I call on all here present to witness the following:-
A member of the Marshall family absolutely without a
clue for what to say next.
You know how it is when you go to start a sentence? You draw
breath, perhaps raise a finger to begin some sort of assertive
gesture... and then you clamp your mouth shut again 'cos you
suddenly realise that you don't, after all, quite know what
you're going to say.
Uh huh. s'me.
So, without the benefit of a safety net or a bottle of wine
to steady my hand, here goes :-)
> To start with, i'm not actually too sure if this is considered join content
> or not...dont want to annoy anyone....apologising profusely if i am!
This, I think, is firmly in that "Joni List Content" category,
whatever *that* is. It's a reminder of the power this list has to
draw people together across continents, cultures, background, and
lots of other profound things that I'm too tired to remember.
And you beat me to it. I was contemplating a list post (which
would be my first for months, I guess) to tell everyone what a
great time we had over there in Dublin, but you beat me to it!
Scoundrel :)
[ Deletia: Garret went to New England last summer and...]
> one of the highlights of my summer in New Engalnd was breakfast with Chris.
> i finally put a face to the name and mail.
History: I was over in the Boston area to meet a friend who was
in Worcester for work reasons. I was lucky enough to go see
Ashara for the day and to meet a few other Boston-area JMDLers
that evening. I had planned all along to visit Cape Cod with
the friend I was meeting, and did know that Garret was working
there at the time, but we'd failed to really co-ordinate e-mails
before I left, so had nothing firm arranged. Meeting Garret
in Hyannis only happened by the skin of its teeth: the day before,
my friend Chris and I had checked into a guesthouse that enabled
me to get my e-mail. Pretty much at the same time, Garret managed
to get an e-mail message out to me with a phone number. A couple
of phone calls later, and it was arraged for the next day. The
guesthouse owner *could* have told me to take a hike when I asked
to use his computer and internet connection to check my e-mail...
Hyannis was funny :) I'd been there a couple of years ago on a
whistlestop USA tour with a crowd of friends. We had lunch at
some greasy spoon cafe on the main street, principally because
it was cheap. I vowed never to eat there again, especially with
all the great seafood to be had on Cape Cod.
So, Chris and I met Garret, and his friends JT and Donna.
"Breakfast" was the cry, so I offered to buy, with the aim in
mind of getting myself some of that seafood. I say breakfast:
it was actually something like 11.30am. /Some/ of us had only
just got up... :) Anyway, the assemblage was having none of my
offer to buy food, the retort being "we know this great place..."
So, there I was again, with this bizarre sense of deja-vu,
renewing my vow not to eat there again... :-D
> i would like to express my gratitude to Chris for coming here. in my role
> as "tourguide" i got to see my own city from another side, i realised that
> this actually is a really cool city. i learned a lot and with Chris i went
> to places not too far my own home that i would never have thought of.
> Chris, i'm sorry if my history lessons got a little too obscure, or, indeed,
> my fascination with those stone mushrooms was over the top but youknow all
> about me and fungi, lol.
Pah - not a bit of it. If any of the rest of you manage to visit
Dublin and get to meet Garret, you'll discover that this particular
Uptown Boy (from the North side, so it fits) knows his history.
He certainly opened my eyes to the richness of history in Dublin
and the surrounding area and my four days there couldn't begin to
do it all justice.
I even span things around and dragged Garret out on a bus tour of
some places around Dublin. I had reservations myself, bus tours
having a slightly funny image, but it turned out to be a grand
plan. I never knew, for instance, that on the outskirts of Dublin
there's a place on a hillside that's the spitting image of
Beverly Hills. (Now *that* was wierd...) And the castles... ah!
Wonderful!
And let me just say... the mushrooms *really* *were* made of stone,
and had no magic properties at all.
> the conversation ranged from religion and cars to which joni albums are top
> of the heap.
LOL! The funny thing is... we hardly listened to any Joni! I think
I got one play of MOA one night in bed and that was it. I had thought
that Hejira would make a wonderful companion for the bus trip.
In place of Hejira, I had a grand tourguide to fill my head
with history and observations about the passing city and countryside.
Sorry Joni, but this once...
> Chris i think i've got to thank you for being a great
> conversationalist, not vice versa, i only ramble like that when the other
> person creates trust.
Bless you! It goes both ways though: I can't converse effectively
unless there's someone to bounce off, so thank you for being an
equally great conversationalist.
(Hey, there's no false modesty here you know!)
> when the other person can talk back
> and
I
> can
don't
> forgive
know
> me
what
> for
you
> interrupting
mean!
> constantly:-)
*grin*
> it is almost a year now since i signed up to the list for the first time; i
> think it is good time not to express my gratitude to Les for bringing all
> this to life. Les it's all your fault.....
I'd just like to second that. Les, well done. Wally, your memory and
your spirit lives on. Peace. This list, this "place", is unlike any
other I've ever experienced, and as a seasoned internet hack, I think
that's pretty special. Long may it continue.
> i've made some good friends here,
> and at least one with whom i will be acquainted for my life.
[draws breath, raises finger, clamps mouth shut, see top]
> it's all you
> fault:-) thank you so much.
There. Les: be told :-)
> NP- Billy Joel, Uptown Girl, hehe...it's for you Chris!
LOL. It's been going around my head for the last day and
a half dammit! <bangs head on desk>
> ps- thank you for those sweet words this evening Chris
You are, as ever, most welcome.
> and dont stop texting me! makes me feel popular:-D
Garret and I would like to announce that we will be the sole
source of funding for Orange* and Eircom* for the next two
years based solely on our expenditure on international text
messaging. *laugh*
So, god, er, how to wrap up? I dunno. Is this JC? Is it NJC?
Does everyone deserve to read this in the hope it renews a
warm feeling about the list and the influence it can have
on people's lives? No idea. I had a ball in Dublin: I got to
see a great city, I ate some great food, I drank some damn
fine alcohol, I talked myself hoarse, and I spent enough
time there to realise that I haven't spent enough time
there. If any of you reading (what, still?) are thinking
of going... do it! Just drop everything and go.
In conclusion, I think it just remains for me to raise my
glass to someone rather special in Dublin, someone
who's managed to restore my faith in a bunch of important
things. Slainte!
(look look, I even got the accent over the "a" :-)
--Chris
[* Note for non-UK/Eire residents: Orange and Eircom are mobile
phone network operators in the UK and Ireland. Otherwise
referred to as "robbing bastards" ]
PS. I have some great photos of some of the places surrounding
Dublin. As soon as they're on my web server, I'll pass out the
URL to anyone that wants it.
