Whaaaaa now I see what all the fuss is about! London is amazing. Omg lol. I think my mind was affected by the smelly bus fumes and then being caught in the dark and behind very slow-walking tourists. Now my mind has been blown. Especially by the Tate Modern.

 Group of young English boys playing a makeshift soccer game in the small plaza near the Southwark cathedral

 Shakespeare's Globe Theatre!!!! So excited. And yes that is my finger in the photo. And yes I did go to art school.

 Favorite by far in the Tate. John Heartfield, who used humour/satire to poke fun at the Nazi regime. In fact, I did find it hysterical and was CRACKING up laughing at the images as everyone else was silent in the gallery.

 Hitler with some sort of tentacle creature on his head.

 Nazi party leaders in "metamorphosis."

Dublin to London

I definitely don't want to prejudge. But. So far London is not grabbing me the way Dublin did immediately. Don't get me wrong, it's interesting. For sure. Actually I'm a little surprised from what I've seen so far, based on the dozens of books I've read set here, or written by London authors. I think there's a lot more for me to see and explore (well I mean....obviously. it's a gigantic city) but I've found it hard to get around with cars whizzing by with little room for pedestrians, people concerned with where they want to be, etc. Similar to New York. It's not really my style, but I'm going to give it a good try tomorrow by waking up early and planning out at least two to three fun events. Yes. Goal made.

More pictures specifically in Dublin..

 Pretty building with class. Nearby Oscar Wilde monument.

 Bustin out into street dance by Trinity :) 

  The arch...want to sit and draw this...

 Temple bar at night

  She's made of the paper leaves she's blowing out....

How has it been three or four days already!? It's flown by. Already I've seen Irish music, Irish dancing, the Irish coast, lots of Irish things....oh and Oscar Wilde's childhood home....and the Trinity college campus which is absolutely beautiful! I could just write a list of everything I've seen, and part of me wants to, because then that would preserve it. But that's also boring. Hopefully I can upload some photos and that will give you an idea.

 This is in western Ireland, on the coast in Burren. Picture doesn't do it justice because it is spectacular!

 This is the bridge connecting parts of the Dublinia cathedral. We got ice cream beside it and stared at its beauty :)

 This is the Temple Bar district at night, when it's alive!

 And last but NOT least, this is the singer-songwriter a friend and I stumbled upon and his voice was just fantastic. He played all these cover songs and did them in his own way and his voice was clear, bright, and passionate.

First day

It's crazy how much the U.S. controls the flow of what goes on in other parts of the world. Sitting in front of me is this great, loud bunch of Irish college students obviously overjoyed to spend time together and shoot the shit. I'm a rundown American, totally weary and literally on my now 28th hour of being awake and maybe on my like fifth cup of coffee during that time period, alternating between wanting to take more coffee because I know I have to push through, and wanting to stop with the coffee so that I'll actually be able to lay my head down in *it pains me to say this* three more hours. Yet here we are in a STARBUCKS. In a Starbucks. Started in Seattle in the, what, 80s? 90s? And now it's here in Ireland. And Irish people are enjoying a good cup of Morning Mist or Daybreak or whatever they call it. And they are in the atmosphere of a Starbucks. Granted, with Irish accents. And granted, the Starbucks man was actually inspired by his youthful trip to Italy and the coffee/espresso culture they promoted there. So really it's globalization and not just American power. But still. It astounds me.

Anywho. I'm exhausted and basically just taking a break from the book, because eyes can only take so many hours of one thing. Dublin is extremely comforting. I wouldn't have thought I would describe it that way, and could go into a whole long explanation of why, but at this point writing is just what is keeping me awake, and not what is driving me because everyone around me (literally) knows that I am in desperate need of staying awake. So far I've garnered that it's not really acceptable to fall asleep in public places. It doesn't seem SO far-fetched---I did try kind of a half-lie-down on the Starbucks couch, including sidling my feet up onto that couch, and closing my eyes.....and when I woke back up very briefly caught the flitting eye of the girl sitting on the couch directly opposing my own....so I stopped semi-sleeping and just gave up the hope of it. The hostel will not allow me to check in for literally another 2.5 hours. If I saw myself right now, and was outside of myself, I would be weirded out. Here is this foreign girl who is in shorts (it is NOT summer here), who is draping her leather jacket around her, reading this weird book, alone on a Starbucks couch drifting off to sleep yet possessively clutching her bookbag.  Have you ever dreamt of a bed so blissfully, knowing that even if it wasn't your own, and even if it was so basic, scratchy cotton sheets, that it was going to be perfect the second you got into it?

Yeah. In fact it's even BETTER that I know it's not a hotel bed, and is in fact a hostel bed, scratchy cotton sheets. Oh goodness I hope they provide the sheets. If I have to go back out and go to a department store and buy sheets MARK MY WORDS I will instead march right back to this Starbucks and full out sprawl out on the couch for half a full nights' sleep.  Anywho. Knowing I'm saving that money and staying in a hostel is such a positive feeling. You know what's hysterical? Guess where I find good Malaysian food. Yes, that's right...here in Dublin.