Tiny Umbrella

I was in town today (or, as people who don't live in Dublin call it, the city centre), and it started to rain. This tends to happen during the summer in Ireland. We're perpetually cursed to suffer bad weather at any point in the year, despite any preconceptions you might have about the seasons.

So, since it was raining and I didn't have my large umbrella with me, I resorted to the emergency tiny umbrella I'd bought a couple of weeks ago and decided to leave in my bag from then on. The problem is, it's not exactly big enough for two people. Heck, it's barely big enough for one person. I still ended up getting wet when I was the only one under the umbrella.

But that wasn't the only problem. See, when I have my large umbrella, it's a little bit easier to raise it above other umbrellas, the ones that people walking towards me are holding. I can still be covered, but I also don't get snagged on people's umbrella's. With the tiny umbrella, (and I'm really getting sick of typing that word) I can't raise it. It's barely a foot and a half in length, which brings it about to the height of other people's umbrella's even when I stretch up. It's also more likely to break if it gets caught in the wind. It was cheap. And I can't just lower it down under other umbrella's, because my head tends to be occupying that space.

Long story short, I end up clash brollies with strangers in Dublin.

Thankfully it wasn't raining too heavily today. I was able to get home and not soak the house on my way up the stairs to change out of my wet clothes. But since it was a rain day, I was perfectly justified in sitting about drinking tea for a while. It's the one advantage of unseasonably bad weather all year round: it's almost always acceptable to drink tea the moment you get home. Not that the sun stops me.

Aside from the rain, though, I had a fairly good day. And that was also aside from the fact that I was out buying going-away presents for friends. Still, I figure it's easier to deal with them leaving if I can convince myself they're getting something nice to take with them.

After all the rain and the shopping and the tea, I got on with another batch of Things. Again, only a couple of people know what I'm actually talking about, but it's getting there, and it's fun. I have some more work to do on it, but it's nearing the point where I get to make it public and fun and exciting.

Necessitea

Did you know that I liked tea? You know, aside from that blog post in which I showed Instagrammed pictures of cups of tea, and all those times I've mentioned tea here and on Twitter and Facebook and Google+, did you know that I liked tea?

It's an essential part of my day. I think I'd go mad without my tea. I almost did when I was in Taizé a couple of years ago. I survived on hot chocolate and water, and meals that I could only questionably be called food. (Or food that could only questionably be called a meal... a bowl of cold cocoa, two sticks of dark chocolate and an almost-stale loaf of bread smaller than my fist don't really constitute a healthy breakfast.)

The two things I craved most upon returning from Taizé were a cup of tea and a home-cooked meal. (That was both real food, and a meal-sized portion.)

However, tea isn't just necessary for my survival. I write with a cup of tea. In the summer of 2010, when I was writing some novellas, my busiest writing day consisted of a cup of tea for every 1200 words or so. It was a 10,000 word day, so you can imagine I drank a lot of tea.

And, of course, upon completing the writing of a book, the first thing I do is make myself a cup of tea. It's a no-distractions cup of tea, too. I don't bring my tablet with me. I don't carry a notebook. I just sit there and enjoy my tea, and maybe text a couple of people to let them know that I've written another book. Tea isn't just for survival. Tea isn't just for working. Tea is for celebration.

Tea is also a comfort for when life gets too hard, and a drink for watching quirky comedies, or for reading books. Tea is a drink for company, for family and friends.

I couldn't tell you how many cups of tea I have in a day. Once I get started, it usually gets quite difficult to stop. I'll finish one cup and begin making the next. In work, sometimes, I'll have tea left over from my break and it'll do me for while behind the counter. (This is really only when there are only two of us in, and I can't leave the register until the other person is back. Otherwise I wouldn't leave any tea in the cup - I wouldn't have a guarantee that I could finish it if I had to do something else.)

Basically, tea is a fundamental part of my daily life. I drink it when I wake up, when I'm writing, when I'm watching television or a movie, with my lunch, after dinner, when I'm reading, when I'm scheming, and often a cup or two before bed. I drink it all the time, and I'm not sure what I would do if I wasn't drinking it all the time. Tea is a necessity in my life.

Day 30: The One With the Family Meals

While I've all but abandoned Camp NaNoWriMo, I think it's only fair on the start of the month to keep numbering as I began. Day 30 of the month, and I spent a considerable amount of time with family members over meal times.

This might not seem like such a big deal, but with my brother moved out of the house and the remaining four of us working varying hours and often not overlapping, meals in which we all get to sit down together aren't all that common. When my older brother is there, it's an even rarer occurrence. It's not that we don't see him, it's just unusual for all of us to be together at the same time.

While lunch was just McDonalds, for the first time in God knows how long we all sat at the kitchen table and had a cup of tea. Actually, that might be the first time just the five of us sat at the kitchen table and had tea. Normally, only four of the six chairs at the table are accessible without the table being pulled out - which usually means guests over for dinner. Back before my older brother moved out, we didn't sit at the table for tea, and we pulled out the table when everyone was eating at the same time. But we didn't keep it that way.

Today, we pulled out one of the other two chairs. It was oddly comfortable, despite the fact that we've all been together a lot over the past twenty two and half years. I guess I miss that, all of us getting to sit around together with the television off, just talking.

I didn't write today, but I didn't really intend to. I've yet to write a poem, but I'm still on Total Relaxation Mode. I figure I'm allowed to be calm about things every once in a while.

Anyway, I figure it's about time I mentioned here that I intend to start a poetry blog. I'll be writing some stuff specifically for it, and probably doing video readings for it, too. I've still got to set it up, of course, but it's going to happen, and a lot sooner than any of the other projects I have in mind. It'll take a lot less upkeep than the other projects, so I've nothing holding me back with it.

That'll be fun, right?

I'm still trying to decide what platform to hold it on, though. Part of me wants to make it ad-supported, but that would mean (a) using Blogger or (b) buying a domain name for to use a Wordpress site and hosting it on my server.

I'm still arguing with myself over that one. I might not even make it ad-supported, since that wouldn't really bring in much money anyway. I would just be spending money for the sake of it. With the ads out of the way, I pretty much have an open choice on the matter again. But what do you think? Blogger, Wordpress, or Tumblr?

Day 20: The Busy Reality of Life

Today's been a busy day. Tomorrow promises to be busier.

I didn't get to write today - I'm not even sure I switched on my laptop - and so my word count is falling behind dreadfully. It's nearing bedtime. For me, that means one thing: tea.

This, of course, to be accompanied by a poem. When I said I didn't write today, I really meant it.

I guess I just have to accept that for the time being, not every day is going to be a writing day.

Day 18: How Could I Forget?

Would you believe I was forgetting to blog today?

Well, it's true. I've spent the past few hours doing some planning work - not on books, but on my life - and I paid my grandad a visit. I was getting ready to go to bed, and well, this happened.

I'm going to be brief: the only writing I did today was the flash fiction story, Love Talker. It was fun. It has sex mentioned in it. It's in the aftermath of Balor Reborn, like the others stories have thus-far been. And did I mention the sex?

It's also a fun way of looking at another Irish fairy. Irish fairies were interesting.

You know what else was interesting? Coppers Uncovered. I went to see it last night, because I'd heard good things and I knew 1/8th of the cast. I brought a friend, we laughed, we had a beer - turns out I don't dislike beer - and we laughed some more. In a shockingly accurate portrayal of Irish courting habits, the play was a delight and a wonder, and I recommend everyone go see it before the current run ends this Saturday.

You can get tickets here: http://www.eventbrite.ie/directory?q=coppers+uncovered&loc=Dublin,+Ireland

I really recommend that you do.

Anyway, last night also gave me a chance to talk to the aforementioned friend that I brought, and I forced him to have a home-made cookie. The usual look of shocked approval appeared on his face. Job done.

One of those same cookies was my breakfast this morning, with a cuppa. Sure it would be rude not to.

But I can't just leave it there, can I? I can't just tease you with a cookie and a cup of tea. So, I'll leave you with some advice that had been written onto a folder I was using in first year, and that somehow managed to fit into whatever bag I was using at the time:

Good night, ladies and gentlemen!

P.S. Here's the obligatory reminder of the free books that I have to keep pointing out to people - rude not to, etc. etc.

Balor Reborn (US/IRL):https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008S1FGFW
Balor Reborn (UK):https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008S1FGFW

Old Gods Returned (US/IRL):https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00963VXXA
Old Gods Returned (UK): https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00963VXXA

You can also buy The Hounds of Hell at either of the links below:
US/IRL: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DYQNTZA
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DYQNTZA

Unexpectedly Exhausted - Have Some Tea!

In work, I half-complained about being tired and hungry. By the time I arrived home, I was exhausted. I went to bed with a glass of water, hoping to feel better by dinner time. Two hours later: nope. I might have even felt worse. I'm light-headed, and really not in a position to use words. With that in mind, and needing to post something tonight, have some tea!

*cue Instagramafied pictures*

This first image takes me back to college. While it's not been a long time since I was in the building (I was there on Wednesday), it's been a month since I was there because I had to be (as opposed to just showing up to get my results a day earlier than if they'd been sent in the post.) Despite the No Food or Drink in the lecture room rules, I still brought a cup of tea in like this every day. It wasn't environmentally friendly, I'll admit, but a flash would have been too obvious.

Kermit the Frog makes a regular appearance. Who can say no to that face? I can't. Hence why I bought the mug in the first place in the Disney Store. Corporate greed aside, I love that place, and when The Muppets had been in the cinema, I couldn't help but grab the mug. I only wish I had the four other cups in the set, featuring Fozzie Bear, Animal, Miss Piggy and Gonzo the Great. They do have just aren't the same.

The Disney debut in my collection was actually Dopey. I remember as a child staying in my cousin's house over night. I must have only been three or four. She didn't have much that would have been suitable for myself and my twin brother, but she did have Disney films (on VHS!). She stuck on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and when I saw the Dopey mug on the opening day of the Disney Store (back when the Queen visited Ireland, I believe), I couldn't help myself.

This one time, when I was Tower Records, I saw a flask. A Star Wars flask. My childhood screamed at me. My need for a flask screamed at me. I bought it immediately. Isn't it cool?

This final cup - though I think it's actually without tea at the time of the photograph - was actually a present from a friend on my birthday. I don't normally like things that have my name all over them, but I do enjoy this cup. It's all about how great people named Paul are, so what's not to love?

That's about all the tea Instagram has seen from me. So far. I still have at least half a dozen cups that haven't made it online yet, but that'll all change some day. In the meantime, I'm going to take things easy and hope the feeling of being light-headed goes away soon. And, you know, I'll have a cup of tea.

Sleep Malfunction

Last night, I was at a party. Weird, right? I don't often go to parties. I don't often write about going to them much, anymore, either. The only reason I'm mentioning it at all is that I finally went to sleep at three in the morning.

When I woke up at six and needed to use the bathroom, I knew I was in trouble.

I don't get back to sleep easily after I've woken up, especially not if I have to get out of bed for whatever reason. As a result, I've been surviving on three hours' sleep all day. I eventually forced myself out of bed a second time to get tea, when I realised I wasn't going to fall back asleep again, and if I did I'd have trouble getting up.

So that sucked.

When that cup of tea was empty, breakfast was all but ready. I had another cup of tea with it, which helped. Post-shower, I grabbed a third cup. Don't judge me.

Work on a Sunday isn't actually that bad, but being tired while being there certainly makes it more painful than it ought to be. It's just a bookshop, dammit. Still, at lunch I grabbed another cup of tea. Yep, I'm an addict.

I can't remember getting another cup when I came in. I don't think I did. I had dinner, then went up to my bedroom for a while. Lying on my bed, I fell asleep for about half an hour. I am not a napping person. At all. I feel groggy afterwards. I couldn't use my elbows or knees properly. I felt weak. I had more tea.

When I eventually became too tired to keep reading The Hobbit (it's my first time...and my brain keeps noticing things and then trying to remember what happened in the first film...and trying to make sense of the events of the films being out of sync with how they appear in the book...and that's tiring!), I decided it was time to write this blog post. That's a natural response, right?

Except my brain wasn't working. I was going to write about something else, before realising a couple of sentences in that I didn't want to talk about it, and that left me stumped. Hence: the tea jokes.

Speaking of... I think it's time for another cup. I'm not going to say I'm an addict (because I don't know if you can actually become addicted to tea, and I don't want to make light of addiction), but there must be a reason I drink so much tea, and take so many pictures of me drinking tea. It might have something to do with the fact that college and exams and teaching placement for four years don't loan themselves well to sleeping properly. It might be that the tea is part of the reason I don't sleep properly all the time.

All I know is, I'm getting more tea, and I'm leaving you with Kermit.

The Affliction of Study

There comes a time in every student's life when they must sit exams. At least, I hope so! I'm three exams into a series of ten, and I can't say it's the best thing ever. Far from it.

I've posted about exams before, mainly about how I avoid study. One of my favourites was being part of a syndicate of people on Omegle.com. We were mostly innocent, except in our abuse of strangers who were using their time to use the site as pornography. Know how many girls we saw there? Maybe four. And one of them was with us. The others were fully clothed. So I have no idea what the guys were doing "downstairs", only that they were extremely disappointed when the "girl" they saw in a bra on our end turned out to be a guy.

Yes, we're evil, but that's the point.

Exams are so horrendous, that it is necessary for us to get away from the experiences, and to purge ourselves of the evil that has infected our system.

I may be exaggerating, but the point still applies that studying is much less than fun and I wouldn't encourage it in anyone. While it may be of some benefit regarding results, that very system is cruel and unusual. So unusual, everyone's doing it. The whole world of academia is just that weird.

Then again, maybe it's just me.

With an exam tomorrow morning - that's how lucky I am - and a bit of sickness to get me through the day, I've been studying. The topic for today was sexual ethics, and the oh-so-fun topics of homosexuality and contraception. I think at some point I died of boredom, and only for the people on Google+ and the blog post I saw with a cat trained to fetch did I come back. Not in a 3-days-later-like-Jesus kind of way, but more, you know, Irish.

Yes, I made tea and got on with it.

The study bug has bitten. And I think it was carrying traces of the common cold. Only it's been a bit nastier than just the sniffles, and I really don't like it. Not when it's coupled with having to look over study notes and suffer through the material all over again, but without the guidance of a qualified professional. And distracted by the Internet. You know, because it's shiny.

I've been dying to write this post. In the Irish way, whereby all my organs still function properly. Or, at least as properly as usual. It took what willpower I had left after the beating I received from reading notes about sex but not getting any all day, just to stop myself writing it when I shouldn't have been. Do you know how hard that is? Writing's an addiction (I'm sure they could test me for that...) and I didn't get my fix all day.

But I did get tea, and that helped, since I'm probably also addicted to that. Possibly alcohol, but I've been good about that. (And just in case you can't tell, that was a joke. I think. I hope. I don't even drink that often.)

After tomorrow, I'm done to six exams. But with Milton out of the way, I'm no long sure where hell lies. It would be rude to say with the Muslims (World Religions exam), but I think that'll be the next big challenge to prepare for. Sorry everything religion that isn't Christianity, I think for the next couple of weeks I might hate you. It's not you, it's me. Actually, it's not even me, it's the Dreaded Exam.

I told you they were evil.