Ireland
July 6, 2009 on 11:42 am | In Music, Thoughts, Travel | 10 CommentsI’m back from the Emerald Isle. Anyone miss me?
Probably not, what with Honduras and the Wimbledon finals and days so hot you could die, but there we have it. I certainly enjoyed being disconnected from everything and living with a group of college friends for a week or so. We were right down south near Cork in a house by the sea and it was lovely (although there were the inevitable days when it was Rain and everyone was stuck inside and sharp edges started to show). Hats off to the organiser, who did a fantastic job. The house also had the world’s most out-of-tune piano, which was fun. Still, after all the good times and all the constant company, being dropped back into the world is so mundane.
However, back in the real world I am, and with that comes to inevitable job hunting, boredom, work and mysteriously wasting day after day without really understanding what you’ve been doing. Any holiday at home is a holiday at home too long, in my opinion – I like to be doing things. If life is getting boring, then you’re doing something wrong. Harsh? Maybe.
Anyway, enough of that. At some point during the holiday we were all sitting around the dinner table assigning an animal to each person based on their characteristics (read: based on very little). It was one of those throwaway converations that start suddenly out of nowhere and disappear just as quickly. Still, some interesting things came out of it: some people are really quite perceptive.
One thing I did (re)discover in Ireland was my love of reading. The only things I read at uni are road signs and textbooks, neither the most inspiring works. If I do read a book, it takes me quite a while before I can get through it because lets face it, time spent reading could be used for cooking or working or going out or chatting and it feels kind of indulgent. As such, I only brought a couple of books with me to Ireland. They were finished in the first two days (incidentally, The End Of Mr Y. is really quite an interesting read, and very closely matches my ideas about God), and a further 3 bought from Waterstone’s in Cork went in a similar fashion (C.J. Samson. Go read.). It just goes to show how much I missed it: the phrase ‘vociferous appetite’ would not be out of place.
I do suffer the same problems with books that I do with films though. Even if I know a book to be good, I will have great difficulty starting it if I think it’s going to be serious and thought-provoking, even though I know I’ll probably enjoy it. Still, its enjoyable, can’t complain.
I count myself lucky to be able to read as I do.
I’m going to stop writing now. Literary verbiage.
maybe I’ll just write a quick note directing you to Florence + the Machines’ Rabbit Heart, because I like it. Stick with it.
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Oh, the student life.
We did the assigning animal thing, too! What were you? And the endless afternoons reading in the sun. Totally get the coming back to the mundane, and day wastingness. Thankfully summer is relatively diary-filled, so I don’t have too much waiting around to do.
And I approve of the song.
Comment by Flix — July 6, 2009 #
My summer is madly busy, it would seem. Alrhough right now I@m just sitting about revising. And yeah, don’t know how I coped without you :P
I need good reading matter. So slightly more detailed suggestions/actual physical book loans would be hugely appreciated. My sister’s gone all Literature Student on me and there’s thought-provoking and serious, and then there’s fucking-impossible-to-understand-or-get-anyhing-out-of-but-kind-of-enjoyable-for-all-that, and I cannot read only from the latter category or I’d go mad. I suspect you’re reading mainly from the former category and so yeah, suggestions/books please.
Comment by Jenny — July 6, 2009 #
@ Flix: I turned out as a lynx because of my solitary tendancies and general cattiness, and I’ll admit I’d be hard pressed to think of something more appropriate. You?
@ Jenny: Start with The End of Mr Y. My sister has a copy she might be willing to lend you if you ask nicely…
Comment by Callan — July 7, 2009 #
Lynx. I would have absolutely gone with something in the cat family, yes, but not a domestic cat, and I don’t know enough about cats to have come up with lynx or indeed any other kind of cat, but if I did I guess I would have.
I’ll look out for it. Haven’t heard from your sister in months, sadly; so it would be a little odd (if I managed to even get hold of her) to ask her for a book…
Comment by Jenny — July 8, 2009 #
The End of Mr Y (I have a copy if you want to borrow it, Jenny) – clever idea. Excellent protagonist. Glorious adrenaline rush of a chase. Shit ending. Was approximately my opinion of it. Still a very good book, but the ending was sooooo very disappointing. I would recommend to the both of you ‘American Gods’ by Neil Gaiman. Partly because it’s got a very interesting view on philosophy, partly because it’s a very good, very clever, very readable yarn. Entirely satisfactory in all respects. You’ll love it :p
Comment by Fiona — July 8, 2009 #
I was a penguin. There was no positive reason for this, just that I apparently waddle and am not very graceful. And have a layer of insulating fat.
Comment by Claire — July 9, 2009 #
I thought it was your friendliness and cuteness that got you penguin? It was only later that the whole belly-sliding conversation got started…
Comment by Callan — July 9, 2009 #
Lemur for the carefully considered reasoning – I eat a lot of fruit. Also, hyena – I cackle. It was pointed out by another person that in fact these are the only two mammals that exhibit female dominance in social settings and so he therefore agreed with my attributed animals ;)
Better than a hamster or a sloth, is all I can say :P
Comment by Flix — July 9, 2009 #
I do not remember friendliness nor cuteness being mentioned.
Comment by Claire — July 10, 2009 #
I wouldn’t have said you were cute. You’re friendly, but not in a penguin-like way. Penguins don’t apoear to have a whole lot of self respect, which you do, or appaer to,but i don’t know what animal i’d have you down as. Sorry for appalling typing my mouse is going completely mental and driving me up the wall.
Comment by Jenny — July 11, 2009 #