Well... I haven't updated in a while but of course it doesn't mean I haven't been up to much. First and foremost, I am sad to report that I was in my first proper bike accident (we won't count that time when I was 14 and I wiped out on a sandy road). I was going straight through an intersection, and was hit by a car coming from the opposite direction who was turning. She didn't see me (remarkably, since I was right in front of her). Here's my poor little bike:

It took two weeks and two x-rays, but they finally decided that my wrist is broken, so I got a huge cast! It's very annoying. I can't do yoga, go running, ride a bike, or do anything sweaty! Here I am looking very tired after getting my cast:

So it's been taking me a long time to do things without the use of my wrist -- but on the up side, my left hand is becoming more dextrous! The accident was a month ago, so I'm mostly over the feeling sorry for myself stage, however I still have at least a month to go with this cast, so I reserve the right to self-pity at a later stage.

I've gone on a couple of outings with friends who were kind enough to cart me out of Dublin to the "mountains" (large hills).

Visitors Centres in Ireland never cease to amuse me -- this nation sure loves its taxidermy. Here's the visitor's centre near Glendalough:

and here I am with a yak:

Not surprisingly, the yak looks better than I do, as I was feeling rather car sick from the journey. I will try to refrain from posting too many nature scenes:

What else? We had a fun time a couple weeks ago at Seomra Spraoi's first ever Karaoke night! I co-MCed as "American Diddly Idle" with "Darby O'Chill" -- it was a St. Patrick's day theme, so I wore my father-in-law's green Ireland sweater vest with an Ireland scarf.

My co-host held up signs to increase audience participation:

(audience:)

(photos by Andrew Flood)

And who can forget last week's big protest against the Household tax? I have a lot to say about it, but unfortunately I don't have the energy to say it all here. It was moving. It was energizing, but it was also sad. It was also funny! As always the signs were clever and heartfelt.

CLICK HERE for photos of the rally

But wait...there's more!

Way back when it opened, we were all wondering what the HELL could be in the National Leprechaun Museum. Every time we walked by, I'd ask, "What's in there??" So when a LivingSocial coupon came up for it, I couldn't resist paying 9 euro for two tickets. Then the challenge was finding someone to go with me! But go we did, and let me tell you, and I don't say this lightly, it was shit. Total shit! Our tour guide/story teller was a nice dude. He was someone I'd totally love to have some pints with. But it isn't his fault that the Leprechaun Museum is 100% a complete waste of time and money. Though I don't regret paying the 9 euro to sate my curiosity.
Here's a pot of "gold":

Here's Una and little Lola sitting on a giant chair (designed to make visitors feel like Leprechauns)

And last but not least, we went to the last ever Miss Alternative Ireland. I have a real knack for ending up with the worst seat in the house. I don't know how I manage it! I'm always in the last row. Despite paying to be in the circle, our seats were not so great. But it was still a good time! I liked the set design this year.

There's more stuff that I've been getting up to, of course, but I'm going to end it there. The weather was glorious for a while, then it went cold again. Hopefully we will have some warmth soon because I have a fantastic new yellow spring jacket that I want to wear!

This past Saturday I attended an Anti-Authoritarian Assembly at Seomra Spraoi. What's that, you ask? Well, it was really a meet-up for local political and social activisty groups to meet, check in with one another, share resources, and have a discussion about various topics.

It was nice to hear from groups that I was less familiar with. Clare from RAG put the whole thing together, and afterwards everyone had a cool togetherness vibe that, to me, felt energizing. I am looking forward to the next one in two months time. I'll post about it here in case anyone is interested in attending!

Happy (belated) New Year!

New Year's Eve at Seomra Spraoi was a good time. I was due to DJ from 9 to 11, so I put together a real quirky set, thinking that no one would be up for dancing quite at that hour. Not that the music wasn't danceable! I'm actually going to share my set list because I had such a good time putting it together. Some of the segue ways were pretty funny:
Essaywhuman?!!!??! by the Roots
Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying by Belle and Sebastian
Sweet Leaf by Black Sabbath
Cat Scratch Fever covered by Fudge Tunnel
New Year's Eve by the Knife
Second Hand News by Fleetwood Mac
Voodoo by Ganglians
C is the Heavenly Option by Heavenly
Iko Iko by the Dixie Cups
I Found that Essence Rare by Gang of Four
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel
Uncontrollable Urge by Devo
New York New York by Nina Hagen
Gronlandic Edit by Of Montreal
Magic by ELO (from the Xanadu soundtrack)
I Don't Mind if You Forget Me by Morrissey
Firework by Kay Perry
Katt Witt 700 Watts by Eero Johannes
Super Disco Breakin' by Beastie Boys
Liar by Dragonette
Let It Whip by Dazz Band
Too Drunk to Fuck covered by Evan Johns and His H-Bombs
Hungry Like the Wolf by Duran Duran
Music Is My Hot Hot Sex by Cansei De Ser Sexy
Birthday Cake by Cibo Matto
Imma Be by Black Eyed Peas
Shoot to Thrill by AC/DC
Alex Chilton by The Replacements
Downtown by Petula Clark
Life with the Lions by Billy Bragg
Sugar Assault Me Now by Pop Lefi
Fantastic Voyage (remake) by Coolio
Mr. Blobby song by Mr. Blobby
U Got the Look by Prince and Sheena Easton
Evil That Men Do by Queen Latifah
A Funny Thing (Jeffrey Jerusalem remix) by Penguin Prison
Dancing Machine by Jackson Five
Clean Up Woman by Betty Wright
I'm the Biz Markie by Biz Markie
Blowin' Bubbles by Call & Response
Vitamin C by Can
If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out by Cat Stevens
at midnight I played the theme song to 2001, which was poorly timed (it didn't crescendo until after midnight). I stole this idea from my friend Dan, who did the same thing on 2001 NYE.
Policy of Truth by Depeche Mode
Happy New Year by ABBA

then things started to get dicey because I had run out of music (my music is on an external Hard Drive so when I DJ I usually only bring the music I plan on playing). But the next DJ had bagged out at the last minute. Things got a little hairy. I played some Ride (Vapour Trail, of course), I started basically DJing with youtube, playing people's requests (Strangely, Chuck Berry and another Morrissey song, which I sneakily played a cover version of). But not everyone was nice about it. Also, it was amazing to me how many people were like, "Yeah, can you play such and such song? So, when are you going to play it, exactly? You know what you should do? You should stop this song that's going now, and just play my song right now." One guy in particular didn't like the pop music I was playing. He said, "Hey! You don't know your audience. I mean, we're an alternative crowd." I wanted to laugh in his face because honestly, has anyone even used the word "alternative" since 1996? I played his "alternative" request, The Passenger by Iggy Pop (and seriously, if you want to get "alternative" I wouldn't consider Iggy Pop, who regularly stars in car insurance advertisements). Then his friend came up to me and was like, "Can I just play a mix off the internet?" I declined and then turned to Mark, pointing to her, saying "Can you believe these assholes?" By this time I'd been DJing for nearly 4 hours. After putting on some Brazilian Girls and some hiphop, someone gave me a "soul" mix CD, which I put on and went to use the bathroom. I was going to call it a night, but seeing as my computer was being used for the music anyways, and I didn't want to leave it unsupervised (all I needed was for someone to spill a beer on it), I got to thinking. When I got back downstairs, only like three people were dancing to the soul music. I thought, you know what? Screw those people who think they're too good for pop music! So I got back to the computer and said, "I'll show them!" I played "Let it Bump" by Missy Elliot, and suddenly the dance floor started to fill up. So I followed that up with "Push it" by Salt 'n Peppa. People were diggin' it, and I was laughing my ass off. I moved next to "Check the Rhime" by Tribe Called Quest, "Pump up the Jam" by Technotronic, "Everybody Dance Now" by C&C Music Factory, "Good Vibrations" by Markie Mark and the funky bunch, "Can't Touch this" by MC Hammer, "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice, "No Scrubs" by TLC, etc. People really were having fun and didn't seem to care if it wasn't "alternative" in any way, shape or form.

Finally, I was rescued by a very nice couple who took over my computer and did an incredible job playing cool songs (they actually did play a fantastic mix of music). I got to dance a little, relax, and talk to people. Then the party was over and I packed up my stuff and we biked home. All in all, as New Year's Eves go, it was very good! (I usually don't enjoy New Years, for whatever reason). I won't say I didn't shed a few tears when I got home, though. 2010 may have been one of the most difficult years of my life, but it's not easy to usher in a new year that I know will be spent without my father. Still, Mark wiped my tears away, we made a little late-night snack, and went to bed feeling positive about the new year to come.

If photos of the party surface, I'll have to post them later!

So much for posting more regularly. Of course I haven't stopped living, I have just stopped blogging so much about it. But I swear that things have calmed down now so I should be able to keep up! Now, I guess I'm a just gonna have to do a bit of a recap of the month...

Well, first of all, the Rag Issue 5 came back from the printer's! We are all very excited about this year's issue, and I can't wait for our launch party, to which all are invited, on November 20th. Here's the poster for it:

So please come on up to Seomra Spraoi, have a little food, be immensely entertained, dance, and then go home with a copy of The Rag#5 for your very own. It will be a ball!

The first couple of weeks of October were pretty intense, putting together the magazine, dotting our Is and crossing our Ts and making sure everything was more or less kosher. I think we have a great range of articles, two of which were written by yours truly! So look out for it, and if you can't make it to the launch party, never fear, the magazine will be in book shops around Dublin and will be available through Distros around the world. I'll keep you posted on that after the 20th!

I have been a blog neglecter. Well, it's been busy times for me lately! For the past couple of months, I was doing a little mini-internship twice a week for the very talented and very nice Dublin fashion designer, Sinead Doyle. It really got me thinking about fashion and what I'd like to work on next, and she also inspired me to do more hand work like beading and embroidery. So we'll see what I come up with! I still have some nice fabrics from my trip to Florida last year. I have been staring at them longingly for over a year, so I'd like to get through my stash.

It's also RAG season again! So we're making the final push to get the magazine out. Things aren't moving as swiftly as they should be, so I foresee a few sleepless nights ahead.

I think I may have written in February about going to Dublin Community Television to do a show called "Looking Left." We were featured as a comparison to the 1970s Dublin feminist magazine "Banshee." The show has finally been released. Admittedly, I don't say a whole lot. But Clare does an amazing job, and I excel at nodding and smiling.

Looking Left - Banshee Journal of Irish Women United from DCTV on Vimeo.

The other day, I felt like making brunch. So I made a ton of food, and was lucky enough to have a few friends come over and help me eat it. It was one of those days where you feel content and loved and all those nice things. But did I take a photo of us eating the yummy food? No. I took a photo of the plate though! Now, it doesn't look very appetizing, but I assure you, it was. Here is home made corn bread, tofu scramble, corned bean hash, and home made soyrizo. Yum!


A friend of ours was in town between traveling, and he put on a little fundraiser in Seomra Spraoi for a social center in Malaysia. I was supposed to DJ, but there wasn't really enough people. So we just put my ipod playlist on the stereo and had a nice relaxed time. But then, someone asked to turn the music off because some musicians wanted to play. It was magical, and such a pleasant surprise. I took two videos. The second one is haunting and maybe even other worldly. Sometimes I get these reminders at how different Ireland is than America, in a good way. You know those moments where you think, "This would *never* happen back home!" And I feel so lucky to have these moments, particularly when I am missing friends and family back in New England.




September 24th was Culture Night, "a night of entertainment, discovery and adventure in Dublin and across 20 towns, cities and counties in Ireland. Arts and cultural organisations open their doors until late with hundreds of free events, tours, talks and performances." I cycled over to IMMA to meet some friends. I wanted to take photos, but my camera is fairly useless at night. Here's one of Clare and her friend, looking festive!

As we were not so excited by the happenings there, a group of us continued on to some other galleries on Franklin Street. And I had a celebrity sighting! Tommy O'Neill, aka Detective John Deegan from Fair City! I was pretty pleased, but I didn't go up to him or anything.

It's hard to convey just how many times you see horses in Dublin. I don't mean the kind of horses like you see in downtown Boston that have fancy carriages that will take you around the Common. I mean just kids on horses, guys in little mini-carriages going down the road by horse. It's no strange sight to see horses used as regular transportation, and they usually go down the roads like cars. But the other morning, I caught a horsedrawn hearse in traffic, and I just had to take a photo. The horses in front of the bus really creates a contrast!


Well hopefully it won't be so long before my next update!

As I was on my futile quest to find a free writing course/workshop/group, I came upon an event that interested me, a reading put on by Some Blind Alleys, "a literary entity that supports new Irish writing through publication, readings, and events, as well as creative writing courses for aspiring and established writers." Unfortunately, their courses are profoundly out of my price range (they are reasonably priced; I am unreasonably poor), but the event was only 5 bucks in, so I figured I should check it out. Of course, I literally only had that much in my pocket, so buying a drink once I got inside was out of the question.

Earlier in the day, I received an unexpected request to DJ at that night's Seomra Spraoi gig, since the scheduled DJ backed out. I said, sure, what the hell, and then realized that it would take a certain amount of prep since my itunes files were all a mess, and not only that all my music is now on an external hard drive, so I'd have to decide on the playlist in advance and burn the songs onto a CD-R in order to bring them with me. And I'd started a sewing project as well that I wanted to finish. AND I wanted to go running. So I sewed for a bit, went for my 5k, came back, showered, then started in on my playlist. But of course that took much, much longer than I wanted it to. So I reached a point where I thought gee, maybe I shouldn't go to this reading after all. But I'd planned it in my mind for weeks, and so at the last second, I ran out the door, not bothering to change out of my scuzzy jeans and t-shirt or put any makeup on. "It's a reading, not a fashion show," I thought. So I hopped on my bike and walked in the door of the Cobalt Cafe only a few minutes late. But when I walked in, I was sort of surprised at how posh everyone looked! I mean, in my mind, I guess I just expected to find grubby people like myself, but I walked into this strange scene of women tottering around on high heeled shoes holding full glasses of red wine, dressed to the nines. My only hope is that they had after-reading plans, to be dressed like that. The men were more mixed, but also looked intimidatingly well dressed. I stood there, reminding myself, "You *do* own nice clothing at home, Angela. It's not as if you put any effort in." But as I stood there, being all grubbed out, and too broke to at least wallow my wardrobe sorrows in a glass of wine, my initial feelings of awkwardness and inadequacy turned to a strange sort of anger. I started to wonder about the gritty process of creating a piece of writing, and how opposite it was of this (apparently) glitzy world of presenting it. The only thing to do, since the event was late in starting, was to inspect everyone else in the room with slight scorn, wondering if I'd want to be the sort of person who got dressed up for a literary event. I think I am, actually. But maybe only if I were the one reading.

So there I was, standing behind the doorway, leaning against the wall like a true wall flower, looking on, wondering if I should leave and finish picking out my DJ set. But then I thought, well, that would be 5 euro wasted, so I'd better stay and at least see something. My obvious bad vibes must have been picked up by the organizer of the event, Greg, who very graciously introduced himself to me. He wanted to know how I'd found out about the event, saying, "We don't get a lot of stragglers to these events." I definitely qualified as a straggler, and I laughed at being outed for my lack of fitting in. My pride prevented me from accepting a drink (or rather the fact that I knew I couldn't buy one back), but it was nice to be reminded that I was actually out amongst fellow human beings.

Now, here's where I am going to be brutally honest, because it's my blog and I see no reason to blow smoke up anyone's ass. Carlo Gébler is a highly accomplished author, obviously, and I'm a nobody. But if he himself asked me what I thought about the piece he read last night, I would have told him that it was a very good first draft. Usually when you see writers read their own work, it goes one of two ways. Either their reading makes you fall in love with the writing, and see something in it you'd never have seen, or it makes you feel uncomfortable and put off. I actually felt that the way he read the piece did the work a disservice, and I had to look down at the floor while he read, because his mannerisms and gesticulations distracted me from listening to the words. It felt a little like when you go to a small hole in the wall comedy club, and well known comedian comes in to test out new jokes. But I'm glad I went. Sometimes it helps to realize that we're all in the same boat, and that just because I haven't been published doesn't mean I'm not talented. I have faith that I have something to say, and I can say it compellingly.

I didn't get to stay to see the other readers, since I had to rush back home and finish preparing my DJ set, then jet over to Seomra Spraoi. The rest of the night was spent playing music, dancing, being plied with wine, and chatting until the wee hours. These days, it's been very difficult navigating the ups and downs of grieving for the loss of my father, so these full days remind me that there are lovely things in life to celebrate.

Well, it seems I have another DJ gig coming up! Boy, if only these were paying gigs, but nevertheless it's always GREAT FUN to DJ at Seomra Spraoi. And it's my friend Ariel's birthday, so we will have something to celebrate. She designed the poster, which I think is just lovely:


So if you're in Dublin, you should come and get yer dance on! B.Y.O.B.

Hey! Me again! I'm DJing again tonight at Seomra Spraoi. Hopefully people won't all leave after the bands play like the last time I DJed. So I thought I'd plug it on here in case anyone actually reads this thing.


The bands are
Attention Bebe
and
Mescalito

It's BYOB, and it's a suggested donation of 5 euro for unwaged, and 10 if you are a working person. A cheap night out for live music and fun dancy times!

Oh, and there'll be cake!

Location: Seomra Spraoi, 10 Belvidere Court, off Gardiner St. (www.seomraspraoi.org)

AND........while I'm at it I may as well tell you about the Valentine's Day gig happening next Saturday. The poster was designed by yours truly. I'm not DJing this one, but Princess 4Q is a definite crowd pleaser!

I just realized that I never blogged about Halloween! I guess it's a bit late, but better than never! Mark and I went to a Zombie party at Seomra Spraoi. Boy, zombie costumes are easy to get together. First off, for my outfit I used clothing that Mark's mom had given me. (I think she thinks I don't dress girly enough!) And then for Mark's outfit we went to "the Hill" aka an outdoor flea market area where he picked up a shirt and some jeans for a couple of bucks. Then we shredded them all up and I used red watercolors that I had in my art supplies for blood, some talcum powder, and eyeshadow. The effect was nice! Though I'm only going to post small versions of the photos:


The party was a whole lot of fun, and we danced a bit, which is always good. But it's funny, I've seen hundreds of photos from the party, and in those, not one is of me and/or Mark! Oh well!

Rag are hosting a film screening and discussion in Seomra Spraoi on October 17th, at 8pm.


Two film makers are on tour with films they have made on the subject of abortion. The first one is called The Coat Hanger Project http://www.thecoathangerproject.com/
and the second is Abortion Democracy: Poland/South Africa http://www.abortion-democracy.de/
The film makers will be there to talk about the films so there should be some great discussion afterward.

Saturday Mark was scheduled to work at the Dublin Food Coop for a few hours, so I spent some time trying to finish that damned silk dress that has been hanging over my head. But then after a while I had the brilliant idea that since I had to bike to our evening plans and couldn't wear the long dress I'd had planned, that I should make myself a quick little number, ala Cinderella. So I set to work with a cowl-neck top pattern that I have been wanting to make as a dress. I sped along, but alas, I only got about 3/4 of the way through the dress before I had to jump in the shower in order to leave and meet Mark. We had tickets to see A Certain Ratio at The Button Factory. So I put together a bike-ready ensemble and ran out the door.

The show was enjoyable, though not so well attended. When we first walked in, we were among only a handful of people there. The opening band was not unpleasant -- they weren't horrible, but they didn't blow me away either. Then again, I'm trying to remember the last time a band or musician blew me away...hmmm. We realized, when A Certain Ratio hit the stage, that we'd been sitting next to two of the band members (the female singer and the guitarist). They put on a good show:




Then we headed over to Seomra Spraoi for the Queer Spraoi Ball, but sadly by then it was already midnight, and Seomra Spraoi had turned into a pumpkin and they weren't letting anyone else in, which actually was understandable since the event was to end at one am. So as a consolation prize, I agreed to grab "just one drink" at Fibber Magees. We biked back towards town and popped in.

I don't really mind the place so much, but when you walk in, you do get smacked in the face with the smell of hairspray and farts. That's really the best way to describe it. It's a strange melange of folks who congregate there -- from normy dudes to metalheads to goth chicks to what Mark would describe as "hipsters" -- and there are always really horrendously bad patent leather garments (usually boots you'd imagine a stripper would wear or a corset), bad dreadlocks, 90s-style manic panic hair, and someone asleep. On this night, the place was particularly trashed because there had been a show, so there was broken glass all over the floor. But still, even though it sounds like I'm cutting down the place, I actually don't mind it there. Good people watching, as you can imagine. And if you're not in the mood to talk, you can watch people play pool. Or you can place bets on who is going to fall asleep next.

Yesterday I volunteered for most of the day at Seomra Spraoi in the kitchen for the cafe that was open from 3 to 5. This happens every Sunday, and if you haven't been and you live in Dublin, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT. There's a suggested donation, which is always very, very reasonable (I think yesterday it was 4 euro), and you get to stuff your face with the most delicious vegan food. We made a lovely eggplant,zucchini, lentil dish with brown rice, served with a mixed lettuce salad and a cucumber mint salad, multi-grain bread, and then this amazing dessert topped with this toffee sauce. Yum yum yummmm.

Spending the day there, I was able to speak with some new people I'd never met before, as well as those I had, and all in all keep working on establishing ties in my community here. In particular I spoke with a woman who happens to be getting her PhD at Mark's school -- not in the same department, but in a kinda-sorta related one, and I think they would probably have some things to talk about if they met, so I hope to see her again around town.

Even though I was totally beat, I relaxed for a couple of hours at home and then Mark and I headed over to Cabra to spend time at the pub with his parents and uncle. They were all very lively and had the gift of gab last night! But by some grace, I mustered up the energy to be attentive and enjoy every second of the story telling without yawning once. Mark very happily reported his good marks, and they seemed quietly proud of his work. I always enjoy going up to see them because it reminds me of why I am here, because sometimes I do get down in the dumps and even a little homesick. But being with Mark's family makes me feel like I have family here, even if it's by marriage. I'm starting to feel a sense of belonging, anyways, if only the beginning of that emotion. And I suppose that's the first step in shirking the label of stranger.

Tuesday may be a little late for a weekend re-cap, but oh well! Here it is.

So I've started socializing, just a little, and it feels good. Interacting with humans: good. On Monday I went over to Seomra Spraoi to help them set up their new space, which is less than a ten minute bike ride from our apartment. I was a little surprised at how uh...unfinished it was! A bathroom was being constructed, and a kitchen area. The floors are cement, and the place was more or less in disarray. I rolled up my sleeves, and was set to work planing and sanding the corners of the posts around the kitchen so they'd be nice and round and smooth to avoid injury. An Italian woman, Sabrina, came by, and she and I worked together. We didnt' talk a whole lot, because the planing and the sanding was quite loud, and we had dust masks on. But we made some conversation. People stopped in and out to help and do other tasks, and it was just nice to be out doing something among people. My arms started to ache, and my hands and feet were freezing cold (there was no heat in there and the door was wide open) but I stayed until the job was nearly done. Sabrina and this other guy, Mark, talked to me about how hard it's been for people to find work of any kind. I felt sort of comforted that it's not just me having a hard time with it. After a few hours of work, when I felt that my poor post-surgery shoulder had had enough, I went home covered in saw dust and quite satisfied with myself.

On Wednesday I met a girl named Lisa, a friend of an acquaintance, for tea at Bewley's on Grafton Street. I was curious about Bewley's because I have sort of an "in" for working there, if I should decide to take it, because the catering company I worked for last year is owned by Bewley's. I just really didn't enjoy food service that much is all. But aside from that I was concerned because their uniform seems to be a short sleeved black t-shirt, and it's been my observation that tattoos are really not socially acceptable here in Ireland. And, well, there's no way around that except for a long-sleeved shirt for me. So I asked one of the waitresses about the uniform, and it seems like they might be flexible. But man I really don't want to degrade myself to working at Bewley's. Not with 7 years of college and all the work that I've done to get myself out of the working class. I don't mind working with my hands, I don't mind manual labor, but the service industry fills me with rage at this point, and the eras of my life when I've had to do it have been really miserable in a lot of ways (though I worked with a lot of great people while catering!) So we'll see. I'm just going to bear it in mind as a possibility, but hope that it doesn't come to that.

Anyways, Lisa was a real peach, and we had a very pleasant tea, and I look forward to hanging out with her again -- we talked about the fact that our respective partners don't enjoy girly things so girly movies and shopping and such will be in order. And she seems to be a music fan, so maybe we'll go to shows together as well. She lives in Smithfield, and Mark likes that part of town, so maybe we can go have some drinks as well. I think it will be good. And we have plans to go to the Dublin Co-op Flea Market on Saturday, which I am really excited about!

Friday I had a job interview, and it was for a job that I might have wanted to do -- a machinist (that's sewing machine)/Pattern Maker/Fashion Designer job. It was an ad I answered on Gumtree, and I had received a call on Sunday or Monday asking if I'd come in for an interview up in Swords. As long as I could get there by bus, I didn't care where it was! As it happens, the 41C to Swords swings right near the house. It was about a 35 minute ride, and a little stressful because her only directions were that it was in a community center next to a place called the Millenium Pub. The funny thing about Ireland is that everyone seems to give out directions based on where the pubs are. And I mean everyone. I had gone online and tried to find directions as best I could, but when you're on the bus and you're in a foreign place, and (as it turns out) the pub you're looking for doesn't exist, it gets a little hairy. I asked the bus driver for my destination about five minutes after we'd passed it, so I got off and hiked back. No big whoop. But when I got to the place, all I found was another woman waiting to be interviewed. She said she'd been waiting 45 minutes for her 3:15 appointment. She'd tried to call, but the phone was clearly off. We continued to wait, hoping for a break.

We waited another ten minutes or so, and then finally a middle aged woman with short, messy burgundy hair, missing teeth, and a baby stroller, walked in and told us that Jeanne, the interviewer, had been unexpectedly called away by a client emergency -- something to do with one of their biggest clients, so obviously it had to be attended to immediately, she sent her apologies, but we could leave our CVs and she would be in touch. I left my CV along with a CD on which I had burned a .pdf of my Portfolio. Then the woman and I walked over to the bus stop together to catch the bus back to Dublin.

She was from Germany, and seemed to be in her early to mid-twenties. I sadly didn't catch her name, but we made very nice conversation on the journey back to town, and I have to admit that I was happy again to be interacting with someone, and hearing stories of people's experiences. She told me about her Irish friends who are getting laid off, and how hard it has been for many people. I really feel like one issue making it difficult for me at the moment in finding work is my nationality. If I'm up for a job against Irish nationals, there's just no way, in this economic climate, that I'm going to be considered. People are very sensitive about non-nationals coming in and taking up Irish jobs. So I need to apply for jobs where my education and experience are a real asset and make me uniquely qualified. This is a challenge, but not impossible, since I do (finally!) have a decent CV.

When I got home, I was pretty grumpy and forgot all about the show at Seomra Spraoi, which would have been a fun time. Instead, I sulked at home all night. On Saturday I headed over to Seomra Spraoi to help cook for the opening weekend event. I was helping Damo, a very nice guy I'd met on Monday. The place looked much improved! The bathroom was finished, and the posts I'd worked on were finished in linseed oil. People were gardening out back, and there was semblance of order in the place with a bookshelf and a little 'zine library area. I was commissioned to make some signs, drank some delicious coffee, and ate Damo's perfectly spiced soup and salad. I sat with some really friendly girls -- one from California, and another from Galway. But once lunch was over I decided to go home for a bit.

I convinced Mark to finally visit Seomra Spraoi for their "Fancy Dress Party" event, and I'm so glad I did! People were dressed festively indeed, though we weren't out of place in our jeans. Even some of the men were in their fancy party dresses, which I loved. That's true commitment! There was a party game going on in the center of the main room -- musical chairs -- in preparation for a slapdash "makeover" featuring secret identity designers and rules that I couldn't follow, but it looked like great fun. I enjoyed watching it, because it was so unlike anything I'd ever seen back home. We don't have party games; we stand around lamely with our drinks in our hands and try to look like as indifferent as possible! I loved the spectacle of a game in the middle of the room with people drinking all around, and music, and people dressed up in crazy outfits, and pots of paint on a table for face painting, and funny hats, and a young girl as the MC who would occasionally break into Irish, even if most of the people didn't understand her.

We decided to move on, however, probably just as the night was gearing up there, and we headed over to Fibber Magee's, Mark's favorite local joint. It's where he metal dudes go. The first time he told me the name I started laughing because it sounds like a joke. Like, seriously? Fibber Magee's? But we headed over there for a couple of drinks. On our way out, we were flagged down by a group of people looking for Seomra Spraoi, and it was a great coincidence that we were coming from there, so it felt good that we could give good directions. I felt a little regretful that we were leaving, but felt confident we would have a good time at our next two destinations. For me it's a people watching experience more than anything. Just as we were getting our first pint, a band was going on. Their first song was actually quite good, but then the second one was sort of meh, so we went back into the bar. We had a nice chit chat and of course critiqued all the outfits in the room (and believe me, there is always a lot to critique when PVC is involved), and then moved on to our third destination.

It was a bit of a disappointment, because Mark had seen an online flier that said that it was free admission to the evening's Goth night at Peadar Karney's, but apparently it was at the door man's discretion, and I think that we weren't dressed festively enough for him (ie we don't dress one bit gothy) so he charged us each 6 euro at the door, which was kind of bullshit. But, whatever, he had some lame excuse and we didn't argue. But admitedly the music was of a much more industrial bent than the last time we were there, and there wasn't one song that inspired us to dance. And to be honest, hardly anyone else wanted to dance either. There were a few "hits" that got people up there, but it just was not my thing -- a lot of new stuff that I didn't know and I didn't get into. I guess I can't get into new goth, especially if it has an industrial tinge to it. And I remember when "goth" meant something entirely different anyways. But I digress...

However I was still quite satisfied with our evening. We stopped into our favorite kebab shop for late-night falafel and tahini fries, and had a nice bike race home (I won). I think I crawled into bed finally sometime after 4:30.

You're probably wondering when will this end....

Sunday, when we woke up, it was time for more Seomra Spraoi! Mark and I headed over there for a scrumptious vegan meal. Holy moly it was so good I couldn't get over it. There were like four different dishes, and each was a culinary experience. My mouth is watering just remembering the food. After we ate, there was a gathering of about 30 people and a person from each of the group that use the Seomra Spraoi space gave a 3-minute talk about their group and its aims. There are lots of really interesting things happening there -- people doing good work. Good, but hard, and probably discouraging at times. I definitely want to get involved with some of them though, and will keep my eyes open for happenings. Maybe I can be active here in Dublin in ways I never got off my duff in Boston.

Sunday night we went to the pub to meet Mark's parents, and had a great time as usual. They are just so very pleasant. Even if I am in a sour mood before we go see them, they always manage to make me laugh.

Jeez. Well I have more I could say, but I have to do something with my day besides write in this here blog. People often ask what it's "like" here. I'm not sure I'm describing it adequately. But I guess over time I'm hoping it will start to become cumulative.

And finally... Happy Birthday to my dear, beloved Father. I miss you always and think of you every day, constantly! I am so lucky to have been raised by such a caring, intelligent, funny, unique person. There's no one in the world like you, and you inspire me always to push myself and be myself, and to be proud, and also, to be a little ballsy too. ;)

Mark brought a flier home from the Dublin food co-op yesterday for a reading at this place called Seomra Spraoi so I looked it up. It's actually not far from our apartment, and it reminds me of sort of a Lucy Parsons Center-type space that could be a nice thing to be involved in.

From their website: "Seomra Spraoi is an autonomous social centre in Dublin city centre. It is run by a non-hierarchical collective on a not-for-profit basis. It hosts workshops, political meetings, film screenings and lots more. The centre seeks to be a hub of positive resistance, in a city and society where public spaces have been eaten away by consumerism, property speculation and the culture of the car."

I'd like to go to the film they are showing on Tuesday, Manufactured Landscapes. If nothing else, it'll get me out of the house.