Alone again (naturally)

[trinityofone]

I'm baaaaaaaack! I mean, hi.

So my family left this morning. Mostly, the visit went very well: I was happy to see them, they were happy to see me, and their greatest criticism was that I hadn't put up more posters in my room. (Me: I decided that I would rather be able to eat than decorate. My mom: Even poor peasants try to make their space homey. Why don't you clips some pictures out of magazines and make a collage? Me: Because last I checked, my life isn't part of the nouvelle vague. [Okay, I didn't really say that last bit.]) We did a lot of stuff and I had a great time, although I'm very much feeling that I could use a vacation from this vacation, especially since my dad gave me his cold.

But they gave me other stuff, too! We were doing Christmas as "See something you want in Dublin, tell us what it is, and we will buy it for you (within reason)" this year, so I got to choose everything myself. Prezzies:

1. Don't You Have Time to Think? by Richard P. Feynman (Feynman was very much the type of man I would like to see Rodney become in 20 years. Minus the thing with bongos. *g* )
2. Creating Web Pages in Easy Steps by Nick Vandome (Finally!)
3. Cordelia's Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold
4. The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough (*vbeg*)
5. Flannel PJs
6. A beautiful wool throw from the Avoca handweavers (Perfect for when I'm working at my computer--IOW, 98% of the time)
7. The complete first series of the new Doctor Who (It comes in a TARDIS! *geekgasm*)

I have excellent taste!

My parents also brought me presents from my aunt (A California Farmers' Market shirt) and my uncle (Nick Drake's Bryter Layter). Oh, and slodwick made me this:


*loves*

The best thing, though, is that my parents brought me the correct kind of charger for my camera, so I can take pictures again! Many were taken over the last week, so I'm going to break them into smaller groups. I'll start you off with:

Dublin Signage


All signs in Ireland are bilingual--English and Irish. This is out in Ballsbridge (British Islands place names = win!), which is a really posh neighborhood that I'll post more about later.


This is what Irish traffic lights look like: in the foreground, you can see the signal for cars; in the background, the one for pedestrians. *shakes head* It's the little differences, man.


And these are Irish exit signs. Or as my brother dubbed them, "This way to the monolith!" (This one is from the Guinness Storehouse, BTW.)


Dublin is a city of contrasts. *g*


No, really.

It's also a city with some of the best shopfront signage I've ever seen.


South Great George's Street.


O'Connell Street.


An arcade on O'Connell.


A jewellers on O'Connell.


Somewhere south of the river--possibly Leeson Street. Baggot Street!


Wicklow Street, just after sunrise.


And again, with a warning.


I still have no idea what this means.


Or this, really.


This is pretty clear.

And then there's the graffiti.


A post box near St. Stephen's Green.


On one of the derelict buildings behind Trinity College.


The Simpsons--International School of Cultural Relations.


Near the Guinness Storehouse, a reminder of why we should all pretend to be Canadian.


And again, with my father, myself, and my brother, standing around like we're posing for an album cover. (Possibly something by The Smiths?)


In Sandycove (about which more later), this cracked me up.

But not as much as this:

And frankly, I'm confused. The first sign provided the helpful red slash, but this one, not so much. Therefore, is it a warning, or a recommendation? *g*

And finally, my favorite sign in all of Dublin, gracing the bottom shelf of my bookcase:


More to come!

And finally, I'm at something like skip=200 bagillion, so if you said something to me in the last week, can you just poke me or link me or wave your arms and stomp your feet? I'm paying attention now, I swear. Well, mostly.

Comments

[wychwood]

Yay! You're back! *flails some*

Whee, photos! :) But I don't understand your deal with the pedestrian crossings and exit signs, those look totally normal to me ;)

3. Cordelia's Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold

Yay! Didn't I, like, rec this to you last week? And were you going to get it anyway?

7. The complete first series of the new Doctor Who (It comes in a TARDIS! *geekgasm*)

I just ordered this myself *g* Have you seen it?

(and Merry Christmas, all that sort of thing)

[siria]

Hee. That arcade on O' Connell Street belongs to a cousin of mine. *hums "It's a small world."*

Somewhere south of the river--possibly Leeson Street.

*peers* I think that might be Baggot Street, actually.

The 'Disc Machine' sign is pointing you towards a machine where you can buy tickets for on-street parking. Two or three euros an hour, I think. Otherwise you get clamped, which isn't pleasant.

And I can't believe you didn't take one picture of a certain hairdressing establishment!

[darling-effect.livejournal.com]

All the signage is indeed swoon-worthy. "Prams Car Seats Cots & Buggies" is a favorite though. You half-expect them to advertise horse-drawn carriages as well!

Glad you had a lovely holiday.

[soupytwist.livejournal.com]

OMG OMG SANDYCOVE!! God, it's so gorgeous, and... does this mean you've read At Swim Two Boys? *has had dinner with Jamie O'Neill and totally looks for chances to boast about this to anybody who might have actually heard of him omg*

And wow, the pictures... I've only been to Ireland the once, but that's the Dublin I saw, and thankyou for capturing it so well. (Though I'm amused you mention the streetlights, cause that was one of the things I first noticed when I went to north america as being disorienting. :)) And I love the Smiths album cover, heh.

And also, y'know, squee for Dr Who and Rodney is TOTALLY going to end up being the new Feynman - *geeksquee!* - cause while the bongos not so much, the writing snarkily brilliant books which explain science is just, yes. Genius. Has to happen. :D ("Surely You're Joking, Dr McKay?" maybe. Heh.)

Yay, Ireland!

[slodwick.livejournal.com]

Oooh... I adore the album cover! *giggle*

Man. Now I want to take out my camera again!

[darcydodo]

Awesome! Also, you look great in the leather jacket. I'm so glad that we delayed going to lunch for ten minutes so that you could find it and buy it. ;)

But... no gloves? No scarf? Isn't it cold??

[lyra-sena.livejournal.com]

*pines* I loved Ireland so much when I was there. And the pedestrian lights! I have pictures of those as well, because they amused me so very much. There's a shop in Galway whose sign reads in big blue letters, "HAIRY LEGS". I have no idea what the shop is all about, but I do have a funny picture of me standing in front of it with my skirt raised.

[spazatron.livejournal.com]

Ooh. Awesome signs. I especially like the car going over the cliff.

PUT YOUR PHONE ON LOUD. (Hint.)

[aurora]

Pictures!

Wow, Irish looks incredibly weird/mysterious. Do you speak it, btw?

"This way to the monolith!" :D:D I think the Belgian are exactly the same, so I wouldn't have noticed anything strange about it.

I love, love the Murphy's/church-y building contrast.

The Wicklow Street is so pretty. Also, it reminds me of Magritte's 'Empire Des Lumières' because of the strong light/dark contrast.

Simpsons! USSR! ♥

And I think that's the first pic I've seen of you. It would make a fine album cover. Perhaps for The White Stripes. Alternatively, for The Streets.

Welcome back.

[airinshaw.livejournal.com]

So I'm guessing as you took photos of the Forty Foot that you've read At Swim Two Boys?

If so you should see this photo (http://pics.livejournal.com/airinshaw/pic/0001yrbx/s640x480) and and this one (http://pics.livejournal.com/airinshaw/pic/0001zz3g/s640x480) that I took when I was there recently with soupytwist, aneli8 and mrsronweasley.

Also - we met Jamie O'Neill and had a brilliant dinner with him - as you can see (http://pics.livejournal.com/airinshaw/pic/0000ztp1/s640x480) from these photos (http://pics.livejournal.com/airinshaw/pic/00010y7t/s640x480).

And I chose to take the car-over-the-edge sign as a recommendation - which makes it a good job that my car was left in Leeds for the duration of my Irelandness no?

[nenar.livejournal.com]

Eeep. I have something to send to you, I've just been taking forever. I'll get on it soon, hopefully.

In other news, I finally got an IPOD! You must impart Music-Wisdom on me. :)

I'm glad you had a good visit! We miss you.

[porntestpilot.livejournal.com]

*frowns at you* I have a collage on my front door. Of Rodney and John mostly. I am a sad sad person.

[violin-road.livejournal.com]

I am going to have to protest that "PRAMS CAR SEATS COTS BUGGIES" is slightly less wtf than the store somewhere up the street from me that sells hats, hoodies (I think), and human hair.

[sonofzeal.livejournal.com]

I've read one of Feynman's books. He was the man. I actually saw a one+half man show about him. Staring Alan Alda. Was quite good.

Here's a story about Feynman. He a big van, and he had painted it with Feynman diagrams. All over the thing. Most people would see this, and just shrug it off as squigly lines on a van, but occasionally, someone would recognize the graphs.
"Why do you have Feynman diagrams painted on your van?"
"Because I'm Richard Feynman."

[dogeared.livejournal.com]

Your photos are so fun! This is my favorite sign (like your car one!) from when I visited a friend at Trinity a few years ago...

[lilac-way.livejournal.com]

My then-boyfriend (current husband) and I looked at engagement rings at the Happy Ring House (in, um, '92) but he refused to purchase anything at a place called "The Happy Ring House." In that same visit, my dad dragged my mom and me to Louis Copeland Outfitters so he could buy a bazillion new suits. My father was the original metrosexual.

All you need is a picture of Paddy Hannan's Pub on James' Street and you have my family history on film.

[gurrier.livejournal.com]

I lived in Dublin '97-'02, on De Nortsoide, and worked in Parnell Square. I was quite glad to leave it behind, but these pictures have made me miss it a bit! St Valentine's bones at Whitefriars are one of my favourite tourist "attractions".

[http://users.livejournal.com/_inbetween_/]

Love your posing family pic.

[caseymae.livejournal.com]

I sent an email to your oldish yahoo address with my thoughts on slash, a query about the black and white mix you were going to do, and the list of altered movie titles. (Stomp, stomp.)