The peace of boredom

After two hours of reading a selection of whatever I could find in the bookshelves of my striking blue residence along the River Liffey, I am suitably motivated enough to write something. The Da Vinci Code can only be read a certain number of times, you know. Funnily enough, the riddles that Sophie and Langdon have to solve become extremely obvious after a while. The thrill has gone.

So, yurrup, still lovin' Dublin. Victory of victories, we actually managed to get invited to an Irish party on Friday night. Those who have gone backpacking before will know that it's impossible to avoid other backpackers and even more impossible to get invited to local parties. This party could've beat our old apartment's crowdedness any day. And, as a gorgeous young female redhead was hosting, it was a certifiable sausage fest (this was a good thing). The Irish definitely know how to party, and to this point have lived up to all my preconceptions (also a good thing).

Alright, so I should probably write something opinionated and vaguely resembling intelligence. Let's start with politics.

It always riles me when someone says they don't give a damn about the government, because politics doesn't affect them. I was hanging with this BBC editor from Manchester in Hong Kong. We were walking along Yi Lo Road in the city when I asked him if it bothered him that there were so many poor people there. He said, "Naaah, doesn't affect me." My quicker than usual tongue (thank you, Aussies, for making me brazen!), responded with a brief explanation of current inflation levels, rising interest rates and high oil prices: all a result of people like the ones around us growing their economy at a later time than the OECD (that's what it is, right...?). And it certainly didn't get me laid that night, but it saved me from a lecture about how the British did everyone such a favour by colonising them. Believe me, the conversation would've gone down that road sooner or later.

On a side note, has anyone ever noticed how notoriously stingy the British are? This particular guy didn't even drink because he didn't like spending the money. Fair enough, but still....

Politics is also affecting me: I've come to The Republic of Ireland at the end of a cabinet reshuffle that has replaced big spenders with politicians that would peel an orange in their pocket. Like, there are hardly any civil servant jobs right now. All good though, I will probably still get one, if you count working for the local Med School a Public Sector job - what is it with me and the Health Industry this year - I was an Arts student.

And the situation in New Zealand. It isn't affecting me hugely, but current preliminary poll results are messing with my Chi. Good thing I'm not a supporter of LibertariaNZ (with a Z) though, now that would be a stressful, tragic, losing battle. Or ACT (the fuckers).

And politics has truly, truly affected my travel. Being ripped off in Asia, being detained at Heathrow for no good reason, and having to change my travel plans from the U.K. to Dublin within a matter of days. Not that I would change a thing right now.

So those are my superficial reasons. Now that's more interesting than the price of milk.