i went to spain and it rained

it's not supposed to rain here.

a picnic of the electric variety

Leaving

I've finally moved out of the Massage Centre. Finish work in a few weeks, then head to Barcelona to meet up with Mum and Jambo. When I get back from that trip I'll be living in Dublin. Again.

Pictures below: Massage Centre logo, me working hard, me with crazy ex-neighbour Anne-Marie.

sweden

22

spent my birthday this year in sweden. camped near a small town called jönköping. woods, lakes, wasps. went for a swim on the last day, was quite nippy.

heading to a music festival in a couple of days for more camping.

what a boring post.

Rebels

as always, amazing camera work by me. i really need to learn how to hold a camera still.

Galway Arts Festival

The Galway International Arts Festival was on recently. Lots of music, theatre, art & street performance. Photos below are of a street performance called 'Rebels'. Thought you might like these dad.

Photos

Photos below from top are:

My street flooded during a storm a couple of weeks ago

Splashing in the puddles during an Amnesty International parade through Shop St. Of course it rained.

George Bush in the Amnesty parade.

Seagulls. You probably figured that one out.

View from the quays.

Recent photos

Nothing very exciting

Ahm....

Not much happening lately. Ye olde jobbe (olde englishe for 'my job') is going well. I'm being very multilingual lately. When in a Spanish mood, I add 'el' to the beginning of everything, and 'o' to the end. For example: Hola mes amigos, what's the el craic-o? Very Spanish sounding, no?

That's right, no it's not Emma.

Also a bit of Irish: Ta se agas Gaillimh telefish an lar bothar.
Translation: He is and Galway television city centre road.

So.. that's all for today.

my cookie is bigger than your cookie

leave a comment!

it's nice to get a bit of dialogue happening.

i must have been a tv chef in a former life

made amazing vegan sausage rolls with sean on saturday night.

main ingredients were nuts & breadcrumbs, celery, onion & herbs. yumbo. cheated by using shop bought pastry, but still very impressed with myself.

when buying ingredients for delicious meal, passed an older irish woman who addressed the empty space beside her as she walked "hiya maureen, howsit going?"

note to self: must leave ireland before going crazy. this place will do that to a person.

i am no longer an illegal alien

well, i never was, but i would've been in a month or so if i didn't get a new work authorisation. not that i would've stayed illegally of course. i just mean that theoretically if i didn't get a new authorisation, and theoretically decided to stay anyway, i would've been an illegal alien. but i found out just now that i got my new work permit.. hooray!

thanks to chris xx.

RADIOHEAD

went to dublin friday for the radiohead concert at malahide castle. was brilliant. why don't they have outdoor gigs at castles in australia???? it's a much cooler vibe than some grim indoor stadium or something.

it rained just enough at the beginning of the show to produce two amazing rainbows, as illustrated below.

note my uncontainable glee at being at radiohead concert.

i wish i was independently wealthy

i dislike work. i do. really.

i mean.. i don't mind working.. i just mind that most jobs available to 'unskilled' persons are boring. really, truly, mind-numblingly boring.

yes, i've started at the new job. the people are lovely, but one more time, it's BORING.

on a happier note, camped at a friends place out of town on saturday night. she has a trampoline! oh, the forgotten joy of bouncing! had a campfire, cooked food and so on. went swimming at lough corrib on sunday, but got rained out after an hour or so.

good vibrations

everything is looking up.
i start my new job on tuesday,
radiohead is next friday,
my skating seems to be improving even when i don't practise!
starting to get a little involved with amnesty international-
organising a big event for 26 june,
international day in support of victims of torture.
sounds grim, but it's going to be a fun day of
music
food
poetry
art

found a job

all is well.

cross your fingers for me

did an interview this morning and was told that i've probably got the job.. assistant manager just has to call the store manager who's on holiday to confirm. will hear early next week. only 16 hours per week, but hoping if it works out that i'll get overtime sometimes, and maybe pick up a weekend job on top.

here are some photos from last week:


believe it or not this is in ireland



dogface killer the dog


beach party

money must be funny in a rich mans world

made another €40 last night working on the door at a club. probably just a once off though. unfortunately.

small successes

made €58 and €20 on thursday and friday selling badges on the street. not bad, but not a saveable sort of income. i could probably live off it as long as i never wanted to leave galway.
the job hunt continues. did four interviews this week, yet to hear back from any. another interview on tuesday. all for retail. all went well enough.. hopefully will hear back from one early next week so i can start the cashola rolling in.

put money from badges aside to pay rent, so food situation continues as before. avocado is now gone, only a few slices of bread remain. still have some root vegetables. ate the tortillas.

destitution

my money continues to dwindle. i sat on the high street last friday afternoon with some badges and made €17. sean made me some bread. i'm almost out of tahini, but i still have half an avocado and a jar of peanut butter. used the last of my flour, sugar etc to make ginger bread. see photo below of gingerbread owl sitting in a tree. other photos are: my entire fortune in change; almost empty food shelf; almost empty fridge shelf.

had an interview for office temping this morning, so i showered for the first time in days (bodywash is now to be used very sparingly) and ate a half a piece of toast so that my stomach grumbling wouldn't be audible. despite my incredible typing speed, the interview wasn't promising. another interview at 3pm today at penney's (something like kmart). also got another call yesterday for an interview on thursday for an assistant manager position in a discount retail store. will report on results.

considering selling radiohead ticket now as a last resort to stay alive.

unemployment

the job hunt is depressing.
or rather,
having no money is depressing.
my living conditions are slowly deteriorating:
as i run out of things, i can no longer replace them...
no more hair conditioner, that's a luxury
no more soy cheese, just plain taties for me
running out of cooking oil
have begun to pick herbs from public parks and other people's gardens
may soon resort to table and dumpster diving for food
or sneaking into hostels for the 'community food' that past guests have left behind

will report again soon.

somewhere out near barna? bad light for photos

Rooftops, beaches

Back to Galway and the weather is fine. Enjoying unemployment just a little too much. I'm a little stressed about the money situation, but I'm sure things will work out soon. Just moved into a new room in my house. I was previously in the attic (4th floor), am now in the only bedroom on the 2nd floor. It's also the largest bedroom, and the only one with a fireplace. Gorgeous, lovely etc. I loved my attic room, but got sick of climbing a dodgy ladder all the time. Stuck it out for six months, enjoyed the whole starving-artist-living-in-an-attic romance, am now glad to have a normal door to walk through.

Planning on buying a bicycle soon. I'd like to work somewhere just outside the city, somewhere I can cycle to. While in the states I realised how unfit I've become. Yarr.

Life is grand.

It's amazing to watch Galway change as the weather does. The city feels mopey, cold and unhappy in the winter, but any day the sun is out, people are out in hoardes. Outside tables at restaurants and pubs are crowded, as are Eyre Square, and the Spanish Arch. Constant invitations to beach & rooftop parties, barbecues.

San Francisco

Street art, Half Moon Bay, strange ingredients (check the last ingredient).

sedona

had fun in sedona with jenna. now in san francisco.

pictures from sedona & surrounding area: