Snow in the City

It was beautifully snowy in Dublin today. This winter's been snowier than I've ever seen in my life. At home in Limerick, it was the first white Christmas we've ever had.

Dublin shut down today. (City of drama-queens...) Shops and pubs and everything closed and the buses stopped - everything screeched to a standstill. (It's just a little snow! The rest of the country shrugged and got on with it, but when Dublin's slippery, the world stops!)

Sigh. Anyway. Seeing as College, like most everything else, was closed, and I had nothing better to do... I grabbed my camera and headed for a walk.

Here are my faves:






































Enjoy! ^_^
(If you wanna see the rest, see here: X)

Back to...everything! (and PICS!)

Spent the last few days at home, but back in Dublin as of yesterday morning when I ran straight from train to house to work (got a taxi from the station to within 5mins of my house when I got stuck behind the Lord Mayor, who decided to trundle down the road I needed... as slow as...the slowest coach EVER... so had to get out and run home, then run to work.)

Today wasn't tooo bad at work... but yesterday... Oh yesterday...

First day back after a holiday is aaawful. Even if it was only a few days. Going home isn't really a "holiday", I know, whatever, but it felt like one - I had TIME. Loads of time! And could do what I liked for a while. Besides - I hadn't been home since the first week of June.

Had fun though! Stayed with my cousins one night - few drinks, few laughs.
Had a couple friends over for some DVDs and a catch up - turned into a few cans, packs of crisps, a treck to a haunted house, and bad karaoke/dancing in Dave's living room (???)
Went on a mini road-trip to Clonmel to pick up my friend's NOT-apparently-robbed purse, and do a bit more socialising...

It was 90% fun. There was also a migraine (graaagh - but at least it's the Test Month, so it's good, right? Research purposes and all that -- suffer on!) and a few moments when I thought about quitting work and coming home to try be there for/sort out some stuff with my family - but sensibility and reality set it, so that urge passed. I don't think it's as bad as I'm afraid (read: convinced) it is - I'm sure it seems worse 'cos I'm away... or something... Besides - who knows if I could even DO any good?

Anyway, here's a selection of scenes from the trip home. The last one's a house that - apparently, I hear - was intended for India. But lies in a small town in Co. Limerick. Apparently, the contractor was a spa, and mixed up the plans, and the poor little aul' house that he was MEANT to build is in India somewhere.

Creeping up to the haunted house...


The "entrance" (no pics inside, unfortunately! Too busy freaking each other out - forgot about camera)


Spooky!


Old Schoolfriend/Future Housemate & me!


Out of India

More Fun-in-Sun Summer Tales

I had a mini-holiday in Germany 2 weeks ago, y’know! Did I mention that? I’ve been neglecting this poor bedraggled blog lately…

Wrangled ONE day off, (in between my usual two. 3 in a row = buy plane tickets!) Drinking on a work night out, followed by an all-night bday house party, followed by drunken mess in security, followed by missed flight, followed by drunken tears, followed by bus home, nap, bus back, NEW flight, and… FINALLY arrived! Ich bin ein Dortmunder!

Went to Dortmund to see some friends who are over on Erasmus there. It was fan-freakin’ tastic. I managed to see some sights, visit Dusseldorf and Köln, get myself a Curry Wurst (which I hadn’t had for 6 YEARS… and which didn’t taste as good as I remembered), do some shopping, eat some sushi (with novelty fish-shaped Soy sauce thingie!), fuck-up hair by ill-advisedly spraying deodorant in it (don’t ask), practice my German and re-learn stuff, taste (legal!?!) Poitín in an “Irish” bar (called Limericks!), taste waaatury Guinness in same, stay out all night at a mental metal(ish?) club that didn’t close, link arms doing Jager shots with a beautiful Russian…
All this in a day and a bit. (The final day was spent with a mean hangover-turned-day-long-migraine that was NOT fun to travel with) – and, turned out, the beautiful Russian had wanted to see me! *pout* Shame. Well, he’d’ve had some shock if he did. I was…less that “put together.”

I have another mini-holiday coming up – Bank holiday! That means Sunday and Tuesday off as usual….and… the shop’s closed Monday! HELL yeah.
I’m going to Limerick, lady! And it’s been far too long and I hope you all are ready for a homecoming to be remembered.





I miss my mam and dad most of all. They’re coming to Dublin Monday, ‘though. And the five of us are going to U2 together!
I must insist on more family (that’s ALL five pieces, please) outings/events/things... Since we all split up and went our own ways, we’ve made an effort – but not enough. I miss feeling like a solid family unit…thing.

So far so Good

Well, that's one down.... and, so far, I am very much liking 2009.

Over-did it on New Year's Eve(NYE)... Absynthe shot in Charlie's was a baaaad idea on top of everything else.. but hey! The third time I woke up today I felt great! (we won't speak of the first two times, if you don't mind! Not a pretty sight..)

It was better than last year at the very least, where I stormed out of the nightclub in a huff, wasn't let back in, and got to sit outside and sulk for the rest of the night - nice!

And this year, due to bad timing on my stomach's part, we went for food across the road from the pub, and thought we'd have it eaten and be back in time for the countdown... but no such luck! I clinked cans of coke with one of my best friends over a delicious pizza - not the original plan, but can you imagine a better way to start off 2009?

New Year's night is almost always a let-down, either because everyone's broke, or forgot to finalise plans because they were so wrapped UP in Christmas, or just through bad luck. Originally we were all gonna go to Dingle, then Tipp, and I'm kind of glad that neither of those plans worked out - better to stay close to home and not waste TOO much money on a much over-hyped holiday. Plans that fall-through: the essense of the spirit of New Year's!

I have to admit, New Year's is probably my favourite holiday. It's usually a disappointment, a mess and a disaster, and that next morning is NEVER too pleasant... but isn't it the perfect "f*** you" to 2008?

Not that I didn't have a great year - all things considered, it was ok! But isn't it nice to shake it off and bid it a crass, alcohol-soaked farewell? Greeting the year '09 with bleary eyes that peer out from a tangled heap of drool/make-up-soaked bedsheets?

Romantic, eh? Poignant, maybe? Haha.. well, I think it's perfect. The perfect, disgusting, truly and uniquely human way to celebrate a new start. Every year starts like every NYE; with all those expectations! (Even when Dingle and ALL our plans fell through, my friends were still hopeful -- ADAMANT they'd find someone to kiss at midnight!)

We can reminisce on NY's day, or ANY day of the year. But on NYE we sing of letting go; "Should auld acquaintance be forgot" It's a celebration of shattered expectations, of excess, recklessness, disregard for consequences, and, most of all, of the ability to always start again.

It's a perfect conclusion to '08, and a helluvan introductory paragraph for '09.

And (compared to how I felt the first and second times I woke up this morning) things can only get better!

Bring it on!!

Bring on the New Year, bring on the new semester, bring on the dramas, stress and hectic mayhem of Dublin and all the wonderful things I associate with that freakin' BEAUTIFUL city!! I feel refreshed, revitalised, ready for the New Year - I've had my holiday and Limerick (though cozy at first) has once again grown too small for me and I'm DYING to get back on track!!

So much to do, so much to do! People to see - people I haven't seen in a while especially! Stuff to organise, plans to make, work to do - writing! Must start writing! Must get published! Must start drawing again! And why not? About time I made time for something I enjoy (besides drinking, chain-smoking with sex'n'the city, late-night phone calls, and hazy conversations during those sweet hours that don't really exist in other peoples' lives...)

Bounce back? Understatement!
I'm dying to get back in the ring. I haven't quite been my superwoman-self these last few months; but these exams will be a WALKOVER (I've never failed an exam in my life and I don't plan to start now) and I'll have such a good time doin' work-experience and everything will fall into place. Like it always, always does. I regret nothing I've ever done. At the times it tortured me the most, life has taught me the most.

Most recent lesson? When approaching breaking point - TAKE A BREAK!! Lucky Christmas holidays came when it did is all I'll say.. It hasn't been a rosy holiday.. and it's nowhere near stress-free.. or over.. but it's just what I needed.

Merry Christmas everyone!

It's Christmas morning. We've just torn the presents open and put the turkey in the oven, and have all run off to enjoy our new stuff - my sister is lazing around her room soaking in the fresh sound of her new cd, my dad's flicking through the fascinating, battered old Irish Digest that my sis picked up for him in a second-hand shop (it has the original short story on which The Quiet Man was based!), and I'm going to have a loooong shower with all the smelly new fancy schmancy seaweed-based stuff I got!

I know I was reluctant to get into the Christmas spirit this year, but I can't help feelin' it today. The table's laid with the good cloth and a cracker poised at the head of each placemat, ready to be snapped; the cat is nestled in a bed of crumpled wrapping paper; I've had about 20 cups of tea in as many minutes; the living room smells of tree and last night's fire and chocolate and the new perfume my mum got me that I HAD to test right away; my dad has filled the digital camera with photos of bleary-eyed, oversized kids in our pjamas opening our gifts; everyone's in good humour despite getting little sleep and being woken rudely by my cruel, excited sister setting off that damn dancing/singing turkey mum bought two years ago.

We've grown up, but we're still kids on Christmas morning - up early to dive under the tree, rip open our presents and squeal with delight. It's nice. It's wonderful, actually. It's Christmas. :)

Christmas?

Not this year. Please just go away.

I've always loved Christmas; I'm the one who sings along to all the cheesy songs, requests them in nightclubs, and when they're played as early as November, I'm usually delighted.

I've often started my Christmas shopping in January. Yes! 11 months in advance. I've often bought Christmas presents on holidays over the summer. I think about Christmas all year round. But I haven't done any shopping yet this year and I don't want to.

This year... fuck it. Just... fuck it. I'm not trying to make a statement, or do that annoying "i'm gonna pick a controversial opinion and go with it so i seem cool and unique" bullshit thing... I just don't feel like it this year. I've had enough of it.

It won't be the same. There's someone missing. Missing. Gone. There's a hole in my Christmas. Well, it's always been there, and it's grown from time to time, but it's just recently gotten bigger and I - and my family - can't bear this blow. Enough. I said enough three years ago... It's even MORE "enough" now...

And I am positively dreading next weekend. I'll be finished the semester in college, back at home for the holidays, and counting the days 'till new year.

New start, new year... bring it on... Hopefully it'll bring something good.