Dear TASPers,
Here, at last, are a few pictures of Scotland. (Many thanks to Tracy's wonderful technology coaching.) I hope they amuse and that the correct caption is paired with the correct picture.
Not much has been happening in State College of late. The Pennsylvanian Walter Mondales sightings continue apace. I got into Elementary Modern Standard Arabic, much my (and TEL's) delight. (No doubt the Walter Mondales had something to do with this: they are my friends...) Alas, my joy was tempered with Manasi-esque indignation when the British Embassy spat out my request for a British passport. Apparently my birth certificate is dated five, not three, months after my birth, so they're demanding hospital records to prove that I am not a Nazi war criminal nor a South American dictator in disguise. (Evidently word of my coffee-drinking antics has spread.) So, we begin the paperwork again...
On a happier note, my hair was cut yesterday, and my new haircut passed the test of the TASP scarf (which I am wearing now).
I do hope you are all well. I am most alarmed, however, by the lack of revolutionary activity emmanating from TASP strongholds (Virginia, Colorado, Wisconsin, California, Nevada, Michigan, Montana, Illinois, New York, El Salvador, Florida, Texas). Ahhh, well: I shall just have to brew some Sumatran coffee and set about some serious insurrection in the wilds of Pennsylvania. On with the Revolution! (First to go are those horrible photographers who refused to let me include my copy of Seven Pillars of Wisdom in my senior picture.)

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(The above is a photo of Drum Castle. It seems an excellent candidate for the next Telluride House (although it is several miles away from Aberdeen University)...)

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m85/HypLecteur/IMAG0017.jpg
(Somewhere in the background of the above picture, taken less than 48 hours after the end of TASP, there is an Alison thinking (in best Gerardo voice): "What in the world?")

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(The coast near Sandend, which the tricksy locals insist on pronouncing "Sa-nine.")

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(Pitmedden Garden)

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(The Aberdeen Strathspey and Reel Society performing traditional Scottish fiddle music in the distinctly un-traditional sunshine. The conductor is my uncle.)

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(The brightly colored dot on the shore is shouting, "Hey TASPers!")

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m85/HypLecteur/IMAG0293.jpg
(Yes, the glass in my hand does contain the juice of the fermented grape (not coffee, sorry, Brea). My Scottish relatives, who think the drinking age in America is barbaric, tried to get me to drink it, but my mother ended up consuming it. Ahhh, the slippery slope...)

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(Another beach. Note Alison's heavy, purple winter jacket in August.)

I do hope school is going/ shall go well for all of you. TEL sends you all his fondest regards.

AVH