Sno Cone of Luv

As I prepare to make the final arrangements to leave the country everyone asks me the same two questions so I thought I would take a moment to answer them here.

Okay, I’ve bored you enough. Enjoy the rest of your day.

Posted by Jenniffer at 05:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

It’s almost cliché how the “college years” are the best years of your life, and the lengths people are willing to go to just for a bit of nostalgia can be pretty ridiculous. I currently am ridiculous. As of this afternoon, I will have moved for the third time in eight months. This is one college years-type experience I can do without. There is no nostalgia, only Zoul.

In all seriousness, I’m really excited about moving into the new place. I’m just not sure if it is because I’m getting out of the dinky place I’m in currently, if it’s because the new apartment is quite nice, or if it is because I know that moving means Jenniffer is coming soon. Perhaps it’s a combination of all three. Regardless, I am excited, and I hope some of you will have the chance to visit us there.

It will be roughly three to four weeks before I have an internet connection established, so this will be my last post for a little while. I will try to hop into an internet café every once in a while to catch up on some e-mail, but those places are expensive, so it will probably happen only a few times a week. Do no fear, though, Jenniffer will be posting between now and when she joins me.

Now I need to remove all signs of my existence from this room so I can get into the city and buy a mobile phone. Over and out!

As I type: Listening to The Dandy Warhols “Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia”

*please not that while it may have sounded like I was complaining, my move of a few suitcases worth of stuff pales in comparison to what Jenniffer has to do. She has been responsible for getting a new storage unit, packing up the entire apartment in Minneapolis, and hiring movers. She rocks!

Posted by Brandon at 01:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I’ll be honest; I’ve never been much of a reader. Sure, I started reading when I was relatively young, and ability has never been issue. It’s just that for whatever reason I’ve never been able to, or interested in, starting and finishing books that I did not have to read for some sort of assignment. Maybe it’s just an issue with a short attention span. I don’t know.

This being said, since arriving in Dublin, I have already finished three books that I brought with me. Yeah, I’ve had a little time on my hands over here, but DAMN! As pathetic as it may sound, those three books are probably more than I have read in the last few years. Yes, I am a tool.

So, first I read "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. My friend Russ gave it to me years ago, and now I have just gotten around to reading it. Next I moved on to "The Van" by Roddy Doyle, a book I started roughly 11 years ago, but never finished.

I then went back and revisited a book I have always regarded as one of my favorites, Kurt Vonnegut’s "
Slaughterhouse-Five." I originally read it 12-13 years ago, and was amazed about how many details I remembered. One detail I did not remember – or at least just plain did not appreciate while reading it in high school - was the passage where Vonnegut talks a bit about the writing of the book, which he did while teaching at the Writer’s Workshop at the University of Iowa. Needless to say, now being directly tied to one of my favorite places on earth, this book is no longer “one of my favorites”, it’s #1 with a bullet!

If you have never read it, or don’t remember reading it, I highly recommend it. Fantastically funny satire that, despite being written 40 years ago, does not seem dated at all. Here’s a quote from the book that I laughed particularly loud at. When describing some old, yellowed books in the locker under the bed of his neighbor in the military hospital Vonnegut says, “those beloved, frumpish books gave off a smell that permeated the ward – like flannel pajamas that hadn’t been changed for a month, or like Irish stew.” Though not one of the funniest parts of the book, given my circumstances, the line really resonated in my mind.

That’s all for now, I need to get packing. I’m moving out this weekend. Woo-Hoo! I’ll try to post one more time before climbing back into the dark ages of no internet.

As I type: Listening to The Pixies “Death to the Pixies”

Posted by Brandon at 09:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yes, I know I haven’t written in a while. My apologies. I’ll just say that I’ve been going slightly mad here in Dublin over the last few weeks. Let’s see, there have been some visa issues potentially negating Jenniffer’s ability to come here in a few weeks, let alone my ability to stay. I’ve also been getting dangerously close to the wire with regards to finding a place for us to live. I’m due to be out of here by the 18th, but my search was hindered a bit by the two-week national shutdown that occurred about three weeks ago. I believe the locals call it “Christmas.”

However, it seems that I just made it through with most of my sanity intact. In the movie “Almost Famous” there is an often-used line that is quite applicable – “It’s all happening!”

People in the nursing administration department of my hospital have personally negotiated with the Department of Immigration, and now all of that silly visa stuff has been worked out. Woo-Hoo!

Also, as of today I have found a nice place for Jenniffer and I to live. I still have some paperwork to do, but it is more or less official. Here are some links to pictures from the website advertising the apartment:

Apt. Building
Bedroom
Dining Area
Kitchen
Living Room

Once again, sorry for the long pause between posts. I hope to write again another time or two before I move. After that, though, expect a delay for a few weeks. I have to get phone and broadband set up, which here can take a while. Hell, everything takes a while here. Ironic how Ireland’s laid-back atmosphere, which I truly love, can also really drive you crazy when trying to get something done. I wonder if Jenniffer thinks the same thing about me sometimes. That was rhetorical, please don’t answer.

As I type: Listening to Kaiser Chiefs “Employment”

Posted by Brandon at 07:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hello all, I’m typing this having just gotten back home from watching the Outback Bowl. I have no idea when I will be able to post this, though, considering I haven’t had an internet connection since yesterday morning. So it goes. As far as the game is concerned, I realized as I was walking back home – listening to Nine Inch Nails “With Teeth” along the way to ease whatever frustrations may have built up – that as much a I would like to go on about getting screwed, it’s pretty difficult to do when we were outplayed for three quarters. Any complaints would just sound like sniveling, so I’ll just leave it at that.

As fun as it was getting to watch the Hawks today, I can’t say that my viewing experience was entirely pleasurable. Late in the first quarter, just as all shiny, happy feelings had nearly evaporated, things took a distinct turn for the worse. I don’t know, maybe there was a neon sign above my head buzzing and blinking, “YES, I WOULD LIKE SOME SALT FOR THOSE WOUNDS OF MINE, PLEASE!” I figure that must have been the case, because why at that point did an Ohio State – ahem, THE Ohio State – fan have to come sit next to me? Of all of the teams in the Big Ten to have a fan at the Woolshed in Dublin, why did it have to be an O.S.U. fan? If you said the answer to that question is because Michigan fans don’t travel that far unless it’s to the Rose Bowl, then you win a prize!

Sure, the guy wasn’t terrible. He was rooting for the Hawks, which almost made the running commentary on “all of the eye candy” in Dublin bearable. However, after a running into the kicker penalty and the second comment from Mr. Buckeye to my right about how the Big Ten was “nice because there were as many white players as black ones”, I REALLY was ready to be alone again. Thankfully, he left midway through the third quarter. It was shortly thereafter that things seemed to turn around for my Hawks. Coincidence? I think not.

Despite the outcome of the game, it’s not all doom and gloom here in Dublin. An Iowa victory would just have been icing on the cake for me. Now that it is January – happy new year, by the way! – I can officially begin telling people that Jenniffer will be here at the end of the month. She’s even purchased her tickets already, and will arrive on Monday the 30th. Eleven weeks down, four to go. Piece of cake, right?

As I type: Listening to Morphine “Yes”

Posted by Brandon at 12:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So in case you haven't figured this out yet, I will not be posting as often as my better half. He is in charge of words, I'm in charge of "pretty". I'm still learning about style sheets etc. and have only changed a little bit so far, but I wanted to go ahead and let you know that yes, I am here too. But really, who wants to hear about the moving process, because once I get back from CA, that's all I'll be dealing with. His life on the other side of the pond is much more interesting.

Hope you all have a very happy new year. While I type this, it is already 2006 for Brandon, but still seven-and-a-half hours away for me. That's bizarre!! (of course when I post this it will look like it already is 2006 as we already have the time set up for Ireland, oh well)

Posted by Jenniffer at 01:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)