A few months ago, I wrote a short story about a real person. I've never done that before. It's strange, because I didn't actually know the person. I wonder for those people who did know him, how they'll see my version of him.
I think I already have to add an event to his life to fit the story. Unless I can figure out an alternative.
I just wrote a proper romance. Not a story where there happened to be a bit of romance on the side. And I think I only managed it because of the movie Elemental...
It's only a first draft so far. And considering how little I tend to care for romances, I have no idea if it's any good. But I like it XD
Arrival, Chiang
This was a book of short stories. I learned about it because of the movie Arrival, which is great. The other stories had fascinating concepts too. The one that I remember the best is based off of the Tower of Babel.
Babylon's Ark, Anthony
An amazing true story of trying to save the remaining zoo animals that are trapped in a war zone.
Wayward Son, Rowell
I quite liked Carry On. The other two books in the series I wasn't as crazy about. Possibly because Simon was so depressed, which made him mean to everyone. He did go through a lot. Anyway, I just didn't find the sequels as fun as the first book (which was the freaking book that made me actually enjoy a vampire romance).
Sharing a House with the Neverending Man, Alpert
Stories of Studio Ghibli as told by a rare westerner who has worked with them. It's fascinating to hear about the company, and to hear some of the cultural differences are explained.
One thing that surprised me is that there's a character based off of him in The Wind Rises. He didn't even mention it in the book! I was wondering why that character was on the book cover, so I looked it up and discovered that I was right.
Warriors, Hunter
Okay, I finally finished the first series of Warriors. Only because I promised two of my cousins that I would. But the books drove me crazy. And not just because they glorify feral cats. The characters were all so frustrating. They didn't share information that was vital, or refused to believe certain things for no reason. Or just randomly went crazy. Yeah, I rather suffered through these books. If I want cool animal cultures, I'll stick with Watership Down.
Challenger Deep, Shusterman
I learned about this book because I went to an event where the author was present. He said that the book is based off of what his son went through. The book is amazing, and harrowing. It was really good, and quite stressful to read. I felt off balance for a while after reading some parts of it. It's about a boy with schizophrenia, and the story is split between the real world and the world that the illness has created.
My Side of the Mountain, George
Kids fantasize about running away from home and going to live in the wilderness. This kid does. It takes a while to adjust, but he learns to live on the mountain.
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel, Clarke
I've heard about this book so many times. It's amazingly written, and a good story. I think I need to read it again though. There's so much happening. I even missed part of the ending. I keep meaning to find a book so I can go back and see what I missed. It was something important. TT^TT
I just saw that they made a show based on the book! Gotta check that out.
Sailing with Noah: Stories from the world of zoos, Bonner
Some great stories about zoos, animals, and the people who care for them.
Rogues, Martin
A collection of short stories about characters who are, well, rogues. The stories are in a variety of genres, and there are some big-name authors in it. I learned about it because there's a Name of the Wind story amongst them. I think my favorite was where the team managed to steal an entire road.
Sheine Lende, Little Badger
The prequel to Elatsoe. This is the best book comp I've found. It's good, but why can't I find mooooore?
Beauty and the Beast, Rudnick
A novelization of the Disney live-action movie. I just stumbled upon this at a used store, so it was a cool find.
Annihilation, Van der Meer
A strange, dangerous, fantastical land is slowly spreading. A team of people crosses into this land, to try to learn what they can about it. It was a pretty bewildering read. The strange land is interesting, but they didn't give me enough of it to want to read more of the series.
Tending the Wild, Anderson
A great book of how the native California people cared for the land in ways that the Europeans never bothered to understand when they arrived. The entire state was cared for, unlike now where much of the land has been destroyed, or is in danger of burning to the ground.
There were a couple cool guest speakers at Fanime this year!
My anime/manga repertoire is slowly expanding, so I actually know some of the Fanime guests now. This year there were two anime voice actors that did roles I liked: Atsushi Abe and Tsubasa Yonaga.
Atsushi Abe was Mashiro from Bakuman. He was one of the racing members in Yowamushi Pedal too, and he did a character in Haikyu. He's also been in an X-Men anime? I'll have to check that out.
Tsubasa Yonaga was also in Yowamushi Pedal, and he did one of my favorite characters from the series: Manami. He also had a role in Tiger and Bunny.
I always liked Manami though, because both he and Onoda just seemed to enjoy biking up hills. Why was that important? Because it encouraged me to bike the unending hills around my house! Though Tsubasa Yonaga admitted that he's not a sporty person himself.
I got to say hi to each of them. I told Atsushi Abe that Bakuman was. great inspiration for my writing. And I told Tsubasa Yonaga that he encouraged me to bike the steep hills near my house. I've put that to good use.
After my road trip for planning Starsung, I decided it was time to finalize the map. I printed out the chunk of land they cover, and started plotting out locations. As well as the distance they could cover in a day in a horse-drawn wagon. Some locations needed specific features, like forests or lakes, so I needed to account for that.
Yeah, it's a much longer trip than I had originally planned for. It turns out that their starting location is about two weeks south of the main events. I may have to change it... Which means the research I did at that location is no good. And I didn't really research the area where the new beginning will be.
And even if I do move the starting location north by two weeks, their trip will still take longer than I thought. I don't know what happened. I had calculated this stuff out long ago. I guess I made a mistake.
Yeah, I guess maps are important.
I often don't notice how tall actors are. When I was watching some Star Wars bonus features, they said that Dooku is 6 1/2 feet tall. Holy crud! Well, movies like to use tall people for villains. They can look more looming and dangerous that way (In Back to the Future, they chose a different villain because an earlier option wasn't as tall).
Unfortunately, short guys are often not picked as a main hero. Not always, luckily. Though as I've mentioned, I'm unlikely to notice either way. Mostly because I don't really care how tall they are.
For example, Matthew Broderick is known mostly for "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." But I mostly know him from Ladyhawke (and The Lion King, but you don't actually see him in that movie). In Ladyhawke, his character is called Philippe the Mouse. Everyone makes a big deal about how tiny he's supposed to be. It didn't occur to me for a while to wonder if the actor really was that small (They're sitting on a horse here, so it's hard to really tell).
I also saw a video that teased Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) for being short. He never struck me as short. Even looking at pictures, he's not that much shorter.
All this is buildup to my actual point.
When I was watching Spider-Man earlier this year, Tobey Maguire was standing next to another actor.
The height difference struck me for the first time. Which got me wondering, Tobey Maguire he short, or is the other actor really tall? Or both. In Seabiscuit, Tobey Maguire plays a jockey. Jockeys are small, because that means the horse can run faster. But Red (the jockey he plays) was a very tall jockey. They even make fun of it in the movie. So I don't think I can judge by that (Why do I know so much about this? I read the Seabiscuit book, and I have the documentary, which is really good. I've watched it several times with my dad, who also loves it).
I would have stopped there. But I wanted to draw one of the characters in a comic with other characters. So I needed to know his general height.
Now, this may seem like a random aside, but it will work its way back in. In manga, they'll often slip in character bios. These bios generally have a picture, the character's likes and dislikes, foods they enjoy, their age, and blood type (I never understood why the blood type was in there). One of the factors is height.
I suddenly wondered if wikipedia did that for actors. I really hoped it didn't - that would be weird. I usually only check out an actor's wikipedia page to see what movies they were in. Maybe they really did have personal stuff like that. I waffled around for a while, not wanting to look it up. But finally I caved. And I was rather relieved to find that wikipedia didn't list the actor's height.
Except I'll still need to figure out how tall to draw the character... Is it weird that I feel really strange doing an internet search about that?
Occasionally I've watched movies with people, and been stunned at their totally flat interpretations of scenes.
One friend, who I love, made some comments that stunned me. To be fair, this was back when we were in middle school. Neither of us had taken any classes in analyzing literature (or cartoons). Fantasia 2000's Pines of Rome is a beautiful animation about flying whales. They fly up into the sky, where they arrive a sort of heavenly sea. But because the whales ended up leaping out of the water, she decided that they hadn't actually gone anywhere. To me it seemed so obvious that they had reached a special land (sea) in the sky. I think I was wondering where her sense of imagination was XD
But the funnies one was when we watched X-Men 2. At one point, Magneto says, "you are a god among insects." And she decided that in the next X-Men movie, giant insects would take over!
That's not what that phrase means! It's possible she was teasing, but I don't think so.
How is it that Hugh Jackman gets the best cameos, even if he doesn't appear in the movie?
His appearance X-Men First Class cracked me up.
(the prequel where he was basically a crazed lab animal was just depressing).
And I may not be much of a Deadpool fan, but the end of the second movie had me laughing too (while at the same time cringing as Deadpool shot his other self repeatedly. Or maybe it was stabbing?)
Even the first Deadpool, he had stapled a picture of Hugh Jackman's face onto his own.
But the cameos go far beyond Marvel movies. I haven't even seen the sequels for Night at the Museum (though I may have to). But I have seen on Youtube where he's in a stageplay, and even references the fact that he played Wolverine. I can no longer find the full scene, which is tragic. I want to see it again!
I watched Despicable Me 2 with my cousins. The cool lady was planning to go to Australia, and figured she'd better practice her Australian phrases. "Hugh Jackman" was one of those phrases.
And in Penguins of Madagascar, they slipped in all kinds of actor names, by using them as words in sentences. Apparently two of the octopuses are named Hugh and Jack. So the leader octopus calls out, "Hugh! Jack! Man the battle stations!" All of the actor names were cleverly done. But of course that one had me laughing the hardest.
I guess filmmakers have found creative ways to include him in their movies, even if he never shows up on the set. Would I do the same thing if I were making a movie? Very possibly.
The day after Halloween, Nicole and I watched Van Helsing. I told her that it was one of two movies that I was embarrassed to admit the I like.
To which she replied, "why would you be embarrassed? It's Hugh Jackman!"
I couldn't argue with that statement. But I said, "some of the scenes are so cringey."
She said that cringey is good sometimes.
So we watched the movie, enjoying the interactions between the three heroes (they're a fun team) and laughing at the cringey parts. Like poor Velkan.
I said, "Movies look like they can really fun to make. But then there's this poor guy who has to writhe around in agony."
"He's like that in most of the movie!" Nicole exclaimed. It's true. Poor Velkan must have had to do a lot of that during all the takes.
I told Nicole some random facts. Like how the original character of Van Helsing, in Dracula, was an old professor. And how the Frankenstein monster tried so hard to be good, but everyone treated him so bad that he eventually did become a monster. And I mentioned other movies some of the actors were in (Like Faramir, which blew Nicole's mind). When I watch all these bonus features, I start spouting commentary when I watch a movie with someone.
I said the baby vampires were "Goo Balloons." And then felt very proud of myself for coming up with that phrase. Because they fly around, and pop, and are full of goo.
Grease was on Youtube for free, so I decided to watch it. Now I really liked this movie as a kid. I still like some of the songs. But I hadn't seen it in a long time. And now I know why. I kind of registered this subconsciously as a kid, but Grease is really mean-spirited.
And there's West-Side Story. I only saw that once. Then earlier this year, we performed a medley of music from the movie. So I rented it to watch again. And yeah, its basis is pretty mean. But that's the point. At the end, Maria calls everyone out on it. And they all realize that she's right.
Unlike Grease, where Sandy apparently decides to join the mean people?
But how many people in West Side Story are actually Puerto Rican?
I think I started thinking of this post after I saw Avatar the Way of Water. The final battle in that movie felt unending and tedious. It was a jarring comparison to the original Avatar film, where the final battle kept me on the edge of my seat.
So, I started thinking about the best battle scenes. In my opinion, any way.
For example, the battle at the end of the Avatar film. The heroes don't have many assets to work with, but they put everything to excellent use. Knowledge of terrain, a helicopter pilot with a few communicators, an ex-marine riding a huge dragon, and a lot of warriors with determination and skill. And though it has been done a million times, I still love when the cavalry arrives to save the day. In this case, all of the wild beasts. I bought the book about the creatures of Avatar. The thanator - the huge black panther creature, is one of the most feared creatures to the Na'vi. No one has ever ridden one. But the thanator comes to Neytiri and offers its alliance. I wish they mentioned that in the movie. It adds so much more to that scene!
Then there's the ewok battle. It does a similar thing, where the people without technology use determination and creativity to kick butt. I love that stuff!
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. This has another great end battle. All of the different creatures use their own strengths and skills. And it too has the cavalry arrive.
Lord of the Rings has amazing battles. My favorite part is when the ents take down Isengard. My parents love to come in and watch that scene, even if they haven't been watching the rest of the movie. And it's awesome when Gandalf brings the Riders of Rohan in to win the day (I told you, I love it when the cavalry comes to the rescue).
Princess Mononoke does it differently. You see the boars preparing for battle, but we see almost none of the actual fight onscreen. It's mostly told through the account of a traumatized survivor, which gives it a very different gravity.
Willow has some good battles. Like how Willow and Madmartigan single-handedly rig the abandoned castle with booby traps and manage to hold their own against an entire army for a good amount of time (and Willow does so while carrying a baby around! Not to mention the fact that he has absolutely no fighting experience, but still holds his own) My favorite part of the final battle in Willow is how it starts. Willow and Raziel stand alone, challenging the enemy. They're clearly not fighters, but it's the perfect trick to get the upper hand in the battle. And Willow's strategy works perfectly.
I'm not sure Mulan counts, because Mulan ends the big battle before it even begins. But wow, that scene with the enemy coming down the mountain is so awesome. I guess the scene in the palace doesn't really count as a battle. More like an infiltration. But it's awesome too!
The Twelve Kingdoms also manages to end the battle before it begins. But the buildup and execution is so awesome!
And in an extremely different direction, I might even choose "All You Need is Love." The words themselves become physical to defeat a giant flying glove. Which sounds so bizarre if you don't know what I'm talking about.
And ever since I was a kid, Brother My Brother from Pokemon: The First Movie" has always gotten me. It really drives home the message that there are no winners in these kinds of conflicts.
These are more fight scenes than battle scenes. They're between two people, or a few people, instead of entire armies. But I'll give them quick mentions.
The House of Flying Daggers, Hero, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon have stunning fight scenes. They're more like dances. Where people can almost fly.
Some of the lightsaber duels. Like Qui Gon and Obi Wan against Darth Maul. Or Anakin vs Obi Wan.
The battles in Doctor Strange were really cool. What awesome effects.
Pirates of the Caribbean. What awesome choreography. I think my favorite is at the end, between Jack and Barbosa, going in and out of the moonlight. Freaking awesome!
Same with Princess Bride. Westley and Inigo trained with a fencing master. They got so good that they could duel too fast. Which meant they had to extend the fight so it would take up more time.
The live-action Rurouni Kenshin fights.
The Mask of Zorro has some great fencing fights too.
Avatar: The Last Airbender has amazing elemental battles. Some of the highlights are Katara vs. Master Paku, Toph vs. the wrestlers, and Zuko vs. Azula. Though Zuko is awesome both in his bending battles, and his sword battles.
The end of How to Train Your Dragon. A dragon battle which leaves your heart in your mouth. I am so sick of the, "oh no, the character died! Oh, never mind. He's fine." But this movie nails it (though the live-action one milked it too much).
Fullmetal Alchemist has great battles.
Big hero Six, seeing them figure out how to get out of tight spots.
The Pixar short, Sanjay's Super Team, has a super cool animated battle.
And finally Stronger than You, with Garnet vs. Jasper. Hell yes. Best fight song ever.
So, now that we've mentioned the visual battles, what about the written ones?
Dramatic arrivals may be overdone, but there was a good one in the last Harry Potter book. They didn't really go into that as much in the movie. But the first time I read the book, that scene got me pumped!
Brandon Sanderson has amazing battle scenes. I haven't read all of his books yet, but Wax's fights have been my favorite. There was one in particular that I could see so clearly.
And in middle school, I was crazy about the final battles in Tamora Pierce's books. Her newer books don't have as much of that. I should reread some of those.
I have a few honorable mentions. These were less about particular fights and battles, but more the way the battles are portrayed.
For example, Howl's Moving Castle and The Boy and the Heron. Those bombs are chilling. And while The Wind Rises is an anti-war movie, you only see a couple seconds of the "cursed dreams," going down in flames. Then there's Grave of the Fireflies, which shows the horrors of war.
Wolfwalkers is fascinating. Not only are there flames and guns and wolves, but you can see the battle through different senses, like sound and scent.
This is more of an invasion than a battle, but I love it. Nightcrawler attacking the White House.
And I've gone this far, so I might as well throw in a couple video games!
My favorite game is Twilight Princess. The final battles in that game were awesome. I especially loved beast Ganon.
In Pokémon, I think Ghetsis was the most heart-in-my-mouth battle. I barely beat him the first time. (Cynthia in Brilliant Diamond is difficult too, but that was mostly just a tedious battle because it takes so freaking long to beat her Milotic).
And the final battles in Pokémon Colosseum and Gale of Darkness might be a bit hokey, but I was crazy about them when they came out.
Zack's last battle in Final Fantasy: Crisis Core. Mostly because you literally experience how he's given everything he had, until he can barely move. I'd never seen anything like that in a game before (and maybe not since, either).
And freaking Underale, which breaks all the rules of gaming. Particularly the battle against Sans, which you should never do.
As you may have gathered, I like seeing how movies are made. And hearing what actors have to say about their experiences in films.
And some actors just seem really awesome. For example, I didn't choose Hugh Jackman as my favorite actor until I'd seen him tell a lot of stories. And also heard what other people said about him - he's supposed to be a really great guy. I couldn't pick a favorite actor until I'd seen what he was like outside of his characters. And I do love many of his characters and movies.
Some actors are just like that. I enjoy watching them, and hearing their stories. Alfred Molina was one example. He tells great stories and seems like a cool person. Which is curious, because most of his characters are not people that I would want to be around.
And I got to meet Anika Noni Rose. I've really only seen her in one movie, and it was a movie that I didn't get too attached to. I only talked to her for about a minute, but I immediately liked her. By the time I spoke to her, she had been talking to strangers all freaking day. And yet she was so nice. I loved her story-telling during the panel she was on too.
And on the flip side, there are actors that have done characters I love, but when I see them on bonus features and stuff, I just don't particularly want to watch them. They seem unappealing, somehow? And I'm not talking about famous people that have been busted for doing awful stuff. He didn't even say anything that weird (for example, one singer I like has a way of speaking about women that kinda objectifies them, but not out-right). It's just something in their attitude makes me not connect to them as much. I'm thinking of one actor in particular who has actually done multiple characters I love, but when I see him doing interviews, I just don't get very interested in them. I won't say his name though, because I feel bad.
And oddly enough, for some of my top favorite characters I haven't seen enough from their actors to decide how I feel about them. Then again, sometimes it's hard to pin people down. Probably especially with actors, who get overwhelming attention, and also have to change a lot of masks.
My dad bought a DVD of a bunch of old Goofy shorts. We've been slowly watching through them.
They've added introductions onto some of them where they try to explain things that are no longer acceptable in... polite society. But the way they do it is pretty backhanded?
For example, saying that the portrayal of "red Indians" is okay, because it's actually a portrayal of movies at the time. Why does that make it okay?
And then they were explaining the history of a cartoon that was released during WWII. He said that Americans were fighting the "good fight," which apparently made it ok to use some... frowned upon words. It doesn't matter what side you're on - poor taste is poor taste.
Or saying "these depictions might seem stereotypical" but they weren't meant to be mean-spirited. Maybe they weren't trying to be mean, but it can still do damage (But at least in this cartoon, they made fun of gringos just as much).
You don't get to justify wrong things that were done in the past. At least apologize and say that it was wrong thing to do.
My aunt can't stand some audio books, if the reader sucks.
I understand. I've heard some really awful narrators. I can handle the bland ones. but some are just extremely obnoxious. And some randomly use bad accents. Or wrong accents.
I just listened to a nonfiction book, and the narrator kept mispronouncing the names of places and plants. And she didn't even have the excuse of the names being from other countries. It was all California plants and places! I just wanted to shout at her. You'd think that such a technical book would actually bother to tell the narrator how to pronounce things.
Someone actually must have said something to her. Because part way through the book, she started pronouncing the tule plant correctly ("too-lee," not "tool").
E.T. is one of those movies that I own, but rarely watch. In fact, it's been a few years since I last saw it.
Dad doesn't like it. He thinks E.T. is too ugly. I told him that if E.T. were cute, it would be a different movie. Kids don't mind if things aren't traditionally cute - they can still love them.
E.T. was designed to look like mud, because his people tend plants. Well, that's a rather blunt reasoning. But I've probably done the same sort of thing.
That being said, the little girl that plays Gertie said very enthusiastically, "He is the cutest alien I have ever met!" (Spielberg later asked her what other aliens she'd met).
It always was painful to watch Gertie's reaction when they try to shock E.T.'s heart. Her reaction was just so heartbreaking. And it turns out that emotion was very real. She didn't know that machine was meant to revive him. One of the behind-the-scenes videos shows her sobbing her little heart out as she's hugging someone. And he's trying not to cry also!
Even the lady that played the Mom admitted that E.T. kind of felt like part of their family.
(Gertie is always blowing everyone's secrets during the movie!)
Most films are shot out of order, for a number of reasons (for example, if they have access to a certain location). But Spielberg didn't do that with E.T. He wanted the kids to have some continuity to follow, so the film was mostly shot in order.
It was lost on me until a few years ago that the government people are actually trying to help E.T. Granted, we don't know what they plan to do with him. But they do everything they can to keep him alive. The main guy, known only as Keys, doesn't even try to stop E.T. from leaving at the end. He's there with everyone else, watching as the ship takes him home.
We never hear why E.T. got so sick. Something about earth's climate? Or because the kids fed him so much junk food?
It was during one of the Star Wars commentaries that they talked about E.T.'s voice actor (She does a voice in Star Wars too). Apparently one of the filmmakers was in a store and heard a woman with a most unusual voice. He asked her if she wanted to provide the voice for an alien. And she said yes. Apparently she wasn't even credited as playing E.T.'s voice. Nor was she included in any of the film anniversary reunions. Why?
As usual, watching the bonus features for E.T. makes me like it even more!
Apparently this was the first movie they ever played while a live orchestra provided the soundtrack. Hey, I went to one of those! (I've actually performed in a couple of those! Though not professionally).
Jane Goodall has been one of the strongest voices for our planet. I'm so lucky I got to attend one of her lectures.
But I think my favorite moment was when I was teaching a summer camp. We walked past a mural of Jane Goodall. A little girl turned to me and asked, "Is Jane Goodall 'Mother Nature?'"
That, more than anything else, seems to define everything she has done.
Than you for everything, Jane!
In most of my stories, the magical creatures are based off of mythology from around the world. But there's a place where all of the creatures are things I made up myself. I suppose it probably goes back to elementary school, when we tried to make our own Pokémon?
It's fun to do. I enjoy figuring out ideas for bodies, heads, frills, colors, and everything else. I'm really proud of some of the designs!
However my uses for these creatures are less flexible. What I really should be doing is figuring out designs for "real" mythical creatures. Like the creepy demon deer in one of my short stories. So I think I'll take a break from my own original designs, and work on more official designs. I already have a sketch for the creepy deer! Next I need to do Thunderbird, and Yeti, and many, many others...
I've been finding some more songs that are good echoes of movies. I wish I could make music videos of them all. But I think those can be at risk of getting taken down? And it's not something I really have experience with @_@
But maybe some day! For now I'll just have fun with them here.
This one is perfect for Big Fish and Begonia. It's just called, "Dolphin."
Drifting alone
Where am I to go
The purpose in me
Sadly I don't know
Who'll take my hand
I'm sailing in the sand
Nothing to enjoy
Feeling quite destroyed
But I know a magic dolphin
Swimming above the world
And in my dreams it promised me
That someday I'll find my girl
No one to love
No one to lose
All by myself
This is what I choose
Lovers everywhere
Why should I even care
Will I ever change
That would sure be strange
I found three songs that are good for Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts. In fact, I made blog posts about two of them already.
Shiny-Scarlemagne
Then you have the "Giant Woman" song, which works for Dr. Emilia:
You might even like being together
And if you don't, it won't be forever
But if it were me, I'd really wanna be a giant woman, a giant woman
All I wanna do is see you turn into a giant woman
And then take a song from Kipo: What we Have is You. And take the same actor that does the dad's voice. He has a role in Frozen 2. And that same song fits his character of Mattias pretty well too! He also doesn't have sunshine or weather... (though it doesn't seem like the people in that forest ever ended up getting along until the spell was broken).
We may not have sunshine or starlight or weather
But we've got each other and that's even better
You don't need the sun to keep you warm when you've got arms
Wishes come from you and not a random shooting star
We may not have storm clouds but the sky's always blue
We've got something special here and what we have is you
One of the first songs I linked to a movie/book was Lemon Tree. For some reason it really felt like a song that fit Kvothe, from The Name of the Wind.
One day beneath the lemon tree, my love and I did lie
A girl so sweet that when she smiled the stars rose in the sky
We passed that summer lost in love beneath the lemon tree
The music of her laughter hid my father's words from me
Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet
But the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat
Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet
But the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat.
One day she left without a word, she took away the sun
And in the dark she left behind I knew what she had done
She'd left me for another, it's a common tale but true
A sadder man but wiser now I sing these words to you
When I first saw Steven Universe, part of the opening song sounded like a bit from "Space Oddity." And the episode "Bubbled" even fit the feel of the song. I'm not the only one who thought this. I've seen a couple videos on Youtube that mesh the two.
And I'm floating in a most peculiar way
And the stars look very different today
For here
Am I sitting in a tin can
Far above the world
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do
Though I'm past one hundred thousand miles
I'm feeling very still
There's an old version of Dr. Dolittle. There's some... questionable things about it, but I've liked the movie since I was little. I mean, a guy who talked to animals. How could I not like it? Plus there are some good songs. I eventually fished out the soundtrack. And when I heard "My Friend the Doctor," I thought it was perfect for "Doctor Who."
My friend the Doctor says
That every time it starts to rain
And people run indoors again in swarms
If you remain
Out in the rain
You'll think you're drinking pink champagne
And you'll spend your life
Praying for thunderstorms
Maybe what the Doctor tells me
Isn't altogether true
But I love every tale he tells me
And I don't know any better ones
Do you?
My friend the Doctor says
The world is full of fantasy
And who are you or I to disagree?
Let's hope and pray
That that's the way
The life we love will always stay
For my friend the Doctor and me
Okay, okay. I have to say it. Kermit the Frog sings "It's Not Easy Being Green" when he's feeling down. Elphaba, am I right?
It's not that easy bein' green
Having to spend each day
The color of the leaves
When I think it could be nicer
Bein' red or yellow or gold
Or something much more colorful like that
It's not easy bein' green
It seems you blend in
With so many other ordinary things
And people tend to pass you over
'Cause you're not standing out
Like flashy sparkles in the water
Or stars in the sky
But green's the color of spring
And green can be cool and friendlylike
And green can be big like an ocean
Or important like a mountain
Or tall like a tree
When green is all there is to be
It could make you wonder why
But, why wonder? Why wonder?
I'm green and it'll do fine
It's beautiful, and I think it's what I want to be
I just spent the better part of an hour on a blog post about the making of Star Wars. Only for the blog to completely wipe out every word of text. Not the post itself - just the text on the post. And I'd taken so many notes on it while watching all of the bonus features...
I know I can't remember everything. Especially the details. And I was almost done with it! I just had one read-through before I finally posted the thing...
This is the second time this damn blog has wiped out all my work on a post with notes that I can't get back.
I don't even know if I want to start over.
It's time for another very belated travelogue! This time from my Europe trip. Part one is Ireland!
November 7-November 8 2023
As I boarded my plane, it turned out that my tiny suitcase was too fat for the overhead compartments so I had to check it in. One of the staff said “It will be sent all the way on to Dubai.”
“Dubai?” I exclaimed. “I’m going to Dublin!”
He quickly corrected himself as the other guy laughed.
Once in my seat, I surfed through the movie selection and picked out Elemental. It was my first time seeing it, and I have steadily fallen in love with that movie. I'm mad that my first view of it was on a tiny airplane screen. I hope it returns to theaters at some point.
In Toronto, I settled down to wait out my 4 hour layover.
This time there’s a different phone issue. I switched providers after Peru because AT&T has abysmal customer service. But when I contacted Verizon about their international plan. I discovered a new problem. They said it would be $100 per month for an international plan. On top of what I’d already paid for the month. But when I went to sign up for it, the bill was $170. Where did that additional 70$ come from? I was pissed that it was almost twice what they told me. Plus I’d need to pay for 2 months, because I’ll be gone slightly over a month. My longest time away from home yet. So I didn’t pay their fee. They said that if I use my phone while I'm out of the country, it will automatically give me service for $10 a day. I was still skeptical that it would actually work as they said, since they already lied to me about the price. But I left my cell data turned off until needed.
When I quit work to escape the endless bullying, I tried to find people to travel with while I had free time, and a bit of money. My cousin invited me over, so I rolled with that. Their neighbors take care of rescued wildlife, so I planned to help there.
And thus began a whirlwind preparation for a trip to Europe. Where did I want to go most in Europe? Ireland, definitely. London and Paris would be great too. And Switzerland is right between France and Italy, so that would be a convenient stop – plus I’ve always wanted to see the Alps. As I thought of timing, I realized that I’d better hit some of those places as soon as possible, before snows start in. My final plan was to fly into Dublin and steadily make my way toward Italy.
It ended up being a pretty stressful week and a half as I tried to book hotels and planes and trains and ferries and museum tickets. I was still pretty nervous, considering I’d be going across most of Europe by myself, and I don’t know any of the language in three of the countries.
I got maybe an hour of sleep on the plane to Dublin, though I feel like that’s an optimistic estimate. It didn’t help that my legs were getting really cramped from the limited foot room. The flight arrived at about 7 AM. It was cold, of course. I have my nice big down jacket, which is great. Man, I love hearing the Irish accent everywhere.
Many of the stops along the river come with the name “Quay” - pronounced “key.” I have never been able to figure out the pronunciations that go along with Irish spellings. I should really look into that.
I couldn't check into my hotel this early, but I could leave my bags. They didn’t have a map of Dublin. They also didn’t have a bathroom for people stuck waiting. Instead they pointed me to the restaurant on the corner, called Wuff. I decided to sit down for a few minutes, so I ordered porridge. It was something I’ve always heard about, but never actually tried. My understanding was that it was like oatmeal. And it was. It was tasty too! Mine came with honey and jelly.
My first plan for the day was to head to the Dublin Zoo. It was within walking distance, so I didn’t have to figure out any busses or trains.
Phoenix Park is huge. I didn’t realize how huge at first, but at 1750 acres, it’s one of the largest enclosed urban parks in Europe. I walked into the park skirting around the edge and looking for the zoo. I admired the Irish wildlife – squirrels, doves, and magpies. Probably pretty normal around here, but exciting and different to me! Even their crows are different, with cute gray vests. I saw the top of a massive obelisk in the distance.
There was a little playground, and then a pond. But I didn’t see any sign of the zoo. So I figured I’d finish going around the park. I got to the corner and saw the obelisk. It was way bigger than I realized, because it still looked huge and I wasn’t even that close to it. It's 60 meters tall, and part of it is made from melted down cannons.
As I walked along, I was startled to find myself back at the same playground. I’d gone in a circle. Still no sign of the zoo. So I doubled back and went outside the playground. I didn’t see anything. Wondering if I could have possibly missed it, I doubled back again. Nope. I turned around again (I’d since passed that playground five times, from both sides). There was a guy who I asked and he pointed up the road. So I continued going. And going. Yeah, the park was a lot bigger than expected-1752 acres, it turns out. And I still didn’t see the zoo. I spotted a guy in a yellow vest. He looked official, so I asked him. He pointed across the street. No wonder. The google map I’d printed didn’t even show the street. It showed the zoo as being right next to that freaking park I’d been walking circles around all morning. I should know better than to trust Google Maps. So I finally reached the Dublin Zoo.
I got my ticket and headed in. Founded in 1831, it’s close to 100 years older than the zoo I worked at.
They had Asian lions! I’d never seen them before. They were sleeping, as cats love to do. Most people only think of lions in Africa, but they once lived in some of Europe and Asia too. Now all of the European lions are gone, and only 500 Asian lions are left wild, in India.
An orangutan was making a nest for herself, bundling a pile of Excelsior (a bedding that looks like straw) over herself until she looked like a haystack with a face peeking out the bottom.
At the wolf yard, there was a sign about the wolves that once lived in Ireland. When the English took over, they lead to the complete destruction of Ireland’s forests, aside from a tiny corner of the island. They also made sure every wolf in the country was exterminated by the end of the 1700’s. One of my favorite movies, Wolfwalkers, is about this.
The Indian elephants were in a big pack together, horsing around. Occasionally one would stop and roll around, huge legs flying in the air. They would trumpet and make funny squealing sounds.
After the zoo, I ordered bangers and mash for dinner: sausages and mashed potatoes. The potatoes were amazing, though mashed potatoes are one of my favorite foods.
Finally on to check into my room and rest. I was exhausted.
November 9 2023
I woke up before 1 AM. Stupid jet lag. That wouldn’t be enough sleep to get me comfortably through two days in a row. I lay there for a bit, then got up and read for half an hour. Then I tried to go back to sleep. At about 3, I finally succeeded.
My alarm woke me up at 5:30, which was when I hoped to get up for the first part of this trip. Especially since I’ll be passing into a different time zone in a few days. But I didn’t have any appointment until 10 AM, so I trusted myself to wake up again soon and turned off my alarm. When I finally woke, I glanced at the clock and launched out of bed. It was 9:25! I’d slept another six hours.
I shot downstairs, asking how to get to Trinity College. They gave me directions and I hurried to the bus stop. There was no way I could get there by 10:00. I thought I knew the bus fare, and I had some money in my hand. But when I boarded the bus, it was a different fare. I dug into my purse, into the pocket where I’d put change. I couldn’t find it. It must have slipped into the rest of my over-crowded bag. With increasing franticness, I dug around for the bus fare. The driver wanted to pull out, so he told me to just drop in the change I had. I did, though it was only about half the fare. “You’re grand,” he said, handing me a ticket. I finally found one of the right coins, but he waved me away, repeating “you’re grand.”
So yeah. Stressful morning. But the bus driver was really nice. I didn't get anyone else like that during the rest of the trip's public transit. Quite the reverse, in some cases.
We got to our stop and I hurried through Trinity College campus.
I got there 17 minutes late. I pulled out my ticket, and the guy told me I’d have to buy a new one for the next time slot. “My phone’s not connected to the internet,” I explained. So he took my ticket and scanned me in. He also told me there was free wifi on campus. So, I got another mercy.
Relieved, I walked in to see the Book of Kells. I wanted to wind down after the hectic morning, so I connected to the campus wifi and downloaded the audio guide. I listened to the whole thing, and by the time I made my way to the end of the first room, I had calmed down. The first part of the exhibit talks about the history of the book and how it was made, and other books like it.
Pigments were mostly made from local materials, and they remain vibrant to this day. Crushed oak apples were one ingredient, as featured in The Secret of Kells. They also used plants, stones, and lichen. And less appealing ingredients were arsenic sulfide and lead.
Monks would write notes to each other in the margins of the manuscripts. Things like, "I’m tired of this." "It’s cold in here." "I wish this was finished." These were probably younger monks, in their teens.
Beyond is a darkened room with a large case. The Book of Kells lay opened inside. They change the pages so you’ll see something different with each visit.
The book was created around the year 800. Book of Kells is a beautifully illustrated version of the gospels of the four evangelists. It was probably started on Iona, but Iona was burned in 802. The book was brought to Kells, where it was finished. But in 806, Vikings attacked Kells too, killing many of the monks. The Chi Rho page is the most famous part of the book. The details are so tiny and intricate that they don't know to this day how the artists managed it. At the end of The Secret of Kells, actually animate the Chi Rho page. hat a brilliant idea.
Next I headed up to the old library. It dates back to the early 1700’s. Many of the shelves are empty as they do a once-in-a-lifetime restoration project. Dust and other stuff was causing a problem for the books, and the library needed updates to fire protection and control over humidity and such.
(only those front two shelves have anything on them)
Statues of famous people lined the main hall, such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. At the far end a massive globe slowly revolved overhead. In a display was the oldest Irish harp. Beautiful carvings decorate its sides. In the audio tour, they had a recording of someone playing it. It’s not at all what you would expect a harp to sound like.
I browsed the gift shop, and heard familiar music playing on the speakers. It was the soundtrack for Secret of Kells. And indeed, in the book section they had a couple books about the movie, as well as the film itself. I love that movie! If you can't tell from the repeated references. It’s a fantasy version of the creation of the Book of Kells. And yep, there are Vikings in it.
I walked through a little more of the campus, only realizing later that I missed some cool looking stuff. But I thought I had plans for the rest of the day.
One alumni of Trinity College that you've probably heard of is Bram Stoker. Sound familiar? He wrote the book Dracula. If you've only seen movies, the book is worth reading too! Another alumni is Jonathan Swift, who wrote Gulliver's Travels.
Then I went to look for the Dublin museums.
It’s weird crossing streets, because in Ireland, the cars drive on the other side of the road. I always look both ways before crossing, which is good because the cars keep coming from places I don’t expect.
I stopped in the House of
Names. They have family information, including my family name. Though I've recently learned that we're not nearly as Irish as I was lead to believe. Our name is spelled a little different than the original. The official pronunciation is a little different too. But people who read my last name say something different again.
I got to the street where the museums are, and found the entire road closed off. I asked one of the guards how to get to the museum. It’s closed. I didn’t see anything about that! So, no museums for me. Curses. I wanted to see the Tara brooch. Dad’s talked about it many times.
I headed to the next stop: St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Or at least I thought I did. I missed a turn and went down a couple blocks in the wrong direction. I grabbed a boba though.
My stomach was starting to act up – I guess I ate something. Even though I’d just gone to the bathroom a few minutes before. Maybe I’ll blame the airplane food. Though it could have been the sausages.
I walked back in the right direction, and made it to the Cathedral. I grabbed an audio tour and started walking around. I didn’t have long though – tour busses come every half hour and I wanted to catch the next one. I only got through part of the cathedral tour, listening as I walked around.
St. Patrick first came to Ireland as a slave, captured by Irish raiders. He escaped and got home. Then returned to Ireland after training as a priest, and worked to spread Christianity. No one really knows what St. Patrick looked like, so you’ll see a variety of images of him. Unlike many people who were supposed to convert others to Christianity, St. Patrick worked peacefully. He combined the two religions to make it smoother.
I dashed out to see if I was in time to catch the bus. I was. I sat on the upper level, front corner. The lady driving gave a commentary on the sites as we drove past the Guinness factory, and eventually across the river and on to Phoenix park and the giant obelisk. But then she stopped talking, and a recording was playing instead. Not as informative. The bus tour was not the best use of my limited time in Dublin.
Back at the room, I ironed out transportation details for the next couple days (which was lucky – I found some potentially large snags). And then went to bed.
I couldn’t sleep. Not for hours. Hell! With growing frustration. I lay there most of the night. Six hours later, I finally fell asleep.
November 10 2023
Two hours later, my 5:15 alarm fired up. Bleary and tired, I got ready to go. This time I had plenty of time, even though the tour left at 6:50. I went out into the dark, freezing morning and waited for the bus. It was supposed to come every ten minutes. I was getting pretty nervous when over twenty minutes passed. I was just about to flag down a taxi when the bus finally arrived. This time I had the proper change ready. I wanted to confirm the name of the stop, and hit a blank. I tried to pronounce D’Oiler and realized that I was butchering it even more. He corrected me, pronouncing it “daleer.” So once again I stood on the bus, embarrassed.
I was lucky. The bus was packed, and at the next stop, they couldn’t even fit in the two people waiting there. One of the guys smacked the bus door in anger when we left him.
Back near Trinity College, I disembarked. The tours met at the Molly Malone statue (a song I’d heard three times on the bus last night). I was kind of beyond tired at this point. All my attempts to prepare for jet lag had derailed, probably because I slept in so late yesterday.
Our tour guide and bus driver was named Jonathan. At first we drove in silence. The sun didn’t come up until about 7:30. Jonathan said we could take a nap if we wanted, and that he’d take one too. One of the others joined in the crack, saying we’d take turns driving.
It turns out that Jonathan has been in a number of movies and shows. He was a riding double in a Vikings TV show, as well as Braveheart. I asked if he missed working with horses. He didn’t. I suppose he had them in excess, while I’ve never really had enough of horses.
After we drove for a while, we stopped at what Jonathan called “A beautiful petrol station.” There was a little café inside, where we got breakfast. I got a teriyaki chicken salad. I hadn’t eaten anything fresh since I left, and was craving green food. I grabbed a little tangerine too. Back on the bus I ate the salad. It tasted so good to me after the potatoes and fried food.
Jonathan started telling us information over the speaker. For example, about festivals. Did you know Halloween was originally Irish? It was called Samhain (pronounced like “saw-wain). They didn’t carve pumpkins, but instead used turnips. They did dress up though. That way when the dead rise up on that night, they don’t recognize anyone.
Our first destination was the Rock of Cashel. We stopped along the road to take some pictures with the morning sun hitting it.
We parked at the base of the limestone castle. The walls were covered in curtains of vines. Ferns, grasses, and small bushes sprouted between the stones.
I circled the cemetery, looking out across the Irish countryside. White windmills dotted the distant hills. Lines of autumn-colored trees ran across stretches of green grass. On the other side was the town, with the morning sun lighting it up. The light stretched out the shadows of the gravestones.
In the cemetery, there was a beautifully carved cross. At least it used to be a cross. Now it’s more of a pillar. Cromwell broke the top off it during his rampage of terror. He became “Lord Protector” in 1653.
Oliver Cromwell is the most hated man in Ireland. He’s the main villain in the film Wolfwalkers. In a matter of months, he massacred 20% of the Irish people. And the Rock of Cashel is one of many places that he sacked and destroyed.
On the way to our next stop, I actually managed to nap for a little bit on the bus. Which is something I’ve never done before. Just goes to show how exhausted I was.
The reason I chose this tour was Blarney Castle. My Grandma came here before I was born and kissed the Blarney Stone. Doing so gives you the gift of gab. My dad talks about it often enough that I thought it was common knowledge. But many of the people I've mentioned it to have never heard of the Blarney Stone.
Blarney Castle is also coated in ferns and mosses. And it’s a surprisingly tiny castle. It’s called a tower house. They were a popular type of castle in Ireland, where most of a lord’s household lived in one tower. They were about four or five stories tall, with a couple rooms on each floor.
Blarney Castle was owned by the McCarthys. They were the kings of Munster. Ireland used to be made of many small kingdoms, which all fought each other.
Our group walked in and took the stone stairs up. Originally the castle wouldn’t have been bare limestone, but instead covered with a sort of plaster. The tower would have been white, making it very visible across the countryside. The front gate faces a cliff, so you can’t use battering rams. Assuming you got through the barred gate, you’d then face murder holes: holes in the ceiling where the castle defenders could pour boiling oil on invaders, among other things. The battlements could be used to similar purpose. In fact, the kitchen is high in the castle, so the hot oil was ready to pour down to lower levels, if needed. The walls of the tower slightly taper in at the top. Not only does that make the tower sturdier, but any projectiles dropped from the top would bounce out and be more likely to hit attackers. And spiral staircases mean that anyone right-handed climbing up would have trouble wielding a sword while those facing down could draw swords without impediment. (And you weren't allowed to be left-handed back then!)
Unbelievable assholes have carved graffiti into the castle walls.
The bathroom was just a slit in the floor, positioned on the side of the castle where wind would be less likely to blow stuff back up. It was called the garderobe, which means wardrobe. Why? Because clothes were kept in the garderobe. The ammonia from the “toilet” would fumigate the clothes. Give your thanks for modern plumbing and washing machines.
Then there was the banquet hall, for their nights of feasting and partying. They used lots of spices on the meat, for preservation purpose. So they needed lots of drinks. You know, like beer and whisky. Even kids got beer since there wasn’t much else to drink.
Finally I came out on top of the castle, with a great view of the surrounding estate. There was a helpful sign, reminding you to take of your hat and glasses, and to empty your pockets. So nothing flies off the side of the castle as you go to kiss the stone.
The term “Blarney” comes from when McCarthy was trying to deflect demands from Queen Elizabeth 1. It means beguiling but misleading talk. And there are several stories about how the Blarney Stone is said to have gotten its power. Such as a fairy queen that kissed the rock where her dying lover was lying. Whatever its origin, this stone has drawn many visitors. Winston Churchull, American presidents Reagan and Taft, dancers, singers, and actors.Plus plenty of tourists. In the busy season, the line for the Stone can be two hours long. I joked that it was almost as bad as Disneyland. There were only a couple other people up there with us today.
When it was my turn, I lay back on the mat and grabbed the railings across the gap. There are poles beneath the Blarney Stone, so you won’t fall several stories to the ground. You tilt your head way back and kiss the large stone at the bottom of the battlement. It doesn’t look fancy – just another stone in the tower. But I suppose now I have the gift of gab!
The stone is right beneath those two parallel black poles.
This is how they used to kiss the stone: By dangling you by your ankles from the outside of the battlement.
Yes, people sometimes fell.
I got a print of the photo of me kissing the stone. They’re not very flattering photos. Just the bottom of your chin as you crane your neck back for the kiss.
At the bottom of the castle, we walked around some of the gardens. We went through the Carnivorous Courtyard, full of beds and pots of pitcher plants.
I walked around the Irish garden, which had native plants. And some lovely ferns. Many native Irish plants are endangered.
I’d seen a sign for a fern garden. I assumed it was the big patch of ferns along the base of the castle. It turns out I’d missed the fern garden – the castle grounds were much larger than I realized – over 60 acres. And the fern garden was deeper in the estate.
There are caves under the castle, and one was open. I went in, dodging the big muddy puddles. It wasn’t a very long tunnel. The exit was just a narrow slit that opened up through a curtain of leaves. When Cromwell attacked, the McCartheys fled through the tunnel systems.
The dungeons were closed though. The lesser horseshoe bat is living down there – a very endangered species.
I misjudged the time and left earlier than I needed to. I could have spent twenty more minutes walking around the castle. Shoot. I’ve ended up wasting quite a bit of the time I have in Ireland. Ugh.
Back on the bus, to our last stop. I napped a little more. The drive through the country was cooler than on the highway. And we had a rainbow! Big, thick, and full. It didn’t stay full, but it did stick around for a couple hours. That’s where you find the Irish gold!
Jonathan told us about the bogs in Ireland, must of which have been destroyed. They used to cover about 10% of the country. Because of the lack of oxygen and the tannens from the plants, things that fell into the bogs have been remarkable well preserved. Like the Irish elk - an extinct species whose antlers could grow 12 feet across. They were around much of Europe, but they were preserved best in the bogs.
Bog oak is ancient wood that has been dug from the bogs. People will use it in art. Ancient people laid logs over the bogs, as roads. The roads eventually were buried and disappeared. Some paths lead to sacred sites where people had buried offerings. They would wrap butter in animal skins and bury it to preserve it. 2,000 years later, some of the butter was unearthed. Some people decided to try it with scones, and apparently it was still good.
As shown in Wolfwalkers, Ireland was once covered in forest. Over 90% of it, in fact. Strange, considering it's known as a land of green hills today. Only 1% of Ireland has forest now.
We learned some about the potato famine as well. It lasted 10 years, and the British tried to hide it from the rest of the world. They made excuses, saying that the Irish were being punished for being lazy. But the English just didn’t want to lower the price of grain. In fact, Ireland was still growing food, aside from the potatoes that the people relied on for most of their meals. But the English took most of the food they did grow. The population of Ireland went from 8.5 million to 4 million. Only the middle class could afford to leave.
Our last stop was Cahir Castle (it's pronounced more like “care castle”). Unlike the others, Cahir Castle is still in good shape, and has been used in a number of movies and shows, including Excalibur. The great hall is still used for events.
You can see a couple cannonballs embedded in the castle walls. Cromwell brought cannons during his invasion of Ireland. Castles had stood against former attacks – battering rams, catapults, etc, but they weren’t a match for these new weapons. Not only were the cannonballs powerful enough to crack the defenses, but those firing the weapons were safely out of range of arrows and boiling water. When Cromwell came to take Cahir Castle, he sent a letter saying that the inhabitants of the castle had the chance to take their things and go, or face the cannon. The peopel in the castle left, knowing they didn’t stand a chance. The letter was freakishly polite, and signed, “Your servant, Oliver Cromwell.” After this, he went on to conquer Kilkenny, which gives you the movie Wolfwalkers.
(There's the cannonball, next to the window slit)
The rainbow was still there, though only about half of it. Rising above the castle walls.
Back in the bus, Jonathan sang us a couple Irish songs. He’s a good singer. One of them-the Rattlin’ Bog-was very catchy. I can still hear it. Each verse builds on the one before it until you’re rattling out a long train of lyrics.
I managed to nap a bit before we hit the outskirts of Dublin. City sounds woke me. I wish I could have done more of these tours. This was awesome. We drove across about a third of Ireland in a day!
Jonathan let us out just around the corner from the Aran Sweater Market. I slipped in and tried a few things on. I found a blue wool jacket. One sweater can take 60 days to make. There’s a variety of patterns they form with their stitches, and they have special meanings. For example, some represent a fisherman’s ropes, farm fields, or zig-zagging pathways.
After I left my sweater to be mailed home, I had one last stop: Tara Street. I hadn’t gotten to the Hill of Tara, so at least I had to try this. It was underwhelming. There wasn’t even a sign I could take a picture of. Half of the block was under construction, and there wasn’t anything much on the rest of it. The most I saw was a tiny shop sign, which I think said “Tara” in a stylized font. Ah well.
And then finally sleep. At least this time I was tired enough to sleep at the right time.
