the camera

The camera. Where do I even begin. I guess I'll start at the very beginning... a very good place to start. When I read I begin with A, B, C, when I  About a week before I came to Scotland, my parents took me out for a surprise. I went along because I had nothing else to do, and then they pulled their 'surprise' on me. Let me first tell you how I feel about surprises. I'll now quote the musical Young Frankenstein as they sing a number right before Elizabeth walks in on Dr. Frankenstein (or is it Stien?) making love to Inga. "Some folks don't appreciate a surprise. 'specially if they're naked when they're surprised." I guess the last part of that isn't necessary. I wasn't naked when they surprised me. But you get the drift. Anyways, they take me to Sam's Club and walk me over to the camera section. It didn't take me long to understand what was happening. I also knew that this meant I wouldn't be getting monetary assistance from them for my trip. See, the original plan was that for Christmas I had asked 'Santa' for money for my trip to Scotland. I knew I would want plenty of spending money, so I thought being practical for Christmas was the best option for me. I was told Xmas morning that I would be getting assistance, which was good. But now, that camera was taking place of my money. Yes, it was a nice camera, and yes I probably shouldn't have just given it to the family at the airport without asking for some money for it, but they really seemed to love it. And besides, that family of four is going to get so much more use out of that camera than I would have ever. Of course I joke. I didn't just give the camera away. I just thought I'd panic my parents for a bit and seem like the irresponsible child; to cover up tracks of another sibling of course :). So the camera is with me, I still don't care to take a mass of pictures, but I am surviving with it.

Why wouldn't I want a camera? That's not so much a simple answer, but I'll try to briefly summarize. Last spring I took a course at Baldwin Wallace entitled Philosophy of Human Nature. In the class we discussed a great deal of commonplace practices in America today and the psychological purpose behind them. Cameras were a particular Friday's topic, and I made sure to sober up from my body and pay attention to the lecture. Camera's are used for two main purposes. 1) Tourists & 2) Artistry. In one category I do not belong and in the other I voluntarily chose to avoid. Nothing turns locals away quicker than a tourist with a camera, and I didn't care to become one of them. On the other side, I do find myself to be an artist (of at least a small degree) but no where to the point where I would take the pictures from my trip and turn them into a collage of sorts or a canvas to hang on the barren wall of my campus apartment. The philosophical side of cameras, however, discusses the difference between experience and material. For pictures are simply material objects that were distractions in an experience. For example, in October I had the chance to see Barbra Streisand in concert with a good friend. Neither of us had a camera to take pictures of the event even though we had snuck into seats that were as close as could be. If we had been taking pictures - and there were plenty of people doing so - then we would have missed moments of her flawless concert. Instead, I simply sat in awe for 3 hours, and though I don't have the material photographs to prove I was there or to remind me of what a great time I had, I do have the memory of being there and seeing a legend. So that's my camera story, and I'm sticking to it... well kinda. As I said, I ended up bringing the camera and have taken some pictures. I hope you enjoy them and that viewing Scotland vicariously through these photographs brings you peace of mind because I have come to discover this past week that Scotland is the pacific clarity that I needed so badly to clear my mind.

This is the view from my window of my room. Simply gorgeous, though we are told not to leave
our windows open for too long because squirrels will come in and eat our food

This is one of my favorites I have taken. It's called Airthrey Castle and is right on campus.
I run by it on my runs each morning.

This is the same view from my room two days after the first was taken. I'll eventually
do a post about the weather. As you can see, it's temperamental at least.


A rather haunting photograph taken at a cathedral nearby.
The snow made the visit even more chilling


The inside of Dunblane Cathedral. 

Each window had articulate stained glass windows. 

This was in a back hallway of the cathedral 

Again, the cemetery but this time from within the cathedral 

These flowers are known as snowdrops. I've never seen them  in the USA, but they are
everywhere here. A sign that spring has almost arrived.

Wallace Monument. This can be seen from the kitchen in my corridor and is a commemoration 

of William Wallace. If you have no idea who he is, watch Braveheart.

Some of the film was shot on Stirling's campus (battle of Stirling Bridge!)

A view from the street on my way to get groceries. About 6-7km from campus


Though I loath the thought of posting a picture of myself, I though it good to show
1) The typical weather
2) Everyone wears green in Scotland (Kate... take note)

So that's all the pictures I care to share now. There are more that I may post in the future, but it takes far too much of my day to upload them to the blog. I'm going to go out and enjoy the fresh air. I hope it was worth your time to skim through the pictures. It's a great place to be, this Scotland. It's a shame so many people think of it only for it's rain... and Braveheart.

Disclaimer: If you watch Braveheart and discuss it with a Scot, they'll likely get offended. They say it's not very true. And as student studying film at the University, I must argue that at least they had a film made about it that won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Not many films can say that.