That's it, that's my tagline from now on: Shu is going to carpe some diem, onward Ho! It's just too bad that I'm not too good at practising what I preach.

Carol and I took a mini-break to St. Andrews over the weekend to attend the cleverly-named STAnza (Scottish National Poetry Festival). Having never heard of it before Carol popped it on my plate, I hopped on to the STAnza website and came across snippets describing it as 'the Scottish poetry warld's version o Cannes', a 'poetic jamboree' that lets off 'verbal fireworks', a glorious event where 'poets are descending from the sky like confetti'....

So, I figured, how can I not go? How can I resist this deluge of self-congratulatory smugness? How can I not want to pack my bags, chase after the bus, and jolt my way over 2 hours to a small town famous only for its Golf Course and University (and Prince William in association) in anticipation of being dazzled, charmed, and thoroughly witted-out by jewelled tones falling from the lips of the eminent personages that have deigned to grace us with their presence?

Ahem.. anyway. The performances we watched:
1. Don't Say Another Word
This was supposed be a 3 men show. Only 2 turned up. The other was stuck in Amsterdam waiting for his wife to give birth. However, halfway through, his FACE suddenly loomed over us on the screen behind the stage (it's the size of the entire wall!) - someone managed to hook him up on a webcam so he attempted to 'perform' alongside the two others. Hence began a really messy, chaotic, but thoroughly entertainingly improvised 'performance'.

Highlights:
- One of the actors is 'Mr. Bingley' in the 1995 BBC Pride and Prejudice.
- Said 'Mr. Bingley' attempting to strangle a mop (in place of the 3rd actor who couldn't make it that day) and screaming at the top of his lungs 'I'm sick of acting! I'm sick of all this pretending and make-believe, sick of doing things that are not real!" Absolutely delicious.
- This line: 'mornings are non-refundable, carpe some diem'

2. Patience Agbabi and Carol Ann Duffy
Two wonderful women poets, two completely different but equally riveting readings. No description can do them any justice. I recommend you read their poems for yourselves.

...

BUT SERIOUSLY, WHAT'S UP WITH ST. ANDREWS?
We spent barely 24 hours there, but at the end of it Carol and I couldn't get out of there fast enough! First, the hostel we booked (the only backpackers in St. A) messed up our booking, and when we returned to our room after a long day there was only 1 bunk bed left! So we spent the night squeezed together uncomfortably in a tiny tiny bed. But the last straw was when we were wandering around town the next morning, looking for breakfast, the only thing that was open in the entire town before 9 a.m. was Starbucks! Gyah! Thinking about people spending their entire university life here is enough to make me feel claustrophobic, even though it has nothing whatsoever to do with me.

We are such spoiled city girls... :p