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Marissa MacwhirterHerald Scotland |
January is drawing to a close. If you’ve managed to stick with any resolutions to cut down on junk food, kudos. Me? I decided not to kid myself this...
I miss The Lighthouse. I miss the feeling of disappearing behind the copper-clad BOAC building into another world, so close and yet so far away from...
An abundance of tall buildings will soon rise up around Scotland’s largest city like big beige fingers. Their boxy, uninspired nails scraping the...
There’s no place like home for the holidays. But I can’t seem to shake this sense of unease about spending Christmas with my family for the first...
There is a feeling of repulsion I get when confronted with images of anything slimy or oozing. It’s akin to a prickly sensation deep in my...
A sea of suits has taken over the second floor of the Radisson Blu hotel in central Glasgow. Men clutching white porcelain coffee cups and...
In preparation for returning home this Christmas for the first time in five years, I picked up a copy of Madsen Pirie’s How To Win Every Argument:...
This week I was asked to participate in a Careers Afternoon Carousel for second year students. Since my dear friend, a teacher, invited me to take...
The internet as the “global town square” has finally sputtered, choked and given up the ghost. It was running rabid, foaming at the mouth for...
Cathedrals of consumption. Mecca for the suburban shopper. Grand naves of glass and luxury vinyl tile, comfortable temperatures and clean...
Stepping inside the new Candleriggs development is like being sucked into a Scandi-meets-mid-century-modern cocoon. Compared with the chaotic...
It is possibly one of the most unsettling experiences one can encounter while performing a daily chore required to stay alive. The mundanity of...
Between the bustle of the city and the swinging south side is the worst area in Glasgow. Not the worst for what it contains, but what it lacks. As...
Inside the urban planning offices of Glasgow City Council since time immemorial, fluorescent lights buzz and flicker. It’s too hot in winter, too...
I was 19 years old when I met Justin Trudeau. It was 2014 and he had just become leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. Bronzed and beaming, he...
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing. The more I learn, the more I realise how much I don’t know. Like a mantra, I repeat these...
It was meant to be a pleasant stroll along the River Clyde. Little did the couple know they had meandered into the underbelly of Scotland’s...
Lump of concrete wedged in my throat. Heartbeat quickening. Eyes darting. Apple Watch Mindfulness reminder nagging at my wrist. Two things in life...
A decade ago, when I first moved to Glasgow, I thought Bonfire Night was held to celebrate that Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the House of Lords. To...
The first time I travelled on a new Glasgow Subway train I developed a serious case of music topophilia. It involved standing at the back of the...
The best popcorn is Tesco Salted. I’ve dabbled in Propercorn and sampled the own-brand options from every major supermarket chain. Tesco is king....
Owning a little box on the hillside made of ticky-tacky is a dream of mine. I grew up in suburbia and the economy has dashed any dreams I once had...
A familiar scene. Huge clouds of smoke wafting into the city centre as flames lick ferociously at the roof of a treasured building. A torrent of...
When I first moved to Glasgow from Canada, I lived in a flat with four Hungarian students. I was 21 years old and in a new country for the first...
Rolling hills dotted with sheep. Traditional farmhouses snug in the curves of the landscape. Rural views and property values threatened by...
There’s an episode of Grand Designs from 2019 famed for being the “saddest ever”. In it, Edward and Hazel Short sink their life savings into...