Best day of the year

I can't believe it's here already! Tomorrow is Bloomsday, best day, IMHO, of the calendar in Dublin -- a day that celebrates James Joyce, literature in general, food and drink. Last year was my first. I LOVE it.

So you've never read Joyce's Ulysses, this is a good time to start. The festival kicks off early tomorrow and I think anyone can attend the events -- only the hardliners do the whole thing in nineteenth century costume. Dublin events are good at catering to a range of tastes in general, and that's certainly the case here. While most of us might find the really detailed lectures too much, there are outdoors events in Temple Bar.

Speaking of revelry, I got up at about eleven this morning (late night working in the restaurant last night) to find hoards of Brazilians, students and people working in Ireland, wrapped in flags and clearly in party mood. I assumed that the World Cup match was on this morning -- but no -- it's not on until tonight! So I guess it's no surprise there are so many Brazilians studying in Ireland. They fit right in :-)

I'm going to be working all weekend, but if I wasn't, there is a lot on. Viz. The Dublin Gay Pride festival, at which my Uncle Joey, flying the Newfoundland (and I guess the rainbow) flag for Back Home in Ireland. It never ceases to amaze me that he's actually living in this country now, when the first time he was here was just last year -- not to mention the whole out-of-the-closet thing. Fortunately, he's not staying over. My place is just too small, and I'll be working the whole time. But I am hoping to catch up with him at some point. I've just checked out the programme for the festival and I'm really quite surprised by how mainstream most of the events are - although I guess that's kind of the point. There's a big show on in the National Concert Hall.

Well, the weather is amazing, I've been working hard and there's a bottle of white wine on my desk reminding me that I've been invited to a barbeque this evening. I promised to make potato salad -- my cooking skills are coming along but still don't get much more complex than that -- so I'm going to go and do just that. I've got some small, new potatoes from Moore Street and some fresh parsley from my favourite greengrocer -- who is also the host of the barbecue! Imagine being invited to a barbecue by your greengrocer! He and his family live in Malahide, out near the sea, so I think it's going to be great.