When in Rome...
write a blog. 'Cos Romans love blogs. That is to say due to the efforts of Liam, Conal and Paul, I now feel the obligation to commit my thoughts to the worldwidesuperhighnet. It's been a while with this thing, and even when I did write anything it was short and sporadic. And to be honest I wouldn't expect anything better this time around. But we can all hope I guess.
One theme that has been discussed on some blogs has been the death of that guy in Dooradoyle, and I refer to him as "that guy" not as a sign of disrespect but because that's exactly what I'd refer to anyone as, that was killed anywhere else in Limerick. Unless I knew them of course, god forbid. Now I'm not belittling his death or disrespecting him by any means as I'm sure between our extended circle of friends someone was bound to have had some kind of relationship with him. And it is obviously a horrible thing to happen to anyone. My point here is that just because this guy was middle class, played rugby, was a respectable kind of guy, his death is more important than others. And to be quite honest I'd have probably not even thought about it unless I'd seen the news around the time. Because I saw a priest on from the O'Malley park area or some such disadvantaged community talking on the news or prime time or something (I know, I keeps my shit memorized and detailed), and he mentioned the fact that there had been plenty of innocent people killed in those areas but that it took this to motivate anything. He was dead right, I mean I recognise the fact that this is very close to home for all of us. It could very easily have been any of us (to a certain extent, you know what I mean), like when I was going out with Diana she lived on that estate. It was very freaky watching the reenactment on crimewatch and recognising where they were. And now Michael Noonan's all "Rararaaaa! Bring 'em in without any provocation and cut there hands off"or something like that, just because he probably knows his Dad or because he was a valued member of the community. Come to think of it, it's just like that Maddox article on Christopher Reeves. Donate to a charity that benefits you. So that's my first point, it shouldn't take something like this to happen for it to provoke a response.
The other question is, what should that response be? Michael Noonan wants wiretaps and to make being members of a gang illegal. Wiretaps, good. IF it's justified. But the way he's talking about being able to haul in anyone with a criminal record or known ties to certain people it'll end up in an invasion of civil liberties. As I've gotten older I've found that civil liberites have been a particular bugbear of mine. One thing I have wanted to discuss and may have done with a few of you is the issue of random breath testing. And I'll come back to that another time rather than going off on a tangent. I think that if I'm a law abiding citizen that happens to know somebody who's involved in certain illegalities (i really hope that's a word) there should be no reason the police could force me to come anywhere with them, they can request and it can be MY decision to do so. If I am a law abiding, tax paying citizen the Police should be seen and not heard unless I want them to be. As for the membership of illegal gangs, first of all, how exactly can you identify someone as being a gang "member"? It's not like they all get a captain planet ring is it? Or maybe that's what the sovereign rings are all about???? Anyway the question is, how does one identify a gang member? Again, could it be that they just want the ability to lock up anyone that has any loose association with crime? That, to me, is a terrible prospect. Any thoughts from my more enligtened friends and wellwishers are very welcome as I'm sure ye may have studied these kinds of issues more in depth. This is just my unresearched reaction.
So the actual solution??? I haven't a clue really. Regeneration of disdavantaged areas maybe? This is all based on how these people are brought up. If they learn some degree of respect when growing up then it will continue through their lives. Presently they don't. Also it would be great to see a greater police presence in town. People actually scared to walk the streets at night makes me sad. It would also serve to make it more difficult for scumbags in general. At present the Gardai fear the scumbags. They can't go into any of these areas. They should be able to walk in there without fear and be respected. But as I say I'm not exactly sure how this would be acheived and any of my thoughts might seem somewhat unenlightened.
Anyway I think I've kind of made my point. Dead man sad, but shouldn't be sadder than other dead mans. Again, not belittling it, just simplifying it. Comments, very welcome. So there's another blog for ye to enjoy. Hopefully more to come.
"Sperm count so high I'm wearing jonnies made of kevlar"
You know what's probably the most annoying thing in the whole world? Going in an hour early for college. I was lying in bed and the alarm rang after the second snooze. I got up poked my head into my live in lover kieran to confirm the schedule. He did so and as he did i returned to my bed and sat down. I felt the cold of the morning air wash over me and contemplated how good it would feel to immerse myself in the still warm covers. I sat and prayed that our lecture be just one hour later, just one! Having had a few too many sleep-ins lately i felt a slight sense of obligation. So with a heavy heart i accepted my fate and wearily pulled on my clothes brushed my teeth and left for college. My heart is broken.
On another note if I hadn't come in so early i wouldn't have read those few blogs nor would i have blogged myself. It's a nice distraction i guess but another distraction is something i don't need, far from it in fact. I handed in a 30something page report on monday. Now Mr. and Ms. "oh i do a (insert mundane bullshit talking course title here) course and can type reports/essays/bullshit standing on my head" I am a person with
actual talent and I am not practiced in the ways of talking shite in order to make up for what I lack. Therefore filling that many pages with that much shite is quite an acheivement so bow down. We've got a huge group report thing due for next week (wednesday) as well and we've got a review of how we're getting on with that at 12, since I came in early I should be doing some last minute research but am instead blogging. And between now and next week are a number of events i want to attend. These include a hiphop night Thursday, a gig in Cork Sunday, and a Halloween Ball on the night before it's due. There's only one word for that kind of situation and it's a slang word for gonads.
It's hotter than the sun
so recently the weather has been like living in an oven. Yesterday it was fucking horrifically hot and coming up to the lunch rush the power went out on most of main street which is where the shop is. so we were making cold sandwiches for about an hour in complete silence, it was quite bizarre but a unique experience. so then we decided to shut down and pack the fridges with ice to keep stuff cold until the electricity came back on. then the boss took us all out for lunch which was nice and then we went to the beach. i really can't overstate the heat, it's cooled down a lot today but my god it was unbelievable. my back is a state of constant moisture and wearing t shirts there is simply no way to hide it and topless there's always an amazing sheen coming from it. tonight there's an expected thunder storm so that should allieviate some of the humidity. the beach was nice. not usually a big fan of the beach but this one was nice and it was so hot i was delighted to get into the water, the water was weird though cos there was constant change in temperature, it was cool. and then last night there was a house party which was after the lads got back from a club. i didn't really want much part of it, i was happy out watching manga but it can't be avoided really. the ghost in the shell series was on which was class eventhough as with all japanese movies i had no idea what was going on. the house party was a bit of a balls for reasons to do with me being so hot that i have to deny females my sexuality and try and do it nicely. but today i just got up really late rang home, and went on the internet while watching reruns of the x games. i'm on my own too which is nice sometimes, get to chill out a bit. two of the lads left last week too so it's a bit quieter around. the plan is to go to martha's vineyard tomorrow, that's the plan at least, we tried it last week and just didn't really bother out of laziness. we've also got a plan for travelling at the end. we should be leaving the cape on the 18th or 19th and going to six flags which is the biggest theme park in new england. i'm not too pushed on rollercoasters but i'll go anyway and have a looksee. then we can either come back to the cape for a few days or go up with mike to boston, which i'm planning on doing. so that'll be for two days or something then coming down to new york for 5 days i think it is. we'll be staying in the grand hyatt cos mike ot us discounts due to his work connections. it's a pretty fancy looking place so that should be fun and since we're down there for a few days we might take a day trip to pennsylvania or washington. then it's back up to boston for a night or two to fly back home, it's a nice little plan we have going on so hopefully it all works out.
by the way if you read, comment lemme know whats the happy haps back home.
when i do the robot you can call me isaac asimov
it's true, i haven't been blogging much, i think if i'd my own computer and some more "steve time" it'd be a lot easier but for now this shall have to suffice. there's not much going on out this side of the world at least the area which i am presently inhabiting. i had yesterday and the day before off and did hardly anything. went out last night but that's about the size of it. we were in fact so bored yesterday that we were playing charades. not that i mind charades since i kick ass so consistently it's just there should be more interesting things to do other than acting out descriptions of what syllables sound somewhat like. so that's kinda pissing me off at the moment i'm in america and i'm just sitting around doing fuck all. it's silly. so since me and ferg have thursdays and fridays off it we're gonna try get something organised it may be that we shall visit mossys vineyard or boston or new york or some such mad endeavour.
well at least tonight i get to chill out, just listening to a bit of dj shadow at the minute. i think everyone's going out so i hope to stay in and if possible listen to music all night which would be quite relaxing. the weathers been pretty shit recently too so at least if it was nice we could just go to the beach or just play frisbee all day but it's not been the best. there was actually a huge lightning storm the other night, it was class there was forked lightning really nearby, it kicked many an ass. there's a bit of the old home sickness bug going around too, we're talking about chilling out on a friday night by yourself at home, your own bed and all that jazz. but sure i'm trying to pack in as much america as possible but i'll still be delighted to get home.
milk was a poor choice
So the reason i haven't been blogging much is basically the business factor. also there's 8 people in the house and we're all using kierans computer so i personally don't want to be hogging it too much unlike others in the house. It's the fourth of july and after the past week i'm in no mood for another night without sleep. mike kieran and the girls from work have gone to provincetown, the gay capital of the cape. they have all the good fireworks this year apparently.
so let's see what's been going on in the world of the americas? there's been two 21sts mine and aidans, a trip to new york, a fireworks night and everything in between. the trip to new york was on tuesday and wednesday, we decided on the monday night at about 1 in the morning that we'd go. So it was myself and rob (my new housemate, a really nice guy) got up at like half six got a 2 hr bus journey to boston then a 6 hr bus to new york so we started wandering aroud and about a half an hour off the bus and turns out rob lost his phone. this would normally be ok however we had arranged to meet his buddy in grand central station at 5. so we chanced going down thereto see if we could spot him. hung around for an hour or two looking for him and also spent loads on payphone calls trying to find other number but no luck. (turns out the guy we were trying to find was there for an hour too but we never bumped into him). so then we wandered around a bit went to times square and got alot of pictures which i can't upload cos the internet connections a bit dodgy for some reason. so then we stayed in a hostel got up in the morning went through central park got a subway to wall street walked down to the staten island ferry, got that got some pictures of the skyline and the statue of liberty. then pretty much went home. that's a very condensed version of the trip but that's all the main parts. all in all it was good, the lost phone made for a different way to see the city.
we got back on the wednesday night then th next night was my 21st. was working that day the girls in work got me a load of stuff like twinkies, ho hos, water guns, silly putty and a pair of crocs (they're all the rage in america but if you ask me they look like clogs) it's a work joke really. the so work was grand and then i got home had a huge water fight. our house is fucking class for it, if i can upload pictures i will. we're on the second floor, there's 2 big balconies and two ways up, you can climb up on the roof and there's a big parking lot and a decking downstairs so it's brilliant. then we wen't out dank loads of interesting shot's, got hit on majorly by my boss then headed back to the house where people had arrived already and had a little partay.
don't think we did much on the friday but then on saturday we had a big bbq and stood out and watched the big fireworks on our balcony with the amazing view of the harbour. that night i was hit upon by another girl in work but since i had already turned down the boss i felt guilty so nothing came of it. but it was still a good night, much drinking done. sunday night was aidans 21st twas another good night. and then last night we took him out for dinner and ended up staying out til about 2 dancing to such wonderful dittys like sandstorm. twas a bit of fun but now i'm wrecked. so at least i've tomorrow off now. hope ye're all getting on alright back home. missing the old chilled out nights in back home as lame as it sounds. very hectic out here and the sleeping patterns are fucking me up. anyway I'm sure that'll be enough to tide ye over. if any of ye are gonna be near a landline anytime soon lemme know and i might give ye a ring. talk chee soon kids
Everywhere you go, you always take the weather with you
Well it's nice and overcast here in Hyannis. Yesterday it was lashing rain, the day before it was scorching hot. So I'm not gonna be getting homesick anytime soon. Got myself a job today, in the most sought after job in the town. I will be working in the Rollwich shop. A rollwich is a cross between a roll and a sandwich but it is in fact a wrap but lets not get technical. So I'll be starting tomorrow, its only 5hrs a day and 8 dollaridoos an hour but hopefully it'll be enough to get by. Our big problem at the moment is our accomodation we've got a place with two girls and two other guys but we've got a free bed in one of the rooms so we've to fill that before we move in on monday otherwise it's gonna cost us a good bit extra. but once we get someone and get settled in it should be good. How's everyone doing back home? Any news for me? I'm not seeing much freaking blogging going on, better sort yerselves out people
America, fuck yeah!!
Well i suppose i should tell ye all about how we've been getting on over here. First i must say I'm very tired, I am at the moment in bed in the fine surroundings of the Hyannis travel Inn it is half ten in the evening and Ferg and Kieran have gone to a pub down the road. Eventhough i'm not 21 i got in but kieran forgot his passport so we'd to come back and I just decided to stay in and get some much needed rest. So the plan is to go house and job hunting tomorrow, we arrived today but since it's sunday no-one was really gonna see us. The place seems nice, a little bit too american so hopefully i can adjust, we went to a Hooters for dinner which was arousing but not exactly tantalising taste wise. The food is quite over the top in most proportions, salt content and size but wholly unfulfilling in nutrients. We left Mike up in Boston, I'm considering joining him up there if it doesn't work out down here I think I'd much prefer it up there, sure we'll see how it goes. Anything I'm missing back home? As you all know it's rare that you always think of everything you want to say in a blog so I'm gonna leave it at that, hopefully next time I talk to you we'll be settled down into some form of employment and accommodation.
P.S. Can one of ye text laura and tell her to check her mail, and tell here i'll give her a ring once i get a callcard and all that business?
