Gay Marriage, Christmas Saws, and Chimney Wishes

Hi All,

Have been profoundly busy lately (in both good and bad ways.) Thankfully, I get 10 days off for Christmas (love this Catholic Country). I am as burnt out as I've ever been and in need of sleep and good craic and the like.

We did finally manage to get our Christmas tree up although it took us three days from the purchase of the thing to its erection (haha). A christmas tree stand was eventually found although when Tom went to put the tree into it, he found that the tree had a giant knobby end which was too wide to fit into said stand. Long story short, he ended up hacking off the trunk (and this was no branch but a full fledged thick tree trunk) with a serrated kitchen knife. Needless to say, this took him about an hour and the result was wood shavings and pine needles galore all over the living room. Then it took us forever getting the bloody thing straight (cuz the trunk was off kilter on the bottom.) Then, lights and ornaments... I lost the white lights debate but I won the tinsel war...gotta draw the line somewhere ;) At the end of all the effort, we had a slightly dried out tree with white and colored lights and a hodge-podge of ornaments from Tom's Auntie, our basement, and Penneys. It's a total Charlie Brown tree...but it's ours. Maybe it's kind of like ugly children ;) they might be busted but you love 'em anyway...haha. It's nice to have a tree in the house. Haven't bothered to get one for years.

We had a few people over last night (our small pool of friends is even smaller at this time of the year but we managed to convince 4 whole people (if you count 9 year old's) to come over for snacks and mulled wine. I made stuffed mushys, hummus and pita and brownies and Tommy made mulled wine (that was quite tasty.) It ended up being a really nice time. Just before people came, I got that 13 year old birthday party feeling where you wonder if anyone will actually show up...;)

So I didn't just throw in that gay marriage bit in the title for the sake of controversy. Gay marriage has just become legal in the UK and due to Northern Irelands marriage laws, it ended up being the first place in GB to marry some same-sex peeps. This is of course, notable and cool in and of itself and was front page news this week. Crazier though is who was on the front page of the newspaper I was handed last Monday. Lolo, Mina, Jess and I actually met the couple gracing the cover of said newspaper. We met them in a florist shop on the Antrim Road in Belfast last summer. What are the odds? the only two lesbians I know in Belfast, and they are the first couple to tie the knot. Whodathunk?!

Well, I am practically braindead at this point with Christmas preparations and the Christmas Rush at work and fending off my favorite yeast-flavored illness. Got the Chimney swept today (who knew chimney sweeps still exist) so am gonna make myself a big ole turf fire tonight in the fireplace and wrap some pressies. Apparently, when you get your chimney swept, you're supposed to go outside and look to see the sweepy thing (like a black swiffer on a long pole) poke its little head out the top of the chimney. And when you see it, you get to make a wish. I could use some wishes - should get my chimney swept more often. They should advertise - Free Wish with any Chimney Sweep...haha. Right now I'm just wishing for sleep. Am off to take it easy.)

Happy Christmas y'all.

Diana

The lovely Christmas Market in Beal Feirste

Christmas Market and City Hall
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

Click on the pic to see the Christmas Market and various other examples of the Christmas fever that has gripped this country ;) inc. Dublin and the roaring metropolis that is Drogheda...

Just like it says...

Belfast City Hall
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

A Very Dublin Christmas

I don't know if this will be funny to a non-Irish audience but I thought it was hilarious... It's the christmas story, if ya happen to be a dublin skiprat. Ya bleedin' muppets. (note the total lack of final consonant sounds on any of the words...yes I am an accent geek. )

The Knacktivity

Adapted for the Dublin audience:

Dere's dis boord called Mary, yeah? She's a virgin (wha' de fook is dah?)

She's not married or nuttin', but she's got dis felleh, Joe, righ'? He does joinery an' all dah. Mary lives with him in a flah dowwen in Nazareh.

One day Mary meets dis yungfelleh Gabriel. She's like `Wha are yeh bleedin' lookin' ah?" Gabriel just goes "You're fookin' up da spoute so yeh are".

Mary's scarleh. She gives him a fookin' earful: "Are you bleedin' startin'?

I'm no fookin' sluh. I never bin wih no one!"

So Mary goes and sees her cousin Liz, who's six months gone herself.

Liz is on a mad buzz, bud. She's filled with spirits, Barcardi Breezers an' all dah. She sez te Mary " Ah howeyeh, Mary, I can feel me chiseller in me stummick and I reckon I'm well blessed. Think of all deh money we'll be getting from deh social." Mary goes "Yeah, s'pose you're righ' "

Mary an' Joe haven't goh a fookin' bean so they have to ponse a donkey, an' go dowwen the Behlehem on dah. Dey get to dis boozer an' Mary wants to stop, yeah? To have her yungfelleh an' all dah. But there's no fookin' no roohem at the inn, righ'? So Mary an' Joe break an' into this garridge, only it's filled wih animals. Cowis an' sheep an' all dah.

Then these three lads tourn up, lookin bleedin' rapih, wih crowens on der heads an' all dah'. They're like "Ah Jaysis, howeyeh!" an' say dey're deh tree wise men from de East Wall.

Joe goes: 'If you're so bleedin wiyis, wha de fook are yizzer doin' wih dis Frankenstein an' myrrh? Why didn't yeh just bring gold, 20 Blue and Boorberry?' It's all about to kick off when Gabriel turns up again an' sez he's got anudder message from dis Lord hardchaw.

He's like 'Deh coppers is comin an' they're killin all de chisslers. You better fook off to Egypt.' Joe goes 'You must be fookin' off yer bleedin' rocker if yeh tink I'm goin' te fookin' Egypt on a fookin' donkey'

Gabriel sez 'Suit yerself, bud. But it's your look out if yeh stay.' So they go dowwen teh Egypt till they've stopped killin deh foorst-born an' all an' annyways it's safe an' dah.

Then Joe and Mary and Jesus go back to Nazareh, an' Jesus turns water inteh Dutch Gold.

Just Us T(h) ree

Well, We've officially got ourselves a Christmas Tree although at the moment it's lying sadly on its side in our livingroom. We both swore we had a christmas tree stand under the stairs but after tearing the house apart, it appears to have been absconded with by a Christmas tree stand thief...or something. We have lights, various decorations from various Irish relatives and discount stores and the tree, all in various piles on the floor...hopefully we'll get it all sorted by tonight and I will have perty pictures of our efforts. It was actually quite comical getting the tree home last night. We went to the Irish version of Home Depot (called Woody's...there seems to be a connection between DIY and male anatomical hardware there but I won't go there...) We picked out the last halfway decent tree in the place. The trees here must be a different variety as they are much less picture perfect and more like real trees that you just personally went and hacked down in the backyard...there is a charm to them though, in that Charlie Brown Christmas tree sorta way. Anyway, we bought the thing (and a bunch of other stuff that we don't need but seemed cool at the time) and then we were faced with the prospect of getting it home. We just about managed to fit, Tom, myself and a six-foot evergreen in our Volkswagen Polo which (for any of you who've seen it either in picture or person) is quite a feat. It's about the size of a mini...and that's being generous. The tree went from the back of the trunk to the front windshield. We were stopped at an intersection on the way home and a cabbie idling in traffic next to us was laughing his leg off at us and our tree...the christmas version of a clown car. ;)

Hopefully we will soon be sipping mulled wine around our transplanted little pine tree....Cheers.

Continental Christmas

Went to the most brilliant Christmas Market in Belfast, the, "Continental Christmas Market," which consisted of various stalls and tents surrounding the ornately lit up city hall (and of course, a giant christmas tree.) Seems the Belfast city council is trying to start a Christmas market tradition by inviting all sorts of vendors from, "the continent," to sell their wares for the month of December. It was most lovely, with all sorts of trinkets and edibles. There were the most amazing french patisseries with tartes, and gateaux and petit pains and bush de Noel and some sort of potato and bacon dish that smelled amazing. There were creperies and a Paella stand with the biggest vats of Paella I've ever seen, There was a woman selling tiny dutch pancakes served in a paper bag with sugar, and dutch tulips. French soap, dried lavender, leather handbags and belts, jumpers, christmas trees and the like were all on offer. The German "Christmas Beer tent," was serving up, "Big German Bratwurst and 2 pints of Erdinger Weisbier for 5 quid as well as German alcoholic, "Fruit Punch." No german Christmas Beer tent would be complete without eurotrash pop-music and disco lights and this tent lived up to expectation.( David Hasselhoff would have felt right at home...haha) We kicked it with the Germans for a while and then ended up in the Irish beer tent, a similar venue except with fiddlee-dee (Irish tin whistle and the like) and heat lamps which were appreciated but not really necessary since the temperatures here have been strangely warm lately. We wandered around nibbling on all the free samples of cookies and olives and olive oils... and among us (Tom and me and a couple of his friends) we tried Paella, some kind of Nordic pizza, Kangaroo Burgers (really), Paella, garlic mushrooms and a whole loaf of Olive bread....yum. Love Holiday eating 'specially European style. Good stuff

Who's yer Daddy

You Sexy Bitch
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

Happy Fakes and to all a good night.

Christmas in a Catholic Country

Jaysus McChristy, it's Christmas with a capital C in these parts. Dublin is absolutely decked to the halls: lights of all colors draped over lampposts, in the shape of snowmen, and reindeers, and candycanes and snowflakes, wreaths of all sizes, giant christmas trees in the train stations, even life size lite-up and blow-up doll Frostie the snowmen have been spotted in our 'hood. My neighbors have what appear to be pinata style snowman decorations. It's quite something, from the tacky to the magical and back again. Welcome to tinsel town. :) Radio DJs are promoting charities and discussing the (apparently rapidly disappearing) joys of the christmas layer cake. (fyi: this sponge cake is three layers of yellow, pink and brown cake so maybe there's a reason it's going extinct.) All the stores are full of Christmas puddings and Christmas crackers...I even saw something called a Christmas Mallow yesterday in Supervalu which appeared to be a tartlike thing filled with an unappealing amount of marshmallow filling and a little frosted snowflake on top. Mulled wine is also appearing everywhere... mmmm ...certainly don't mind that. More wine, less mallow please. Gotta love the fact that Dec. 26 is boxing day and so while we're all getting back to normal on the 26th in the states...the party just continues in these parts. (Tom has informed me that we're going to some sort of clubby / DJ thing on Boxing day in Belfast with a bunch of the Northy peeps.)

While I will certainly miss all my Boston loves, ice-skating on the common, mulled cider at Wilson's farm, taking out my Christmas ornaments (which mark every year of my life thus far,) holiday dinner with the ladies, and most of all, the warm fuzzies of Christmas Eve at Seventy Perry and eating Cippino (sp?) with crusty bread and wine, it will no doubt be a festive holiday season in Irlanda. There will most likely be some good eating, good drinking, and general merriment all round. You can't say the Irish don't know how to party. Merry, Merry y'all.

Crisis is opportunity right? right?!!!!

Lest you think that I am about to slit my wrists...let me just reassure you that my bad mood is not actually going to kill me. Still, my break from Dublinia and subsequent rocky return has me t(h)inking about alot of things. And I have realized my fair friends, that some changes need to be made, and soon. You have all been telling me this for months...and yes, you were all right. I made some bad decisions when I first moved here but I refused to trust my own judgement in my quest for a settled life and routine.

Thank god for Tommy who has been sweet as pie and came home tonight with sushi and bagels and christmas lights for our soon-to-be christmas tree. (These are in fact, a few of my favorite things. Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens just don't compare... but a few Xanex might have been nice.) What a love. He does know how to cheer a girl up.

Ramblings that I am sure to Regret

Fuck everything today. Fuck plane trips with uncomfortable seats and melting wedding cake on my lap, Fuck transitions, Fuck saying goodbye, Fuck Jet-lag, Fuck insomnia giving me way, way too much time to think about the fact that someday everything I love will be gone, Fuck the fact that someday I'll be gone too, Fuck Dublin and it's cold, rainy, dreariness, Fuck the cabbie that picked me up at the airport and kept on about my big brown eyes, Fuck graphic design and it's inherent desires to please and entice, Fuck marketing and that endless quest for the almighty dollar/euro, Fuck the shallow, sticky-sweet meaninglessness of commercial art and it's oh so self important attitude. Design doesn't make the world a better place so who cares? What exactly is the point. We might as well paint the names of everything with acme black paint and call it a day. Fuck all of the wasted energy that I put into my profession every day. Fuck my own inability to assert myself, Fuck my job and Fuck walking to work in the rain and sitting on that godforsaken train with a bunch of pimped out little catholic school girls. Fuck this lonely, shitty, place where sometimes everything just seems like one long struggle to maintain any kind of positivity, Fuck my own broodishness and my constant struggle against thoughts of the darkest kind, Fuck George Bush for having so much damn blood on his hands and taking away what should be my national pride, Fuck the Doirty Dub gangsters shooting eachother in the head outside my door, Fuck the self-righteous euro trash bastards always asking me to take on the sins of my country. Fuck it all. I'm so tired. And I know I sound like a teenager and I know that I have so very much in my life that is so worthy, my beautiful boy whose eyes alone are worth waking up for, my sweet family who love me more than anyone possibly could, my amazing and inspiring friends, the fact that I have food to eat and a roof over my head and don't live in Pakistan waiting for winter. It's just that sometimes life seems so inherently sad and the everyday seems so incredibly mundane. Do I really want to spend the next 40 years being a bitch to the 9 to 5?

Wicked Pissa

Oh joy. Home sweet. I love it. I absoultely love being home...Hearing those fateful words, "Welcome to Logan inta'national ai'po't" really were music to my ex-pat ears. Who'da thunk I'd be homesick for the voice of a middle aged townie from Southie. Fucking Fabulous.

Have been having a lovely time in my faux cafe society holiday life. (I'm still waiting to win euro-millions but until then, a week off is the closest thing I get to my fantasy of independent wealth.) Been eating glorious food cooked by my incredibly culinarily talented parents, drinking wine (and whiskey don't worry) with my fabulous ladies (and their fabulous boyfriends/husbands/doormats...) The first morning I was here was one of those heartbreakingly beautiful New England Fall days (that's fall not autumn muthafuckas.) I took a walk to Coolidge Corner (my neighborhood of origin) and visited my tailor run by a greek family who welcomed me back and offered to hem my pants on the spot. Everyone really does know my name...

Strangely, the only bars I've been in since I've been home have been Irish ones...haha Hit up the Sligo in Davis the other night and The Druid last night. I've seen more red walls, Irish street signs and posters for the Lisdoonvarna match making festival in the last few days than I have in months of living in Baile Atha Cliath (that's Dublin for all you non-Irish speakers out there.) Wanted to strike up a conversation with the Irish bartender last night...thought we could wax poetic about Tayto's and Cadbury and Bertie and people who wear trousers and enjoy the craic and say things like Wind yer neck in...but I thought he might not appreciate my yank self represenentin' the isle of green so I decided not to accost him. I suspect there are more Irish bars in my future though...will probably end up at Murphy's or Anam Cara or the Washington Sq. Tavern tonight. Irish Bartenders beware... What about ye ya bleedin' muppet? What'sa Craic? God I'm cool. ;)

Was an absolute Domestic Goddess today. Made a cake before noon (with homemade frosting...) and spent the afternoon makin' lasagna and baked ziti with me mummy. Sadly, my first attempt to frost said cake was a sad disaster as the cake was still warm and turned the frosting into warm, white ooze. Luckily was able to salvage it by refrosting hours later so my cousin will have a (hopefully) tasty cake that doesn't resemble a snow drift for his recent college graduation. I've even got a little black mortarboard to put on the top of it. Wicked kitsch.

Have been eating like a champion...hopefully will still fit into my hip euro clothes...haha...when I return to my regularly scheduled programming. Fakes was kick-ass. Chestnut soup, de-boned turkey rolled with figs and prosiutto, cognac gravy, homemade cranberry sauce, veggie lasagna, flourless chocolate cake, homemade apple pie and a whole host of things to be thankful (fakefull ;)) for. Ended up getting into a heated political debate with Lolo's not-her-boyfriend who grew up in the age of bussing in Boston and hails from Southie. Amazing how the Irish-Americans in Boston have moved so far to the right in comparison with the Irish living in Ireland today. Not-her boyfriend was trying to convince me that, "might makes right," as in, Americas got the big guns and therefore everyone should fall into line behind us and let us be the bullies of the world because we are the defenders of the western world and we hook those pinko-commie europeans up with the oil. Yes, I agreed, American is a powerful nation but with power comes a great responsibility to use that power carefully and constructively...two words which are foreign to the current administration in my opinion. Well, you get the idea. Anyway, despite the fact that we think very, very differently about all things political and Not-her-boyfriend was extremely shitfaced, I found the whole interchange to be really interesting. It's a lot more stimulating to discuss politics with someone who disagrees with you than it is to be in a roomful of bobbing heads. Even if he is completely and totally wrong on every front...haha.

Tonight, the fam arrives and a few of my ladies. Hopefully there will be much eating of the Italian food and more drinks and debauchery post prandial. Wicked Awesome. Pissa in the extreme. Yes Suh.

-Wannabe Townie

Pucker Up

Conall, Tommy and Carlo
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

This image just had to go up...if not for the tommy pucker than definitely for that amazing wallpaper in the background ;) You shoulda seen the carpets!

What are you like?

I can't help it. I'm in love with Irish slang so here are a few more little tidbits for your chewing pleasure:

Yer some Langer: Culchy phrase (hopefully you've been dilligently studying your Irishisms and know that a Culchy is a rural type.) American Translation: Yer dummer than a box o' rocks. Yer an ass. Also see: Langer = part of male anatomy best not described in too much detail.

Rare: Nope it's not something hard to find...it's used to describe something / someone who's a bit odd, has bad fashion, or is just wacky / wierd / funny lookin' Used for both people and objects. Usage: Is this skirt the rarest thing you've ever seen? or After I saw those pics of myself on the drink...Jaysus I must be the rarest person!

Rugger-Bugger: The Irish/UK version of a dude-guy who is obsessed with Rugby.

What are you like? Heard this one from a big-eyed girl at Ging's wedding. American translation: What crack are you smoking? Similar use to rare. Example: Enter guy wearing tartan (plaid) trousers...Starts getting a slagging from his friend, "Look at those trousers? What are you like?????

Scratcher: (Noun) Bed. As in, "I didn't get out of my scratcher till noon." Variation: Maggie Thatcher (cockney rhyming slang represent!) Example: Get out of yer Maggie Thatcher ya lazy bastard and come help me make breakfast..."

Well tomorrow I fly back to the old country (for me that is) so it's back to my yank ways fo' sheezy. Beantown's in da house...or something like that. See you all on the flipside.

Wining and Dining...

Hello all,

Only one more day until my holidays begin...yahoooo! Am cramming about a million things into the next two days so will probably arrive in Boston in need of either a drink or a nap (or both.) Got my black tie work do the night before I fly out (starting my vacation off in style ;)) Tried out my fancy-pants attire at Tom's friend's wedding last weekend and managed not to spill anything on it so it will be ready to bust out again.

The wedding was good craic. It was fun to meet all of Tom's school friends and their significant others and the wedding itself was an all day and night affair (which was great once the one-hour mass was over.) It was an uber-catholic wedding complete with communion and hymns and 'peace be with you's' and passages from Genesis. While there are certain aspects of Christianity that I can get down to (i.e. being good to your fellow man, love is the most important part of life, help people who are less-fortunate etc...) but it takes all my will-power not to run screaming from organised religion with it's potential dogma and corruption. Amazingly, the first bible passage chosen by the couple (I assume) was that horrible one about man needing a helper and popping out one of his ribs to whip up a wee drudge to iron his shirts and do his dishes ;). I can't even remotely imagine why any one would choose that passage to begin married life. To each his own, I guess.

Once the Churchy-goodness was dispensed with, the afternoon was spent with mulled wine and shortbread and then of course, dinner and speeches, and more drinks and dancing and the residence bar and more drinks...Good fun. Irish weddings continue into the wee hours so I've learned. When I went to bed at 4am, the residence bar was still packed with people in their wedding finest singing Christy Moore songs (and writing with permanent marker all over one sad bloke who had the misfortune of falling asleep in his chair...haha.)

Met a few of Tom's former cohorts who I hadn't met before and it was great to hear stories of their school daze and meet their wives/girlfriends who overall were a very nice bunch. It's always so nice to meet quality grrls. (Too bad none of them live in the Dublin Metropolitan area.)

The wedding was in Limavady - one of the northiest parts of Northern Ireland so we broke up the drive by stopping in Belfast for lunch with Nathan and Debbie and another one of Tom's old friend's Johnny. Johnny was with his girlfriend and new baby Oona. Whenever I'm around babies, I'm struck by how much work they must be. Oona seemed to have the energy of 10 men. How does anyone do it? It's a good thing they're cute!

Well, must get back to work. Am compiling a new installation of Irishisms to be unveiled soon. :)

Drinkin' Whiskey out of Boots (and other wedding tales)

IMG_6682
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

Click the pic for Northy wedding goodness. Full tales will be forthcoming...

More Fun with the A-B-Zs (that's A-B-Zed's in case you were wondering...)

Hello All...

Here are a few more gems from my ever growing book of Irishisms...

Much of a Muchness: Rolls off the tongue doesn't it...Americish translation: it doesn't matter either way or there's really no difference between them... The old Irish lady equivalent of, "Six of one, half a dozen of another..."

My heads hangin' off me: Oh but there are so many ways to really describe that hangover. Usage: After drinking free cosmos all night on Monday at a schmoozy design thing my head was absolutely hanging off me the next day when I had to get up and go to work...haha. (a true story even ;))

I wouldn't kick her/him out of bed for eating crisps: You can probably tell what this one means...That lady/lad is so aesthetically pleasing that I am willing to live with a world of scratchy bits in my bed...Come hither and eat crisps why dont'cha?!

It works a treat: First heard by me on Irish radio...as in, "It's my wedding day tomorrow and I have a giant spot on my chin what ever should I do...?" Answer: teatree oil works a treat. And like magic...poof the spot was gone.

Cop on / Catch yerself on: Similar to "Wind yer neck in," (see previous post.) Statement: "I am such a rockstar of such grandiose porportions..." Response: "Catch yourself on mate." Americish translation: Get over yourself, wake up and smell the coffee or my personal favorite, "Bitch please."

I'm so hungry I could eat the arse out of a hot buttered donkey...Does this really need any explanation????

Well, back to work, it's nearly 2pm and not a wee-un washed...fecks sake, like.

High Heels and Headaches

I think I am becoming a shopaholic...Have spent the last two weekends trolling from shop to shop. Have two fancy functions coming up and needed to get a dress (and of course then I needed shoes, a handbag, a jumper etc...) Had to find something fit for a wedding and a black tie gala for work. It's amazing how you can go into a shop looking for formal wear and come out with 2 pairs of cordoroy trousers and a belt...(I can't be the only one who does that!) I have apparently become a sucker for marketing...haha. One thing is for sure, Dublin shopping is Divine (much better than Belfast.) Let's just hope I can pay the rent this month ;) Still haven't found that perfect handbag for the black tie occasion...guess there is more consumer joy in my future.

On other fronts, work has been ridiculously busy which normally I would be happy about. Better to be busy than bored... but I am finding myself extremely blocked on the creative front. The last couple of websites I've worked on have been hours of work looking for the concept with little to nothing to show for it. So frustrating. I think it's partially that I get stressed out knowing that there's a lot to do and wanting to bang it out and partially that designing for web is relatively new to me and I just don't have the quick fixes in my head. Either way, I'm ready to pull my hair out lately. Think I have a more volatile relationship with Design than with anything else in my love. Love it and hate it and everything in between. Guess I really need my upcoming vacation...10 days now! Yahoooooo!

Wish me luck walking in the ridiculously glam high-heeled shoes I just bought. Will have to take it easy on the Whiskey front or will spend the wedding this weekend on me arse...haha.

July is October

Happy Halloween All,

Strangely Halloween here bears a striking resemblance to the 4th of July... This is the weekend of fireworks...people have been setting them off all weekend. It's kind of cozy, sitting in my warm house while it's rainy and dark and the fireworks give the impression of a thunder storm out there. The laws pertaining to fireworks must be really different here cuz these are the real thing, put away your bottle rockets. I've been watching explosions outside that more closely resemble the displays on the esplanade than a back yard barbecue. Very pretty (but it is amazing that nothing gets burned down!)

Other than the firworks, it's been a quiet halloween although I got a couple of my neighbor's kids trick or treating and did manage to carve myself a jack-o-lantern yesterday. I guess the days of turnip carving may be coming to an end! Imported pumpkins have appeared in the supermarkets here in the last few years (although they come with instructions for how to make a, "lantern"!) Even though I'm halfway across the world, it still smells like Halloween here and the night has that cold, dark quality to tells you that winter is on its way (although here the dark is much more pronounced than the cold.) When I woke up this morning, I couldn't tell whether it was 4am or 11am...it's just that dark. I could definitely hibernate.

night,night.

To all the Wankers who keep Posting Adverts disguised as blog comments

Lloyd Dobbler said it best:

"I've thought about this quite a bit sir and I would have to say considering what's waiting out there for me, I don't want to sell anything, buy anything or process anything. I dont want to sell anything bought or processed or buy anything sold or processed or repair anything sold, bought or processed. I dont want to do that..."

Or how 'bout just, "Feck off, I ain't buying." Less eloquent but gets the point across just as well... Take yer biz elsewhere.

Cuttin' edge in Carlingford

Carlingford Disco
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

Ye olde Town Diso...haha

fashionistas in da house (and I was there too...)

Hi All,

I apologize for my blog neglect over the past two weeks. It's been crazy busy. Was running the spoiltchild by meself (the company I work for is Spoiltchild Design in case some of you are wondering of which spoiltchild I speak...) and have started my Italian class and continued on with my yoga class.... but things seem to be quieting down now, work is back to normal and I'm awol from yoga tonight as all this hot/cold/sunny/rainy/windy/still weather seems to have given me a cold (what a surprise huh?)

Last weekend I went up to Carlingford again sans Tommy for a ladies weekend with Helen and her friends. Was a little nervous before hand about being thrown into a captive situation with a lot of strangers but Helen's friends were all very sweet. I met up with the lot of them on Saturday in Newry (land of shopping and a canal and not too much else) and wandered around the shops with them and then back to Helen's house for a take-out chinese and some cocktails (whiskey for me). It's funny being around a group of people who have been friends for years and years. It gave me the first inkling of what it must be a like to be a newbie around my group of frenz... the Belfast ladies all know eachother so well and have so much history that they can just dive into stories with no context or recall funny/awkward/fabulous/horrible moments in the past together. Telling stories that everyone already knows but want to hear anyway seems to be a universal trait...those stories that start with remember when....? At the same time, Helen and co. are also very different from me and come from a really different world which was interesting for me to witness. Catholicism and it's resulting social guidelines play a much bigger part in their lives than anything I've ever experienced. Things seem to be done more, "by the book," here. A much more conservative and structured ethos exists around dating...sleeping in the same bed with yer mate unless you're married is a fairly big no-no particularly under your parents roof (It is done regularly of course, but is on the DL). Virginity still matters even if only in theory. The wedding rituals abound...bended knee, engagement parties, hen parties, big weddings etc... Made it a bit awkward to explain my wedding situation. The, "let's see the rock conversation," or "how did he ask you," conversations just don't apply. Gender roles also seem to apply a bit more than I'm used to as well. Cuz Damn, these ladies look good. Helen is an absolute fashion wonderwoman and her friends were equally well put together...perfect make-up for breakfast, diesel jeans, pointed toe boots, higlighted hair, celebrity gab-mags, Mariah Carey. Girls are just well, more girls around here. I'm not sure where I fit in that equasion being one who likes make-up and clothes and certainly harbors a generous amount of feminine vanity but who generally just can't be arsed to make that much of an effort. It's easy to forget how much people's lifestyles really do vary when I'm home in the people's republic of Cambridge with my friends and our joined histories and memories. Like being a social anthropologist in a way...haha.

We went out to the "Disco," in Carlingford which Helen warned us beforehand was way more kitsch than cool. It was in the small hotel in Carlingford and kind of reminded me of a wedding reception venue in 1985...absolutely hilarious...farmer boys and dinky disco lights and old skool poppy-dance music..."another night, another dream but always you..." Was good fun really. Helen's friend Rita straightened my hair with these super expensive (and effective) hair straighteners (if you don't mind the smell of your own hair burning...haha) Was actually quite fun to have bone straight hair to toss around for the evening...even if I didn't have the pointy toes to match.

The next day was spent just chilling out, talking and eating potato bread and eggs and tidying the house. Had a nice chat with Helen about growing up in Belfast and friends and how all of these people I've been meeting fit together and the like. Was nice. Overall it was good to get out of the house and to be around other people...specially after my two weeks of enforced solitude.

Am off to drink tea and lie on the couch and otherwise nurse my sore throat and runny nose...mmmmm...

Better late than Never

The Real Pub Grub
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

More Pics from Sligo and Donegal for your viewing pleasure...

Friends of the Friendless

Hola mi Amigos,

Well, Tommy boy is off in Barcelona, the lucky bastard, so I am once again, left to my own devices. Most of the people I would normally hang out with here are also away from Dublin this weekend so it looks like I'm going to have a very clean house and a well used DVD player. In some ways, I'm looking forward to the down time but I'm sure by Saturday afternoon, I'll be asking the mail man to go for a pint... :) Maybe I can go into the local Spar and see what time the cashiers get off...haha. Coincidentally, I'm alone in the office this week as well as Alan is on his holidays. I may actually forget how to interact with other humans by the time I meet any again... I'll have to start grunting and pantomiming to commmunicate...

On other fronts, I started my Italian class this week and I think it's going to be really good. There are three students including myself, an Englishwoman, a woman from Cork and me. Our teacher is a young Italian woman from Naples who seems really nice and lives in my neighborhood (which means I have someone to commute home with post-class.) Yoga is also going well. I'm enjoying getting the stretching in. Really helps after a week of sitting in front of the computer. My neighbor is good company and it's been nice to get to know her (although the other people in the class don't really talk to us.) Dubs are notoriously cliquey though, so whaddya expect. My yoga teacher is way weeds and seeds. She's a homeopath and accupunctarist and is always giving us health and lifestyle advice and telling anecdotes about this, that and the other thing. Good stuff and a good thing I have these classes to go to or I might actually become a hermit. Hello, anyone out there?????

Weather has been beautiful the last couple days. I'm hoping it will hold so I can take myself down to the farmers market on Saturday and get some treats... maybe some Oysters and Guinness if I can work up the courage to sit at one of the tables by myself. I really am shockingly shy when on my own. Have visions of just heading out to my local for a pint and see if maybe the bartender will talk to me...haha...but am probably too introverted for such things. we'll see.

Hope you're all well.

Dido
official member, friends of friendless local chapter

So Much for National Health Care

After nearly eight months of living here, I have finally had to delve into the mysterious world of Irish healthcare. After 2 weeks of that yeasty feeling, 3 seemingly ineffective OTC treatments and a whole ocean of plain yoghurt, I gave up and made an appointment at the local clinic. After sitting in a typical office waiting room full of people with the most wet, phlegm ridden coughs I've ever heard, I went in to see the Doc. He was a youngish and nice guy but strangely, he didn't examine me, just took my word for it that I've got a yeasty... huh...wonder what he would do if I requested a months worth of oxycontin... He was very nice and did take his time talking to me and doing a few doctorly things like taking my blood pressure and doing that fun p.h. test on a little jar of pee...mmmm. Twenty minutes later though, the fun was over and I was off to the counter to pay for my visit (which is when the true heart attack set in.) €45 yoyos for my little jaunt to the clinic and another €30 for the prescription... Jaysus, Mary and Joseph that's a fat chunk of change for a trip to the MD. It's enough to make me want to drink Echinacea by the gallon and bathe in anti-bacterial soap. Rip-off Dublin rears its ugly head once again...

There Really are rainbows.

The end of the Road
Originally uploaded by di_juice. Just had to stop and get a picture of this... 'bout two seconds after I took the pic, the rainbow disappeared.

Fresh Meat?

Fresh Meat?
Originally uploaded by di_juice. One of many photos taken during our trip to Donegal...this one was a bright morning in scenic Killybegs... ;) Fresh Meat anyone?

Chicken wit' me head cut off

Hi All,

As you can probably tell by my lack of postings, it's been a busy two weeks. Had some more lovely American visitors (Miss Ilana and Sir Rich.) We did a ridiculous amount of everything during the week that they were here. Went to see a play in a tiny theatre down an alley in Dublin (as part of Dublin Fringe.) It was kind of a Rocky Horror Picture Show meets Jacques meets Broadway type venture with the three characters being: Kitty, Miss Pussy and Queenie (and yes, he was a queen.) Good stuff. The next night, our very cultured selves went to an Art opening in Temple bar showcasing a Korean Master Woodblock printer (with lots of free wine...yahooo) and Tom purchased his first piece of art (don't ask how much it cost, best not to think about it.) An Indian feast and several glasses of wine later (at the Odeon) and my hangover was guaranteed.

The next day we headed up to Co. Sligo and Donegal which were stunningly beautiful...rocky coastlines, steep cliffs, sky-blue water and miles and miles of orange-tinged coutryside. Will post pics soon. We spent the weekend eating seafood, drinking, hiking, shopping for crafty-type things, exploring castles and driving around the scariest, narrowest, windiest roads ever in our Volkswagon Polo. Ate the most tremendous oysters at a whole in the wall in a tiny town. I am becoming an oyster addict... I have yet to have a bad oyster in this country... one of the benefits of living on an island, I suppose. Love those slimy little feckers... it's a pure salt high. yum. The weather was pure Irish with intermittent rain (meaning it comes on like a train wreck, pours for five minutes and then moves on and becomes sunny (ish) again. Great weather for rainbows of which we saw many and waterfalls (of which we saw one.) Everytime I think I've seen the most beautiful parts of the country, I find some new loveliness to explore. If only it was a bit warmer in these parts, it would be brilliant... a nation of beaches and mountains.

This week has been absolutely mad. The yeast-beast is back to haunting me which puts me in bad form and work has been very busy. Not to mention, the cold I've been avoiding and a debacle regarding an Italian class that I'm taking (not worth going into details.) Despite all this, I went to a comedy club event last night. (Should have stayed in and gone to sleep early but we got the tickets weeks ago.) It was actually really good craic (as they say). Six Irish comedians and one extremely funny MC and it was all televised for RTE. Almost ended up being part of the show when the MC asked if there were any Americans in the audience and all the people we were with started pointing in my direction as I was apparently the only American in the place. Luckily he moved on quickly when I hid under the table...haha (just kidding.) I was able to cop on to most of the Irish humor but there were definitely a few times when I had to turn to Tom for an explanation of exactly why a joke was supposed to be funny. Huh?

Looking forward to a weekend of rest. Strangely, I'm going to watch the Red sox game on Friday night (as Brice and Michelle have sky sports and get all the baseball and every other sport imaginable.) Will have to bust out my Red sox cap and represent.

The Devil came to Belfast

IMG_6585
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

The Life of a Party

Late nights this weekend (as is the way when crossing the border.) Welcome to Northern Ireland where I get no sleep :) Went to Armagh city on Friday night for a surprise 50th birthday party... There was a huge crowd including Gaelic footballers (mmmmmm), aged politicians, hot grannys, college students -everyone whose ever partaken of the hospitality of our (very generous and very drunk) host. I also saw the largest beerbellys of my life at said shindig. Bellys that you could carry on a tray. Long term effects of drinking the black stuff?! Attempted to set dance (well was coaxed onto the dance floor kicking and screaming ;) ) which was good fun but anyone watching would have thought that I actually have two left feet... I am quite the image of grace and coordination at these things... Think I was meant to dance only in large crowds where no choreography need apply...haha.

Saturday, we headed to Belfast and went to a wedding After-Do. Think this is a peculiarly Irish phenomenon. You have the typical reception, dinner, toasts, cake etc... and then you open the event up to (from what I can tell) everyone you've ever known ;) to keep the party going... Good stuff. Off go the children and the grannies (except for our friend's ninety-five year old granny who had more energy than me!) We were there to see Kerry and John - another half-Irish, half-American duo living in the states which was really great. Sometimes forget how much I miss the company of women.

After the after-do, we crossed town to a, "fancy dress," party. Now, when I hear fancy dress, I think, cocktail dress and tuxedo so was somewhat surprised when Gee (the host) answered the door wearing a full-on Elvis costume... Party was typical Belfast with the ever-present set o' decks. No northy party is complete without the scratch...wikky, wikky, wikky. Martina (who we recently visited in London) was playing hip-hop and soul records in a spandex red devil suit and there was food and beer in every corner. The theme was gods and goddesses and other costume highlights included: Gavin (a male) dressed as a domestic goddess, medusa herself, Ozzie Osborne (rock god?) Eve (naked suit with fig leaf - funnier after the woman wearing it took it off and a skinny guy put it on and started dancing) a spied (translation = white trash) with four arms (not sure why the four arms but they looked cool) and Monkey Magic (some sort of European cartoon character.) I took a ton of pics which will appear soon on the blog. I know you will all be waiting with baited breath...

Today, it's back to the grind although Ilana and Rich arrive tomorrow so it should be a good week. Take care.

Eat Your Heart Out...

Or rip it out of your chest and modern dance with it...which is just what I witnessed last night at a performance that was part of the Dublin Fringe Festival. After that introduction, you are probably thinking, good god, what a horrible thing to witness but it was actually pretty cool. The performance was called, "Knots," and consisted of 6 dancers - three brides and three grooms exploring marriage and ltr's and gender interactions and the like. The dancers were amazing, dialogue was good and it actually had a great, ironic sense of humor about it...It would have to to be able to pull off the histrionics of literally ripping your heart out. And I'm not usually a huge fan of modern dance. Good stuff. I'm going to try and see a few more bits of theatre or visual art before the fringe is over. If anyone's interested in seeing what's on, check out: http://www.fringefest.com Will keep ya posted.

Moooooooooo

Moo
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

Click on the pic to see Connemara where the cows run free and the sheep are fearless.

No Rest for the Guilty

Was out last night with Tommy, a couple of the Belfast Boyos, Leon and a couple of his Dub friends bouncing around from pub to club. It was our second night out in a row so I was on the water (one hangover a week is more than enough for me) but it still ended up being a pretty late night. Sometime round closing, Leon's Dub friend copped on to my American accent and decided to bring up American politics...and I thought to myself, Here we go again... An hour later, having been talked at about Americans and oil and Iraq and 9/11 and all the rest of it by an extremely drunk lad with a serious Dublin accent and a penchant for close talking, I have to say that I started to lose my patience. Yes, I do have multiple problems with American foreign policy, with American domestic policy, with the arrogant way in which we go about bullying the UN and indeed the rest of the world with our ass-backward neo-con ideology but ultimately when having these conversations (as I do frequently) I have to ask, "What the feck do you want me to do about it??" I didn't vote for that clown George W. I don't drive an SUV. I write to my senators regularly. I take public transport. I'm not a born-again and I certainly don't think I have all the answers or should tell other people how to run their countries fer fuks sake. I am as outraged as the next person over the dangerous incompetence of the Bush administration and No, I don't drink oil for breakfast and wash it down with a few Iraqi children for lunch... So the next European who goes on a diatribe about evil America is not getting an apology from me (especially when they happen to be a Drunk Dub trying to tell me what Americans are all about when they've been to New York city once for 5 days.) I don't think so, mate.

Glendalough

Glendalough - Upper Lake
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

Where the Faeries live...

Glendalough - Waterfall!
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

Took a drive in our new motor down south into Co. Wicklow which is probably one of the most beautiful counties in Ireland - a mixture of sandy beaches and lush mountainscapes. It is also home to Glendalough (where most of these photos were taken) which is a National Park and Historical site. We walked through a sixth century Monastic city full of mossy stone walls and headstones in the shape of celtic crosses (and quite a Phallic looking tower whose purpose I'm not sure of.) Very cool. There are also a bunch of different trails to hike through the mountains (which is where this waterfall shot was taken.) The best part is this giant misty gorge with lone "Six Feet Under" type trees silhouetted at the top. The water is super shiny and clean like mountain water can be (before it becomes polluted...) The whole place has a very Pacific Northwest vibe. I find that when I leave the city, the landscapes are often reminding me of Northern New England and Oregon all rolled into one. I absolutely love it.

After a somewhat crap week, I was so, so, psyched to be treking around the woods and rolling up my jeans to wade around in the mountain water. For a city girl, I really do feel most relaxed and happy when I'm surrounded by trees and/or water (lakes, ponds, ocean...I'm not picky.)

The last few weeks have actually been really beautiful weather wise but strangely the days are the spitting image of late September, early October days in Boston: The sky is vivdly blue and there's a bit of a chill in the air but it's still fairly warm. There's a particular smell in the air, slightly damp but crisp and the sun is starting to lower so that the light and shadow on everything is magnified giving color a brilliance that it doesn't normally have. I saw an enormous rainbow over the ocean last week during one of these Fall type days (as it always rains a little bit here even if the rain is falling through seemingly sunny skies.) It was really something. Put me in a good mood just to see it. Fall in New England is actually my favorite time of the year and days like this make me so nostalgic for apple picking and pumpkin carving and walks through the woods kicking leaves around while wearing the sweaters that have been in the closet all summer.

I have to say that it is really strange to have had weather like this in August, as in New England it is essentially the last hurrah of a dying season - the beauty of trees and plants and sun that are about to hibernate or die as the winter arrives. I have to wonder if that means that winter is going to be a very dark time here as the sun must be very, very, low in the sky come December... Well, time will tell...

On other notes, have started working from home one day a week which is fabulous. Cutting the three hours of commuting time from my day is really something and while I've only done it once, I felt like it was actually easier to stay focused and be productive at home than at work as I'm in my own comfortable and quiet little environment and can take little breaks to water my plants or make toast or pop in a CD or what have you. Very nice. After working from home last Tuesday, I actually had the energy to go up to the Clontarf Promenade and go (drum roll please...) jogging. Usually, I can only muster the energy to lie in front of the TV (or read the New Yorker or some scary Bridal magazine) by the time I get home and make/clean dinner which is really kind of depressing even if the TV here is pretty good compared to home. Have never before found my self watching any amount of TV every day. Have really been trying to limit it - watching too much makes me feel like I am a spectator in my own life, watching other people instead of being out there having my own experiences. Creepy. And I want to throw things when I see the same annoying adverts over and over again.

Thank god for the weekends and my trips to various lovelinesses. Last night had a great dinner with Michelle and Bryce. Good pizza and wine and homemade brownies with icecream and good conversation and the like. Friday went out to the Pub with Dominick and Helen but both nights, we were home before midnight - think I must be getting old. Didn't we used to go out around midnight?! Well, I'm off to go put on my grandma pants...where did I leave my teeth?!

Love to you all.

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... :)