Howl

After a fun but tiring weekend I was all set to pass out in bed last night, but was kept awake by a storm that swatted the fire doors, peeled tiles off the neighbouring roofs and dropped debris through the glass panelled extensions at the back.

This morning the wind had died down and The Ours brought my laptop to where I stayed, in bed. I wrote 1140 words of my second draft, then completed an article about Las Vegas and sent it into BootsnAll.

Now all I have to do is stay awake until tonight. Where's that howling wind when you need it?

Weather

Last day of work tomorrow - couldn't come soon enough actually as I'm feeling sick again! The weather is atrocious here, very cold with insane wind speeds - I witnessed my first horizontal snow fall earlier - and I'm struggling to walk back and forth to work every day. But I've been taking good care of myself, going to bed early and eating properly, so I just need to be patient...

On the flip side, I was taken out for lunch today by the solicitors I work for and tomorrow I'm going to the local Italian with the secretaries. I should leave work more often methinks! The company has asked me to give them a call when I'm back on the market again which is great. We'll see how long my savings last, I'm hoping at least three months.

And I'm hoping the filthy weather will improve by then...but perhaps I'm living in the wrong city for that?

Duh

I walked to work and back - didn't drown! Result!

My mood has suddenly improved, and so has my outlook for the next few months.

Now I reckon that the rewrite will go well.

When I think back to what I've written, character dialogue suddenly spools into my head, light but massy, witty but profound. (Or maybe you've just stopped taking your medication? Shut up it's ART!) Needless to say I immediately get all excited about the whole shebang.

I just got everything out in the first draft, I think. This time I'll have a chance to add colour and texture to the stories, deepen the character's personalities, research my themes a little more.

Then again I often get ideas for posts when I'm out and about, and each word jumps into place without effort or fuss. Congratulating myself I head home, only sit in front of my computer and hear the voice in my head say: "Duuuuhhhhhh..."

We shall see. But I'm glad that the cloud over my head has shrunk slightly.

Research

Back in business - unfortunately I probably won't be writing today as I'm still doing research. The story deals with a number of medical and legal details that I just can't make up (which is what I usually do!) so I'm forced to spend another day digging. Research is not my strong point, I'm too impatient.

Had a great weekend in Birmingham, the weather was actually nice on Saturday for once. Apparently fog, hail, sunshine and torrential downpours are all forecast for today. Perhaps research isn't so bad after all...

The dreaded weather

Wrote 2100 words today, which was enough to finish my eighth story! I’ll spend today and tomorrow planning the next story before the weekend.

I recently cancelled my membership with the gym, because I just wasn’t going anymore. I found that it took two hours out of my day which I couldn’t spare at first, as my writing schedule was all over the place. It was tough on my mothridden wallet too.

Unfortunately I’m one of those people who has to exercise, as I can’t get enough of good food and drink. Actually I don’t mind the bad food either, I often wake up to find the filet tower burger I was cramming into my mouth was a figment of my imagination. So Daisy suggested I just go for a brisk walk every day, which is was a fantastic idea as it gets me out of the house and keeps me fit.

However the new fitness regime coincided with absolutely horrendous weather here in Dublin. Every day for the past three weeks I’ve stuck my head out the door to witness a beautiful blue sky with a few white clouds. I enthusiastically throw on my exercise kit and head outside, heart filled with the joy of summer, until I realise that more clouds have gathered and some of them look quite menacing. Refusing to be put off by a few drops of rain, I set off. Five minutes later I am shivering in the cold wind and torrential downpour while struggling past sniggering pedestrians under oversized umbrellas. By the time I get home the sky is clear again, but I’m no longer impressed. I peel off my cold wet clothes and sulk in the shower.

I really need to go for a walk today, but it looks like the weather has grown tired of toying with us and is stuck on 24 hour misery. Sigh.

What a difference a few hours make

You know, when the sun is shining, the roads are half empty, people are wandering around half-cut on vitamin D, Henry Street has been freshly hosed down and the road sweeper has just removed a mountain of crisp bags and beer cans from Parnell Street, the city is almost...pretty.

Ah the joys of spring.

Wasted narrow sun window

Two men are in my bedroom getting down to business. They're making a hell of a racket.

The builders arrived to fit the vents about 20 minutes ago, smiling and joking without a care in the world. And why shouldn't they? It's not like they should have be here Thursday, when I waited in this sauna of a flat while the sun was splitting the rocks outside. It's not like I was expecting them to call me and let me know that they weren't coming. And it's not like they didn't turn up yesterday either and not call. In fact, it's not like Ireland has crappy weather year round and when the sun finally shows its face you should run out and frolic in its rays because you may never see it again.

But three times' a charm, they’re here now and it’s not like it's suddenly become overcast and cold. Oh, wait...

Note to office workers; I understand that staying indoors all day is a daily event for you and that I'm being an ungrateful cow, but it's eight in the morning and a symphony of drills and power saws is going through my head for a short cut.

Irish weather

Dublin is incredibly cold at the moment, which has taken me by surprise again this year. Every October I'm braced for a cold Christmas and New Year but instead it's mild and pleasant. We wander around in spring coats and light jumpers – as it isn't exactly balmy either – looking forward to the summer that’s just around the corner.

Then a week ago the temperature plummeted overnight and we awoke to freezing fog that crept around the edges of the sky like frost forming on a windscreen, threatening to block out the already struggling Dublin sun. Drycleaners were deluged with winter coats claimed from the back of wardrobes and Pennys immediately sold out of one-size-fits-all gloves.

It's a well-known fact that the Irish winter and spring switched places sometime ago. I'm always lulled into a false sense of security though, like those flowers that bloom prematurely in February only to be flash frozen a month later. As I write this the fog has now eclipsed the sun and anything else past arms length. It's my friend Daisy's birthday in three weeks and it has been known to snow heavily around then; one year we sang Christmas songs with our taxi driver as we entered a courtyard of people throwing snowballs under the yellow streetlights.

Well it wouldn’t be Ireland if everything worked the way it should, including the the laws of nature.

Still feeling a little sore today but I don't want to fall behind, so I'm determined to at least finish the preparatory work as listed here.