Happy Halloween!
We've got a pumpkin called Mr Edward E Pumpkinhead. Yay!

And Internet, too! I'm blogging from home and it feels so good. Been ill with a cold that feels suspiciously like the flu; this despite getting a flu injection.

Haiku seems to be the way I'm slipping back into the writing realm. Feels weird.

Internet soon
Mark and I bought a laptop recently, so we'll be able to surf and turf within the next two weeks. I have big plans.

Gearing up for Christmas already, and it's only, what, October? Crazy. And here's me, wanting chestnuts.

I want chestnuts.

Harry Potter's wand
A rude but funny link.

Galway
So, we're out of Dublin. Finally! Found a cosy attic space in a bed and breakfast (which, incidentally, does not serve breakfast, but such are the vagaries of travel), and now I'm setting down my impressions.

It's a very youth-centric city. Quite cool. And with a fair bit of Spanish influence here.

The train ride over was lulling. Threading our way past fields that mirrored Scotland, and Tasmania, and a lot of pastoral landscapes.

Now hopefully we'll find a place to eat. I'm starvin'!

Yes!
Among the many good things happening, I also wrote a haiku yesterday:

Silk threads wind-jostled
red leaf caught between the bars
soft saw-tooth ripples

Our home is lovely. I gloat when I think of it. Bought silver cutlery! No longer have to use plastic fork for breakfast.

Now all we need a music-maker. While one of the perks of my bookshop job is free CDs, sadly, I have nothing on which to play quite-defunct discs.

This coming weekend, Mark and I have finally pulled out our collective fingers to arrange a day off. We get three days in which to explore the rest of Ireland. Now that warrants a huzzah.

Huzzah!

It's ours!
We have it. Our very own place. So looking forward to moving in and stamping ourselves all over it.

So if any of you need a place to stay over (one at a time, ladies and gents!), there is a living-room floor in Rathgar that has your name on it. But be nice!

Now, excuse me while I take a sip of this nice French merlot.

Quiet glee
High: Day off!
Low: But I work tomorrow.
High: Day off on Sunday!
Low: _________ [No low at present that I can see.]

So, I've got two names of literary agencies to whom I can apply for work. I'm thinking something occasional might be good for me, so that I've got time to write.

House-hunting is also proceeding apace. Possible areas of habitation (or is that co-habitation?) are Harold's Cross [nice, kinda olde worlde swanky], Portobello [same, but near a groovy little canal], and Rathgar [don't know much about this suburb, but it would be close in to a supermarket—always a bonus].

I suggest we genuflect before the benign house-hunting gods (Lares and Penates?) to grant me safe asylum somewhere with a big kitchen, and no psycho neighbours.

Launch
All these people being launched. Their books. Makes me want to write. Out of envy, or inertia, or something not quite right.

It's pretty damn early, and I'm hungry, so I eat my bowl of muesli, hoping to placate the yowling beast that is my stomach, so catch me some zzz's.

The drums! The drums!
Mark's gone to a drumming session. He's pretty excited about it. So there's a birthday present idea, I guess: tom-toms!

In other news, we're thinking of relocating. Again.

What fun.

But hopefully, we'll be able to find our own place. And then, bliss!

Early to rise
Yay! Catching up on sleep-debt is trés cool. I feel so rested now.

Yesterday, I went to see Matchstick Men, starring Nicholas Cage. It was quite good. Had a bag of popcorn with me. Somehow, I've been inculcated to think that movies aren't the same without some consumables nearby.

Just finished reading The Devil Wears Prada: a scary insight into magazine publishing, but still fluffy for all that. Now I'm onto Umberto Eco's Baudolino, heavily touted as being equivalent to The Name of the Rose. I'll give you the verdict when I've finished.

I'm powering through my books. Have also finished Fast Food Nation. Now that's a scary read. No more McFries for me.

Sleep eludes me
I like sleep, but early starts have whacked up my routine, and now I'm at 4.30am, typing, obsessing, worrying, instead of sleeping in. On the other hand, I guess it's good that I've got enough to do. Rather that than be bored.

Yes, I know
But really, these bags under my eyes testify to everything. Too many Baileys? No, never. Nuh-uh!

Baileys is yummy, though.

Why is it that one can't ever sleep when one really needs to?

I have reviews to edit. Need more motivation! Can one find motivation at the bottom of a butterscotch schnapps bottle, I wonder?

Lack of sleep certainly helps tangential thinking. Though some people would probably call it loopy thinking.

So this is a glimpse of my state of mind today. Scary, huh?