(no subject)

Why is the MITF website so messed up? Why is it so difficult to find out on which dates The Starship Astrov are playing? The only calendar I can pull up is the one that has EVERY play listed which is way too confusing when I'm searching for a particular show. It's incredibly annoying, the site just keeps opening up more and more pop-ups--I literally had 7 open at one point, just trying to find the schedule.

Travel Update

I am beginning the process of renewing my passport--I had actually already planned to do a few weeks ago, before I even had in mind the Dublin trip, since my passport expires in a few months. And you just never know when you're gonna want to pick up and trip the lights Atlantic--breakfast in Dublin, déjeuner en Paris, caffe brasiliano in Naples.  Europe is my conch.  Anyway so I got some new headshots 2x2 photos taken and am now filling out the DS-82, the renewal by mail form.  And checking out the fees--HOLY CRAP.  They've darn near doubled passport fees 0_o, they've gone from $75 to $110.  *shakes fist impotently*

I'm also checking out accomodations in Dublin--this looks delightfully cozy.



And also researching the climate in November--Ireland is on the Gulf Stream (parts of Ireland, like Cornwall, actually have palm trees) so it is much more moderate than you'd think for a country along such a high latitude. However it IS very far north, and the Gulf Stream certainly doesn't affect daylight--sunset comes around 4:20 at that time of year in Dublin. But I can handle that. In New Hampshire in the winter, it was pitch black outside at 5 pm. I used to walk home from basketball practice in the dark. There's a section in Stephen's King's It (for which my personal sobriquet is Shit) where Ben Hanscomb's teacher asks him to stay to clean erasers, and when he's getting ready to leave it's almost dark and she tells him to hurry home. Looking out the window at the dying sun, she says she doesn't think we were meant to live so far North. After several winters in New Hampshire, believe me, I know what she means!

I Did It!

Ticket--BOOKED.  And if you listen reeeeallly closely you can hear Dublin whispering Céad Míle Fáilte...

I was talking to my mother and she asked if I was going outside the city at all.  It hadn't occurred to me, but heck, I'll be there for four days, on my own (and therefore moving quickly) and I probably could make time for a day trip somewhere.  I checked out the ferry routes and they have boats going to the Isle of Man and even Wales.  They're not terribly expensive either--it is definitely a possibility.  Wales!  Wales!  And how romantic would it be, crossing the wild Irish Sea, my hair blowing in the wind (and bundled up within an inch of my life), sailing toward yet another Celtic nation...



My mother was so funny--she said to "watch out  for the Irish wolves."  I said "What wolves?  Irish men aren't exactly known for their mad lady-killer skillz. I've read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn."