Skin Art

Ouch. I have a small, sore spot just inside my wrist.

Why's that, you ask?

Well, I have a new tattoo! It's going to be a permanent reminder of my time in Dublin. It's not a shamrock or anothing hokey like that but, as promised, a very small, very discreet vampire bat in homage to one of my all-time favourite Dublin writers, Bram Stoker.

It was hard to choose a tattoo parlour as there are quite a few places but I got some personal recommendations and was tattooed by a nice but rather quiet guy from Poland. I am so happy! He told me that more than half his customers are tourists and other visitors to Dublin and showed me his portfolio which was amazing -- although I would balk at getting my whole back done.

My scholarship money has arrived for the beginning of term, and while you might think that a tattoo is not the best way to spend scholarship money, A) It wasn't that expensive and B) The theme is definitely related to my main literary interest, which is Gothic novels of the nineteenth century.

I also need some clothes. The weather is amazingly nice but there's an autumnal nip in the air and I can feel that it's gonna start getting chilly in the evenings soon.

Where would I LIKE to shop? Well, there's this AMAZING joint, Retro, in George's Street Arcade. It's so cool, and the clothes are so fabulous. But...well, I can't afford them. Maybe if I'm good, for Christmas, or maybe I'll get a part-time job or maybe...

Anyway, where will I ACTUALLY shop? I've found out that most Irish students get their rags in Penneys, which is not related to JC Penneys, because it is cheap'n'cheerful. So the plan is to buy everything there for as little as possible and then try to vamp things up with a few artfully arranged bits and pieces.

I guess I should be talking about my college courses, but I'll save those for another time