January 26, 2008 -- Saturday night

Reading from the works of Robert Burns at Burns Night at the Edinburgh Castle Pub.

She is a Scottish Zen monk who teaches meditation classes to the homeless.

After entertaining us with her singing and recitation of Burns' poetry she delivered a monologue on the topic of snot. Yes, mucus that comes from the nasal passages. She even passed out photographs of a ceramic mug, that looks like a face, but is really an egg seperater. The whites run out the nose. How psyched would you be to get one of those for Christmas?

We found her outside, getting some air after her recitation, standing beneath the awning while the rain pounded down and people carrying wet umbrellas jostled past, and she explained the context of the mucus--Robert Burns, like her, had earthy sensibilities.

(Photo taken while my friend, Colleen, and I crouched on the floor on the upper balcony, looking down between the slats of the railing.)