So ah...

Sitting up late-ish, strangely calm. Usually i'm pretty stressed out this time of night, but I had fun the last evening and day, probably since I stayed away from the city centre all day. Yay for no hustle-bustle!

The city grinds me down. It's way outside of my comfort bubble. I can handle it, now. It look me the best part of eight months that Dublin was not Galway - and never will be. Of course I miss my home. I'm not heartless. Just a bit out of touch; ultra-rational. But you can't rationalise everything.

Don't I know it.

I've never seen myself as "a culchie". And I fuckin' hate the Dubs that will play on that horrid, catch-all, us/them mentality. Yeah, I hate ya. There's no need for it. What, so I didn't grow up in a place where you have to step over and around the strung-out junkies on the streets? Where every main thoroughfare is now a procession of Chinese restaurants, Carroll's Irish Trash shops and Londis shops - is it self-pity or pride that's going on here?

The Yuppies.

The yuppies kill me. I feel my lungs clench up and embrace my heart in my chest as if to protect me from them. I want to help them more than the homeless. Maybe its one positive thing of what’s going on in the world right now - maybe being let go from their companies will free them from their horrifically hollow and unimpressive lives. Then again, I’ve got other friends who are in no way yuppies, but also feel the need to express everything as the most impressive. Maybe I’m just not easily impressed.

But what I like about Dublin is - once you know how to handle it (and I’m a long way off, but at least I’ve got a foothold), is the craic. There's a world of craic to be had. It’s not as up-front as many parts of Ireland, you have to pick it out and make it your own. And when I say up-front, I don't mean the marketing, 'cause that’s there in spades... but the range is good.

It’s real good.

One thought I had lately that gets me through a bit, needs a little refinement maybe:

"Life is like the middle of a sentence; it rarely makes sense until it’s finished."

Night.

Blogging about Blogging

I don't really "get" the blog thing. I don't know how these people can write all the time. Especially the new "professional bloggers" who actually do this for a living. But, they do it and do it well, so here's some of the ones I subscribe to.

Seth Godin (self-titled "Marketing Guru") blogs numerous times a day. He evens blogs about how to blog. Steve Olson writes in an interesting and informative bitesize self-help style, promoting realistic thinking and the power of hindsight. His many posts detailing life lessons learned from recalling past memories at times reek of those "unlock your inner (insert goal here)", but are generally insightful and at the very least, entertaining to read.

For the tech (and not so tech) heads theres blogs like Chris Pirillo's frequently updated text/video journal on the little hacks that are helpful everyday, from "How To Buy an mp4 player", "How To Save Money" to "How to Choose the Best Airline" and what to eat for the munchies. His video journal is based in his chatroom-slash-command centre, with open input from his many other subscribers.

Finally, there's Karl Hungus' film blog. I enjoy his humour and his honest reviews of current and classic films. His rather encyclopædic knowledge has opened my eyes to a few diamonds.

For the quick humour fix, theres always the webcomics:
xkcd
Dilbert
Piled Higher and Deeper
CTRL-Alt-Del

Torrent

I'm hypnotised by a Torrent Swarm.
Its all downloading and none uploading.
I set it that way sometimes.
Even though it doesn't make a difference to my downloads.
I didn't set it that way tonight though.
Unusual.

Blog Update

Ahoj! Realised I hadn't posted in ages so I threw up the random blog posts I put up on my Bebo.

Things going strange lately. Slow, fast, slow. Slow with college, but then I came up with a marvelous little project that should wrap my thesis around itself very nicely (thank *eck).

Then fast, going through Europe like a dose of salts. Poland rocks the socks, but think twice about Slovakia... just my experience is all...

Then slow, having dead meetings in college with people who seem to be figments of my imagination.

But sure you'll have that.

Chat soon.

Why I Hate (almost) Everything But Don't Lock Myself In A Small Dark Room Crying For My Teddy

Imagine you're a turtle on a beach.

There's never been anything but you and your turtle friends on this beach.

You were born on this beach, and you'll die on this beach.

You've never seen anything past the horizon of the water or the dunes of sand on the beach.

Your life on the beach is a fine, quiet life, and it's all you know.

So, Turtle on a beach... try explain the concept of Government.

How the hell do you know?

The Battle of the Power Ballads

While walking out of HMV, me miming the words to Whitesnake's classic power ballad "Is This Love":

Colin: "I hate Whitesnake... Nothing compared to Journey..."

Sunday Boredom & Juggling

It's Sunday, hence the most boring day of the week. It's also raining torrentially, so you can't actually go outside and do anything. Argh!!

I've taken up juggling as a new hobby, and i'm really enjoying it. It takes a lot of concentration, and a hell of a lot of practice, but its quite fulfilling. Its handy to have YouTube and a friend who juggles professionally to pester for tips!

I used to juggle when I was a kid, about 10 years old or so. I taught myself, by just copying clowns and such; yes, for a while I wanted to be a clown. I'd still take it up, honest job - always wanted to be an entertainer! Not fit enough to commit to pro-wrestling so i'll leave that one. Anyway, I knew I wasn't juggling "properly", since I had taught myself, but I bought some juggling balls (thuds) and practiced a bit. Apparently what I had been doing is known as a Shower, which is not what you start off learning as a juggler, apparently is hard for some jugglers to do :/. So, before my head swelled, I went to square one.

• First thing you do is look up. Look where you want the ball to go. Don't look at the ball in your hand. Then, throw one ball into your vision, in an elliptical pattern, and catch with the other hand. Do it 10+ times with each hand 'till you're comfortable. Then try two.
• Hold a ball in each hand, throw your dominant hand, and when it reaches its peak, just at the point when its about to fall, throw the other one a little to the side of that one. Catch this falling one, and repeat - throw, apex, throw, catch, apex, throw, catch. Do it 10+ times, mix it up, and master it. Move on from there!
  

Two paragraphs, simple enough, but it's taken me four days to do this badly. I'm happy enough with it, the hardest part is getting the rhythm right. Just don't look at your hands, and stay slow!

The Shower is the passing of the balls in a circular patter, ie throw your right up, at the apex, throw the ball from your left to the right, catch falling ball with your left. It should resemble balls travelling around your upper body in a circular motion.

Much fun, and apparently good exercise for body and mind. Studies have shown juggling is the first pastime/activity proven to increase grey matter in the areas of the brain related to advanced functions, such as memory, cognition and coordination.