day 3 of my new life.

yesterday went with rosie to lahinch beach. looked into surfing lessons. today shane told me that they are a waste of time, since he has his wife's old wetsuit, a board i can use and 15 years surfing experience.

shane's proctoring leaving exams that got screwed up. kids got given the wrong test. in ireland colleges pick you at the end of your secondary school based on tests, instead of you picking where you'd like to go. our cousin didn't get into the music program she wanted, so she took a year off to work and take classes part-time.

today is a hang out by myself day, which i'm fine with. everyone has errands, plans, etc. i'm headed to the shops in town in a few. see if the de valera museum is open. send some post cards. take photos. go to the friary.

slept like a rock again last night. didn't go out on a friday night. instead olive and paul and jameson and leonard cohen and this band called the sawdoctors who are a mashup between REM and traditional irish music. then some natalie merchant and paul's advice on life in general and careers in ny in particular. (they lived in queens for years before moving back here after olive's mom/my great aunt died.)

the third time seems to be the charm for me! this trip is easier, more fun, more relaxed than the previous two. not sure if it's my age, state of mind or a combination of those.

off to roam around ennis and the river fergus...

forget everything you know.

facebook thinks i'm trying to hack myself right now.
my cousin rosie is waiting for me in her car waiting to drive me to my great aunt's grave, then the beach, while listening to rhianna on clare radio.
on clare radio they interrupt the top 40 songs to announce deaths. so goth. rosie turns it up to see who she knows. she could run for mayor of ennis. between herself and her husband, who's a postmaster, they know EVERYONE!
last night i go to see my cousin natalie do open mic night. she's got an amazing voice, jealous cause mine sounds like a drowning cat. she covers garbage, dressed in a manner that i would've been dressed on my first visit to the homeland in 1999. baggy jeans, trainers, tank top.
rosie is now coming up the steps, impatient. i have heard "jesus mary and joseph! exlaimed at least 10x today. 5 fecks.
now i'm getting yelled at....

beach! graves! hooray!

i am going, i am going...

Jun 4
Partly Cloudy
70°
50°
0%

Jun 5
PM Light Rain
63°
45°

Jun 6
PM Light Rain
55°
45°
60%

Jun 7
Partly Cloudy
59°
46°
20%

Jun 8
Cloudy
60°
46°
20%

Jun 9
Showers
62°
48°
60%

Jun 10
Scattered Showers
63°
50°
30%

Jun 11

Partly Cloudy
63°
50°
20%

63°F
Fri
Jun 12

Partly Cloudy
63°
50°
10%

"any which way the wind may be blowing
i am going i am going
where streams of whiskey are flowing..."

superstitions in travel.

get a text last night from my sister. she's flying to paris. waiting for the cabin to be closed. the size of her plane is making her nervous. she hates flying. i've been in planes way more than she has. wish i was next to her to calm her down.

remember a trip to louisville for a big fest. "krazyfest". my traveling partner had the worst flying anxiety. for whatever reason i can have a calming effect when i want to. let her clutch my hand til there is no circulation left in my fingers. she curls up into an almost fetal position, or as fetal as you can get while belted into an airline seat. the flight's only about an hour. my friend didn't take drugs, like she normally did. i rub her back and say soothing things for the duration of the flight.

my first flight was in my uncle's biplane. both my mom's brothers were pilots. the oldest had his pilot's license before his driver's license. going up in this antique plane that uncle jimmy restored with his own hands made me pretty much fearless when it comes to flying.

don't get me wrong i have no illusion that i'm indestructible, but whatever happens happens. i'm not a control freak, like most people who have panic attacks when flying. statistically, there are way better odds of me dying in a cab in ny than on a flight across the atlantic ocean.

first commercial flight was cross country and as turbulent as they come. thunderstorm, oxygen masks dropped at one point. my grandma morgan was with me, going to see the irish/portugese cousins in tacoma. gram had been back and forth to ireland a ton, to australia, israel and a ton of other places. by some stroke of bad luck, our seats weren't even together. as all this chaos is happening in flight, she's talking to me from behind me. my sixth grade self trusted that if she said everything was going to be ok, it would be.

the first time i touched down in ireland on that first trip i remember seeing all the green that i'd heard about for my entire life. immediately thinking of grandma and wishing i was with her instead of my then boyfriend.

twelve hours til takeoff...

"perhaps the ship on the label reminds people of travel
and who doesn't like to travel?"-jameson ad on subway





horoscope: "it is really a question of letting go of the old completely, so that the new can enter your life."

vacation, all i ever wanted...

vacation had to get away...

jinx PROOFED!

(rabbit rabbit)

operation.