Posts Tagged With: Edinburgh

Day 1698: Whose Blog is it Anyway?

Posted on August 25, 2017 by Ann Koplow

Whose blog is it anyway?

It’s the blog of somebody who

is seeing “Whose Line is it Anyway?” today at the Edinburgh Fringe

makes mistakes, like double booking

sometimes runs late

loves macaroni and cheese

enjoys being surprised by chocolate and by bliss

needs to monitor and control her Vitamin K consumption because she’s on Warfarin

doesn’t get shit-faced but loves Shakespeare

is still merrily rolling along

loves Scotland and misses her cats.

Whose blog is it anyway? It’s my blog, so I’m going to post a video.

Whose comment is it anyway? I hope it’s yours.

Whose gratitude is it, anyway, for all who helped me create this post and all who are reading it? Guess!

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: "Whose Line is it Anyway?", Coumadin, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Warfarin | 25 Comments

Day 1696: The key to happiness

Posted on August 23, 2017 by Ann Koplow

One of my keys to happiness is learning about the experience of others. So I am happy to ask you, here and now, about your keys to happiness.

Another key to happiness, for me, is sharing my thoughts and photos in this daily blog.

That’s the key to our hotel in Edinburgh, lying on a table at Petit Paris, a French restaurant we always visit here. Travel and great food are other keys to happiness, I think.

Do you see more keys to happiness in my other photos from yesterday?

It’s not imaginary that another key to happiness is associating with good humans, like my ex-sister-in-law’s husband Joe …

… and comedian Ron Lynch (who was playing in several unrecognizable keys on stage yesterday).

Here’s another Key to Happiness in recognizable keys, on YouTube.

Thanks to all who gave me every key to happiness I needed to create today’s post and to my readers (including you!) who are more keys to my happiness.

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: "Key to Happiness" by Tanya Chua, Edinburgh, Festival Fringe, friendship, keys to happiness, Life is Short, Luscious, Neal Portenza, Petit Paris, Ron Lynch, travel | 25 Comments

Day 1694: Enjoy

Posted on August 21, 2017 by Ann Koplow

Here are my latest photos from Edinburgh, which I hope you enjoy.

For two weeks, my son Aaron and I will stay in the happy place of Edinburgh. Then, Aaron will stay here to enjoy his second year at University and I’ll fly home to enjoy my new happy place by the sea with my boyfriend Michael. By the way, today is Michael’s birthday. Enjoy!

I enjoy thanking all who help me create this daily blog and all who enjoy reading it. Enjoy this enjoyable day, wherever you are.

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: Ben & Jerry ice cream, Covfefe, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Happy Birthday bagpipes, Neighborly, So far so good, The Edinburgh Festival Fringe | 36 Comments

Day 1335: Haste ye back

Posted on August 27, 2016 by Ann Koplow

As my son Aaron and I were leaving Scotland yesterday, I saw this sign:

Aaron will be hasting himself back to Scotland in two weeks to attend the University of Edinburgh for a five-year bachelors/masters program in mathematics, assuming his student visa is hasted back to him soon enough.

We hasted ourselves back to Boston, Massachusetts, USA last night, after a hasty stop-over at the Dublin airport.

Haste ye back to looking at my other hastily snapped photos from yesterday:

I shall now haste me back to YouTube, to find some music for this post.

Next month, I’ll be hasting me back to a hospital for some open heart surgery on September 21. I’ll be hasting me back to this daily blog after that, as soon as I can.

Haste ye back to this conversation I had recently with an EMDR therapist named George:

Me: After my valve-replacement surgery, I’ll have to keep avoiding sodium AND I’ll need to closely monitor the greens I eat. I wonder what my diet will be?

George: Donuts.

Haste ye back to the comments sections of this post and I’ll haste me back to respond in kind.

Hasty thanks to all who helped me create today’s haste-ye-back post and to you — of course! — no matter how quickly and where you are going today.

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: "Haste Ye Back" by Iain Reddy, CCTGA, Edinburgh, Edinburgh airport, Irish proverbs, living with congenital heart condition, open heart surgery, Scenes of Scotland, student visas | 22 Comments

Day 1333: Exposed

Posted on August 25, 2016 by Ann Koplow

How do you feel when you’re exposed?

When I’m exposed, sometimes I feel proud. Sometimes I feel shame.

I want to expose these things, here and now:

the internet connection in the hotel room where my son Aaron and I are staying for our final day at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is TERRIBLE,
I am still anxious about the pin-point timing needed for Aaron to get his student visa in time to begin Edinburgh University on time, next month,
this morning we are seeing Marc Mackinnon — a ginger/redhead, like my son, whom we met at last year’s Fringe — in a play called Mermalade,
I won’t have time to include as much in today’s post as I would like,
last night we saw an incredible show called Exposé, where Colin Cloud exposed unbelievable and sometimes embarrassing things about many audience members,
earlier in the day we saw a fabulous improvised musical — thanks to Greg and the other members of Impromptunes — with the title “Zeus Takes a Holiday,” which was suggested by an audience member,
on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, we ran into James Wilson-Taylor, whose Fringe show Ginger is the New Black we had seen earlier in the week, and
we also saw a hilarious sketch comedy show Beasts Present Mr. Edinburgh, where one of the comedians/contestants exposed his bum.

Have I exposed too much?

I shall now expose some photos I took yesterday, to further expose the wonderfulness of Edinburgh and the Festival Fringe.

If you want to expose those photos further (including the one we think looks like a George Seurat painting), click on any of them to enlarge.

Feel free to expose yourself in a comment below.

I shall now expose my thanks to all who helped me create this exposed post and to you — of course! — for whatever you choose to expose, today.

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: Beasts, Colin Cloud, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Ginger is the New Black, Impromptunes, James Wilson-Taylor, letting go of shame, Marc MacKinnon, students visas | 20 Comments

Day 1332: No judgement here!

Posted on August 24, 2016 by Ann Koplow

With a blog named The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally, I tend to notice signs of non-judgment.

No judgement here about the spelling of “judgment”; dictionaries judge that either spelling is okay.

I’ve been working on “no judgement” here in the beautiful city of Edinburgh, Scotland. I judge that “no judgment” is very difficult, especially regarding myself. Judging myself (and expecting others to judge me) is second nature and very difficult to give up. No judgement here about that; I, a psychotherapist, see excessive self-judgement in others all the time.

In my judgement, we self-judging people would feel much better if we practiced “no judgement” here, there, and everywhere.

Any judgement about this post so far? If there is, no judgement here about that. Human beings are natural judgers. We just need to judge ourselves and others more kindly.

Any judgement here regarding my other photos from yesterday?

No judgement here about cat cafés:

Thinking of leaving judgement in a comment? No judgement here!

Thanks to all who helped me create this no-judgement-here post and to you — of course! — for being here, now.

Categories: personal growth | Tags: Cat Cafe, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, letting go of judgement, letting go of judgment, Maison de Moggy | 24 Comments

Day 1330: Defying convention

Posted on August 22, 2016 by Ann Koplow

Greetings from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which has been defying convention for sixty-nine years.

I often follow certain conventions in my blog posts, including choosing a title that relates to a photo I’ve taken the day before. Obviously, I am NOT defying that convention today. However, I’d like to think I’ve been defying convention for almost as long as the Edinburgh Fringe (five and a half years shorter, if I do the maths).

Here are some conventions I defy:

Fearing people who are “different” from me.
Assumptions about how long people born with abnormal hearts (like me) are supposed to live.
Slowing down as I get older.
Judging myself or others.

What conventions do you defy?

Do you see any conventions defied in my other photos from yesterday?

I am unfamiliar with the conventions of shows like The Lady Boys of Bangkok, so I don’t know if they were defying any conventions last night by having people dressed like cats on stage or by using this song as the finale:

If you don’t usually leave a comment, please defy that convention today. If sharing your thoughts here is conventional for you, I suggest you do not defy that convention today.

Many thanks to all who helped me create this defying convention post and to you — of course! — for reading it.

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: "Loch Lomond", Cat Cafe, CCTGA, conventions, defying conventions, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, letting go of fear, letting go of unhelpful thoughts, The Lady Boys of Bangkok | 28 Comments

Day 1329: Edinburgh dreams

Posted on August 21, 2016 by Ann Koplow

When one is at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, it’s dreamily natural to dream, to think about dreams, and to wonder if you’re dreaming.

Yesterday, I almost missed this dreamy sign because I was daydreaming in the Edinburgh mist and rain:

The people who dreamed up that sign didn’t dream of letting us know who they are, what their dream is and why we’re not in it. What do you suppose is the dream behind that Edinburgh sign?

Personally, I have a dream of peace, love, growth, laughter, music, health, and mutual respect, and you’re all in it.

Here are other dreamy Edinburgh sights I didn’t dream up, from yesterday:

I had a dreamy reason for taking this particular photo …

… of Sara Hirsch and Ben Fagan, who shared their dreams of childhood, adulthood, and success with us. I took that dreamy photo because of the dreamy song that was playing, which is a dreamy memory for one of my readers, Derrick J. Knight, who probably never dreamed I’d be mentioning him today.

This is for you, Derrick.

What do you find dreamiest about this post? I can only dream that Jane Austen would find it too short.

Dreamy thanks to Edinburgh, to the St Andrews Revue for the great sketch comedy show Loop, to Sara Hirsch and Ben Fagan, to everyone else who helped me create this post, and to you — of course! — no matter what your dreams, here and now.

Categories: personal growth | Tags: Derrick J. Knight, Edinburgh, Loop, My dream, Neal Portenza, Que Sera Sera, Sara Hirsch and Ben Fagan, The Edinburgh Castle, The Edinburgh Festival Fringe, We Have a Dream and You're Not in It! | 40 Comments

Day 1328: Welcome, World

Posted on August 20, 2016 by Ann Koplow

I welcome the welcoming spirit of Edinburgh, Scotland, which is known around the world and demonstrated in this worldly welcome I saw yesterday:

If anybody is thankful that I took and shared that welcoming photo, you’re welcome.

When my son Aaron and I welcomed the new day in Edinburgh, yesterday, it was raining. Because we’ve been to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe three times before, we were ready to welcome the rain.

As we were walking through Edinburgh’s welcoming Grassmarket section, we were welcomed by a new concept in comedy delivery:

I welcomed the idea of attending a fifteen-minute comedy show inside a van, especially because it was raining. Also, I welcome any new concept I think is smart and effective. Aiden, who was sitting in the driver’s seat of the Titter Truck, was very welcoming.

Aiden — who welcomed the rain with that fashionable animal-skin raincoat — welcomed my telling him I welcomed the Titter Truck as a brilliant innovation. He also suggested I give my welcoming thanks and credit to Jed Marshall, who welcomed the Titter Truck to the world:

Jed welcomed my thanks for his business genius and comic timing, and also welcomed the idea of my son Aaron doing a fifteen-minute version of his own stand-up routine (which has been welcomed in Boston, L.A., and the Edinburgh Fringe in 2014) on a later date in the Titter Truck. I welcomed that invitation by negotiating with Jed a deal of 5 pence for Aaron if he performs, with me, as his manager, getting a welcome 10% of that payment.

I hope Aaron welcomes the effort I put into promoting his comedy career around the world.

It’s time to welcome the other photos I welcomed into my iPhone yesterday in worldly, welcoming Edinburgh.

At the end of long day filled with welcomed laughs and titters in Edinburgh, Aaron and I welcomed seeing that poster for the same Louis C.K. show we welcomed seeing in Massachusetts USA earlier this month. Just as we were welcoming the realization that we were fast approaching our Edinburgh lodgings, we saw another unexpected but very welcome sight:

Tom Joyce, whom I first welcomed into this blog three years ago as my favorite Edinburgh comic, was spotted by Aaron last night welcoming people into an improv comedy show. Even though I was tired, I welcomed the opportunity to see Tom perform again.

I very much welcome the fact that Dr. Tom Joyce — who recently welcomed his doctorate in mathematics and who will have a research job at Edinburgh University next year — will be welcoming Aaron into the Edinburgh worlds of academics and comedy.

I hope you welcome this question: which of the photos in today’s blog did you welcome the most? Which photo did you welcome the least? As always, I welcome all comments, no matter what in the world you choose to share.

Thanks to all the welcoming people we met yesterday in welcoming Edinburgh and thanks to you — of course! — for your welcomed visit, here and now.

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: Edinburgh, Edinburgh comedy, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2016, Jed Marshall, random crap, The Titter Truck, Tom Joyce, University of Edinburgh | 27 Comments

Day 1197: Where creativity happens

Posted on April 11, 2016 by Ann Koplow

Where creativity happens, that’s where I want to be.

Where creativity happens, I can learn and grow.

Where creativity happens, I can express myself authentically.

Where creativity happens, I am inspired.

Where creativity happens, I am more in the moment.

Where creativity happens, I let go of any regrets about the past.

Where creativity happens, I let go of fear and worry about the future.

Where creativity happens, I am more accepting.

Where creativity happens, I can show up, be gentle, and tell the truth.

Where creativity happens, I can see mistakes and imperfections as opportunities to solve problems .

Where creativity happens, I can let go of assumptions and expectations.

Where creativity happens, I am more playful and spontaneous.

Where creativity happens, I am less concerned with what other people think.

Where creativity happens, I can live non-judgmentally.

Where creativity happens, I feel free to share the love in my heart and the knowledge in my head.

Where creativity happens, I can bring all the different parts of me, without shame.

Q: Where does creativity happen?

A: Anywhere people have the means to create and feel safe enough to do so.

Yesterday, creativity happened everywhere I went.

Yesterday, my boyfriend Michael creatively told me and my son about creative Craig Ferguson and creative Shirley Manson creatively talking about Edinburgh, Scotland, where creativity will happen (1) during the Festival Fringe in August and (2) when my son starts University there in September.

Here‘s creative Shirley Manson being creative musically:

Where creativity happens, there’s room for comments AND gratitude.

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: being in the moment, Craig Ferguson, creativity, Edinburgh, Festival Fringe, Kathy Tarantola Photography, letting go of fear, self expression, Shirley Manson | 22 Comments