Costa Dublin

Well, I've been here for a year and a half, and I've never seen so much unbroken sunshine ... or so many underdressed people in city parks! As in, wearing swimsuits. Ah yes, the conservative Irish ... to be seen in string bikinis in a city park near you!

Not me, though. I'm too pale to throw myself into this sunbathing business. I wouldn't turn a lovely shade of brown -- I'd just get red, and sore, and irritable. So I'm contenting myself with a black tee, shades and some hastily improvised shorts (read: hacked-off jeans).

I'm coming down from a fabulous weekend spent at the Street Performance World Championship! Absolutely wonderful. The kids I was taking care of on Saturday loved it, I loved it, and my flatmate, Bepe is now one of over 1500 people listed in the Guinness Book of Records, for taking part in the World Spacehopper Record Challenge!!! I was sorry I didn't participate, but it would've been tricky with the kids there. Anyway, supercool fun.

Today is a busy, busy day. I'm actually on a break from meeting-and-greeting at Dublin Tourism. I've been asked on 4 dates! One from a man who must've been at least eighty, so that doesn't count. But I've declined all politely as it doesn't seem professional, plus I don't think they were very serious invitations. You meet all sorts of people in there. Sometimes they're really organised: They've done all their research and know exactly what they want to do and they've just come in to pick up tickets or whatever, and sometimes they just wander in with no plan. I actually really enjoy giving advice and stuff, because at heart I'm quite a bossy person, plus I think I have some good insights into what's cool to do in and around Dublin. Although, note to self, not everyone is as impressed as I am by the thought of going to St Michan's to shake hands with a mummy. In fact, some people even find the prospect sort of scary. Go figure...

...and then tonight I'm on dishwashing duty at the restaurant which is my least-favourite job as it's dirty, heavy work and on the lowest rung of the pecking order in there, which means that people treat you differently.

But no, I'm not complaining, I do know how lucky I am to have found work so quickly and to be making enough to make ends meet!

I'd probably be feeling a little more sprightly if I hadn't been out late last night. A friend called me up and invited me to a gig at Whelans, a band mysteriously called the Van Diemans. Whelans is a fairly ordinary-looking pub, but it's got a big venue at the back, and for those in the know it's one of the prime gig venues in town. The band mostly did covers, Nick Cave and Tom Waits and that sort of stuff; lots of great, if lugubrious numbers!! I restrained myself to three drinks, but I feel like I had six.

Anyways... back to work!