I stand in line for U.S. immigration at Vancouver airport, beside a sign warning that maple syrup is among prohibited items in hand baggage, and entertain myself with syrupy sweet plans to wreak havoc and destruction on an unsuspecting world. I smirk at my sticky schemes and an elegant East European woman moves away from […]
Tag Archives | aefa mulholland
Honolulu chippie
As close as I could get to Scottish cuisine in Waikiki. It wasn’t quite up to the fried delicacies from the local back home, The Chip Chik Inn, but close. I think the addition of the lavender mojito helped. The Chip Chik Inn’s drinks menu only goes as far as Irn Bru.
Me – and marmots – on CBC
A few people have asked me about the marmot theme park I mention in the CBC interview. La Montagne aux Marmottes! A whole park devoted to the furry wee beasties!
Tartanry
Is Scotland the only country that does not force its Catholic schoolgirls to don tartan? We got to wear bouffant light blue taffeta frocks and straw hats at my elementary/primary school, though, so we didn’t get off… Scot-free. In high school/secondary we wore a yawn of grey items, stripy green and yellow ties and green […]
Malcolm the Maiden
I’ve been studying the famous Kings and Queens of Scotland — in playing card form — recently. To complete this deck of 52 with five jokers they stretched the definition of “famous” a wee bit thin. Sure, my knowledge of Scottish history is a bit vague, but Jack of Diamonds, King Malcolm 1V? Malcolm the […]
Souvenirs of Scottish-America
I’ve ended up with a pleasingly strange array of souvenirs from the last three years working on this book. They all bring back memories of when I got them, of course, although they’re not always great memories. There were a slew of phew-I-never-have-to-do-this-again moments along the way (see chapters 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, […]
What Would an Angry Scotsman Do?
I am really enjoying the “WWASD” decision spin wheel thingy. It’s my favourite souvenir from the trip I did to Savannah, Warm Springs and Atlanta for the Georgia chapter of the book. Sometimes it IS hard to choose whether to “Berate a Tourist” or “Gie a Sassenach a Bleachin’”*. And sometimes there’s really nothing for […]
How to be Scottish…
Want to learn how to be Scottish on this side of the Atlantic? Here’s how… 1. Learn Scottish Country dancing from suspicious Scottish-Hawaiians in Honolulu. 2. Struggle through early morning Scotch whisky tasting in Memphis. 3. Study ancient Scottish history in Las Vegas. 4. Learn rules of caber tossing at Oregonian Highland Games. 5. Discover […]
