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.