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

Ireland Day's 28/29 - Busy busy

OK! I did not mean to skip two whole days. Holy cow. I've been going non-stop though! Wednesday was Dave's birthday, so after work I went home and ate then jetted back into town with Catherine to meet up with everyone. The Irish really know how to throw a birthday party! I didn't want to miss it. I had a lot of fun at Owen's two weeks ago as well! Seeing as I had (still have) a head cold it probably wasn't the best idea, but I am choosing to live it up. Either way, everyone was up late and I got home around 2 and just crashed. Suffice it to say, yesterday I did not feel good at all. Combining a head cold with a hangover is something I'd rather not ever repeat. I think some of the guys were much worse off though. I've never heard of this game, but they call it Edward Buckfast Hands. I guess we have it at home, but I wasn't aware. Either way, the person in question has a bottle of Buckfast (we've established how I feel about that stuff) taped to each hand and they can't remove the bottles until they're both empty. No thank you!

I was the taper, not the drinker! I had whiskey for my throat xD I was sipping it straight for a while then decided to add a little coke. I didn't want too much because the carbonation just irritates a raw throat! So I sat around enjoying the use of my hands while Catherine, Maisa, Roger, Dave, Eoin and Geraldine punished themselves for some unknown sin. I have it on good authority that all the guys (they were drinking Buckfast, the girls opted for something less horrific) were in bad shape the next day :P

Not that I'm one to talk, I felt awful. I had a hard time sleeping consistently because of my throat and the light coming in through the shades was so bright! I loafed in bed until 1 pm, struggling to gain the energy to get in the shower. I felt better after that but I was still in some serious need of medicine. I left my stuff at Geraldine's place, so I had to walk to the store and buy more! I can't believe I managed it. The cold medicine here is extremely potent. It must be the stuff they give to famous people. Half an hour after taking it it's as though I'm a different person. Just unbelievable. It's not so bad that they don't have Nyquil/Dayquil here, because this stuff is better!

By the time I was medicated and sitting upright, Louise was in town! She is the fabulous woman that lives in Ireland and works with International Internships to place students here. She's our contact of support and lifeline! She is also very awesome. She was swinging by to catch up with the three of us and to take video testimonials regarding how our internships are going. I feel knowing I'm helping potential students to choose this company. There weren't nearly enough testimonials on their website when I started this process. That all ended up taking longer than I thought, but that's OK! It was nice to talk with her and give my two cents about the company :D

After THAT, I had plans to watch movies and eat foood with friends and that went late. See? Non-stop! I woke up this morning and realized two things: One, that I hadn't blogged in two days and TWO, that I didn't take a photo yesterday D: D: D: Shame shame shame. Oh well, I will forge ahead and try not to let that happen again!

I'm on work for the next five days while Brad is out on vacation. Holding down the fort with pride over here! There are some shoots happening this weekend too. Send me your positive energy so I don't forget anything important! :D

p.s. Catherine leaves for home tomorrow morning! She is super awesome and I am going to miss her! Hopefully the three of us can hang out a bit tonight? I have to do laundry, but that won't take me too long. Hanging the wet clothes is the most time-consuming part!

-MJ