I have no idea when I took this picture, but it looks nice and sunny so I thought I’d post it.  Behold, Áras an Uachtaráin or the home of the President of Ireland.  It seems that the public can enter it each Saturday so maybe I’ll have to look into that.  

This house sits in the Phoenix Park and was originally built by a park ranger.  That guy must have had one hell of a salary.  (Though it wasn’t this big at the time - you can read more about the developments here).

I realised that I have a lot of un-connected thoughts today, so I thought I’d offer a hodge podge of whats on my radar.  Prepare to be dazzled!

- The Olympics.  Yes, it was kind of everyone to check in to see if I am still sane now that they are all over.  I am suffering from withdrawals but I think I’ll be ok.  I must say the closing ceremony was amazing, and not just because dear David popped up.  In fact, I might say it was the best closing I’ve ever seen.  I’m not so sure about the opening ceremony though.  While I enjoyed it immensely I still think the opening ceremony from Salt Lake City was my most favourite ever.

- Rose of Tralee.  Oh, game on.  What a perfect way to come down from the Olympics.  Last night’s offerings were a little slim, I thought, though I was pleased that the “Boston and New England Rose” grew up on Cape Cod.  And while it’s in my nature to want to mock this competition, it struck me for the first time last night just how nice it really is.  Almost all of the Roses’ parents seem to be Irish who emigrated and now they can come back and have their daughters be enthusiastic about their heritage.  (And the idea of winning free jewellery, cars, travel, etc.)  Nice, nice, nice.

-  Doctor’s offices.  All doctor’s offices smell the same, all around the world.  If I could bottle the particular scent I’d call it Eau de Clinical and explain that it has top notes of disinfectant, base notes of biohazards and middle notes of please-I-need-a-sick-note desperation.  Mmm, yummy!

- Toilet brushes.  Why are toilet brush bristles generally white?  Logically It just seems like perhaps the worst possible colour for them.

- Little Black Dress books.  They cost less than a magazine, last me at least an hour longer and at some point always make me laugh.  Now I’ll buy anything Rachel Gibson writes.

- Flooding in Ireland.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: It’s not like the rain is surprising.  Yes, obviously the amount that came this month was surprising but for years now I’ve asked why the roads and sewers aren’t upgraded to actually best contain the rain so that they don’t become totally unusable multiple times per year.  Perhaps we should all revisit that question?

- Lost In Austen is coming!!  I’ve heard 3 September - can anyone confirm??

Ok, that’s it now.  Carry on.

Chronically Fatigued is ME has been updated for the final time. 

It’s been real, but now I can’t keep up with it and I’m tired of feeling guilty about it so it’s died a natural death. 

Unlike me, I hasten to add, because I’m still alive and kicking!

Larry:  You know what?  It’s the weekend - I’m having some ice cream.

Beth (in a voice of awe and wonder):  Love, I’ve waited almost ten years to hear you say that.

It seems that people are getting fairly deep on me lately!

What is one thing you know to be true?

Everybody makes mistakes.  Everybody.

Larry:  Hmm, hoisin duck noodles, pasta with spicy meatballs and chicken with rice.  How exactly do you choose which meals to get for lunch?

Beth: Whatever’s on sale.

1.  Sunlight streaming through the windows when I wake up.

2.  Gloomy grey clouds in time for my afternoon nap.

3.  No line at the bank.

4.  Getting tickets to see Vanessa Redgrave in The Year of Magical Thinking.

5.  A Dubray bookshop employee getting excited about the books I’ve selected.

6.  Stuffed shells for dinner.

7.  No laundry in the laundry basket.

8.  No dishes in the dishwasher.

9.  Editors who are beyond encouraging.

10.  “Fan mail” from an article I wrote.

I guess it really is the little things in life.

If you look at any number of Irish blogs you’ll see regular updates about the weather.  It’s not that we all have nothing better to talk about, it’s that the weather here really can be atrocious.  Last summer it rained every day for more than a month, probably closer to two, and everyone said it just couldn’t get any worse.  (Correction: we all wanted to believe that it couldn’t get any worse.)  Welcome to August 2008.  Rainfall records have been shattered, roads across the island have been closed due to flooding and politicians are talking about multi-million Euro aid packages for flood victims.  For more info on the rain, check here, here or here.

The rain really hasn’t affected us any, but every morning when I head out for supplies (read: necessary groceries such as Diet Coke and Cadbury biscuits) the Guinness delivery man on the corner gives me a succinct weather update.

“It’s feckin’ pissin’.”

“T’under will be back soon, so it will.”

“Feckin’ savage wedder altogedder.”

Today though, when the drizzle broke for ten minutes and I headed out, he made an odd noise when I walked by.  Knowing he was directing his strange noise at me, I smiled nervously and kept moving.

“I SAID, ‘glug, glug, glug’!”  he announced as I had just gotten a little bit past him.  “Like a fish.  In me new pond.”

It was only when I turned that I saw his truck parked in what did indeed look like a new pond full of water.

I laughed and told him I got it.  Before I had a chance to sneak away however, he decided he wanted a nice chat.

“Do ye t’ink Moses had to round up dem fishes?  Two of each of ‘em during the flood, like?”

I stopped again and thought about it.  All I could say was the truth.

“Well, I think Noah supposedly rounded up two of everything.  So yeah, I guess fishes too.”

“Noah, dat’s right,” he laughed.  “Feckin’ Noah and da fishes.”

Seeing him there, clutching a keg all on his own, wearing bright green boots and standing in knee-high water in the inner city, just confirmed one thing I think we all know.

The rain has finally driven us mad.

And a big thank you to everyone who comes to read my musings everyday.  This is my 1,000th post and I almost did something fun to celebrate, but then I decided to talk more about the rain instead.  So it goes.

While I was just flipping back through The Artist’s Way I came to a section of exercises that I had never started.   So I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone and do them here.

1.  My favourite childhood toy was… my imaginary friend, Mr. Mollywood.  He would do anything I could dream up.  Far better than a Barbie.

2.  My favourite childhood game was… Guess Who. 

3.  The best movie I ever saw as a kid was… the original Parent Trap.  I loved the idea of summer camp.

4.  I don’t do it much but I enjoy… colouring, with colouring books and coloured pencils.

5.  If I could lighten up a little, I’d let myself… count napping as “creative research”.

6.  If it weren’t too late, I’d… realise that it’s never too late. 

7.  My favourite musical instrument in… the piano.  And someone in this apartment block has one and plays beautiful classical music on Friday nights.

8.  The amount of money I spend on treating myself to entertainment each month is… less than I thought.

9.  If I weren’t so stingy with my artist, I’d buy him/her… a new white Macbook and Time Capsule, as well as a copy of Scrivener.  And maybe a week in the country somewhere like Anam Cara to make a start on all of my projects without interruptions.  Wow, I can really dream!

10.  Taking time out for myself is… hard to do when I only have so much time and energy.  Which I guess makes it a low priority for me.

11.  I am afraid that if I start dreaming… I’ll never stop!  See #9 for further proof.

12.  I secretly enjoy reading… ridiculously trashy romances.  And anything about Europe during World War II.

13.  If I had had a perfect childhood I’d have grown up to be… myself, but still owning the full set of Sunfire teen romances that got shipped off to the Phillippines.  (Filipinas, you can thank me later.)

14.  If it didn’t sound so crazy, I’d write a…  ridiculously trashy romance novel.  Or something about Europe during World War II. 

15.  My parents think artists are… talented.

16.  My God thinks artists are… creative.

17.  What makes me feel weird about this recovery is… someone is calling it a recovery.

18.  Learning to trust myself is probably… not something I think about since I did it a while ago.

19.  My most cheer-me-up music is… oldies, because there’s always a fun accompanying dance. 

20.  My favourite way to dress is… comfortable and colourful.  Someone has to fight the grey surroundings!

I must be addicted.  There’s no other reason why I was up at close to 3am crying for Great Britain’s marathon team.  I cried for Mara Yamauchi because she did so well (I immediately liked her when I found out she was an expat in Asia), then I cried for Liz Yelling’s fall, then I cried for Paula’s painful final lap.  I was a bit of a mess.  When Yelling and Paula hugged each other at the finish line and Paula went to find medical help for her friend I almost wanted to change the channel I was so emotional.  (There are a few devastating photos here. )

But I didn’t, because at that point Larry and I figured what the hell we’d stay up another half hour to watch history being made with Michael Phelps’ relay swim.  So at close to 4am we were (quietly) cheering as Phelps was awarded his eighth gold medal of the games. 

Now we’ve got to recover our voices because Singapore is competing for their first medal since 1960 in women’s table tennis.  Will it be gold or silver?  Oh the suspense!