Ireland Day 78/79/80 -

Apparently I have a bit of back tracking to do.

Thursday was Arthur Guinness day. A few friends and myself purchased tickets to go to the concert at the docks and it was a very nice time. The celebration started at 5:45 so I jetted over directly after work. I met up with Estella and Roger outside of the entrance and hid my naggin in my coat in preparation.

We spent the first bit of the concert sitting at a table and chatting, which was very nice. We were far enough away from the state that we could hear the music but it wasn't so loud that we couldn't talk to one another. At 17:59 the speaker on the stage led a 'world wide' toast "To Arthur", and everyone drank a Guinness. We didn't though. I didn't actually have any on Thursday, although I meant to.

After a while we were joined by Dave and then Paul! Roger took my wrist band and let in Eoin and Caitriona too. Glad I could help! :D

Estella and I had a nice little excursion outside of the concert while in pursuit of a bathroom and more naggins. She left for London today for college (sad!), so I'm really happy that I got to spend some time with her right before she left!

The main act of the Galway Guinness celebration was David Gray. As it turns out, I am familiar with his music. I didn't realize this. He's pretty great! And very good live.

Something very exciting happened during his set: I heard a song that I have had in my head for the past six years. I had never known the name of the song or who sung it. I saw it on a movie or a tv show years ago and every so often it pops into my head accompanied by the visual from the movie/tv show and it always drove me nuts that I didn't know who it was!



I was elated. Still am, really.

Once the concert was over we wandered to McSwiggans. I believe that's how it's spelled. We unwound there for a bit and then all went our separate ways. Caitriona and I shared a cab together, that was a first! :D

As for Friday?

Well, two naggins, a concert, a bag of popcorn and 2 am later, I was not on top of my game. Friday was rough. I ate non-stop horrible food and it was delicious every time. Thinking about it now I'm a little disgusted, but you gotta do what you gotta do!

I had a pleasant surprise while I sat drooling at the computer though: Steve dropped in to say hi! He talked to me a bit out his and Caitriona's trip to North Carolina. They had just returned the day before.

We talked about Wal Mart and Target, mostly. It was fun! Sounds as though they had a great time, so that's good. In my mind I kept thinking, "North Carolina? Hm!" But they went to kayak and visit one of Steve's relatives, so they certainly had more reasons to go there than I do.

My day was pleasantly wrapped up with Geraldine and Owen! I stopped into her work to say hi and ended up sticking around until closing. Unexpected, but a good decision I think. Geraldine, her friend/co-worker Keira and myself wandered to Geraldine's place. But not before stopping for wine and McDonaghs chips!

I really wanted pizza, so I awkwardly asked if it would be awkward if I ordered pizza to her home. Geraldine looked at me like I was crazy and laughed and told me it was perfectly OK that I did that. Yay!

We watched TV and chatted and it was a very nice evening of enjoying company. As the night wore on we were visited by Roger, Eoin, Tara, Paul and Liz. I don't know Liz super well (met her a few times) but she seems nice!

I caught the 11:15 bus and then went to bed, completely neglecting the fact that I desperately needed to do laundry.

And now we are caught up to today.

Today has been fine. Very low-key.

Work was busy with walk-ins and difficult situations.

I delightedly devoured a large portion of mashed potatoes at Lynch's Cafe.

When ordering I asked the man serving the food, "Would it be possible to get two scoops of mashed potatoes?" because normally you just get two, and he smiled and said, "Anything is possible." which made me smile super huge and had me in a good mood throughout the remainder of my meal.

Sometimes I forget how powerful an impact a stranger can have. In a positive way. I am all too familiar with how negatively a stranger can impact me. I'd like to work on that.

I finally did laundry tonight, which is good because I am out of socks. I don't want to talk about it.

Most of my evening has been spent skyping with Cass and mom. I am making some serious changes in my life, my extended stay in Ireland next year is ever closer and real. It has just helped remind me that I'm going to be close with them both even though it will be hard.

I am going to get what I want because it's all worth it and I'm willing to work at it.

:)

Oh, and apparently I'm taking some sort of photo hiatus. No photo for the past two days and I'm not going to take one tonight. No real reason, I'm just not going to.

Tomorrow, perhaps?

-Miranda

Ireland Day 61 - Glorious Sunset

Once again, allow me to gush about the amazing quality of light that happens during sunset here. It hypnotizes me. I was doing quite a few things on my computer when I looked out the window and saw a small patch of light illuminating a row of windows on a house across the street. I jumped up, grabbed my camera and threw open the window, proceeding to snap away. It feels a little cheap to use it at my 365 because I took a very similar photo not too long ago. This one is encapsulating the light, whereas the last ones were black and white. So I think it'll be different enough.

The chunk of light that served as my inspiration.

To my extreme delight, the sky slowly changed while I was focused on the windows. Where it was a bland patch of clouds before, with the peek-a-boo happening on the windows, the clouds shifted and the light broke out and the whole sky lit up in just astonishing pastels and swirls. My attention sufficiently diverted, many photos of the clouds/sky were taken.

Usually when I see a fantastic sky I am out of luck because by the time I get my camera ready the light or clouds have shifted and it is no longer interesting. Such a stroke of luck this evening.

Currently I am eating dinner. Tonight? Chicken burger and fries. I'm branching out! I mean, this is something I normally eat but not something I've made for myself here yet. While walking through the grocery store today I stopped and went "Hey I can make chicken burgers", so I set out to find them. That was a roaring success, but then the chip aisle ruined everything, again. Why oh why can't Joyce's just keep a regular supply of chips? There are different brands every time I'm in there! Oh, and by the way, what is with all of the cheese flavored chips here? I love cheese but not in my chips >:O I ended up buying a Cheddar and Sour Cream flavor. It's not very good. They also have a (very popular and common) Cheese and Onion. But no Sour Cream & Onion. What?? They have Doritos, but only in 10 packs of snack bags, and even then only Nacho Cheese flavor, not Cool Ranch. Bums me out.

I had a really nice talk with Louise today (she works for International Internships, she's the company contact for Ireland). I gave her a very thorough rundown of my goings-on as of late and we talked more about the visa that I'll be applying for once I return State side. She gave me further reassurances that there's nothing to worry about, just a matter of getting it started! A nice thing to hear. We spoke a bit about jobs and places to live. I'd love to live closer to the city center next time and she said that won't be an issue. I can most likely live in Knocknacarra Park again if I can't find anything in the city, so there's no worry! If I can't find anything related to photography for a job then I can waitress :O So getting a job shouldn't be a huge issue either. Of course I would prefer to work in photography, we shall see. To end this paragraph I will say that Louise is so. awesome.

Today has been pretty nice. I slept in as much as I could and then just laid in bed for a long time while watching Friends. That was nice. I had a few things to catch up on here at the house including cleaning my room and doing some laundry. I was very leisurely about getting ready and treated myself to a decent ,if polish-less, manicure! haha The suspicious bruise on my shin is turning a great green color, I spent a lot of time inspecting it. That and my tattoo. It has healed nicely! Always a good thing. I also made my bed and sewed a button back onto a shirt and went to the grocery store. Productivity! I should have saved something for tomorrow heh xD

Actually I'll have plenty to do tomorrow. My conversation with Louise was very good in reminding me of things that I want/need to take care of. It has been suggested to me by a few people that I should create an etsy shop and sell my photos. I kept saying I would start it later, later, after graduation, later, after I get back from Ireland, etc etc. Well, I decided it wouldn't hurt to create the shop and start doing research regarding prices, structure and printers in the area in Washington. I can also start to sort out which photos I'd like to put up. That way once I return I can start uploading and telling people. "A good way to save money for Ireland", Louise said. And she is right (so long as it works). I can continue to do it once I return to Ireland as well, so long as I get a smooth system running! I'm excited :)

I think tomorrow I'm going to walk to Salthill. There are a few places around there, including the shop that Brad uses for printing, that I want to locate. The forecast says rain, but it might not! I'll walk the Prom again and actually remember to kick the wall this time (I hope!!). If it rains it had better pour, that way I can get some angry ocean photos.

I can't decide which one I like best so I'm posting all of my favorites. I have two more, so they're just tacked on at the end here. The last one is my 365 for today.

Ta da!

-MJ