*beam*
So, Superman gushing aside, I've had an absolutely terrific week. We had friends come to visit: my high school photography teacher and his wife. I hadn't seen them in 15, maybe 16 years, since high school, basically, but we've kept in touch on and off, mostly in the last few years through email, and they decided to come visit Ireland! They'd been up at Mom & Dad's for a few days, then came down to Cobh on Sunday and hung out for a while.
I'd had great plans--I'd been going to haul them off to Fota and maybe Blarney and generally exhaust them. Instead, we spent all our time in Cobh, taking pictures, hanging out, sitting by the ocean and eating well, and generally just *really* enjoying catching up. Talked lots about writing, about photography, about what they're up to, what I'm up to, yadda yadda yadda. We went to dinner at the Commodore, where Ted is working, and he cooked for us (and it was *really* good!) and brought us up to the garden on top of the hotel, where there are amazing unobstructed views of the cathedral and a beautiful sunset which we had not brought our cameras to take pictures of. :) (We went back the next day, though.)
Among other nifty things, we stopped at one of the local pubs, named for the Mauretania (sister ship to the doomed Lusitania), because Veronica, who is an immigrant to the US, actually came to the States on that ship when she was 6 months old. Pretty damned cool! (While we were there, the news came on with good old Bush and his "shit heard 'round the world," and so ended up in a bit of a political hoo-ha while we and the locals all vehemently agreed with one another.)
Yeah. It was an absolutely fantastic couple of days. I was delighted to be able to introduce them to Ted, and they were properly enamoured of our animals. *laugh* Lucy was showing off and posing for Dixon, so he's got some great pictures of her that he's going to send me. :) They hadn't been sure I'd be able to take time off from writing to hang out with them, but it was *well* worth doing so for a couple of days. I'm all full of good will and happiness (unlike my usual grumpy, dour self).
Dixon and I went out to the old graveyard (where the Lusitania victims are buried) yesterday morning and did a photo shoot, which I'd been meaning to do for months. Now that I've actually been out there I'm eager for a foggy morning so I can go again and get that lighting. I'll be posting pictures at kitsnaps (kitsnaps) once I've got 'em downloaded from the camera and fussed with. Dixon taught me numerous things about my camera which I had not known, and...I really should take a digital photography class, even if I'm having a very fine time just trundling along on my own. :)
I intended to write today, but gave it up in favor of a two hour nap and noodling around at the computer. I need 3-5K every day for the rest of the month to have a rough draft done before genitiggie arrives, and I'm feeling relatively confident of achieving that, so one more kick-backed day here isn't bad, especially since it means spending it in proximity to Ted, who has the day off. I think the big plan for tonight is to watch Superman II, and maybe I'll sneak in an episode or two of Gilmore Girls. I love my life. :)
miles to Isengard: 187
I'd had great plans--I'd been going to haul them off to Fota and maybe Blarney and generally exhaust them. Instead, we spent all our time in Cobh, taking pictures, hanging out, sitting by the ocean and eating well, and generally just *really* enjoying catching up. Talked lots about writing, about photography, about what they're up to, what I'm up to, yadda yadda yadda. We went to dinner at the Commodore, where Ted is working, and he cooked for us (and it was *really* good!) and brought us up to the garden on top of the hotel, where there are amazing unobstructed views of the cathedral and a beautiful sunset which we had not brought our cameras to take pictures of. :) (We went back the next day, though.)
Among other nifty things, we stopped at one of the local pubs, named for the Mauretania (sister ship to the doomed Lusitania), because Veronica, who is an immigrant to the US, actually came to the States on that ship when she was 6 months old. Pretty damned cool! (While we were there, the news came on with good old Bush and his "shit heard 'round the world," and so ended up in a bit of a political hoo-ha while we and the locals all vehemently agreed with one another.)
Yeah. It was an absolutely fantastic couple of days. I was delighted to be able to introduce them to Ted, and they were properly enamoured of our animals. *laugh* Lucy was showing off and posing for Dixon, so he's got some great pictures of her that he's going to send me. :) They hadn't been sure I'd be able to take time off from writing to hang out with them, but it was *well* worth doing so for a couple of days. I'm all full of good will and happiness (unlike my usual grumpy, dour self).
Dixon and I went out to the old graveyard (where the Lusitania victims are buried) yesterday morning and did a photo shoot, which I'd been meaning to do for months. Now that I've actually been out there I'm eager for a foggy morning so I can go again and get that lighting. I'll be posting pictures at kitsnaps (kitsnaps) once I've got 'em downloaded from the camera and fussed with. Dixon taught me numerous things about my camera which I had not known, and...I really should take a digital photography class, even if I'm having a very fine time just trundling along on my own. :)
I intended to write today, but gave it up in favor of a two hour nap and noodling around at the computer. I need 3-5K every day for the rest of the month to have a rough draft done before genitiggie arrives, and I'm feeling relatively confident of achieving that, so one more kick-backed day here isn't bad, especially since it means spending it in proximity to Ted, who has the day off. I think the big plan for tonight is to watch Superman II, and maybe I'll sneak in an episode or two of Gilmore Girls. I love my life. :)
miles to Isengard: 187