season, although I took it with me to read with my morning coffee at St Brigit’s Kirk which was a mistake because it was too spooky.
