To Dublin and Back... with lots of events and sillyness inbetween.


Wow, I think this is quite possibly the longest I've gone without blogging. It was nice to have a break. It's not easy trying to discipline yourself to write every day...

Left very early ie: 4h20 on Thursday morning last week. Stayed up till 2h30... so the two hours of sleep didn't do me much good. I had gone to the Hayward gallery with Hazel to finally see the contemporary Japanese culture exhibit. It was really good. I especially like the piece that this one guy did, that involved transporting an octopus from a fish market on one side of Japan and then setting it free in the ocean at the other end of the country. It was done in video format and was accompanied by a really nice 11x17 run out of his octopus projects. I'll bring it into work one day soon and transcribe some of the paragraphs. He's truly brilliant. I like his mind.

Got to the airport with not a minute to spare. 500 people (at least) stood in the line in front of me... to get through customs. Knowing full well that if I waited I would never make my flight... I sauntered around and nestled into the front half of one of the lines. Presto.. Through customs and onto the flight! Arrive to find fab Denise waiting for me at the airport. Indeed it is still such a thrill to re-unite with a friend like her after all these years... mind you now after having seen her for 8 out the past 30 odd days.. it's kind of hard to say we never see each other. Had a great time on Thursday just relaxing and sleeping while she was at work. I read some Wittgenstein and Butler (some light reading provided by the fab Hazel) *smirk*. After a few hours my fidgets got the better of me and I laced up and went for a jog. It didn't take me long to realize that jogging in Dublin was not a common occurrence. People stared at me with worried looks on their faces, wondering if I was being chased! Ah it was all good.

Friday night Denise and I met up with her BF named K.P and his friend Simon at a bar in town. We stopped in briefly at a Kebab shop so that KP could get something to eat.... That is where I snapped my fav. photo op in recent history. On the board listing all the specials I found a listing for -> Homos £2.50 Wow what a bargain! LOL. Don't believe me? write me, I'll send you the pic. We ended up at Whelan's and had a great time dancing to some Indy tunes that reminded us that we were getting old. Ah well, you're never too old to dance the pixies and stone roses! Met up with Dan and Sally there too! It's neat to see people that you know from home in places that are normally out of context.

Saturday was a relaxing day. Did a wee bit of shopping with D and just generally hung out. Bought a new pair of pumas... thought I deserved a treat... Went out again Saturday night... didn't have very much energy to stay out all that late so I left Denise and her fab friends at the Tomato bar and walked home. It's quite a surreal thing, to walk through the streets of Dublin at 2am. They are just teeming with people... not just that, it's kind of surreal because everyone who is in the street is between the ages of 18 and 35... and everyone is pissed. The only thing I can liken it to, is Frosh week in Ottawa, where tons of students from both Uni's are all milling about.

Sunday was all about rest and catching up on the marathon episode of Eastenders... sad to say, I've not been here quite 4 months and I already am up to speed on all the trash TV! We finally ventured out in the evening to get some food. We met up with Brendan, Denise's brother. Followed by, what is now my favorite Dublin bar " The Globe". D and KP went home to rest and I stayed on and chatted with Brendan. It was a good laugh.

Monday Denise had the day off of work and she and I did a little bit more xmas shopping or "crimbo" shopping as they say here... had a nice lunch and then headed to the Guinness storehouse. It's a really neat place. Saw how it was made did the whole tourist thing... It's strange because I normally have to be dragged kicking and screaming to any activity such as that... Got my dad and grandfather some neat little souvenirs. Met KP and went to see Zoolander that night. It was a funny film... but as always, they give too much away in the previews...

Headed home early Tuesday morning and before I knew it, it was 13h and I was back at my desk with stress pain in the neck wondering where my holidays had went...

Doing the late shift tonight, good time for me to write this all down.... so much in the works leading up to mass... I just can't wait to have some more time away from this madness!
Yea, so I can't be arsed to put up all the 150 odd pics I took... if you're interested in seeing any drop me a line sj_chick@yahoo.com

Trendy Sausages?

Yup, only in London. I went to this trendy restaurant last night with my co worker Dearbhla. It was off of Oxford st. Their specialty was Sausage and mash. Nothing but sausage and mash... I can't believe it. The place was jammers and everyone was chomping down on sodding wieners! What a laugh. I chose the one of two vegetarian options... it was a Glamaorgan sausage (that thankfully didn't look like a sausage) it was made with leeks, broccoli and cheese. Lovely indeed. but for 8£ I can imagine that it wouldn't be hard to find something more appealing to eat!

After our sausage extravaganza we ventured next door to a bar called Social.... inside I was amused to find that, what appeared to be the wardrobe for sex in the city was being worn by the occupants of the bar! It was trendy. The music was fab. Apparently it's owned by a record company and there are often sightings of your favorite celebs... hmmm. Sometimes I'm just so Canadian. Grooving away to Massive Attack, I sat there giggling and people watching.... It was the type of place that as a Canadian you generally only read about in magazines... I kind of had to pinch myself to prove that I was really there... I'm not quite sure yet if it was a good or a bad thing....

Chatted with Christie and Yvonne and got e-mails from Darrell and Mark. I'm so lucky today... Funny how sometimes you don't hear from people in ages and then all of a sudden everyone writes at once!

Good news!

I'm taking Thursday and Friday off next week and the following Monday as well...Heading to Dublin to visit my friend Denise. I got a flight for 20£ return tax included! They have the best deals here. The flight was 1p each way and the rest of the fees were just taxes! I'm off to do my xmas shopping. The punt is weaker than the sterling so I'll be able to get more bang for my buck!

The mere thought of having time off has lifted my spirits and reduced my stress level considerably! I can't wait to go! I love Dublin! Plus I might even be able to meet up with Dan and Sal during the weekend, as they too will be in Dublin....

So after about a week long hiatus I'm back at the blog thing. It was a nice break really. It does take a lot of energy and commitment to update this everyday. It's good though... a little bit of structure does the mind some good.

Had a busy and fun weekend... Went to he aquarium, then out for supper.... Met up with Dan and Sally at Vespa... Good fun. Spent almost the entire day in bed on Sunday. What a treat, literally. When finally out of bed Hazel showed me this great Indian restaurant in Stoke Newington... We had great eats and tasty wine. Went to Due south for a bit of relaxing... ended up playing pool with these two mad middle aged ladies... All was well until she started going on about how all "Canadians are thick".... hmm. not much you can say to someone who's that ignorant... It was good for a laugh though. I can't imagine ever saying that to someone. She thought herself rather clever.

Work continues to dominate most of my hours during the day and night. Swimming on Monday and Tuesday this week... H is the best new swimmer I've ever seen... from floating to swimming in the deep end in the span of just an hour and half! In all my years of teaching I've never seen someone make so much progress in such little time. What fun!

I'm sitting here listening to one of my designers chatter away to one of our clients in German. It's amazing after how a few weeks of being exposed to the language, you start to pick up some familiarities. In North America, you're always exposed to other languages but very rarely are they European or Germanic or Scandinavian... speaking of the Scandis... this blond number made off with my towel at the gym last night... honest mistake really. We both had green towels... typical sit com moment...

I am now the proud owner of a nice space heater that provides me with some well needed heat on my feet at my desk. I hope it lasts the winter... I don't think I could without it.

Oh so quiet

So I'm sitting here staring at my mini Zen garden on my desk... visions of burying myself in the sand swirl through my head... If that didn't work I could just hide behind a rock, avoid the chaos of work.

I think it's gotten to the point where I have so much to do I no longer have any motivation to do any of it. I'm like the naughtily school girl in the back of the class, not doing her maths.

shh. no one is on to me.

Shhh. Shhh. If you ever have the unfortunate experience of being in a Karaoke bar, don't despair... A few weeks back I was at the Oak Bar on a Sunday night with Jo. Between the trauma of being there I enjoyed the pleasure of the most fabulous rendition of Bjork's "oh so quiet". It was fantastically done. She was brilliant, and so is the song. So if you're ever forced to do Karaoke... search for that song. It was a real crowd pleaser.

Cold Feet and Mugging... all in an evening

Finally managed to watch that program "Cold Feet" that Mark has been glowing about. It's quite good really. It's the Brit 2000 version of the 80's American classic "Thirty Something". I sat watching it remembering really liking 30 something... but when I do the math, I am really quite puzzled... I wasn't even in my 20's and I liked that program? What does this mean...

So as Hannah pranced off into the night to visit her boyfriend... she was mugged. Got a call in the middle of Cold Feet from her BF's roommate telling me to deadbolt the door as Hannah had been mugged and her keys, wallet, phone and bag were stolen. She was alright... wee bit of a twisted ankle but good. It could have been far worse... I sat there on the couch huddled under the duvet waiting for the scary key in lock sound from the front door. Visions of mad men letting themselves into the flat raced through my head. With no deadbolt on the lock there was nothing more I could do but wait... and hope that the person who stole her purse did not have the brains to find the address of the flat on a bill in her purse. I did the best I could to keep my mind busy by texting Hazel, who was kind enough to take time out from her evening with her friend to calm my fears... Her friend even thought she was cheating at scrabble because of all the texting! *too funny* Anyhoo. Jo finally came home at around 1am and I felt safer...

Woke up this morning and felt like a dweeb. Kind of like that feeling you get when you are really spooked after watching a horror movie, then when you wake up in the morning you're like.... Damn... I'm so silly.

What a great weekend.

Had a great time with Denise! It was so brilliant o see her and her Goldie locks. She arrived at close to 9pm on Friday. We sat in the flat, had supper, then went to the pub for a drink or two...

Saturday morning was shopping and bustling through the masses of people on Oxford St. Jo kindly joined us to guide through shortcuts! Had lunch at First Out... yummy veggie food there. Went to the Wellington in Soho for a post shopping pint before heading back home to the flat. Had a quick bite and headed to meet Blaise at the Dog and the Duck. Hazel and her friend Keith joined us at half ten... copious amounts of drinks later we headed to (Freedom?) can't quite remember the name of the club, but it was a good laugh.

Camden on Sunday with Denise and Hannah. So many nice things... Had a very dodgy veggie burger (didn't help the hangover much) Rested Sunday evening and got up early this morning. Met Denise briefly before she jumped on the tube to head back out to the airport. It's so nice to have a friend like her, I'm lucky.

Took some pics... I'll put them up tomorrow.

Call me old fashioned...

But, fuck me I'm not stupid. This is an extract from an e-mail from the Scotia Bank student loan centre...

"In order for the pre-authorized debit to function, the amount required must be in the account..."

Thanks Scotia Bank. Thanks for clearing that up for me. Damn, you ask for a statement on your balance and you get this in return. Man, I guess they just assume you're an idiot. I do bank with them so I guess they know that already.

Sitting here at the office sipping a Becks waiting for Denise to arrive. Today was mayhem. Didn't even stop for lunch till almost 16h. Doesn't work out too well when you haven't had breakfast. Wondering what the weekend will bring.

Brr.

So it's about, well lets just say very cold in the studio today. Full on outside clothes inside.

One more sleep till Denise arrives! I'm so excited to see her. It will be good spirit lifter... Was feeling really low yesterday because my bank sucks, and I'm not going anywhere for Xmas. Flights to Toronto are 500£ ah well.

Heard from Markie today who thinks I'm a meanie for not writing to him enough... I had a kit kat at lunch for you Mark.

Working the late shift tonight so perhaps I'll manage to do some more blogging in the evening.

Perhaps some hot beverage will help warm things up in my ice cube body.

More later.

What a fun night

Hazel has the most excellent play value! She took me to do a "London at night" tourist walk... took some not so successful pictures then sat and had some Guinness and whiskey and chatted and chatted while people watching at the cinema cafe on the South Bank. She's brilliant!

Doing lunch with miss Jo today and supper with miss Dan tonight... it's a food day. Oops, did someone forego the gym this morning? *guilty look*

The studio is so cold today... I was at one point wearing my winter coat, gloves and hat... drank a cup of tea, then regained a normal body temperature... I would have thought that the iron from the Guinness last night would help matters, hmmm.

Plans have changed with Siobhan so doesn't' look like I'll be heading there for the holidays. Checking out one last angle at a cheap Canadian flight. We'll see if that pans out. If nothing else at least KJ will be probably coming over sometime during December.

things are moving about in the studio today... some well needed frameworks irrigation got the flow going... so much is backed up so much new stuff coming in.

The boiler in the flat is kaput. No heat and no hot water... my pounding headache that I woke up with this morning would have kept me from going to the gym, however quickly realizing that it would mean no shower... I hopped out of bed and zipped down to the gym. As convinces go, our landlord is away for the next 2 weeks leaving not contact in case of emergency. Oh the joy of renting... guess it's better than owning and paying for it yourself!

Dearbhla leaves for Thailand this evening. She looks so excited! I can just feel the buzz off of her! Everyone should have more holidays. She's now zipping down to the shop to collect some chocolate for the troops. She's fab.

Had a great online chat with Yvonne yesterday at the office. I love instant messaging... even though it's a faux pas at work... it's great to connect and just chat with a friend from across the ocean. Keeping in touch with people is one thing but keeping a connection with them is another thinge entirely... Chit chatting is something that quickly falls by the wayside when you're far away from your friends. *bows to the yahoo messenger gods*

Still trying to work out plans for xmas... doesn't look like I'll be getting to Toronto... no cheap flights to be found... unless you consider 480£ reasonable... Portugal looks more promising... Must write Siobhan!

I feel like

I'm falling off the blog wagon.

Lisa and Dave had their baby on Saturday. They sent pics, *yea technology*! She is so beautiful! Man, I'm starting to feel really old!

The weekend was nice and slow. Had drinkies with some people from work on Friday night... then had a really chilled supper with Hon from the office... neither he, nor I could handle much more of the pub without food in the belly. He's wicked.

Got my haircut on Saturday, feel so much better...

So, last night at 4am when I awoke for no reason, I had this thought about this feeling... the only way I describe the feeling is like being standing waiting at the exit of a grocery store... bags in hand, weighed down... damp and gray outside... there is nothing pleasant about it... you know that feeling like, God, I really don't want to be here right now.... then it passed. Really odd. Not that I was personally feeling that way, it was just at that moment I was thinking about how having that feeling felt. Hmm.

Scrambled to the gym this morning and squeezed in an hour workout... I seem to be slipping time-wise getting to the gym in the mornings. Listened to some Zoë bliss... good jogging tunes.

Mark would be distressed to know that the onslaught of 80's movies continues... the one I dozed off to while watching on Sunday afternoon was something strange called "switched on" I think... it was with John Ritter and Eugene Levy and the actor that played the principal in Ferris Builler's Day off... I can't even begin to describe the bizarreness of the film... I think it's shameful enough that I'm admitting to having watched it... *laughs at self*

We've created a new arrow family!

exclaims Hon. This about sums up the excitement of today... updates to the diagram style guide... fun.

This is my horoscope for today.... Hazel I think we did the right thing this morning...

It may be difficult for you to get out of bed today, because you may not be able to imagine how to face all those boring daily routines. You're strongly inclined to stay home in your cocoon, reading, watching TV, or tidying up the house. Of course, the intense events of the past several days have been a drain on your emotions. As a Pisces, you need time to withdraw and recenter your energies. Be sure to give yourself that time, even if you only have the evenings and weekends to do so!

There is just so little time, I'm just not having enough gaps between the minutes and seconds of the day to write things down.

The weekend was full of rest, sleep, reading and then more sleep.

My office is now running bets on what colour my hair will be next week. I had quite the wrestle with the dark brown colour I bought (called brazilia). Friday night, while rinsing my hair in the sink, Hannah came home... The colour drained out of her face as I retracted my head from the sink.... "uhh Sarah, what colour is it supposed to be?" she asked me cautiously. So I'm thinking dear god... what have I done? It can't be green or anything like that... Turns out that in the world of L'Oreal... brazilla brown turned ebony black... It's rinsing out slowly... I'm sure in a few more days it will be the dark brown colour as promised. I've always loved black hair just never thought I would have it myself. Ah well my mum laughed for 10 minutes when I recounted her the story over the phone.

Nestled into my bed early last night and read my book. Busy day again here at the office but that goes without saying.

Chatted with Annick this PM on pager... she was telling me about her new job in the butcher shop. keul.

there just aren't...

enough hours in the day. Being at the office for 15 hours yesterday has taken it's toll. This weekend is such a good thing!

Got my CD produced and delivered to Salzburg this AM! Yea.

Had a lovely lunch with Tim and Dearbhla today. I had a grilled veggie baguette with chips and a roquet salad and an amazing glass of red wine.

Spoke to KJ briefly last night when I finally got home. She's happy and seems to be settling nicely with her new housemate. However with him in the room it was hard to know what the real story was... spill it seestor!

It's so disappointing not having any Thursday gossip ands scandal, or even philosophical ramblings to report. Soho was just not the same last night without Dan and I!

Cheesy chips, marmite on toast, and invisible bus travel

I'm trying to mix things up today and get a wee blog in, in the morning.

Jo dragged me into town last night... ran into Lou and Kerry. It had been so long since I had seen them! Had a drink, mulled around and then headed home. Experienced Halloween London style. It's a new development here... don't think the concept of dressing up as anything other than a vampire or as something dead has quite come round yet... very interesting. Can't complain really, I was so very not, in a costume. Jo stumbled into the flat closer to two with some cheesy chips... mmmm.

Managed to get up early and have some marmite on toast and chat with Hannah.

So I think I'm going to start a log of my adventures on the #38. My "invisible to the fare collector" theory is alive and kicking again, however I feel that this invisibility only occurs when I travel alone. Hmmm. Quite a cost effective trick really.... Wonder what else I have up my sleeve....

Have you ever seen a stranger's goodness through a passing glance in their eyes? Have you ever seen a little piece of the surreal? This morning on my way into work I had a few glances into that space. Hmmm.

My horoscope today reads:

Like a fish reacting to changes in pressure in the water surrounding you, Pisces, you are usually extraordinarily sensitive to social trends. This means that you are likely to dramatically respond to the seven-month phase that is dawning today. It will be more humanistic, although the means it employs to liberate people are likely to be somewhat abrupt. But you are more aware than most that freedom has a price. Though you will feel the biggest impact in your professional life, your private life will not be immune to these changes, either.

Damn, sounds like fun... Drew, maybe the whole end of doormat theory is accurate!

Swimming last night with Hannah was a success. Poor little petal had to hang around my office while I put out some overseas fires that broke out just as I was leaving at 18h30. Finally at 19h30 we headed towards the pool. The steam room, was indeed more of a success as there were only 3 people in it last night *phew*

Jo and I's adventures into town for a cheeky one weren't so fruitful. With the full moon in our veins... it just wasn't enough to make things exciting on a Tuesday night.

Mark wrote me today to tell me about his new promotion! I'm so excited for him! If anyone sees him, tell him to eat some more kit kat's... it's all good!

Cold, or no cold... it's very dark and it's 18h. Winter is scratching at my heels.

Busy...

Up early... had a good workout... on my way to work I remembered that I was supposed to go swimming with Hannah. Oh my god I'm a gym addict.

Work . no comment.

Meeting up with Jo and might head to first out for a cheeky one this evening after I get back from the pool with Hannah. Think we'll try the steam room again, this time since it's lady's night, we might have a bit more luck. Got a mail from Jeffie today. It's always so good to hear from him. I took it as a sign to catch up on all my correspondence. Wrote to Kim who I haven't spoken with in far too long!

Hazel is jetting off to the Emerald Isle for a few weeks. Lucky bird. Holidays would be well received! Hope we can go and play when she gets back...

Night has fallen. Must be off.

Candle roasted marshmallows, hip hop Jo, and steam room trauma

It's all in a weekend.

Finished work with a great sigh of relief on Friday. Headed home listening to some Kid A from the Radiohead boys. Stopped in at the Wellie on my way home for a quick pint. Went home ate and got ready to go out. Jo Drew and I went to liquid lounge and then popstars. The festivities from the night before coupled with the day I had at the office, did not allow much energy for this outing... Ended up back at home around 1am and tumbled into bed. Sleep was just so very appealing.

Saturday morning crept into my room and I awoke and prepared to head down town to collect Hannah's cake. The bus ride into town squashed my theory that I was invisible to fare collectors. After doing 2 trips in the last two days I finally was asked to pay a fare... Jo smiled at me smugly, knowing my theory was now de-bunked... arrived in town, exchanged Jo's sweater at Muji... then my mini rock garden at American Retro. After a great deal of walking down Oxford st. we finally ended up at Chockywockydoodah. The cake was there and waiting. Quite splendid. It was a solid chocolate covered cake with a towering collection of pink and white marshmallows. Gravity, was not an opponent to this cake. Jumped on the 30, that by some small miracle, circulated around those parts of town...

There we sat, feeling quite pleased with ourselves for having completed all our tasks in the short time that we had before Jo had to be at work. All of a sudden this young guy came and sat in the seat in front of us. He asked us to wake him up when we got to Angel. He proceeded to introduce himself and tell us about his previous evening's exploits. Jo and I couldn't help but smirk at the oddness of the whole situation. He then looked at Jo and asked her "Are you a hip hop girl?" I couldn't help myself, I burst out laughing... now that's a line I've got to remember! After she replied he then asked her if she had a boyfriend. (indeed this girl has the fever!) she's even pulling random young straight boys on the bus! Ah what a laugh.

The party was a success. A little bit of unavoidable drama... but all in all a good time. Esmerelda even stopped in. It was a good laugh, it was nice to see Hannah happy, she's been quite low of late. Drew, Esmerelda and Lynsey were drunk enough to prove that one could indeed roast marshmallows over candles!

Sunday morning Hannah and I hit the oh so exciting Sainsburys for some well needed food. 53£ later we headed home. Lentil soup and baguette for lunch followed by a swim at Highbury Corner. The swim was great, we thought that we would cap it off by a nice little sit in the steam room... well room isn't quite what I would call it. It was more like a steam broom closet. Lets just say it was filled with a lot of very rowdy very muscular black men who were very excited to see us. Feeling panic and claustrophobia setting in, I hesitantly followed Hannah to sit down. Unfortunately we weren't even able to sit down next to one and other. I closed my eyes and tried not to have a panic attack. We bravely lasted about 5 mins before we caught a glimpse of one and other through the steam and communicated the panicked, lets get out of here look to one and other. Perhaps it was the garbled conversation and laughter about cherries that the men were having that put things over the edge. I can't say for sure....I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard... walking out of the steam room, I'm sure they all could hear us.

Went to bed insanely early and was at the gym at 8 again this morning.... I'm on a bit of a swimming kick.... My hair colour isn't liking it too much... but that's another story.

Have you?

Have you ever been drunk at work? I mean, like the kind that's left over from the previous night's indulgences... very professional indeed *slaps self on hand*

It's official, Jo has "the fever" she pulled this girl last night and then went home and had some action with her friend from out of town! Shocking! Non stop action. When it rains it pours. She really needed that! Yea!

"It's half eleven and not a child in the house is washed!" Exclaims Dearbhla. I don't think she could ever cease to amuse me with her quirky Irish expressions.

Hannah's birthday party tomorrow. Mandy and Kate are out of town for the weekend... should be an interesting night. Lots of organizing to do Saturday morning, going into town with Jo to collect the cake from chockiewockiedoodah (wow that was fun to write). I think I'll take the opportunity to return my rake-less mini Zen rock garden that I bought a few weeks back... not so Zen without the rake... just my luck, I buy tranquility in a box and it's missing a piece. LOL

Spoke with the seestor last night. Got the low down on her and her South African boy toy that she has staying with her. Contrary to what I was lead to believe... she is getting a shag out of the arrangement... she did however mention that she was anxious for him to find a job and his own place so she could have the house to herself. She sounds happy, she's loving all the furniture I left for her... things couldn't have worked out better.

Have I mentioned how fabulous Drew is of late?

Thom Yorke showed me how to disappear completely. He knows the way.

Chaos spins around me and I am weak to the temptations that offer me more than what surrounds me now. It's two minutes to six and my brain went into overload about 2h ago.

Drew has announced himself as my first full pledged blog groupie... Got a message from him this PM reading...

"why haven't you updated your journal? I eagerly logged on with bated breath to discover what was happening in the world of Sarah Jarrett, only to find your life as of yesterday. What happened to Sarah? Is she still a doormat? They can't have killed her off like they do in all the other soaps!

WE WANT SARAH!
WE WANT SARAH!
WE WANT SARAH!"

The guys here at the office, found the coolest site this aft. Check it out. You have to stay watching until it gets to the end and does the Matrix, 3D angle part. Very groovy. All this talent yet he uses AOL???? Ah well, bet this boy is going to be very wealthy some day!

http://members.aol.com/gqwu/fight.swf

Got a letter from my seestor today who is hoping to be able to get some flights to London when she's back at the airline in Dec. She was telling me stories about people I used to go to high school with, who now have babies, and ones who are returning like her to teach at our old school. I can't imagine being further away from any of that...