One of the recurring themes of my blogging is going to be about how Stuff matters to me. It does, it matters a lot. It needs to be the right Stuff and function well. I care about elegance and efficiency, color and texture. I think the stuff we interact with defines a lot of our reality. Stuff I use matters; I research and shop and think hard about it. I take good care of my stuff.
I spent a bunch of time in advance of this trip to Scotland figuring out how to be able to write but also keep my day pack light while out and about at Fringe. There is a lot of walking, including some pretty steep hills and stairwells. It’s a lot for a middle aged largely sedentary body like mine. It is also a goodly distance back to our Airbnb, so better have what I really need with me. I learned a lot from my experience last year, so I spent some mental cycles and time planning for this year.
One of the things I did was find a Bluetooth keyboard in my drawer and hook it up to my phone. It worked! I also got a pretty nifty portable phone stand (yes it is purple). That setup minimized the weight I had to carry and still have everything I needed to be able to sit down somewhere and write about the shows, my day, etc. I am also really committed to leaving reviews for the shows I see, it is part of the point of this adventure is for them to get feedback on the materials they are trying out and presenting here.
Yesterday I got off the airplane, dropped big suitcase at a holding facility, and went straight to shows until 11 pm. Day pack wasn’t quite what is should have been, and it was a long day. No time or energy for writing yesterday, but I’ll catch that up shortly. Today I had a nice leisurely morning, light day of shows, and packed perfectly. After seeing three shows and waving goodbye to the group of friends I am traveling with, I found a comfy quiet underground lounge and set up my phone, phone stand, and Bluetooth keyboard. Although the keyboard clearly connected to the phone, I could not get it to type on the phone screen! So frustrating. I fiddled with it for awhile but could not get it to work. I gave up to walk home to the Airbnb where my computer was available. Precious alone quiet time early in the trip to do the writing I want to and committed to do… so here I am.
On the way home I walk through this huge green park and cut behind the circus installation. It’s a beautiful day, the circus area is colorful, there are people scattered all over the park grass enjoying the day.
I look down and there is the prettiest little spaniel dog off leash snuffling on the grass and headed generally in my direction. She is mostly white, super soft, very calm and clearly friendly. Pretty sure she is just a puppy or very young dog.
I kneel down and say hello and she comes right over for some ear rubs and love. What a delightful creature, waggy and sweet. Her human isn’t far off and catches up. I pay the requisite complements about the beautiful doggy and ask for a name. The year old puppy is Gwendolyn and her owner is E (name left out for privacy).
E and I proceed to have a lovely conversation about Gwen, where we are from, and about Fringe.
I love it, my 2nd trip, highly recommended shows – E thinks it’s funny that an American is telling a Scot about Fringe but is grateful. She has a hard time juggling puppy care to get to shows and might be or is moving from Gloucester to Edinburgh. After talking to me E thinks she will give Fringe a try, see a show or two! That makes me smile. I Love Fringe. My enthusiasm is contagious.
I get to give Gwen a bunch more pets, which she is waggy-tail happy about before finding a stick to chew on. I’d extend this conversation just to hang out with the doggy some more, but in this case I’m also really enjoying talking to E, and she with me. I tell her I’d be happy to baby sit the puppy so she could see a show and she laughs, but I’m serious.
Honestly I don’t know if we have anything in common, we probably do, but it really doesn’t matter. We were both open, made an energetic connection and enjoyed some minutes together in the sun sharing experiences and enthusiasm. I love single serving friends and am content.
It’s time to go, we turn to leave but E turns back around and asks, “Can we be Facebook friends?”. I blink. “I never normally do this,” she rushes on, “but you seem really cool and who knows, maybe you’ll stay at my new flat in Edinburgh next year or maybe I’ll stay with you in Boston. I’d love to visit America.” She sounds sincere and hopeful.
“Yes! Absolutely. That would be great!” is my immediate and heartfelt response. So we step back together and do the FaceBook friending thing on our phones. E apologizes saying that she is old enough that she still does FB.
“I am too!” We laugh and hug each other goodbye.
So here is to my new friend E and her puppy dog Gwen. If my carefully planned and tested tech Stuff hadn’t failed this afternoon, I would never have met them! I hope we do see each other again and that E does get to see some shows. I’ve sent her some recommendations on FB.
Addendum
I’m back. I was almost done with this article when the very old computer that I brought with me to Fringe because it is the lightest one I own and I might have to carry it if my phone/keyboard setup doesn’t work, suddenly decides it needs to upgrade Windows. Never gave me a chance to say no. I barely got my composition saved before it went off to upgrade land. Argh!
I tested this computer several times at home, used it for a few hours, tested the battery charging and rundown time being unplugged; nary a sign of an upgrade prompt, and now… this. Losing more writing time. Argh argh!
Remember how stuff matters? This is a little red computer, not too heavy, nice size screen, with a full size keyboard that has a perfect touch to it. I bought two, one for myself and one for my girlfriend & writing partner at the time like a decade ago. We used these computers to write together, so many hours of writing, productive and creative together for several years. Then my little red computer got stolen from my apartment. I was devastated. It had a screenplay on it that I had been working on for months. Argh argh argh!
I got a new computer, and eventually so did my writing partner. She returned this one to me, where it has sat on an unused tech shelf for a long time because it reminded me too much of her and that made me sad (we broke up awhile back in the first few months of COVID.) I resurrected the little red computer for this trip and so here I am imbuing it with renewed happy writing energy. It will go in my pack tomorrow!
Any road – three of my friends unexpectedly came back to the Airbnb a few minutes before the windows update debacle happened, so I had little choice but to take a break to go hang out with them while my computer figured itself out. They just headed out to their next show, and the computer is happy and ready to go again. It was a delightful social interlude where we learned stuff about each other and shared interesting information. I’m really glad I spent the time with them.
Today I am grateful for the Gods of Technology Stuff that are making sure that I also interact with the humans that I need to. Friends are now off to their next show adventure and the apartment is quiet again, so I’ll write another article and some reviews as soon as I get this one posted. I asked E if I could have a picture of Gwen to post with this so I won’t add an image until I get a response about that.
Fringe trip two, day two – Serendipitous moments of intimacy at Fringe with friends old and new. I am looking forward to more.