Alison McQueen

Blog

New Year’s Eve, 2011

Posted: December 31st, 2011

I can’t say that I’ll be all that sorry to see the back of 2011. It’s been a tricky year, featuring a litany of unexpected spanners flying into the works at regular intervals, the most inconvenient of which was me breaking my hand after tripping over my husband’s crutches. The official story is that he broke his leg while skiing in Switzerland. The truth is that he did it during his first lesson at the indoor snow dome in Milton Keynes, way before he got to the slopes. Typical man, he left his crutches strewn across the patio one day, cunningly hidden behind the outside table. He might just as well have left a bear trap for me when I came out to prune the roses. Over I went, like a sack of coal. Snap. The break to my hand was spectacular. To add insult to injury, it has healed very poorly and will never be the same again. Continue Reading »

Edinburgh’s Mysterious Paper Sculptures

Posted: December 20th, 2011

An anonymous artist recently deposited a series of exquisite paper sculptures in various bookish locations in Edinburgh. If you haven’t already seen them, follow the link and prepare to be amazed. This is the gramaphone and coffin piece sculpted from a copy of Ian Rankin’s Exit Music. The caption read “A gift in support of libraries, books, words, ideas… (& against their exit).