trinityofone

Had an exceedingly odd but for the most part wonderful day yesterday. Was phoned by my Godmother around noon and asked if I could be ready for lunch in fifteen minutes, so I abandoned whatever work I was supposedly doing on my paper and went to San Francisco with her. She insisted we stop at Forever 21 where she insisted on buying me a cute floral skirt (I wasn't complaining). Then we had to stop at Citizen Cupcake 'cause my Godmother hadn't been--sadly, darling_effect, the mondo lesbian pop art was gone. We got key lime cupcakes which were kind of like getting punched in the face by a pie of the same name, but in a good way. Mostly.

Finally we reached the Ferry Building, our supposed original destination, where we had some of the most delicious Japanese food I've ever had: cold rice noodle salad and shrimp croquettes and really yummy almond pudding for dessert. I'd casually mentioned wanting to read Nick Hornby's essay collection The Polysyllabic Spree, so my Godmother bought it for me. I went back to Berkeley feeling like a princess.

I changed into my new skirt so that I looked like a princess (well, in my head) and went to the Daily Cal's end-of-semester party at the Bear's Lair. There was a rap/hip-hop/MC contest going on at the same time--like something out of 8 Mile, only in broad daylight and without the talent. A guy whose moniker was The Hindu Harry Potter won, which, I think, says a lot about the quality of the event. It was hilarious, though.

As the rap contest was ending, Asya showed up, already a bit smashed, and asked me to come have a drink with her and this guy she'd met at a conference. I said okay and only when we were halfway there did she inform me that the guy was in his 60s (pooh) and Irish (yaaay!). So we went to Blake's and had a drink with this Irish Red Cross guy. Asya's actually only 19, but I let her share my margarita because I am evil and corrupt our nation's youth. I came down with a case of my usual social ineptitude and said a lot of dumb things, like a five-minute presentation on how I speak French poorly, but the Irish Red Cross guy recommended that I read Roddy Doyle and paid for the drinks, so it wasn't a total wash.

Then I went and had ice cream with Brad, which was weird in ways I don't want to talk about--BUT, let me tell you: Ben & Jerry's Triple Caramel Crunch is a gift from God.

When I finally got home I had to clean like mad because our landlord's coming over this morning (in an hour!) to show our apartment and I was suddenly embarrassed by the grime on the stove and all the papers lying about. Then I went to bed and had another weird dream starring taosterman.

He and I and two other girls were living in this sprawling white house that was trying to kill us. (Hmm...could this perhaps have been influenced by House of Leaves? You bet your ass.) A lot of bad things happened in the house, which I've since blocked out/forgotten, but taosterman and I managed to escape. taosterman was very upset because the "Serenity glasses" that lokionfire had given him--basically big glasses with thick, unpainted wooden frames--had broke in the skirmish; he kept holding the busted pieces together and whimpering. We ran up the road, worried that the house would somehow chase after us (?), and trying to flag down a car. Finally one stopped: a van driven by some of the Best Week Ever/I Love the... people. "Our house is trying to kill us!" I said.

"What kind of house?" one of them asked.

"A big white sprawling house."

"A big white sprawling house? Well of course it's trying to kill you!"

They gave us a ride as far as a ROSS Dress for Less where we were kicked out for not being Philippina.

Welcome, one and all, to my Ireland journal. Of course, since I won't be going to Ireland for more than six months, right now it's more like my ramble-bitch-squee!journal, but there's potential, at least. Y'all already know me, but as, I now realize, you may not know about the Ireland thing, I'll quickly explain. And brag. Bragging is good.

Basically, last fall I applied for my school, UC Berkeley, study abroad program (EAP) in the United Kingdom/Ireland. My top choice was to go to Trinity College in Dublin. There were a number of reasons for this, and we can all pretend that they were more sophisticated than Trinity being the alma mater of two of my favorite fictional Stephens (Dedalus and Maturin) and that I liked the photos of their library. Anyway, there was little chance of my getting in as Trinity only accepts one (one!) non-theater major from all the UCs and the EAP program makes you sign a waiver that says they can pretty much send you anywhere they want, including Wales. And yet, a few days before my 21st birthday, which was on St. Patrick's Day, I found out that I had indeed gotten in to Trinity! I think it was the birth date that did it.

So September 28th of this year I am departing for my orientation in London. Then, on to Dublin I go! If I can survive six-plus months of bureaucracy, annoying classes, and living with my parents, that is. We'll see.

In the mean time, I look forward to chatting with all of you, and plotting (I hope) your trips to visit me at my Dublin flat. Cheers!