So, I did a first blush edit of the pictures I took in Ireland, and got it down under a hundred; don’t worry, I won’t bore you with all of them. I’d really like to get it all into 3 or so posts. The trip out was fairly uneventful. I couldn’t sleep on the plane, so I shot pictures out of the window to amuse myself. The first one here was the best of the lot. I wonder what some of those lights are. Some of them tally as reflections off the window or lens flares. At least one doesn’t. By the time I arrived, I’d only slept 2 hours in the previous 36, and I was a bit lagged. Even so, I was in a new place, and filing thoughts away for later. One thing I noticed was how there seemed to be some thought put into almost every structure. A bridge isn’t just a bridge, but an opportuity to show off. Even the corner liquor store was less molded plactic and stamped metal than you’d see here. The plan of going to brunch on arrival turned into go to lunch, and then stagger across half the city after a SIM card with Long (one of my co-workers). The nearest phone store was 3 (named when 3g was a new thing). It was in a big open shopping area, a street lined with shops whose name I forget. The fake fakir, levitating, was there, with just about the worst sunburn I’ve ever seen.
Posted on 2013-08-08T05:59:23Z GMT
so, this was the trip before the trip. Before my work trip to ireland, we were supposed to go camping with some friends we met through turntable; everybody bailed, basically, but we decided it’d be nice to get away for the weekend and have some quality time away from the world before I was gone for two weeks. The drive in was somewhat perilous, but also gorgeous. It didn’t help that I was trying and failing to beat sundown. Anyway, picture a dark dirt road with some washboard, some hairpin turns, a couple river fords (that’s places where you go in the water, instead of a bridge), and some cliffs. The beauty of the valley we were making out way down was not lost on me. There’s something really nice about moonlight. It looks like midday at first glance, but the shadows are super deep. Gone. There’s also the the chance that the photo won’t work at all; that my eyes are compensating for a contrast ratio that my camera can’t match. So it feels extra good. Once we got there, the trouble really started. We’d only brought one flashlight and no firewood, so we had to forage for it. In looking around for wood, I found one of the posts marking the parking area with my shin, fracturing it (I think; I never got an x-ray, but I still have a bump 6 weeks later). I found wood, though, and made a fire. Then, of course, we had to pitch the tent, and we slept on rocky, slanted ground. Sort of par for the course by that point. Then the morning came, and things started looking up. My shin was bloody, but didn’t hurt too much if I didn’t touch it. We made steak and eggs, moved the tent to a more level spot, and decided to go for a hike. We hiked down to the river, about 2 miles, and dipped our feet in. Cool and nice, and then I hung my hammock and did some real relaxing. At around 6pm, we decided not to spend another night; we’d had our night out, our relaxing by the river, even a nice hike.
Posted on 2013-08-06T06:34:19Z GMT
Yeah, yeah. Two in a row, although different pictures. Next, a post about camping and poor planning.
Posted on 2013-08-06T06:18:44Z GMT
Yes, there was an internet cat video festival in Oakland, and yes, we had to go. By far the coolest thing showing there was this guy, doing live poem compositions on the subject of your choice; Sophie says “Cats in space!” and the guy pounds on his typewriter for about five minutes, talking and bantering with us. Appearently he’s normally in the tourist areas of SF, Fisherman’s Wharf and such.
Posted on 2013-08-05T16:34:27Z GMT
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