The Shelter Stone

New Notebook Day

Happy new notebook day!

Throbbing Leg

Aberdeen. It is warm, but not heatwave warm. Overcast, even though there were blue skies last week. Even in the height of summer, the granite city always returns to being rendered from brushstrokes of grey. The Leg has throbbed this afternoon due to inactivity. Still, it hurts less than last Tuesday and the only relief Continue reading "Throbbing Leg"

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It has been a month of contrasts.

Good At What You Practice

For two weeks in a row Jen and I ran in Glen Tanar, a nearby remnant of the Caledonian Forest. We loosely followed the route of the Illuminator races around the edge of the forest to take advantage of Land Rover tracks. There are steep hills interspersed through the forest and when running them became Continue reading "Good At What You Practice"

Loch Kander

Two months ago, I started recovering from the illness by walking into a remote coire that I’d only ever seen on the map. After I left folks behind at Callater Lodge I headed into the warm sun listening to Éliane Radigue’s Trilogie de la Mort. Ahead of me deep snow covered Jock’s Road and capped Continue reading "Loch Kander"

I Went Nordic Skiing Last Month

And I miss the quiet.

How Fiction Works

I’m rereading James Wood’s How Fiction Works, which I last read fifteen years ago at the tail end of my post graduation unemployment. Naively, those were the end of the happy days before I had responsibilities and all I did was read, write, and climb. I know this because tucked inside between pages 36 Continue reading "How Fiction Works"

The First Quarter

It’s been a rough start to the year. The day job has been intense and there was a death in the family which has all coincided with a long period of extended illness. Until mid January, I’d been able to say with some confidence that on the balance of probabilities I hadn’t had COVID-19 in Continue reading "The First Quarter"

Ski Snacks

Arrived today. I m going through a rough patch at the moment, but I m looking forward to healing myself with the recipes in here. The web page for the book can be found here: https://www.beyondskid.com/

Wintery Mix

Tuesday 13th Jan. The MET Office forecast predicted a wintery mix would fall from eleven until noon. Delayed by my own natural distractions that was scheduled for slightly after I left the house on my standard Tuesday run. On the calendar fifty minutes of easy running with six times twenty seconds of hill strides. A Continue reading "Wintery Mix"

2025

A lot of people I respect write excellent roundups of their years, and 2025, has been no different. I wish I d been more methodical in recording the music that I d enjoyed this year (mostly techno of various flavours and stoner metal), but I have not. The important activities in my life are broadly running, reading, Continue reading "2025"

New Journal

And hot on the heels of yesterday s entry about being at the end of one journal, today I start the new one. The sticker came from the parcel with my one of my Christmas presents in. As a bonus, below is a photograph I took earlier today of the stack of most of the core Continue reading "New Journal"

Notebook Intervals

I m reaching the end of my current personal notebook which is always a weird position to be in. There are three stages in the lives of my notebooks: the first dozen or so pages are filled with references to the previous notebook, but there is an immense feeling of optimism and potential. Then comes the Continue reading "Notebook Intervals"

Long Run Saturdays

Oil industry machinery in the south harbour with golfers on the clifftop golf course in front of it. I m moving my long runs to Saturdays since it might be more restful. When I posted this to Instagram mid run I put some Deepchord alongside it. You ll have to imagine that.

Clashindarroch Forest

Last Friday and Saturday I went nordic skiing in the Clashindarroch Forest for the first time. There were mixed results. Yes, I enjoyed spending time with friends from the Cairngorm Club in a beautiful place, but an increasing weariness from the day job has made me irritable. It didn t help that I d lost all my Continue reading "Clashindarroch Forest"

Adventures in Acid

Yesterday Ryan from Third Circle Coffee in Aberdeen posted to Instagram a video clip of his new speaker and amp setup with an ambient electronic record playing. I sarcastically heckled in the comments that it needs more acid. Today, as I walked in on my lunch break, a compilation record from the same blindly purchased Continue reading "Adventures in Acid"

Lairig Ghru – September

Rereading: Zero History

I ve read this once. At the time it was released, I was unemployed and spent a day on the old blue Ikea sofa at my parents house listening to Arcade Fire s The Suburbs on repeat. An unfortunate number of years have passed since then.

Shadow of the Hill Runner

He ran up Broad Hill for the eighth time since it reopened two weeks ago. A small bump of sand and grass next to the sea that he’d missed for nine months. He darted through a thin ribbon of immature trees and up the loose ground beside the paved path. “New Grass Growing. KEEP OFF!” Continue reading "Shadow of the Hill Runner"

Rabbit Seen On Last Sunday’s Long Run

Nothing Beside Remains

Earlier today I sat in Third Circle Coffee, Aberdeen drinking batch brew, listening to Bohren der Club of Gore, and reading the first story in Robert Chamber s The King in Yellow: The Repairer of Reputations. As I left I chatted with Ryan, the owner, about what I was reading. He s a fan of the Continue reading "Nothing Beside Remains"

Floris

On Saturday afternoon I recaptured the intensity of writing that I d felt between 2008 and 2011. The four coffees contributed clarity, but a specific musical accident occurred. I d spent lunch reading in a favourite coffee shop. A vinyl copy of Burial s Untrue had been playing before we arrived. The record sleeve lay against the side Continue reading "Floris"

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I had plans for this month, but they ve been thrown out the window. 😦

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I don t know who this is, but they clearly have good taste. 😉

Last Night & This Morning

The Phoenix Project

My manager assigned/recommended this book to me at the start of the year during our end of year discussion. It’s a novel about IT organisations and DevOps. It’s not a good novel when compared to, say, Virginia Woolf, but that’s not its purpose since it’s a didactic text. I’m enjoying it because it’s reaffirming a Continue reading "The Phoenix Project"

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No thoughts, only boulder.

Main Quest

I will always watch a good Barkley Marathons documentary. This is at the artier end of the half dozen or so that I ve seen. I appreciate its perspective.

My Analog Journal – Psychedelia & Acid Folk with Beirut Groove Collective

This is delightful.

On Call

I spent last week on call for my day job and, although I was only called out once, today I m exceptionally tired and looking forward to having my phone off overnight. It s an important part of my role and keeps me grounded and knowledgeable in areas of my team s responsibilities that I rarely interact with, Continue reading "On Call"

Hesitation

I write fiction so infrequently these days that I fear that any ability I once had I the form has withered away. I remember writing short stories, but, unlike with whatever genre of writing this is, I can never recall how to start them. I don’t know where ideas or images come from anymore. If Continue reading "Hesitation"

Thoughts Wash Away

Two hours of thoughts no thoughts to get here then two more hours to get back to Balmoral Castle with a few diversions in the forest to make up time. One incident on the descent where my flow is broken running downhill tripping over a rock that sends me flailing into a deep ditch Continue reading "Thoughts Wash Away"

A Lonely Impulse of Delight

Like many, I receive far more newsletters in my inbox than I actually read. One of the lucky half dozen or so that I always read in a timely fashion is by friend of the site Connor Wroe Southard. A Lonely Impulse of Delight covers literature and the arts from Connor’s idealistic position. I don’t Continue reading " A Lonely Impulse of Delight"

Thirty Below: Cassidy Randell

Writer Cassidy Randall’s new book Thirty Below unearths the story of the first all-female ascent of Denali in 1970 and reveals a deeper story of ambition and teamwork. It’s an incredible story with complex characters. In a sport obsessed with legends and heroics, why did the Denali Damsels nearly fade into history? I listened to Continue reading " Thirty Below: Cassidy Randell"

Dopesmoker

Yesterday the mise en place for a tricky work project finally found its ideal shape and, after months of delays frustration, I stepped into the holy state of flow while writing code and conversing with the machine spirit. All afternoon and into the middle evening I played Sleep s LP Dopesmoker. The first track, and Continue reading "Dopesmoker"

Jamie

This is one of my favourite climbing films from last year. It was a welcome relief to watch last November. An island of dignity within the storm of regressive insanity consuming the United States of America. Jamie Logan is a legendary climber and alpinist who led many cutting edge first ascents in the 1960s and Continue reading "Jamie"

DNS

I didn t start the Lairig Ghru race yesterday. The leg issues that started from a bad strain in February remerged. I d thought that I d most gotten over it. There was even a confidence boosting, and pain free, 30km run into the Lairig Ghru a few weeks ago. But that was before a bad week of Continue reading "DNS"

Yesterday

Sunday’s Race

It did not go well, and while I don t want to glamorise suffering for the sake of suffering, I did learned a lot despite being in excruciating pain. No permanent damage. Hopefully permanent memories.

Laments

Last Sunday I wrote a short piece’s marking the end of one definition of winter and the start of spring. It was a lament for a shitty frustrated season. Not enough running. Poor skiing. And, as always, no climbing opportunities offered, made, or taken. My left leg is still unhappy, so I am unhappy. Continue reading "Laments"

Glencoe

A wet weekend in Glencoe at one of my favourite mountain huts. My leg hurts and I’m not running strongly at the moment. 😞

New Year

I took the above photo on the 4th of January a few moments before boarding a coach south to Oslo. I’d been in the ski room collecting our bag of skis and caught sight of Muen in the morning glow. So, as I had done most mornings as I left the hotel for a ski Continue reading "New Year"

17/11/24

Sunday afternoon and the rain has just set in. In land, hopefully, this will fall as snow, but here on the edge of the North Sea, it will just be cold rain. I’ve spent the last two weeks in various stages of being On-Call for my day job. I don’t like the experience, although I Continue reading "17/11/24"

At a Distance

One of my long standing beliefs, and repeated to the point of tedium, is that you cannot see the hill you are standing on, so to have the grandest view of a landscape, with all the spectacle such places can offer, you must be observing at a distance. This is a belief that s driven many Continue reading "At a Distance"

Bläbær

I bought two of these in Norway last spring. One I shared with two friends on top of a local hill at sunset. This one I found in the gel and sports nutrition drawer that’s mostly sugar. I’m saving it for something. I just don’t know what.

The White Mounth

I’d been to Lochnagar, Càrn a Choire Bhòidheach, Càrn an t-Sagairt Mòr, Cairn Bannoch, and Broad Cairn several times over the years, but I hadn t yet visited them all in one continuous circuit. Since I had the free time last week, and the weather wasn t horrendous, I went and ran hiked this classic Aberdeenshire Continue reading "The White Mounth"

Butt Pee

I’ve watched two of this year’s films on the Reel Rock film festival, So far, the one that’s entertained me the most is Jirishanca. It follows two “bros” climbing a line up a 6000m mountain in Peru that was first ascended years ago with aid, and, like, actual snow and ice coverage. Unlike today where Continue reading "Butt Pee"

The Empty Space Trilogy

I finished reading M John Harrison’s novel Empty Space a couple of weeks ago. As the final part of a glacially slow reread of the trilogy I have been left struggling to properly articulate my response. It is true that the first novel of the trilogy, Light, is a Significant Novel in my reading history Continue reading "The Empty Space Trilogy"