spring has sprung...

early evening sun streams in through my window as i sit here and type. but, being the month of april, there is the very real chance of a "plump" of rain at any time. this doesn't detract from the fact that spring seems to be here, and brought with it the feelings of excitement and optimism about being outdoors and planning exciting activities for the summer ahead.

alas, it doesn't look likely that this summer will afford me the now traditional trip to iceland to volcano watch. instead i hope to be gainfully employed around edinburgh in order to make it through the very important 3rd year of my course. 3rd year is important as it is the final year of part 1 qualification - the first of 3 hurdles towards becoming a qualified architect. so, it means head down and hard work. money will be needed to get me through it.

something else which fills me with excitement is the fact there are less than 2 months of this academic year left before the long summer vacation. which is a great milestone. already my thoughts are turning towards next summer and the possibilities for my compulsory practice year which comes after that. being a bit of a nomad, i am already planning to get away from edinburgh for the year - either to work at home in shetland for half the year, to save money, then taking a wild and exciting trip away around the globe. or, alternatively, to buy an old 4x4 and head to iceland to work there for a year. much depends on getting the right kind of opportunity with an architectural practice. but at the moment, it is great to dream of the possibilities.

4 weeks of time off from college are almost at an end. i've had a great and fun-packed easter break which has included a trip to berlin, a stint at home in shetland, as well as some great socialising here in edinburgh. i feel enthusiastic about facing the new and final term of the year - an interesting project to design a school of boat-building. shouldn't be hard for a shetlander!

for those of you who don't know or have forgotten about my other blog - drop by www.archsutherland.blogspot.com to check out my work.

here's a little taster of some of the things i've been up to.

TEC2001 and TEC2002

A few weeks ago I added a post about this term's project. I'm pleased to report that it is almost over. For the last 6 weeks I have been designing a glorified shoebox as a solution to an aircraft hangar brief. It isn't sexy at first sight, being as it is a mere box,... but i hope that the very slick finish in stainless steel will sex it up a bit. Deadline is Monday, which means this weekend has been a non-stop marathon of model-making (I hate Wonderland Models for their bad advice on soldering!!!!) and producing very technical and time-consuming drawings. But all over in 36 hours!

new horizons

the last few weeks have been tumultuous, one way or another. upheaval,... change,... rather than anything too traumatic. the most significant development being starting a new job, working as a PA for professionals in a large property development company. i am working part-time hours alongside my studies,... and so far it works well. i just hope i can manage to make up the lost time in the studio in my free time.

so, with new found wealth (!!!???) and more freedom from employment at weekends i anticipate a return to the good old days of weekend jaunts to see friends and have wild times across europe. the first of these will be a long overdue trip down to cambridge - hopefully to coincide with the lents boatclub dinner! so, here i come.

deleterious effect...

dear readers.... it is with great relief that i can post news of having deleted myself from the world of online social networking. yes, facebook, gaydar, myspace, you name it. so, apart from this meagre blog, i am virtually anonymous in cyberspace once again. so you're going to have to email or call me if you want to find up what i'm up to,... unless its posted on here of course. haha. but i have control over this, at least!

back at school,... again!

i can't believe that my last post was at the start of the year. well, now we're a term down and about to start another term. this time we face the exciting challenge of designing a hangar for a vintage aircraft - largely a structural project because one of the main considerations is accommodating the large wingspan of the plane without columns to support the roof. i'm not too good at the technical side of things, so this term could be challenging. wish me luck.

Back at School!

Well, another long summer is over. Why do we get such long summer holidays as students? Is it just so the academics can get a long break? Or time to actually get on with their own research? Either way, I've had a good summer, but a large part of it has been spend working just to be able to afford the rent on my flat. I'd much rather have continued with my architecture course and just taken a nice 3 week holiday somewhere. Fast track degrees, that's what we want when we're turning 30!

So, what did I do with my summer apart from working,... I hear you cry. Well, 2-3 weeksin August were spent in Iceland with Nick on volcanoes and with Thor gaying it up in Reykjavik. Then in mid September I went back to the rock that is home and went to a most fabulous wedding. And just before the start of term last week I enjoyed a little trip to Sweden, which included a couple of nights in Stockholm - one of my favourite cities. I accidently wandered right to the front of the Architecture School at the Royal Technical University there, which just happens to have an exchange link with Edinburgh College of Art! Hehe... is someone trying to tell me something?

Anyway,... off to plan for the big 30.

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Did I say summer?

Yeah, .... those of you who haven't been to Scotland but have the received wisdom notion that the weather here is changeable,.... are quite right. Sometimes we Scots like to dispel the myth that the weather here is all over the place, but I think today I want to re-enforce that. On Tuesday I got sunburned in the park - it was a scorcher. Today, I have under-layers on and a nice warm coat,... buttoned right up to the neck.

But its the tourists that I probably feel most sorry for. They come on their european tours in the middle of summer fully expecting a little warmth,... even in Edinburgh. But today they were cowering in the wind and creeping around looking for shelter. Respect to the Japanese painting and drawing group whom I spotted bravely perched around the Royal Mile, artistically absorbing St Giles and the rest of the city scape. But it surely can't be easy to paint with gloves on?