2004-06-11

I have a home internet connection! Finally! Being net-less over the past week has added immeasurably to my sense of isolation and disorientation. I hadn’t realized the full extent of my dependency on the internet until I was suddenly cut off: it felt like I’d lost a limb, or something equally overdramatic. Trying to navigate public transit in a new city, I’d think, “Oh, I can just check the bus routes onli–oh.” Confirming my hotel reservations in Ireland? All of a sudden I have to rely on the phone. I feel positively Amish.

My housemate is extraordinarily friendly, as I’ve mentioned. As friendly as she is, though, she seems to have inherited barely a fraction of her family’s friendliness genes: her parents are downright scary. They’ve popped by to help out with some household chores, and I’m currently holed up in my room in an effort to avoid their welcoming overtures. I’ve already been roped in to dinner plans, and I overheard my housemate being interrogated by her mother – “Where are you taking Robin tonight?” – as though I were a visiting cousin and not, in fact, a complete stranger who happens to be paying rent to her daughter. It’s heartwarming, but a tad disconcerting.

Thank god for my current state of mobility. Wednesday I was in Liverpool, and I’m catching the train bright and early tomorrow to Holyhead, whence I’ll be hopping a ferry to the Emerald Isle. I hear Dublin is amazing, but right now I’m mostly excited about the ferry ride. I’m like a kid when it comes to really big boats. I like hanging over the rail and watching the water; like my own private version of Titanic, except with a bit less romance, Celine Dion, and terrifying watery doom. At least, I hope so. Celine Dion really chafes my ass.