Don't Click the Pic...

Lissanoure Castle
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

Unless you happen to have an enduring interest in wedding venues or a long standing love of estates and hotels in Northern Ireland. ;) Six venues in one day and here are the photos to prove it. If you do look at the pics - notice how dramatically the weather changes in one day. It is really something. We visited: Lissanoure Castle (Co. Antrim), Malone House (South Belfast), Clandeboye Estate (Bangor, Co, Antrim), Crawfordsburn Inn (Co. Down), Galgorm Manor (Co. Antrim) and The Culloden Hotel (Holywood, that's pronounced Hollywood but with one l for extra badness... or goodness...or something, Co. Antrim)

Thank god for our new hoopty or there's no way we could have covered so much ground in one day. It was actually kind of fun to check out all these different spaces and towns and the like. My faves from this trip were Malone House and Lissanoure Castle where I had to stand on Tom's shoulders to see into the courtyard as it was locked up and no one was around. It would probably have been comical to see for anyone other than Tom who had my feet in his face...haha.

As is the way in Northern Ireland, the residents of any given place make it very obvious, "whose side they're on." Tom almost turned around on our way to Galgorm Manor as the nearby towns were absolutely plastered with union jacks, northern ireland red and white flags, scottish flags and any other flag or bunting you can think of in to suggest to you that you are in loyalist country. Don't even think about being Irish in these parts. Galgorm Manor is rumored to be giving kick-backs to the LVF (Loyalist Paramilitary) and after our visit, I wouldn't be surprised if it's true. Tom was getting all hot under the collar just being there so I suppose it won't be the best venue... Good thing it wasn't that nice cuz I suppose it wouldn't be ideal to fund a bunch a gangsters who beat up the local icecream man if he doesn't kick back some cookies...

Crawfordsburn Inn was quite Proddy-doddy as well but in a very posh type way although there was an Orange Hall decorated with Union Jacks across the street which meant that Tom needed to be dragged inside to even look at the place ;). Very pretty in an English Countryside way except for the actual banquet hall itself which looked like it jumped out of Pretty in Pink circa 1985...eek. Notice also, the pic of bride and bridesmaids with full on tan-in-a-can action happening...haha.

The Clandeboye Estate has gorgeous stonework and were having some sort of BBC classical concert happening when we were there (Lolo would have approved.) Pretty courtyard and a bell tower full of doves. Unfortunately, the main hall looks wicked medieval with lots of dead, white guys hanging on the walls - but still kind of cool - dead guys and all. Nice Big windows and cool wicker-type chairs.

Lissanoure is a farm and a castle so there were lots of cows and sheep and a pond and a little stone bridge going over a stream and a pond with geese and such. We peeked in the windows to see the inside which is fairly nice with Yellow walls although U shaped and a bit small. They have a big, icky, function hall behind it if you want to have an event with more than 100 peeps but yuk, it reminded me of summer camp on a rainy day.

Malone house was pretty cool too but doesn't hold as many peeps as the Belfast Castle - only 110-120 at the most. Lots of light and high ceilings. Pretty surrounding countryside but no ocean nearby.

Anyway, you get the idea. Promise the blog won't become the journal of Bridezilla but thought a few people (or maybe just my mom ;)) would like to take a look.

And just in case you didn't notice on your own (if you're color blind or over 80 years old) don't forget to check out the shockingly bad taste in carpets that are ubiquitous here... impossible to get away from - bright red with blue flowers, bright blue, bright yellow...and lest you think this is just for function halls - these textile delights can be found in numerous private homes... Amazing.

Love to you all.

Drinking Soup in Carlingford

Carlingford Town
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

Hi All,

Spent the weekend in Carlingford which was good times. It was absolutely beautiful, the pics just don't do it justice - kinda like the Green Mountains if they met the sea. As is the way 'round these parts, spent a good deal of time at the pub - but still managed to get outside some and explore. Also went to, "the dogs" (The Dundalk Greyhound track) and my first two bets won! Course, being the, throw caution to the wind type person that I am, I only bet a couple of euros but hey, I won a whole 9 euros... That'll buy me at least one drink in Rip-off Dublin...haha.

Got slagged off all weekend for my American accent by Dominick, Ciaran (Helen's boyfriend) and this guy called, Beefy who hails from the Northernest Northerm Ireland. Was actually pretty funny to hear them, "speak American," or purposefully mispronounce Irish words/places...Don-eagle (Donegal) is awesome... ;) For some reason, they were particularly enamored with, "I have no clue." Who knew that that was particularly American? I had no clue...

Couldn't just lie down and take such abuse ;) so here's a list of my new favorite and strange Irishisms:

"I couldn't drink soup." Translation: I am pathetically unable to hold my liquor and would get pissed (drunk) by drinking my granny's broth... (Dominick said this to me after an afternoon of drinking.)

"Wind yer neck in." American: Get off it, get over yerself, get off yer high-horse...

"It's nine o'clock and not a wee-un washed." Subsititute whatever time you like and it means, the day is passed and we've accomplished "fuck-all" (nothing, not a thing.) Strangely, when Beefy said this, I thought he was saying, not a Wayne washed and couldn't figure out what on earth Wayne had to do with anything... Thought it was maybe some obscure reference to Wayne's world...haha.

"Well, there's fuck-all else to do." Tom's expression of choice when he was eighteen and on holiday with his friends. Translation: Let's get pissed cuz we've already shagged all the sheep in town...;)

Nouns of the Day (Sponsored by the letter S): Spide / Skanger (or Skanger Bird for the female variety) /Steeko / Skiprat: They all mean basically the same thing and refer to the peculiarly Irish/UK phenomenon of young guys in track suits with bum-fluff mustaches and thick regional accents smoking cheap fags (smokes) outside their council house or local Spar. If you live in Dublin yer a Skanger or a Steeko (some reference to the name Steven). If you live in Belfast yer a Spide or a Skiprat. Feel the regional love. Lest, you think I'm being sexist, women can also be skangers etc... but they have to have a lot of back fat hanging out of their pink trackys or maybe a shirt that says, "hot babe," in rhinestones while screaming at full volume at one of several children who are trying to run into traffic.

Example: Yesterday I was in Spar in North Dublin and two dudes came in of the skiprat variety and hassled the eastern euro behind the counter who was clearly new and took a while to pick out the kind of smokes they wanted. Then they tried to tell him that they gave him a €20 when they actually gave him a tenner...

Well, there's yer English lesson for the day...Hope you've learned something. I would give you more definitions but I've been un-pc enough for one day...

On other fronts, you'll be glad to know that I am very well hydrated these days as I've started drinking pints o' water at the pub cuz you know, I couldn't drink soup, like.

Hoopty Joy

Our New Motor!
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

Diana and Tom happily announce the arrival of our brand new (to us) small, red, bouncing baby, Volkswagon, Polo. Isn't it just adorable ;)

Columbia Street Flower Market

Columbia Street Flower Market
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

One long road full of vendors selling every imaginable kind of plant and flower and calling out to the crowd in Oliver twist-like fashion. Two flowahs' for a fiver, mate...

Chocolate Heaven in East London

Most Delicious chocolate at Spitalfields Market
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

Taken at Spitalfield Market - It was seriously the best chocolate I have ever tasted....yum. So good, it was picture worthy.

Lovely London

Hi all,

A weekend away was well needed and good fun. We stayed with Tom's friends Gavin and Martina in a Bangladeshi neighborhood called Bethnal Green. Christopher and Tom's friend Caiomhe (Kee-vah) also live nearby so there was a big group of us hanging out all weekend. We managed to do a ton in three days- went to the Tate Modern (renovated factory turned giant museum), went out for Bangladeshi food, went dancing till 4 in the morning, saw a rockabilly show in North London full of English people in western shirts, learned how to play the spoons, went to an outdoor market called Spitalfields (unfortunate name but huge, fabulous market with crafts, clothes, food, etc...) got my much needed fix of hummus and falafel there which I've been missing so much in Ireland, land o' bread and cheese. The weather was pretty good in London, it almost could be considered summery - was mostly sunny and 70s for a good part of the weekend. I suppose it is south of Dublin but the temperature shift was unexpected and lovely.

Did have a moment of pause getting onto the tube for the first time (in light of recent events and all) but whaddya gonna do? On Monday Tom and I were underground waiting for a train when we heard an announcement saying that they were closing a bunch of stops on the Central line (including Bethnal Green) due to some sort of security alert... but it all sorted itself out and reopened fairly quickly. Just kept telling myself that you can't worry about things you can't control...

The flights were so quick and easy, an hour on the plane and there you are in another country. Such a perk of living here. Strangely, I have been to Stansted 4 times in the last month though... It's starting to feel like my second home. Of note: Standsted wishes you to be "delighted," with their bathroom facilities... and oh yes, the toilets are quite delightful. Gotta love English-English.

Well, Ta-ta dahlings. Will try to post some London pics up soon.

The terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day

No, it's not all sunshine and light living in a new place. Generally I consider myself a pretty even keel person, (if a bit stressed out a lot of the time). But living here, my highs and lows are so much more pronounced as everything is so new and that can be interesting and fun as well as frustrating and challenging...

Yesterday was just one of those days where everything seemed to go wrong. Spent two days working on a website design and at the end of the day presented it and the response was, "I just don't like it." Ouch. And fair enough, design is subjective and I'm always happy to try new things and push the envelope but it was a bit harsh and unexpected and the idea of starting the project all over again was daunting... So, I headed out in a glum mood and was walking through the Beaver Cleaver housing estate in which I work and hating it and I just started to get overwhelmed. (That negativity can just sneak up on you.) I started thinking about how much I hate my commute and have very little human interaction in my day which can be difficult for a person like myself who craves the social...so then I started thinking about how much I hate boring, vanilla-flavored Drogheda and...how much I miss my friends and family and feel very lonely sometimes...you get my train of thought.

While busy in my own head, I arrived at the train station to see that my train had already arrived so I started to run through the parking lot to try and catch it (without thinking about the fact that parking lots are for cars) and ran out between some parked cars and almost head-on into a moving vehicle scaring myself and the driver half to death and stumbling onto my knee. And then I missed the train anyway.

At which point, I was breathless and freaked and just basically found a corner where I could have a complete flip-out (albeit a quiet one.) I really, really, wanted to talk to someone but couldn't since mobile phone calls to the states would cost me my first-born-child and that just made me more upset so I snarfled my way onto the train and called Tom who, it must be said, really did his best to try to cheer me up.

When I arrived back in Dublin, I walked about 40 minutes to this bar called, The Barge," where Tom and fellow IBTers were celebrating (?) his last day working there which is today. I think the walk definitely did me some good although the sky did start spitting a few times and I thought to myself what a perfect end to the day it would be if I ended up soaking wet...

The night itself did improve from there. Some of Tom's co's are very nice and I really do feel much better when I'm around other people. It ended up being a pretty late night so today, I'm tired and attempting to take another stab at this website but at least it's Friday and tomorrow I go to London for a long weekend which is so very much what I need.

I suppose admitting that I was a tear-stained, snot-spewing mess in a public train-station is a little more disclosure and unfun-ness than y'all are used to in this bloggy forum but this is what's on my mind at the moment. Gotta do some thinking (or tinkin' as they say here) this weekend about how I'm gonna make this place work for me. Might need a Drogheda-free future but we'll see. Definitely need some good food/good company/good times this weekend...

Miss you all. Hope yer week is going better than mine. ;)

Overheard on the Enterprise

So, If you didn't already know from my incessant complaining, I spend a lot of time on the train system of Ireland....a couple hours a day. When I'm not sleeping, attempting to do the ridiculously difficult European crossword puzzles or trying to count the housing estates from Drogheda to Dublin, I eavesdrop on other people's (sometimes) interesting conversations...

The other day, I was sitting near a couple of older Irish ladies on a day trip from Dublin. They spent a lot of time discussing the depressing fact that everyone from, "the older generation," were, "in the graveyard..." but luckily, they moved on to grammar and the English language. One of the ladies told the other one, "You know, those Canadians, they don't speak properly at-all. They speak Americanne..." (Does that mean Irish people speak Irlande...) She went on to tell some anecdote about the appallingly bad grammer and vocabulary of some North American acquaintance... Can you believe they say, To-may-to?! Shocking. Truly. Made sure to make a call on my mobile so that they would be aware of the fact that they were busted shit-talking in the presence of a fluent speaker of Americanne....haha

The other equally shocking statement I overheard on the train, was one older lady telling another how the weather in July, was, "just lovely, absolutely gorgeous..." Clearly we were not living in the same country during the month of July cuz I'm still waiting for summer to arrive....

All aboard.

Espana at Last

Cadiz Plaza
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

Hi All,

Here are some of the Spain pics I know you have all been so eagerly awaiting... ;) We all went a little picture crazy so this is just a random assortment. I can't wait to go back!

And so the Drama Begins...

Belfast Castle Gardens
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

Well, only one week into Wedding Planning and already I want to rip all of my hair out and stomp on it... Here are some pics of The Belfast Castle and the Dunadry Hotel-two possible wedding venues in the North of Irlanda. (Just click on the pic above to see the rest of them.) The joys of the cross-cultural romance are many, including the fun of trying to convince half of the potential guests that they really do want to spend half a million dollars and 6 hours on a plane just to get to the event. Might have to have two parties...Viva la bank account.

My Crayola Colored House

garden
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

Miracle of All Miracles....after much cursing and two calls to tech. support, I have internet! My technological junkie cravings have been satisfied. Yahooooo. Am a bit behind on the photo posting but for those of you yet to visit this rainy island, I've posted pics of my abode. The photo above was taken in our extremely overgrown back garden. Spain pics to follow...will keep you all posted.

Do you want to go to the People's with me?

Hi All,

It is in fact summer, although it doesn't always feel like it in these parts, so I decided that I needed to get out a bit more during the week and take advantage of the, "good," weather. Last night, after making Thai Peanut Noodles (which I was finally able to find all the ingredients for), Tom and I walked into town and met Helen and Dominick for a drink at a bar called Pravda. And no it does not bear any resemblance to the scary bar/club of that name which is (or maybe was) on the Boston Common. It actually reminded me of a swankier version of the People's Republic in scenic Central Sq. Cambridge, Mass. Lots of Russian written on the walls (which might say, "Death to all Capitalists for all I know...) and a very Marx friendly red theme going on. I didn't try the cocktails so I can't say whether their drinks, like the drinks at the People's, taste like they've been made with rocket fuel or kentucky moonshine that's been sitting around for 50 years, but here's hoping. There was also no Ben Affleck (who graced us with his presence at the People's a few years back...) but that's probably a good thing.

I fought back against the evil round and managed to get away with only two drinks although I had to say that no, I did not want another drink about 27 times. The Irish are a generous bunch which is very nice but I would like to continue to have a functional liver, at least for a little while longer.

Well, back to the joys of html, which I dreamed about again last night...Help, I think my subconscious is trying to turn me into a geek. Anyone for a game of Dungeons and Dragons?

I Dream of Code

Seriously, I do. Been coding a website all week and I am actually dreaming of html...It's kind of creepy really. For any of you non-geeks out there, html is the programming language that makes websites look and function as you want them to. Lots of open and close brackets and such. Not very exciting unless you happen to be into this stuff... Am literally dreaming of margins and padding and divs and other geeky things wahoooo. Wierd huh? I think I need some more time off. Thankfully this weekend coming is one of these lovely Irish Bank Holdiays which means a three day weekend. Loveliness. It's Tommy-boy's birthday so we're going to head up to Belfast to celebrate with his family and party-animal friends. I'm hoping to get to bed before five am but in Belfast you really never know...

On other fronts, I am faced with an olfactory dilemna. Certain individuals in my life here, (who really will remain nameless, this is a public forum after all and I don't want to make anyone feel bad) seem to have some hygiene issues... I can't really blame it on supposedly European tendencies against wearing deodorant because I know plenty of people here, including the person I'm married to, who smell lovely, like roses. ;) So, my dilemna is this: To say something (tactful) or to let it lie? It is becoming a serious issue as I am getting really skeeved out about it. Ick, just ickiness all around. Any advice on dealing with sensitive matters would be greatly appreciated...

Well, back to work for me. Smell ya later...

Alone or Alonely?

Well, I have officially survived my first Dublin weekend with no Tommy and no imported friends from the states and while it was probably the quietest weekend I've had in a long time, it wasn't bad. Unfortunately, of the short list of people I can claim as friends here, most of them were out of town this weekend so Friday night I just came home and had an evening with me, myself and I. Made myself pasta and redwine and read my novel and talked to Lolo on the phone. Other than the absolutely gigantic spider I found in my livingroom and a young mother and child who rang my doorbell at nine o'clock at night for some strange reason, it was quite the mellow evening. I suppose it's not a bad thing to have some time to oneself (although it's better when it's a conscious choice and not a sad commentary on the state of my social life...haha) Saturday, I just got shit done...got a library card and enough groceries to feed a nation of millions. Eventually human contact was made and I met up with Jane and Johnny for some tasty krishna-vegetarian food and a couple of drinks at the most fabulous dive bar ever. The bar is in a fairly seedy part of town (of which there are many...) and looks like an absolute hole from the outside, but inside it's quite spacious and decorated in that old school Georgian style with low tables and leather stools and one of those ornate dark wood bars. It smelled like your grandma's attic and had the coolest, Georgian silver and burgundy, fuzzy wallpaper on the walls....fabulous. It was just us and the old men and a Neil Young CD so we got into some good conversation about Dublin and Boston and East Coast vs. West Coast ethos, and Online Universitys and The Rat and Local 186 and FSU and other uniquely Boston things that I didn't expect to be chatting about in a Dublin dive on a Saturday night. Good stuff. Late in the eve, I met up with Esther, Leon's girlfriend and some of her friends at a much more boisterous, modern and typically Dublin bar where there was a benefit going on for Dentist's going to Uganda (of all things.) Esther is a doll and was very sweet and friendly and saved me a few times from some less than exciting potential male suitors...

Woke up this morning with a bit of a hangover which seems to be the way Dublin Sundays begin... I blame it on the round ;) (which I'm sure I have pontificated on in prior blog entries.) Anyway, just laying low on this gray Sunday afternoon reading the Sunday Times and eating Wheatie Roll (otherwise known to people who are not Marina as Wheaten Bread.) Read an article about Modern Britain's epidemic of loneliness... supposedly all of this modern technology, email, the internet, television and our ability to function in our day to day tasks without much face-to-face interaction with other humans has some people feeling a bit disconnected and as though their social interactions are superficial. That was the gist of it anyway. They pointed out that some of the most popular tv shows center around close knit communities (like Friends, Sex and The City, Desperate Housewives) which many people seem to both lack and desire. Made me feel lucky in a way because while I may not have a closeknit circle of friends here in Dublin and do sometimes feel lonely, I know that you all are out there and I can call up scenes of family dinners and fakesgiving and summer barbecues and shared history and it's nice to think that you all are truly, intimate friends and that we don't all just live on the surface of eachother's lives (even if that means we see eachother being both our best and worst selves...) It is a great and important thing to have a community of friends. Just wanted to let you all know that I appreciate you and think of you often. Looking forward to the annual fakes...even if it is four months away...haha. Hope you're all well. I have finally found almost all the ingredients for vegetarian Chili so I am off to make a big batch of it. Tommy returns tonight and I plan to woo him with food so that he will give me all the dirt on his stag weekend in Amsterdam (renamed by Lolo:Ramerdam after Christopher and Oliver get their filthy paws on that place...haha.) Love to you all.

Fun with Geeks

IIA_night_2
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

Hey all,

Just thought I'd post this pic of Tom and I and the Open Bar... Went to the Irish Internet Association's launch of some sort of web awards series. Good Stuff, especially as it involved free food and drink and took place in a castle...so many castles in these parts. Tom had to pretend to be someone else to get in (the intern who decided not to go at the last minute) but once over that hump, it was all good. Schmoozed with geeks from the other side of the Atlantic which I'm learning, are much the same as geeks at home. It's like they speak a universal language...the language of geek love...or the language of carbon humanoid life forms who wear t-shirts with html code on them and know the names and birthdates of every character from Lord of the Rings... or something. Nanu, Nanu. Too bad about Scottie huh? Beam me up...

The honeymoon is over...but the big cahones remain

Well, alas, I am back at work and back to my regular 9-5 type life... The American contingency have returned to their homeland...but I do have a fabulous collection of photos, three bottles of Spanish Sherry, two boxes of sweetmeats, two necklaces, one from Cadiz and one from Ibiza, one belt buckle made out of dichroic glass, and a fine assortment of shells and rocks from the beach. Our last day in Spain was a really nice one. We had our usual tasty breakfast at the B&B before wandering Medina Sidonia in search of Sherry and sweetmeats. Sweetmeats are these lovely cookies. (biscuits for any euro-readers ;)) They're made from Marzipan and nuts and rolled into a longish lengths before being wrapped in colorful paper like those holiday crackers. They're delicious and distinctly remind me of childhood because they taste much like Italian cookies that I used to eat. We went to the local sweets shop and each bought a couple of boxes. The hombre behind the counter was really friendly and gave us each an extra sweetmeat to take with us as we left.

After buying out Medina Sidonia's stocks of booze and candy (what else do ya need?!) we headed off to el palmar to get some last rays of sun on the beach. We decided to have lunch at the same beachside cafe we had eaten at a few times during the week so that we could get our (rare) fix of Spanish vegetables and say hi to the waitress that we befriended. Food was tasty and Kiki (the waitress) brought us out a plate of garlicy carrots that she said would enhance our tans. They were delicious. At the end of the meal, she brought us big glasses of rum miel (rum with honey) and after we drank those, she brought little shots of rum miel and taught us how to drink the shot without using our hands... We chatted with her by using a combination of pantomime and spanglish which was quite fun and quite funny. Marina was attempting to say, @We are big pigs," in Spanish (refering to how much food we can pack in) but accidentally busted out with, "yo soy grande cahones," (sp?) which means something to the effect of I am a big ball of the male variety...haha We laughed our asses off and kiki's charade of what big cahones are was pretty hilarious too. We exchanged email address es with her and headed back to Casa de Medina to pack up our stuff.

When we arrived, Rachel (woman from Manchester, friend of the owners of the B&B who we've been hanging out with in the evenings) was there and gave us all necklaces that she bought in Ibiza during a recent visit. It was an extremely sweet gesture which we all appreciated. Rachel might make it over to Boston for a visit soon so some of you may get to meet her. She is a trip...kind of like the wilder and crazier, UK version of Lorraine...good fun.

Our travels back to Dublin were less fun as they involved two flights and sleeping on the (very cold) floor of the London Stanstead airport. I was extremely dehydrated and overheated and therefore had terrible stomach cramps, a headache and nausea and all other good things that come from a body deprived of water. no bueno. We definitely were not the only ones sleeping at Camp Standstead. Every available bench and bit of floor space was occupied by people in various states of preparedness. Some people had blow-up mattresses and sleeping bags! Amazing. This was my third airport sleepover, you would think that I would have brought my airbed! Ah, well. Next time.

The girls last day in Dublin was a beautiful day weatherwise so we wandered around town and then had a yummy thai meal in Ranelagh (although my stomach was still recovering...) before heading back to hotel fairview to lie on Marina's air mattress, drink champagne and thow chocolates at each other... ;)

Yesterday, woke up and bid the ladies goodbye which was quite sad...sniff. See you all in four months. Spent the rest of the day tidying the house and then met up with Jane for Conveyer belt sushi which cheered me up a bit. After the exciting world of Spanish food consisting of asparagus omelettes, white bread and crackers (pan y picos) and strange, sometimes unidentifiable fish, I was happy to be eating seawead and fresh vegetables...

Hope all is well in warm and sunny Boston. Miss you all.

The Hyundai Getts went to Sevilla and all I got was this lousy Sunburn...

Hola,

Well, any of you who thought that I was being too smug about my lovely Spanish escape will be happy to hear about my day of disasters on Wednesday... Well, we set off for Seville in our little red car, arrived safely and found a most convenient parking spot for only 60 cents por dia. Unfortunately, we all jumped out of the car and Miss Marina accidentally locked the keys in the car...with the car running! The next five hours were a wild goose chase involving the rental company, the guardia de Seville, the Policia, an Ice-cream man and two Russian Universidad Secerity guards...and I must mention that our sunblock was locked in the trunk the whole time. Thankfully, the two Russian security guards (with whom Marina could communicate) used to steal cars in uzbekistan so they were able to pry the rubber out of one of the small windows and take the window out of the car...yahoooo. Unfortunately we proceeded on a futile drive through Seville looking for car glass repair peeps to no avail. Cerado por Siesta. By the time all was said and done, we bid Seville farewell and headed back for Medina Sidonia. The architecture of Seville was gorgeous, beautiful buildings everywhere although that's about all I can say about it other than the fact that it's hot, hot, hot! 44 degrees celsius and my sunburnt shoulders could definitely attest to that fact.

Fortunately, we were able to change the car for a Toyota Yaris with all windows intact and the car rental company is not holding us responsible as they were unable to provide any assitance (after stringing us along for several hours...) When we got back to Medina Sidonia, one of Lolo's suitors had sent us a bottle of Champagne...and how well appreciated it was! We went out for dinner at the very top of the village and watched the sun go down over the village and the mountains and sea. Amazing. We drew a picture for our waiter explaining what our day was like which was pretty hilarious. Who knew we would be able to laugh about such a debacle so soon...

Yesterday, it was back to the beach to recover from Wednesday...haha. Love that beach. Then to Cadiz which is according to the guidebook, the oldest city in Europe. It's amazing-a system of interconnecting narrow alleyways with architecture that reminded me of Italy and France, ornate wrought irons balconys and flowery architectural details. Bought some dichroic glass jewelry from a stand just outside of one the oldest cathedrals in Spain and ate gelato in one of the many plaza's throughout the city. Everywhere we turned, we came upon more and more unbeleivable buildings and parks and fountains and the like. Really very cool.

Today, sadly is our last day...sniff. We're off to the beach and then to Jerez to drink sherry and tour a bodega. Good stuff. Hope you're all well. I'm off to eat my breakfast. Adios.

el palmar and vejer

Hey all,

Sunning in espana continues. Spent another day at the beach... loveliness. I am never happier than when I'm splashing around in salt water. Went for lunch at a cafe and had tomatoes, goats cheese, olives, sauteed veggies which we somehow managed to order with our combined vocabulary of 20 words... ;) We explored another hill town nearby today called Vejer and Marina somehow navigated the worlds narrowest, windy streets...much like trying to drive through a maze (but scarier...haha.) We came upon a picturesque square with a Moorish water fountain and the coolest old hotel with several levels of gardens and some sort of old dungeons in it as well. The menu looks like North African food which I love so we decided to check it out for dinner. Our host at the B&B luckily told us that it's nearly impossible to get a booking there (before we attempted the mountain maze again) but he called them up and got us the last booking of the night...can't wait for cous cous and baba ghanoush and baklavah. On the whole, Spanish food is a bit disappointing, lots of unidentifiable meats. Last night we ordered mixed tapas and got a mound of tripe....ew. It's still mediterreanean food so I can't really complain but it just ain't Italy. Did have some tasty caramel gelato last night though while meandering through Medina Sedonia. Tomorrow we're off to Seville which should be interesting. Loving it here. My pale Irishified self is actually starting to get a little bit brown. Well, we're off to Vejer in our bright red, euromobile, (hyundai getts, the smallest car with four doors this side of the Atlantic.) Adios (one of my 20 words...haha.)

Belinda Carlisle was right...

Heaven is a place on earth...haha. I'm currently writing from Medina Sedonia in Southern Spain and it is absolute paradise. The B&B that we're staying in is a newly renovated villa with an entirely open courtyard, several terraces with amazing views of the desert and ocean, and really lovely hosts. The B&B is owned by an English couple in their 30s who have definitely poured their heart and soul into making this place stunning. It looks like something out of a fairy tale, an intersection of Roman, Moorish and Spanish architecture. Medina Sedonia is system of narrow winding roads built into a hillside. There's a cave/cellar in our B&B that dates back to the Roman era and several Roman ruins in the area. There are also a couple of original Moorish Arabic arches and an amazing beautiful Moorish church. Spent all day today at the beach swimming in turquoise colored water (and slathering myself with sunblock so as not to get fried by the Spanish sun.) Have been enjoying taking it easy...drinking sherry in the hammock, walking on the beach picking up shells, eating tapas...even though half the time I have no idea what I'm eating ;). This place is absolutely divine. I don't think I'm ever coming home. Might be time to learn to speak Spanish... :) Buenos Noches.

The American Invasion has Begun!

Hey All,

Happy 4th. Hope you all had more eventful holidays than me (since July 4th is clearly of no importance in this country...)Fortunately for me, I have a little bit of America staying in mi casa currently known as Hotel Fairview...haha. Jess, Lolo, Mina and Brian have arrived. So far we have been having a blast although I think they're shocked by the lack of what we would consider to be summery weather. Yesterday was nice, mostly sunny, low 70s but today is cold and rainy and I'm a bit worried about the crew as they are in Galway. Hopefully they've found shelter, most likely in the pub and are not freezing their wet asses off staring into Galway bay or something. The temps here apparently only tend to fluctuate between 40s-70s fahrenheit throughout the entire year. I might be psyched in November when I'm still wearing open toed shoes but right now, I know too well what I'm missing. Please write and tell me how hot and miserable you all are and make me feel better! Thank god for my Spanish vacation next week...love the idea of a week of beachy goodness. My pale Irishified skin is going to be in for a shock.

The first night that the kids were here, we went up to Clontarf (neighborhood on the water near my house) and had a really nice dinner... deep fried brie, delicious salads with chicken, wine, hot fudge cake etc... This was the second time Tom and I have hit up this bistro and it was definitely not a disappointment. It's very colorful with a big chalkboard menu with specials and a tiny bar in the corner. Kind of reminds me of a restaurant that might be found in Brooklyn. A splash of color in an urban environment. We also hit up the Odeon for white wine and jazz in the afternoon...good stuff. I am enjoying having familiar peeps around although in some ways it makes me a little homesick. When I get into my routine here, home seems kind of distant and I'm not so acutely aware of it. I think it's going to be hard when they leave although I'm sure I'll adjust back quickly enough. Unfortunately, Tommy goes to Amsterdam a few days after they leave so it will certainly be a test of my own independence. I suppose it's good for me. It is lovely to have a little dose of beantown in my world here though, nice, to have the people who know me be able to see what my life here is like and interesting to get their impressions. I hope they have a good time.

We're going up to Belfast for 2 days later in the week as everyone wants to see Tommy's homeland and then we're off to Spain. Have been totally appreciating Tommy-boy as of late. He is such a good and willing host and all around helpful and sweet. He has taken to calling me Diana Pirhana though as I was whirling around in a mad cleaning frenzy in between guests and yelling at him every time he didn't put his shoes back on their shelf or left a dish in the sink...haha. He is a good lad.

Hope you're all keepin' well as they say in these parts. love. D.

The personal is political????

Hello, hello my lovies,

Once again, I'm on my break from work so have to be brief... Getting my first paycheck today...yahooooo! Words cannot express my joy...haha. You only get paid once a month here so payday is an extra good day.

Been taking it a little easier this week. Long days and nights were catching up. Last night just stayed in with the girls and watched my two favorite shows here...Wifeswap and Only Human which is a documentary show that explores a different topic every week. Wifeswap is a bit trashy but I still love it...haha. The wives from two families swap houses for two weeks. The first week they live by the new household rules and the second week, they get to introduce their own rules. Anyway, this is where I stand on my soapbox cuz last night's episode was a swap between a scary conservative christian who ran her house like it was boot camp and was obsessed with diamonds and this concept of excellence and a liberal lesbian mom. Anyway, the scary conservative, bigotted biatch hung a giant American flag in the livingroom when it was her week to run the house. I have to say it really pissed me off that she could appropriate the flag so that it essentially stood for closemindedness, bible-thumping, excess and greed. Seeing the way the Irish love their flag and fly it proudly, it bums me out that my flag presently connotes things that I find repulsive. Also heard that George Bush refuses to ammend his position on climate change. What a wanker. Well, enough politics for now. Thank god for the coasts...unless of course that scary redneck, christian conservative version of a god actually exists in which case, thanks but no thanks... :)

U2 from the Outside

Hey all,

Just a quick post as I'm getting ready to leave work. It's been a whirlwind of a week and there are a bunch of things I want to write about but in the interest of time, I'll have to just tell you about the loveliness that was U2 the other night. And no, I didn't suddenly get tickets to the sold out shows. That would have been amazing... but Katie, Abbie and I decided to walk over to Croke Park (which is in my neighborhood) on the night of the show. We managed to get past the guards by pretending to be with another group of ticketholding people and made our way right to the edge of the park where we were able to hear (with pretty, damn good clarity) the whole concert from outside. A ton of other people had the same idea we did so it was almost like being in the stadium...people clapping and lighting lighters and making out...haha...just like the people in Croke were probably doing. A big black sheet had been draped over the entrance to try and block out our view of the screen but it was a windy night and when the sheet would blow up, everyone would start cheering, as we got a glimpse of Bono and The Edge on stage. The Irish love their U2 and it was just a high-energy night. Good fun.

More later. Gotta go catch the train.

D.

Three cheers (or more) for Cleavage

Hey all,

I've just finished my day of training at the Digital Hub. I thought the topic was Project Management today but it was actually Presentation Skills and I had to come up with a 10 minute presentation on a topic of my choosing. Most people did presentations relating to their jobs but seeing as I am only in my fourth week of Spoiltchild Design-dom, I decided to pitch, "Why you should visit Boston." Cuz it's wicked pissa of course. When you really start writing down all the Boston-ness that it Boston, it's quite the list...entertainment, history, nature (or should I say natuh.) Must say, am very proud of my hometown...Go sox...or something.

Katie and Abby have been shopaholics...good thing they came ecquipped with the cash cuz this place is not cheap (as I have, of course, mentioned a million times.) I'm actually getting used to the expense and have found good bargain stores and other ways around getting absolutely stroked living here. It probably helps that I've stopped converting everything into dollars in my head. It's too disturbing. Best not to think about it.

On Katie and Abby's first day, actually first hours in Dublin, they were thrown into the melee that is my neighborhood when a GAA game is on at Croke Park. It was a semi-final game (Dublin vs. Wexford) so of course the Dubs where out in force...and they were certainly appreciating Katie and Abby or at least, Abby's "rack," as someone so eloquently put it. I was slightly disturbed to be honest, especially as we were walking up the main road by this questionable bar and got some sort of a communal howl from literally 50-100 guys. It was deafening. The lads like the ladies in these parts and are apparently not afraid to show it. Katie and Abby loved it, I think. Thankfully. I would have felt bad if they were freaked by all the attention. They pointed out that Ireland has more hottie guys per square inch than anywhere else they've ever been. Well-dressed hottie guys at that...Drunk, well-dressed hottie guys when the GAA is on...who like to howl.

Abby has discovered Bulmers Cider and hasn't stopped discovering it since she got here...haha. (Averi - She would make you proud. Her love affair with the "apple juice," might rival yours...) Took them to a couple of pubs in our 'hood over the past few nights and introduced them to the beautiful thing that is the late night, greasy paper bag of chips with salt and vinegar....mmmmmm.

Have had a pretty interesting week workwise between the training today and the opening of our clients new office building on Monday. Hopefully will not have to go visit this client often though as the nearest train station looks like it's been abandonned for 100 years. No station or station keeper to speak of which is always a bad sign. Everything portable including the benches had been ripped out and carted off. Plenty of steel fencing and a giant padlock to lock the place up (at night I presume...) I felt like I was getting off into south central. There was absolutely no one around except for a few grubby looking little boys watching some dude try to get his pick up truck up an embankment of some sort. So me and my business casual linen skirted self figured out that I had to cross over a garbage filled foot bridge and walk down a weed and garbage choked path to get to the office park. On said path, I found that I had the company of a very large and very alive rat...nice. Strangely, once you get off that path, you're in a giant poshish office park. Lots of modern glass office buildings of all varieties and sizes although for such a large office park, it was surprisingly empty. There was one glass building that was entirely empty of any furniture or people and you could see the sky on the other side right through the building. It was an odd place. Flat expanses of concrete and giant abstract sculptures and empty but attractive office space. I guess given my rat companion at the (practically) burnt out train station, it's not such a surprise that people aren't lining up to move in.

Tomorrow am off to Belfast where Tommy is having a little party at his parents house. I wish you could all beam yourselves there! Not sure what I'll do on Sat. for my birthday yet...I'm sure it will involve eating and drinking but other than that who knows? Tommy gave me an early birthday present of the first season of Six Feet Under (which as you all know is my favorite show ever) so tonight I'm gonna take it easy and maybe watch a few. The crew (being Tom, Katie and Abby) have jetted off to Belfast. He's going to show them the northern coast (which is gorgeous) tomorrow so it should be a good time for them.

I'm off. Hope you're all well.

Just a Quickie

Hey All,

Just wanted to write a quick update since Katie and Abby are here! They arrived this morning and seem to be dealing with the jetlag in the way only people under twenty can. A shower and a sandwich and they were ready to shop....wahooo. Am looking forward to having company.

On other fronts, had a pretty mellow weekend, Walked up to Clontarf last night (which is about 20 minutes from my house and right on the Dublin Bay) and had dinner in a cute bistro with Tom. Shared a bottle of wine and pizza (which was actually good) and just relaxed. I really like that neighborhood as it's got a great promenade where the Tolka river meets the bay. And it always has that salty ocean smell which I love and reminds me of home. It's kind of got an industrial edge to it, lots of fishing boats and commercial barges and cranes in view but I can get into that. Anything ocean and I'm all for it. I love that I can walk there.

Have been commuting my ass off except for Thurs. when I had an Adobe training in the morning in Dublin at a posh hotel, then had lunch (with a book) in a really fabulous and on the cheap vegetarian restaurant and then went to Meath to do a photoshoot for a blues singer's website. The shoot was at her house which is a 200 year old farmhouse on the water. Very pretty and it was actually a warm and sunny day. Listened to her play a few songs and shot some film and then had tea in the garden. This tea idea rocks. Have been drinking mad amounts of it. I will probably have yellow teeth and a heart attack by the end of the year, but I'm into it nonetheless.

Have been wandering around my neighborhood just kind of seeing what's there. The strangest thing of note so far is the video store/tanning salon. Talk about an odd combination. The tanning is charged by the minute too so you could conceivably get 4 minutes of tanning and Lord of the Rings III in no time at all... Talk about one-stop shopping. There are plenty of orange tinted people walking around too so tanning of some sort must be pretty popular. The tan in a can seems very big...lots of people with positively tangerine elbows and knees in the house. Looks even better when paired with peroxide hair and pearlescent lipstick. Overall the Dubs are super fashion conscious but not always in a good way. Plenty of 'Kylie Minogues gone wrong,' walking the streets.

Have decided that I should start taking pictures of all the defaced signs around Dublin. Hopefully will have some pics to post soon (If Smart Telecom ever comes through with my internet connection.) My favorite sign so far is on a fence outside of some ominous looking factory. Someone messed with the letters so that it says: No Smoking Naked...haha. Just in case you were having a jones for a naked smoke or as they say here, a fag in yer birt'day suit.

Well am off to take Katie and Abbie to their first legal pint in Baile Atha Cliath. (that's Dublin FYI.) Dublin just won a big GAA game against Wexford so I'm sure there will be liveliness in our local.

Hope you're all well.

My Life of Walking

Hey All,

So I still don't have internet access at home but found this little hole in the wall internet place 'round the corner from my abode so for 2 euros an hour, I get to surf away. Tom is home (hopefully) painting some shelves that a previous occupant painted a hideous shade of bright blue.

Finished my second week of commuting to Drogheda and it is definitely improving. Still not a long term solution but I am not hating it as much. Got to work on some cool projects this week and am getting to know my boss and his wife a bit better. Have a couple of events/trainings in the next few weeks that are in Dublin and will mean that I don't have to trek to Drogheda on those days...wahooo. I've decided to do this little Business Management for Design Cert. which consists of 8 one-day workshops focusing on various aspects of running a design company. My boss told me about them and offered me the time off to do it so why not? The courses are heavily funded by the Irish government so they're cheap and as an added bonus, they're in Dublin so it will mean two more days a month in the city instead of the 'burbs. Should be interesting and I'm always up for learning new things. It's in this building called the Digital Hub which sounds like it should look like a spacestation (but is in reality, probably an old warehouse.) The first one is in a few weeks so we'll see how it goes.

Went to see Sin City on Thurs. night with Tommy-boy. We decided to go to this cineplex thing away from the city and in our new carless life decided to walk there and Damn, we underestimated the distance big-time. Barely made it to the movie in time. Decided that it's a bad idea to walk multiple miles in Old Navy 3-dollar flip-flops. As for Sin City, visually beautiful but seriously disturbing on the gratuitous violence front. You get to see someone get all of their limbs amputated and then be eaten by a cannibalistic dog, as well as a person literally getting their head beaten to pulp and their male parts ripped off and thrown on the ground and that's just scratching the surface. No Joke. Not sure I would reccommend it unless you happen to be a cannibal or budding serial killer although I can't say it didn't hold my attention.

Had a pretty productive weekend. Went to a pretty, old downtown bar with some of Tom's co-workers on Friday night but managed to be up early the next day which was a surprisingly sunny and warm (ish) day. It's funny, the minute the temperature goes up above the mid-sixties here, people act like they're in the tropics. Lots of half-naked, pale Irish girls walking around getting absolutely fried and loving it. Went to the Temple Bar Farmer's market which was bunged with people as was Grafton Street and the entire downtown. Guess you've got to take advantage of the warm, sunny weather while it lasts...if the low to mid seventies can really be considered warm...haha. As usual, we went crazy buying stuff at the Farmer's market cuz it all looks so good. Got a ton of veggies and beautiful leafy greens, some fresh salmon, farm-raised meat, cheese, olives, pesto, brown bread, strawberries and a crepe with nutella and bananas...yum. Asked Bryce and Michelle over for dinner and I made broiled salmon with pepper and lemon, pesto, and a big salad with arrugula and really nice tomatoes along with some white wine. Good stuff. I love food. They brought chocolate fudge cake from Marks and Spencers (who make amazing desserts) and whipped cream. Nice.

We also managed to hit up the Irish version of home depot yesterday and bought paint and a bunch of herbs and plants although we didn't consider how we would get it all home untill after we left the store. There's that carless thing again. We managed to hail a taxi driver down who was on his way home from grocery shopping at the fortress that is the giant Tesco in that area. He was an interesting character telling us about the unreasonable price of orange juice, the golf balls he got on sale and picking up big-time Dublin gangsters in his taxi all in the same breath. Craziness. He also told us about the nephew of one of the big gangsters doing a, "runner," and stiffing him on a fare and how this guy ended up dead from a forced heroin overdose....hhhhmmmm...needless to say, we tipped him well...haha.

This morning, I woke up early, found the classical music radio station and planted all of the herbs that I bought yesterday in pots I found in the back garden. Felt like a cross between Lorraine and my mom. Maybe this means, I'll inherit their green thumbs and not actually kill these little plants which would certainly be a first. :) Went to the local Spar and bought milk and cereal and a the Sunday Times. It was the first truly, leisurely Sunday morning that I've had since I left Cambridge. Feels good to finally have a settled place to call my own. On that note, I'm antsy for visitors. Cannot wait. Tom is planning a "Stag Do," in July with his boys and one of Tom's female co-workers was saying we should plan a, "Hen Party." I thought it was really sweet that she offered to do that but thought to myself that anything wedding related without my peeps in Boston would just not do. Who would come to a party here...my imaginary friends?! Will have to have a bachellorette (sp?) party sometime in the future in Beantown or surrounds. Tommy can rock out all he likes in Amsterdam this July...My day will come as well, I'm sure ;) Do want to start planning some weekends away though regardless. Apparently, you can fly from Belfast to Prague for 21 pounds sterling. Not bad at all.

Well, alas, my hour is almost up. I'm off to supervise Tom's labor...haha. Make sure he's not lying down on the job. :) Hope you're all well and enjoying your hot weather. ( am comfortably wearing jeans right now which is awfully strange for mid June!)

Dubs from the Planet Meaghers

Hi all,

Well, it is a well appreciated "bank holiday," Monday here which means no work for me and for now, it is sunny out there (although I've learned that that can change at the drop of a hat). Tom unfortunately is working for the slave-driving corporate whores who employ him, so I have hit the streets of Dublin with a to-do list the size of Montana and am trying to appreciate my free time on my own and the sun while it lasts.

Overall, it was not a bad weekend. Have to say, I was more than overjoyed to have three days which did not involve a commute to Drogheda to sit in front of a computer for 8 hours in someone's living room...that in and of itself was enough to make me a very happy girl. Friday night, we had our first guests to our new abode. Tom's friend Leon and his girlfriend Esther came over and we just kicked it in our living and had a few drinks and, "a bit of a chat," as they say in these parts. Ended up going out for one to one of our locals called, Meaghers. Before I saw the sign, I thought we were going to a pub called, Mars, as that is pretty close to the way it's actually pronounced. On our way home, we hit up the chippie next door which Leon claims has the best smoked cod and chips in the city...the place looks like nothing but a hole in the wall, but I have to say, it was pretty good. Whenever I pass by, the same Chinese man and woman are in there working away, no matter the time of day, which is just another example to fly in the face of some of these xenophobic Dubs that the foreigners are not all here to suck off the social welfare system. I definitely had that on my mind when we hit up the chippie as Leon went on a little tangent in the bar about just that. I think many of the Dubs are having a really hard time adjusting to the influx of foreigners who have arrived en masse in the past 5 years or so and I can understand that it must be a bit of a shock for them but nonetheless it's hard to listen to people say the most assinine (sp?) things about the lazy foreigners taking all the benefits from the hard working people of Ireland. Another favorite is that all the foreigners are taking the jobs at Spar and Abrakebabra... (convenient store and crappy fast food joint.) Much like the states, alot of the foreign laborers seem to take the jobs that the Irish don't really want anyway and sometimes get exploited doing it... so all I can say is...cry me a river. Also notable is that whenever I witness someone going on an anti-foreigner rant, they are always like, Oh, but you know I don't mean you, it's those Nigerians or Asians or insert some such other non-white population... I'm sure Ireland and it's infrastructure will adjust and public policy will be created so that the locals don't feel as if the asylum seekers are taking all their money, but it may be a bit of a rocky road for now. From my point of view, all the diversity makes Dublin a more interesting place with much better food...haha.

Saturday, Tom and I hit the town to buy a bunch of exciting things including a toaster, a phone and sheets...wahooo. Am trying to make our house really feel like ours, progress is slow as I don't have time to do much during the week but we're definitely getting there. Saturday night, Tom and I walked through the Docklands to a neighborhood called Ringsend which is a very old skool kind of place with a real neighborhoody feel. Jane lives there and was having a dinner party. Her cottage looks out on the river which is full of giant barges and cranes. Cool view. The dinner party was very good fun. Delicious food and drink and good company. Met a couple who I really like. The woman kind of reminded me of the singer from the band, The Gossip if she was Irish and not from the South...haha. Very spunky and fun. The crowd was extremely fan-boy so at times the indie music conversation was way beyond me but they were very down to earth about it and not wanky pretentious as some indie types can be. And politically progressive so I didn't have to listen to any bullshit about the lazy Nigerians...haha. We had black bean (yes black bean!) nachos and grilled trout with these lovely side salads and Marks and Spencer's desserts which are amazingly good. Got a taxi home around 3am...one of those nights that just gets away from you. Good times.

Sunday, I went to my first G.A.A game at Croke Park (known as Croker to the locals.) G.A.A also known as Gailic Football or "Gaa," is kind of a mix of soccer, American Football and Rugby all played with no pads of any kind. It's super fast paced and actually pretty fun to watch as the players use both hands and feet to get either soccer type goals or football type kicks through those high-up poles that they have in American football. (No clue what those are actually called.) The game was Co. Dublin vs. Co. Meath which is just to the north-west of Dublin which is a a very Redsox/Yankees type rivalry and there were 65,000 people there to watch it. The Dubs all sit in this one section and look like a sea of blue with Dub shirts and flags and the like. The game was super close but the Dubs prevailed and you would have thought they just won the World Cup for all the celebrations. Super dramatic music was played at the end-something like the Irish version of, "We are the Champions," or something. It is a seriously rough game. 4 or 5 times, they had to stop play because someone was on the ground and not getting up. They just jump and grab and tackle...gives a whole new meaning to that football fouling term, "unnecessary roughness." Absolutely no such thing in G.A.A...haha. Afterwards, every pub in my neighborhood was packed with revelers (including Meaghers) as the park is close to our neighborhood but we ended up going into Town with Tom's coworkers Bryce and Michelle for some Asian-Fusion type dinner at this place called Mao (which is good but not as good as Brown Sugar...sniff) and had an early night of it.

So, alas, tomorrow starts another work week. Seems somewhat sad that I already dread working...Was I that person who said I could never not have a job?! Would absolutely love to just freelance and make my own hours...who knows, it could happen at some point, but for now I am Drogheda bound tomorrow. Going to make the most of today.

Hope you are all enjoying your extremely warm temperatures while I am comfortably wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt today. I'm jealous!

Be well.

My life on the Train

Hi all,

Well, it's been a busy week, good, bad and all the rest as things usually are around here. Am settling into my new place...it's amazingly spacious compared to my two room apartment in Central Sq. Someone went a little crazy with the paintbrush (yellow kitchen, blue bathroom, something approaching what Tom calls, "terracotta" walls in the bedroom...) but the living room is huge and has a beautiful victorian era fireplace and there's a sliding door out to a pretty little patio/yard type thing and there are nice wood floors upstairs and a skylight so I can't really complain. The strange thing about apartments coming furnished here in Dublin is the problem of where to put things that you don't want...I was able to find a hiding place for the ceramic ducks (in the closet under the stairs) but am going to have to tie up a couple of big, flowery rugs and hoist them into the attic space to get rid of them...haha. I found a good discount store and am starting to make the place my own...with some accessories in nice, neutral colors to offset whatever lunatic with a paintbrush lived here before...haha.

Have been attempting to become a real, legit, resident of this country. Got my green card last week after several hours in the National Immigration Bureau which was very exciting and surprisingly easy. Have not had such an easy time getting the Irish equivalent of a SSN (a PPS number). First off, the offices are only open during shortened business hours (10-4 with an hour break at lunch!) and you can only get the number in the neighborhood where you live or where you work. Anyway, made it down to the Drogheda Social Welfare Office this morning and showed them ID and a job offer letter only to find out that I need to present them with a utility bill in my name to prove my address. The chicken and egginess of this requirement is that I don't have any utility bills in my name because I don't have an Irish Bank account and the utilities here require either direct debiting or huge deposits...and I don't have an Irish bank account because I can't get a bank account without a PPS number...Oh the joy of ass-backward beaurocracy. At least in the states, I know exactly what type of assbackwardness to expect. Anyway, managed to find a work around if I get a letter from my landlord and present a utility bill in someone else's name at my address but this will push things back yet again and meanwhile, I can't get paid...Thank god for my Tommy, aka, sugar-daddy or I would be on the streets.

Also working on getting broadband and a land line in the house so I can stay in better contact with all y'all but this is also proving convoluded and time-consuming. Called up Eircom (the big-daddy telecommunications co.) to inquire about broadband and was told that I needed to have a phone number/landline to get broadband as the cust. service rep. told me that broadband goes through the phoneline...hello?! Not DSL mind you, but broadband...since when? Anyway, to get a phone-line one has to "rent," a line from who else but, Eircom for 27 euros a month. This is not phone service per se, just a charge for having a line and does not include any calls...Both local and international calls are charged per minute and at rates that would make any spoiled American cry. Anyway, to get broadband and or phone service, one needs to get this line rental from Eircom and until they mail us an account number, we can't sign up with any of the phone/cable companies...Ah, the strange, strange, world of telecommunications where you need a phone number so that they can tell you if you can get broadband which apparently goes through the phone line is an endless mystery to me...How would they explain my broadband connection and NO phoneline that was the setup in Cambridge?!!!

Alas, I don't mean to be a complainer but this stuff is all kind of funny (as is my ineptitude at navigating all of this infrastructure.) Everything I attempt to do really does take twice as long as I expect it will. I just have to laugh about so as not to rip my hair out.

Started my new job in Drogheda and so far the work has been fairly interesting. Went to a Dublin Institute of Technology Design Degree show tonight with my new boss which was pretty cool. The guy I'm working with seems fairly decent although working in someone's house with one other person who owns the company is definitely giving me bad Katie flashbacks....(shudder). The commute (while a scenically beautiful, coastal train ride) is extremely long and includes a 20 minute walk through the ghettos of north Dublin to the train station, nearly an hour on the train and then a 15 minute walk through a housing development in Drogheda. Work is definitely better than no work though so I will suck it up for now and either find another job or get a car and attempt to drive on the lefthand side of the road, the 28 miles to Drogheda. I really have a hard time thinking about shifting with my left hand but it will probably be better than walking through junkieville in the winter when it gets dark out early.

On a more positive note, It stays light here until almost 11pm every night which rocks and we've had some amount of bright sunshine everyday for the past week. Gotta love those long days...Have also found a most lovely restaurant on the north side which Tom and I and his parents went to last week and was absolute deliciousness. Got an invite to a dinner party this Saturday night which should be good fun and had a good night out last weekend with Tom and his coworkers which ended in 2am pizza in Dublin city centre. (Just like hifi...sigh...gotta love late night greasy eats mixed with copious amounts of scotch and soda...haha.) Figured out the hot water system in our new house - you have to flip a switch and heat the water before you shower - which ended my three day stretch of cold showers and did much for my overall mood.

So that's all the biz for now...Hope all is well out there with all of you. Am happily anticipating the American invasion in July...gotta use that spanky, new, spare room.

Back in Black

Hi All,

I apologize for my long silence but things have been incredibly crazy this month. To summarize, that job that I was offered at the Architecture firm fell through when they realized that they wouldn't be able to get me a visa. Serious let down...and Tom and I started discussing other options. I had another interview the day after I got the bad news about the architecture firm. This job was a small design studio out in the 'burbs (Drogheda). Bad commute but I really liked the studio's work so I decided to apply. Two days after the interview, I was back in Drogheda and was offered the job...yahooo. I looked into the visa situation and found out that for a company here to get me a work permit, they would have to prove that there was no one else in the EU that could do my job as well as I could...a pretty impossible task for a graphic designer when we are a dime a dozen...and So...I made the leap that I have been too scared to make for the last 5 years...and decided to get hitched. Changed my flight, finished up my freelance work at Snap Printing, took on another freelance job that I completed from Boston, went to a couple of networking meetings, packed, drank some scotch at the Barge and jumped on a plane for home...lovely, lovely, home.

When I arrived at Logan, Lolo, Marina and Brian were waiting to pick me up. Went home and saw my parents and ate yummy mom-food (manicotti and salad from the garden and other tasty Perry Street type foods.) It was so good to be home. Really, so good. Spent two weeks simultaneously catching up with all my peeps and trying to plan a barbecue wedding in my backyard. Needless to say, my feet hardly hit the ground. Tom flew in the following week and the craziness of planning this thing continued.

I have to say, the "wedding," went so much better than I could have even imagined. It didn't rain, the justice of the peace turned out to be amazing, found a hot but not too weddingy dress, Tom's parents were able to come and Tom's mom made me an incredible bouquet at the very last minute, the wine flowed freely and best of all, you all came, my lovelies. Who knew that such a flawless event could be planned in two weeks? Fabulous. Of course, everything couldn't be done in such a short time and we ended up using cheapy rings that we bought at the last minute. (Tom bought his about two hours before the ceremony...haha.)

Anyway, that's the last three weeks in a nutshell. For all of you who weren't at said backyard wedding, I'm going to be planning a bigger, more formal event for next year...but I can't even think about that just yet. Am back in Dublin now in my new place, starting my new job tomorrow with my newly acquired green card, navigating the strange and exhorbitant world of telecommunications and hot water (of which there is not much at the moment.) I have to say that it was hard to leave Boston after two weeks of such a lovefest, much harder than I expected it would be to come back. At least, it's sunny and warm today and I'm beginning to recover from my jetlag. I think it will take a while to adjust to all of these changes in my life...but here goes.

Vegan Anarchist Feminists and the World According to Women with Pointy Shoes

Hi All,
Well it's been a crazy eventful couple of days. First things first, insert clouds lifting and well placed sunbeams illuminating the sky and a little choral Aaaaaaahhhhhh in the background. Yes, it's true. I have a job offer. Just as I was starting to lose faith. Anyway, will start at the beginning. A friend of Tom's cousin's husband has been helping me to meet people and network and all that fun stuff so he invited me to this Chamber of Commerce business schmoozing event which of course, I was absolutely dreading. It was much as expected, lots of peeps in suits and woman in clip-clop pointy shoes (which are an epidemic in these parts) and lots of free wine which I attempted not to drink so as not to stumble around in front of potential employers. Luckily, Gerard (Tom's cousin's husband's friend) didn't abandon me and I wasn't that American girl without a suit on eating bruschetta by the bucketful. Met a couple of "useful" people and breathed a huge sigh of relief when I escaped out onto the Dublin streets and back towards my apartment. So I went from being a corporate whore (good god girl, Where are your pointy shoes?!) to a world where they eat pointy-shoe girls for breakfast a few hours later. Tom and I went up to North Dublin to this bar down an alleyway (called a laneway here) where Jane's friends were having a party celebrating Ladyfest, this big cultural event that they recently put on. It was like walking into Mod 100 at Ye Olde Hampshire college circa 1995. It's amazing how crusties look absolutely the same no matter what continent they live on...dyed hair, raggedy band t-shirts, jeans that could walk by themselves, and patches, patches and more patches. The bars are the same too: cheap beers in slightly dirty glasses and a pool table that's seen better days...haha There's something comforting about that. Just like home if everyone still looked like Megh in college. Anyway, plunked myself in front of the vegan friendly spread....mmmmm guacomole and chatted with a few cute girls who were actually, fairly friendly. (That's the thing about hipsters...they don't always tend to be the most friendly, inclusive bunch.)

Earlier on Thurs. got an email from the guy I thought was messing me about asking me if I could come in for a trial day the next day, on Friday. By the time I made it home from the crustie convention, it was past midnight so I just crashed out and got up at the crack of dawn to go make my trial run. They certainly just tossed me into the fray...I got there at 9am and was working on a project by 9:05am. In fact, they had me running jobs, talking to clients, emailing out jobs and the whole lot pretty much as soon as I walked in. Some client called me and asked me if I had received the email she sent....I was thinking "Uhhhhh, do I have email?!!!" Luckily, they use the same email system as Chedd so I was able to rise to the occasion and play like I was competent and knew all about their protocol...when in fact, no one even told me where the bathroom was...The design work itself was actually quite easy if a little bit depressing. It reminded me of the design I used to do for Katie - fairly low-end and with the added fun of making things purposefully ugly as hell to account for people's bad taste...(yes, I'm a design snob...haha) Anyway, after a day of being the new girl and trying to figure out how everything works and smile at the people around me and not want to slit my wrists after making the world's most hideous stationery, I was exhausted and a little bit bummed thinking that I would have to take this job that seemed a little like torture.

Got out of work and had three messages from Lafferty Design, the Architecture Firm where I interviewed on Wednesday (http://www.laffertydesign.com). Called them back and (will miracles never cease...) they offered me a job! Yessssssss. Talk about getting thrown a life preserver after a day of designing citicorp invitations to an Elton John concert. Was quite relieved - but seriously jittery after 2 days of schmoozing with strangers of all kinds for business and pleasure and all the rest of it. I kept just wanting to pace around the room while obsessively tapping my feet and chewing on my fingernails...and Tom was working until almost 11pm so I had no one to go out with for a few hours. Let me tell you how I missed you all at that moment. I just wanted to be able to go to the B-side and drink Mojitos and party like it was 1999 and celebrate...

Well, after trying to watch Sense and Sensibility unsuccessfully, I finally met Tom at work and ate cold pizza from his office and jetted off to a local with some of Tom's coworkers. Tom's friend Helen came out which was nice and we ended up out in this old-skool Irish pub till after 3am. I am just not built for these late nights but it was a good time nonetheless. This whole round buying thing is like alcoholism waiting to happen as everyone feels obliged to buy everyone else a drink and will absolutely not take no for an answer. I left 2 untouched whiskey and sodas on the table when we left as people just kept buying them...and this was after drinking 5 of them... Had a fairly relaxing rest of the weekend. Went to a lovely farmers market in Temple Bar and bought lots of nice veggies and cheese and bread and the like. Went shopping for work-type clothes in the big shopping center. Went to Tom's friend Steven's party and sat around with a bunch of stoned dudes watching snooker and playing this game where everyone holds onto a metal handle and the last person to hit their button gets an electrick shock...don't ask. Went out with Bryce and Michelle (Tom's coworkers from Boston) on Sunday afternoon for a few glasses of wine in this gigantic french aristocracy themed bar and then tried too late to find a place to eat dinner. Ended up eating friench fries and onion rings in TGIFridays which, as you can imagine, was not exactly my first choice for grub (not even my last choice especially when a narsty TGIFridays burger rings in at a hefty 15 euros...) but I learned not to try to go out to eat at 10pm on the Sunday night before a bank holiday....

Well, that's all the news for now. Am meeting with the head of the architecture firm tomorrow and doing another half (trial) day at Snap Printing tomorrow afternoon. Wednesday have a 7-8:30am (yes, am) business networking thing that Gerard invited me too out in the 'burbs and then a job interview in the afternoon in Drogheda, a city north of Dublin. (Figured I would still go on the interview in Drogheda just in case anything falls through with the architecture firm or visa or anything like that.) Going to be a strangely busy week. Talk about contrast, Last week, I was ready to start counting the hairs on my own head for lack of anything more pressing to do.

Hope you're all well. See you in less than two weeks. Save the date: Sat. May 21 am going to have a graduation/early birthday BBQ...Cannot wait to see you all. Take Care.

Lies and the Lying Liars who tell them in Dublin...

I never thought I would be nostalgic for the curmudgeonly, reserved, so-called unfriendly Boston ethos...and I'm not...haha, jus' kidding...I really, really, am. I have to say that for all the shit-talking that goes on about our stand-offish ways, with a Bostonian, you always know where you stand. I'm finding that Irish culture, at least in the world of Business is more akin to California than Massachusetts. People are just far too nice, in a sometimes duplicitous sort of way.

I've had a bunch of interviews now and they have all gone well and people have been all smiles and promises but I have yet to see any job offers. This one woman interviewed me and at the end of the interview said, "Great, so we need to have you in for a second interview to meet the big boss, I'll call you on Mon. or Tues. to arrange it...blah-de-blah," and then I never heard from her again. A few weeks later, I got a pdf attachment from her which was a form letter with all the usual, "we didn't pick you, we'll keep your CV on file..." Another guy, I interviewed with last week told me he wanted me to come in and do a trial day someday this week, that they just had to fix some problems they were having with their spare workstation...and again, it's now Wednesday and nothing. This time I decided to email him and see what the deal was and he said that they were still having problems with the workstation but that he would get in touch when they sorted it and get me in there....hhhhmmmm, maybe, just, maybe, he wasn't completely bullshitting me but I'm not convinced that I would have heard from him if I didn't make the extra effort. A family friend of Tom's who is a native Dub told me that many Americans are frustrated by the way that business is done here...People are all sweetness and light but where's the beef?

I really, really, really, don't need people to blow sunshine up my ass. I really, really, really, would rather have it straight. I know that's probably a bit rich coming from me who leans in the direction of telling people what they want to hear but good god, a whole country of me's is not a good thing. I'm finding that being away from home in some way, makes me more aware of who I am and all the external things, work, city, culture, friends, family etc... that have in some part defined me. It's kind of interesting really...that is when it's not really annoying. Well, I guess this is what I signed up for when I decided to move country. Everyday is a rollercoaster ride of all kinds of emotions...I love discovering new things and finding my way through all the things that are just a little bit (or a lot) different but I have my moments where I really am a stranger in a strange land and I just don't get it.

Christopher (one of Tom's good friends from Belfast) said something to me a few weeks ago that I've been carrying with me since. He just moved to London and rides the tube to work, and for those of you who don't know him, he is Mr. Casanova with the ladies. I seriously can't keep up. Anyway, he's got this thing where he sits next to a cute girl on the tube and starts chatting her up and if she's receptive, he asks her where she's getting off and if she'd like to have a drink. I am amazed by his ability to just put himself out there and said so and he responded that, "You have to be willing to take rejection to get what you want." Now, knowing Christopher, he was in no way trying to be deep...he was just thinking with...well, you get it...but it is a good point. One that I have been trying to keep in mind while being strung along by various potential employers.

So now I've written a novel of complaints and haven't told you all about the lovely grocery I found, spiceworld, with all sorts of gorgeous middle-eastern and medditerreanean foods and I haven't told you about my relaxing weekend in Belfast and my day trip to Killough and Ardglass, two fishing villages in Northern Ireland that are lovely...Oh well. Sometimes you just have to bitch a little. I hope you all don't mind. Well, I'll see you all soon and be sure to tell you exactly what I think of you...haha. I hope you're all not smiling and being aloof and reserved like good Bostonians should...Miss it madly.

Be well. See you all soon.

Fishing Boats in Howth

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Originally uploaded by di_juice.

Howth (Rhymes with Both)

howth_seal2
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

Hi All,

Took a trip up to Howth which is about a half hour north of Dublin city on an outcropping of land which separates Dublin Bay from the open ocean. It's a strange mix of affluent township, summer resort and fishing village all rolled into one.

I took a long cliffside hike along Howth head, very picturesque, high cliffs, rocky coast and beautiful deep blue water. The hike takes you to Howth Summit where you can see Dublin Bay and the mountains of Wicklow to the south. Unfortunately it wasn't a very clear day - kind of blustery with sun coming and going as it does here - so my view was mountainless but still not bad. There's also a big island to the north of Howth called Ireland's Eye which you can motorboat over to in the summer and from there I'm told, you can see Wales. Good stuff. After my hike, I met back up with the main road and walked through the kinds of neighborhoods where people give names to their houses the way we give names to our pets - the old lodge, green ivies, pine hill etc... Serious old skool money. I saw a couple of beautiful horses, no doubt the playthings of some wellbred family.

There are two long piers in Howth harbor - East Pier is all yachts and pleasure boats and west pier is all varieties of cool, old fishing boats in all sizes and colors. There are also a ton of shack-type places along west pier where you can buy fresh fish from the fishermen bringing in their catch. Apparently this is the center of the fishing industry in Dublin. In among the fishing boats were three seals. They seemed curious about the people watching them and came in for a closer look - which is when I snapped the above photo. If you click on the photo, you can see a bunch more pics of the fishing boats and things otherwise Howth related.

I also took a quick walk to Howth Castle which was strangely enough surrounded by a golf course...haha. There are almost as many castles as sheep in Ireland - I'm telling you they are everywhere. Must have been a lot of kings back in the day.

Now am back in town, getting ready to head to Belfast for the weekend. Went out last night with Tom and couple of the peeps he works with to The Market Bar. Huge place which is a renovated sausage (or shoes, I can't remember) factory with high ceilings and a pitched glass roof. We plunked ourselves on the upper level which looks down over the main bar and had a few not too exhorbitantly priced scotch and sodas. Actually it was whiskey and soda which I'm told is an entirely different thing and not to be confused...haha. Dominick, Tom's coworker was semi-horrified by my choice of drink so I made him taste it. I don't know if he's a convert but he didn't seem to hate it too much. The bar serves Tapas untill late which looked pretty tasty and might be fun to try out at some point. See all the exciting things you can do when you all come for a visit ;)

Well, I'm off to pack up a few things and sort out dinner. Found some absolutely kick-ass Italian specialty stores yesterday and made mass amounts of eye-tye lentil soup and other tasty Italian like treats last night. Gotta love leftovers like that. On the bean front, I found out that there's a mexican specialty grocer in a neighborhood on the northside so I may find my black beans yet...will keep you all posted as I know you're waiting with baited breath for black bean resolution.

Hope you're all well.

Where's the Bean?

It's amazing how some small task that takes me no time at all to do at home can somehow stretch to fill an entire Dublin day. Yesterday morning I set out walking as I usually do - on a mission of some combination of errands and tourist attractions and the occasional cup of coffee - and 8 hours later, my legs walked off me, I was only semi-successful in my errand running and soaking wet from an afternoon rain storm. I was looking for things that I thought would be simple to find, black beans and nice paper for my CV (along with a few other things that I did actually find easily.) I have seen all the great and small grocery stores in this city, from the highfalutin' Marks and Spencer to Tesco to Dunnes to the smattering of Asian grocery stores and even the Afro-Carribean grocers on Moore street who sell plantains and green lentils but no black beans. I went to the hippie health food, vitamin, store and the Indian market which had a huge array of spices and nan bread and other good things but no beans. The moral of the story is, Don't try to make any form of Mexican food if you happen to live in Ireland. Not only are there no black beans but there are no red beans and no pinto beans and no one, absolutely no one goes Goya in this place. I'm thinking of charging you all one bag o' beans as entry fee to my apartment when you come visit...haha.

Also difficult to find is the Irish equivalent of Paper Source or Pearl. I hit up every stationary store this side of Belfast and turned up Shite, absolute crap paper. I did find out that there's a fancy pants paper store in Dublin 8 but this was only after hours of walking and it's on towards a somewhat sketchy neighborhood that you wouldn't want to hit up after dark. I ended up buying some sort of okay, sort of resembling "cement" colored, Paper Source paper from the stationary store next to my apartment. It will have to do. Of course, I did come prepared with some lovely Paper Source paper from home but I did not account for this whole European A4 sized paper thing. I have lots of fabulous letter sized paper which is about as useful as an American dollar is in these parts. Everything really is just a little bit different.

Other than being black-bean deprived, all is well in these parts. It's actually sunny outside after a very icky, rainy, Sunday and mediocre Monday. Had lunch with Tommy Boy in the park and now am going to brave the world of European laundry for 8 euros a load. Wahoooo. Domestic bliss it is not. Someone give me a job please!

Hope you are all well.

Fun with Phonetics and a lot of Wine

Irish is the language of unpronouncable vowels and mysterious consonants. For example, the letters mh (as in Niamh) are pronounced as a v sound making the name niamh pronounced as "Neeve." This makes for some potentially sticky situations when trying to pronounce people's names and neighborhoods. Tom keeps making fun of me for my inability to get right the name of the neighborhood Ranalagh. First things first, those gh's at the ends of words are always silent, unless of course there's a u in there (like augh) in which case there's a k sound to the word (as in McLaughlin.) So, I got the gh thing down right away but I keep saying Ron-a-lah which seems intuitively right to my Americanized brain, but no, it's Ran-a-luh which I somehow can't make stick. I have a job interview next week in Ranalagh Village though so I'm practising...haha. Ran-a-luh, Ran-a-luh, Ran-u-luh...Ha, ha.... Here are some other tricky Irish words which defy the roman language pronunciations we're all used to: Failte, Caiomhe, Aoife, Baile Atha Cliath....(Fall-Cha, Kee-va, Eef-uh, and last but not least, Bally Atta Clia which is the Irish word for Dublin for any of you who might be interested.) Craziness. Everything is written in both English and Irish around here and I find myself attempting Irish words that I pronounce so very wrongly, it's amazing. Well, I've got garbage can, bus lane and Belfast down which seems like a good start (Bruscar, lana, and Biel Feirste.) I'm on my way to fluency.

Anyway, aside from pondering the mysteries of Irish grammar, I have been exploring new parts of the city. Went to this brand new, fancy-pants, shopping center in Dundrum yesterday (pronounced the way it sounds...phew) and wandered around looking at stuff I shouldn't buy with money I don't have. It's the largest mall in Europe apparently and it was kind of fun to check out all the european chain stores and get my fix of H&M (That's Haich and Em to you.) I did buy a sweater for job interview purposes. I have to go to this networking event next week which I am dreading beyond belief. I have visions of myself, sweating through my H&M sweater, obsessively hitting up the cheese table and hoping no one notices that I don't know a soul...oh the joys of self-promotion are many.

Went to a wine tasting last night which, aside from being free which is a beautiful thing in Rip-off Dublin, was quite fabulous and the bar was fast and free with the bottles. Went with Tom and we ran into some of his coworkers who were actually pretty cool. Got to try 6 different wines (three whites and three reds) and learn a thing or two about grapes and tasting from a sweet and slightly nerdy presenter guy who was just so Sideways. The bar was called Odeon and is in a renovated building that used to be the main train station in south city centre. It's huge and absolutely beautiful and I'm told they have great brunch and cult movies on Sundays. (Strange combination but I'm all for it.) Said wine tasting also included a small, but delicious cheese plate. Strangely enough, Monterey Jack is an unusual (and imported) cheese around here but there it was, some vaguely, highfalutin' form of Monterey jack on my cheese plate. Who knew? I think I'm going to have to find all the free wine tastings in the city. Gotta love the freebies in a place where they charge 7 bucks for two Cokes. Yup. Tom and I went for lunch yesterday and got 2 fountain sodas from the bar for 5 euros to go along with our smallish and mediocrish paninis for 11 euros. I am doing some serious restaurant research. If I'm gonna pay these prices, my food damn well better be amazing. You'll be happy to know that I've started a restaurant (and other activities) book so by the time you all visit, I will have the hookups. Am going to a Noodle Bar in Ran-a-luh tonight that's supposed to be really good so we'll see. You know it's really all about the food for me. Yum.

Love to you all. Be well.

Kilmainham and a Coffee

IMMA garden detail
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

Hi All,

Went to the Irish Museum of Modern Art today which is on the grounds of the old Royal Hospital built in the 17th century. (This pic shows part of a flower pot in the formal gardens on the hospital grounds.) If you click on the pic, you can see other images of the IMMA and of the Kilmainham Gaol (jail) - one of Ireland's oldest jails which housed many of the politcal prisoners who fought for Irish independence back in the day. There were all sorts of cool primary sources - letters, newspaper clippings, medals, etc... in the Gaol and a guided tour which gave a more in depth history of it's famous prisoners and dubious history.

I read a letter written by an 18 year old boy a few hours before he was executed. It was written to his mother and he keeps saying how much he wishes he could see her face one more time. He was killed for possession of a firearm without a permit. Crazy. It was really interesting to see the human imprint on all of these pieces of history - handwriting, clothing, tattered photographs, shoes, ration cards, etc...It makes all these historical figures real. There was graffiti on the wall taken from a poem written by one of the men executed after the Easter Uprising. "Beware the Risen People, Ye that have harried and held, Ye that have bullied and bribed."

After my adventures in Kilmainham, I met up with Jane, (a friend of a friend who lives here in Dublin) and ended up back in town and had a (good!) coffee in this little cafe and discovered an asian grocery (almost as good as the super 88) and a fabulous used bookstore down an alleyway. I am going through novels like water these days. Got so much time on my hands.

After touring the damp, dark jail, I was so very much appreciating my modern comforts and free reign to wander the city. I've been discovering new things everyday and am compiling a mental list of things to do when I get some visitors. Can't wait for company. Miss you all lots.

Be well.

The Evil Empire Abroad

They are everywhere...Yankees baseball hats in all sizes, shapes and colors...bastards. Now I know why they can afford to go over the salary caps every year. They are marketing geniuses! I swear to you that half the people wearing the Yankees gear don't even know the difference between a ball and a strike. It is purely a fashion statement...poo. Even the bouncer at the club I went to last night was wearing one. I asked him if he was a Yankees fan and he answered me in this terrible fake American accent that he sure was. Bitch, please. Man probably couldn't even name a single one of the players. And while I'm at it. Another guy that Tom and I were out with last night kept responding to everything I said with a fake American accent, like, Dude, totally. He was a complete complainer who proudly showed me the 27 million text messages he had from different girls on his mobile. Wanker. He bore a striking resemblance in looks and personality to that guy I used to date, Brad, and to those of you in the know, that is no compliment. haha. Alas, Whaddya gonna do? (And that's a rhetorical question btw.) Happy Saturday. I'm off to Topshop to buy some snazzy gear for my second interview next week...wa-hooo.

Detail of Shakespeare's House

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Originally uploaded by di_juice.

Here are some pics from my travels to England. Click on the pic above to see the rest of the images.

Adventures in Kiddie

Hi All,

I have spent the last couple days staying in Kidderminster, England with Averi and Tim. I flew into Manchester (due to my flight booking idiocy) and caught the train to Birmingham. It only took two hours and was moderately scenic so it wasn't that bad... When I arrived in Birmingham, I was in a gigantic and quite modern shopping center built recently with EU money. The building undulates on the outside and looks like it's been built with giant silver thumbtacks...sounds wierd but it kind of works. There's an open plan food area with noodle bars and homemade bread vendors and the like where we ate sushi off of a long conveyer belt. Afterwards, we hit up a local old-man bar for my first taste of scotch and soda on English soil.

It's been a very relaxing holiday. Slow mornings drinking giant mugs of coffee in bed and lots of pub crawling. We went to Stratford-upon-Avon on Saturday and I got to check out the birthplace of ye olde William Shakespeare and the home of Anne Hathaway, his wife. It was a beautiful, sunny, day and we walked around town before having high tea at the Crabtree and Evelyn (who knew they did tea) tea house. Clotted cream is my new favorite food...who would have thought of spreading whipped cream on a scone in addition to butter and jam...mmmmm...I can feel my arteries clogging. They gave us our tea in blue and white china pots with extra large teacups and saucers. Good stuff.

Have been eating my face off. Averi is an amazing cook and we have been feasting. She has a coveted jar of real (non-palm oil based) peanut butter which has been much appreciated by me. She also turned me on to a kind of wholewheat sliced bread to buy here that can't be rolled into a big squishy ball. (Thank god-I've been trying every brand I can find without finding anything halfway decent.) We have barbecued, eaten an Italian Feast and multiple big breakfasts involving bacon. Yum. I have missed home cooked meals.

Today, we took the steam train to a picturesque town called Bewdley. It was hilly and had lots of old school Georgian architecture. It is on the banks of a fast-moving river that people surf on in some parts...hard to picture but true. The steam train is a full on chugga-chugga train with upholstered compartments and porters and restored stations and is completely run by volunteers. Very cool. We got fish and chips from the local chippy and visited Tim's sister who lives there.

Tomorrow, it's back to Dublin and a job interview on Tuesday. Wish me luck!