"strange humanoid experience"

So after living in Scotland for about half a year, the Sasquatch has returned to my life in full force. See previous post for the birthday-fighting-off-Sasquatch manual, but now people are alerting me to the fact that the Sasquatch has been spotted on film in Tofino.

Here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWOKwyT_xrU

Now personally I would love to belive, but to me this mostly looks like a bear wandering through the woods. It's a shame it's not better video quality.



On another note - Sasquatch at the beach!

absurdism...

So I've decided that I need to start reading some absurdist literature. I haven't read any as of yet, but from what I can tell, I think absudism is a very intriguing philosophy, in theory.

From what I can find, absudism maintains that human life is essentially meaningless, but as humans we strive to find meaning in life (often through religion), or come to the conclusion that life is meaningless alltogether. This realization can potentially be very depressing for people, which could lead to the removal from an absurb life, aka, suicide.

The importance is to realize that life is absurd, and to find meaning within the moments we have - appreciate the beauty around us.

As someone who finds more wrong/confusing with organised religion than good/easy to accept, I find this "ism" very appealing. I can see the drive that people have to find meaning, but I also believe that it is entirely selfish for people to believe that this whole universe was created solely for us. The world is much more complex than we can understand, and we are but a mere speck of dust in comparison.

On the other hand, I am also too much of an agnostic to entirely discredit the possibility of a higher power of sorts. As long as the questions of the universe are still to be answered, I will still harbour thoughts that something beyond our comprehension has played a part.

It is the meaning of the moments of beauty which I really enjoy in absurdism. As I have mentioned before, nature is a large part of my spirituality. Why should I spend hours of my time praying through blind faith, when I can go outside and experience life for that it has to offer? I can see the complexity of the space surrounding me, and appreciate that I am but a tiny piece in the puzzle.

Experience the beauty that has manifested itself in our little planet, and appreciate it for what it is.

back to the hills...

Went back to the Pentland Hills on Sunday. It was exciting to actually get to the tops of some of the peaks! It was also exciting to miss the bus that comes every three hours home, only to end up walking another 4km along the road to the nearest pub. Yes, that's right, I walked an hour in the mist to get a delicious Bailey's Latte. Mmmm.

It wasn't the best day for a walk, seeing as the wind on the top of the peak was stronger than any I had ever encountered before, and the rain was moving sideways, but all in all it was a very fun outing!

We met up with a youth group of sorts, most of them visiting from other countries, and a couple people who aparently live in my building whom I've never met and a Scottish-local. It was great to encounter a young scottish local that enjoys the outdoors. I was starting to believe that all young Edinburgh-types fall under the "ned" category! Ha ha...anywho, enjoy the photos:

The trail up the first peak:



Me conquering the first peak. About to be blown off:



The descent:



Random scenic photo of the distance:

back to the bigfoot...

So, seeing as there is only a month until my birthday, I found it necessary to undertake measures on how to defend myself in the event that the Sasquatch has tracked me down in Scotland and decided to wage an attack on me. I'm sure Sasquatch is thinking, "What better day then her birthday??"

Lukily, I received this card which gave step-by-step instructions to defend myself if such an event were to occur!

Excellent!

dying??

Well, as someone who usually gets sick once a year (in April after essays and exams are done), I have found it VERY unusual to be sick for practically the past six months. Or in other words, since I arrived in Scotland.

When I first got here, I just brushed off the lightheadedness I felt reading at my desk to poor lighting, and the sinus flu to not sleeping and drinking (ahem) too much. But now that it's six months later and I've suffered through countless sinus infections, bronchitis and labyrinthitis (!) I've had enough.

And this week, to confirm everything I has suspected, I found open mold in the hallways outside my flat! So, yes, basically I'm slowly dying from toxic mold. Pleasant!