Ireland Adventure

Finally...the Final July Entries

2006-09-24T17:31:00.000-07:00

Last Week...plus a Couple of Extra Days
I ended up going to the airport three times before I finally got on the airplane. After I opted for a voucher for travel and hotel and meals for giving up my place on Saturday and Sunday's overbooked flights, my husband suggested that perhaps I had milked this trip for all it was worth! I did enjoy extra days, though, and went to the "Dead Zoo" museum with Fintan and saw a fabulous rainbow over Dublin--just like a postcard. Nice way to end my trip! I'm already planning to return in the fall.
A layover in Atlanta made the transition easier -- stopped and watched baseball highlights and had the first good cosmopolitan I'd had in a month at the airport. Being back in the USA comes with its own advantages!

Monday through Wednesday, July 24-26, 2006
More Poetry….
This week, I have revisited the Yeats exhibit with a friend, taken the DART to Dun Laoghaire to visit the James Joyce museum, attended a Write and Recite poetry reading at the Westmoreland, had an interview with Alan Jude More, etc. I’ve also taken several walks on the beach, soaking up my last days of opportunity to enjoy my Sandymount location. I plan to spend the next couple of days, taking my last photographs for my project, buying a few more books and posters, maybe going to one of the Shaw events, visiting the Dublin Writers Museum, and…there’s no time to do everything I want to do!!!

Thursday through Sunday, July 23, 2006
Feeling at Home
I can’t believe I only have one more week here! I’m just getting into the rhythms of the city and securing the quiet needed to find my own rhythms. During the last few days, I have attended two readings—one at the Monster Truck Art Gallery and one sponsored by the Irish Writers Centre. I have “gone to the pub for a pint” with some new friends. I received lovely flowers from my husband in honor of our 16th wedding anniversary. I have sung, “Minny the Moocher” and talked about Yeats and Auden and struggled to define poetry and justify a writing life on a Dublin rooftop. I have heard in lovely, lilting accents, “Oh, don’t go home...."

Monday-Wednesday, 2006
Days Pass Quickly
Well, I’m a regular. I curse the “tourists.” I give directions with certitude, using local landmarks, such as “Turn right by the angel with the painted face,” or “If you go past the leprechaun blowing bubbles, you’ve gone too far.” ...had an interview with Pat Boran, enjoyed the “hot” weather here, went to hear “Sick and Indigent” again at the Ha’ Penney Inn, etc. …love Dublin!

Sunday, July 16, 2006
Art Lust
I slept past church this morning, but wondered to Merrion Square later for a walk and a look at some of the art being sold on the pavement there on Sunday afternoon. I was offended, somehow, by a sign that said, “No picture taking” on one artist’s display, so I walked over to the National Gallery to cleanse my palette and headed straight to a Rubin’s where I sat, inspired and writing, for a couple of hours. Then, I searched in vain for a cheap, plastic pitcher in which to make myself some peach iced tea for a while and, again, ate a turkey and coleslaw sandwich outside at my favorite little café across from Apollo Gallery, where the Tom Byrne painting that I should own, that I would own if I had an extra 1,900 euro around, still hangs.
Wrote: …a poem titled “The Annunciation.”

Friday, July 14, 2006
Jordan’s Birthday
Jordan, if you are bored enough at work to be reading this, happy birthday! I wrote until 4 a.m. and even then the spirit was willing, but the body was weak and it appeared to my old, tired eyes that the computer screen was moving back and forth about two inches. I was so into the process that I didn’t realize it was getting cold until I was freezing, so I turned on the heater and worked in the floor in front of the heat.
Wrote: …two acts of a screenplay with the working title, Voice Over.

Thursday, July 13, 2006
Poetry-Packed Day
This morning, I enjoyed an interview with Joe Woods, who directs Poetry Ireland and is, himself, an excellent poet. In the evening, I participated in a reading at the Monster Art Truck Gallery, which was a fun experience with some very nice and interesting people who gave me a chance to read three of my poems (“Town,” “William Carlos Williams Goes to Italy on a Bus Holiday,” and “Botticelli”).
Wrote: several scenes, a list of lines for a play, etc.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006
An Indulgent Day
I broke down and had my toenails repainted; all this walking is taking its toll on my feet, although they aren’t “vexed” anymore, and no length seems too far to walk at this point. Tonight, I have poetry plans, but mostly this has been a self-indulgent day.
Wrote: A novel chapter...at last!

Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Sick and Indigent and Other Nice Surprises
Tonight, I went to a Poetry Ireland reading sponsored by Dedalus and heard a band called “Sick and Indigent”—liked them a lot and may try to find them at Ha' Penny Bridge on Monday nights. Pat Boran was one of the readers—very good! (He was one of the poets I “handpicked” for my project.) I still find it hard to believe that there are so many poetry events in Dublin!
The best part of my day, though, had to be sitting for a couple of hours on a bench, under a tree in St. Stephen’s Green, where the limbs dip into the duck pond. Also, I found a great sandwich shop and had turkey and cheesy coleslaw—which is just such a treat here. No…the best part of my day was going to the Yeats’ exhibit at the National Library. I took notes. I sat through some sections twice. It was excellent!
Bought: New and Selected Poems by Pat Boran.

Catching Up on a Busy Month

2006-07-26T08:14:00.000-07:00

Monday, July 10, 2006
Computer Geek Spotting in Ireland
Today, I determined to get my technology up and going, so I bought a Mobile Disk. My luck, again, comes through; while I was on the bus, going into Dublin to make this purchase two college kids were talking about the best place to buy computer parts. I asked them about where to buy this one, and they took me to two computer warehouses so I could get the best deal. …love these Irish folk!
I’m also determined to get some of my own poems printed, so I can participate in a reading this Thursday! I don’t know if my very “Texas” poems will translate, but we’ll see.
Again, I wrote a lot last night, watched CSI (doesn’t sound like a very Irish thing to do, but when has the remote control, I never get to watch CSI), and slept late this morning. I took my towels and a pair of jeans (the things I can’t dry myself with “Dr. Bronner’s”) to the laundry today; Rhonda, if you’re reading this, you would be proud of me: I’m re-using the same bath towel more than once.

Sunday, July 9, 2006
Full Moon
…a nice lazy Sunday. I went to church at Dublin Unitarian, arriving only a little late and being forced to sit in the pew from which I could only read the word “Discovery” on the stained glass, which also probably has more condemning and admonitory words on other panes. I didn’t move a muscle though, didn’t strain for a different view; I like the sentiment!
I took a long Sunday nap in the afternoon, waking when Ken called to remind me it was a World Cup night (Paris and Rome—it’s hard to know who to root for). I had a thick dream about school hallways in an old building. Then, I went to O’Connell, wondered around catching the cheers from soccer fans, drifted to Temple Bar area, and was rushed into a dinner of Curried Coconut Prawns at the Mona Lisa Restaurant. Later, safe in Sandymount, I walked along the beach toward the full moon and dipped my hands in the Irish Sea as if it were holy water. Wrote: a poem called “Sandymount II” about the seaweed’s looking like Spanish moss….

Saturday, July 8, 2006
An Artsy Kind of Day
It’s been a rainy old day here in Dublin town, so I spent some time this afternoon at the National Museum of Modern Art, where I saw several paintings by Louis le Brocquy which I liked very much and in which I could see an influence on the Becket and other Tom Byrne’s works I saw at the Apollo Gallery yesterday and had a drink at the Old School House pub. I’ve been in pubs in Edinburg that were housed in old churches, but this is the first time I’ve seen an old school building used this way!
Wrote: a scene for a play, the leaf falling in from the bus, into her grasp, after the conversation in the park with the divorced woman’s saying, “That’s horrible. As if he were nothing. As if he were a leaf….”

Friday, July 7, 2006
All “Booked Up” in Dublin
Last night, a writing idea kept me up until 3, so I slept in this morning, ate pears and cereal, and then went into the city centre to use the internet determined not to do or buy much today! But, the best laid plans…. I ended up strolling through Duke Street and found a rare book shop—my weakness. I also went into the Apollo Gallery on Dawson and fell in love with two works by Tom Byrne (Pocession [sic] and Becket) in case anybody out there is looking to spend a couple of thousand euro on a birthday or Christmas gift. Anybody? Anybody?
You’ve got to love Ireland. This morning on the bus, an old man sat down by me and ended up encouraging me to try to get a teaching job in Dublin, which he says is hurting for teachers because of the new influx of immigrants in the schools. “You could have a job by the end of the week,” he said. Before we left, he gave me his phone numbers and told me if I “had any difficulties” during my stay to call him, because it was “always good to have someone to call for help” and he would “be curious to know” if I got a job. (He stayed on the bus an extra stop to show me where the local teachers’ union was located.)
Again, on the bus, our driver encouraged several young people to move to the top of the bus, so I moved, too. When I got to the top and sat down, one little boy, about nine or ten, turned around, looked at me, and thinking that the driver had asked me to move to the top to make way for the elderly too, said, “Take it as a compliment!” (Cheeky kid!)
Yesterday at the service at St. Patrick’s when I was “bone tired,” I opened the prayer book and found this scripture from Psalm 6:2, “Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak. O Lord, heal me for my bones are vexed.” At the time, my poor, old feet were “vexed” as all get out, and when I first got up this morning and looked at my new blisters and put weight on them, I thought again, “Ohhhhh, Lord, heal me ‘cuz my bones are vexed.” Come to think of it, my feet feel much less tired today, so my prayer must have gone straight through! (Mother, you’ll have to tell Daddy and Dr. Awney about this one!)
Bought: a signed third edition of The Rough Field by John Montague—I couldn’t resist it because I loved the lines about the woman’s being “broken down by / process to a pale / exhausted beauty;” and from the half-price stacks downstairs two others—Collected Poems (Patrick Kavanagh) and New Irish Writing edited by David Marcus, that latter of which I had to take because I was in the middle of a story called “Christmas” by John McGahern when the clerk told me they were closing up the shop
Wrote: some lines for a poem about “sitting under the angels on O’Connell street, eating a sugared donut.”

Thursday, July 6, 2006
My Luck Holds
I happened to walk into the yard of Trinity College today just at the moment a graduation ceremony had either ended or was about to begin! Graduates wearing their robes were milling around with their proud-looking family members just in time for me to snap a shot or two.
This morning, I started a conversation with a lady (68) by telling her she looked pretty in her green and red. “I’m trying to cheer myself up,” she told me, and we started talking. She was from Belfast originally, but moved to Dublin when her boys were small because “there were a lot of problems there then, you know.” She told me about her best friend of 63 years and her husband who has emphazema, so had a rough day yesterday. Today, though, was cooler, so he “should do better” today she said. A lovely lady….
...enjoyed soup and bread at Davy Byrne’s today, one of Joyce’s locations in Ulysses. Then, I ate rose-flavored and pistachio-flavored sweets from a market stall, bought some books at the Upstairs Bookstore, and enjoyed an evensong service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Not a taxing day at all, but I am exhausted. A quick walk into Sandymount for some take-away dinner….
Bought: Bearings, a book of poetry by Joseph Woods; The Wolfhound Guide to Dublin Monuments by Elizabeth Healy.
Wrote: A scene for a play about teachers.

Wednesday, July 5, 2006
Oh, Happy Day!
I ambled to town (Sandymount) to grab groceries and stopped for fish-and-chips at a take-away, which I ate in the part in the center of town by the bust of Yeats. Granted, that experience might not seem like a big deal except that later when I read Pat Boran’s line about children, “[dousing] their leaking take-aways with vinegar,” I understood the image.
My landlady was home from Spain today! She gave me a great deal on my apartment, making it possible for me to stay through the whole month of July because she said something about my inquiry “just struck a chord,” so I feel like I’m the “writer in residence” at Seaview this month. When we met today, she was delightful and helpful again, and I thrilled in seeing her paintings of “Four Ladies of Forceful Personality,” especially the ones Roth did of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Tolkias when they were in Paris.
In the afternoon, I made my visit to an internet café on O’Connell Street in Dublin, since I am still not able to access the internet from my apartment. (My landlady wasn’t either this morning, so I’m hoping it’s just a temporary problem with the signal.) I made some photographs of monuments and buildings near O’Connell for my Western European Studies Project. Then, I strolled down to the tourist office and made a stop and then spent part of the afternoon with a berry smoothie under a tree in St. Stephen’s Green, doing some journaling and talking to a nice Irish lady about her divorce, which was final today. (Certainly should be a poem there--and I hope a good new start for her.)
Poetry Ireland sponsored an “emerging poets” reading tonight in Damar Hall, which it turns out is the basement of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Dublin. The following “new” poets read from their works tonight: Dylan Brennan, Catriona Clutterbuck, Bernadette O’Reilly, Desmond Swords, and Maureen Boyle. I found myself jotting down ideas as they read. Brennan’s poems about his time in Mexico, especially “The Market of Color” reminded me of how travel provides writing fodder, the exotic pops out, and then when you get home, if you are lucky, you begin to see home with your new tourist’s eyes and realize how rich and unique that place is, too. I liked Desmond Swords line about two accents “jostling,” and now I want to write a poem about the Spanish and English of Houston. Likewise, Maureen Doyle’s poem about Queen Hermione’s lost years in Shakespeare’s play would lend itself to a nice opener for my students’ writing poems about other Shakespearean characters or even about Shakespeare’s own lost years!
I had to laugh today when I heard people complaining about the heat. “It’s the hottest day it’s been this summer,” they said. It felt almost cool to me, and although I miss Ken and my Huntsville/Scottsboro friends, I was happy to be away from the “long, hot summer” that Alabama was promising as I left five days ago. As I type this, I’m sitting at “my” dining table with a lovely painting and the now-opening pink carnations that were in my room when I arrived both in my line of vision, but when I turn to the left and see the Irish Sea and the distant red lighthouse, I am still surprised. It’s what one painter called “the blue time of day,” except to my left there’s a little Technicolor emerald mound of land peaking into the frame. Every glance out my window is like a little gift. I don’t know if my Mayo line really goes back to Mayo County as I want to believe or if my father’s grandfather still had traces of an Irish brogue or whether my father just told me that to cover the fact that he had used “Irish brogue” as a regretful metaphor for cursing a lot. But I do know this: I do have “the luck of the Irish,” and I am thankful for this day in my luck-laced life.
Wrote: A draft a poem about my father; the aforementioned journals; some lines for the poem for my friend in the park today; revisions and a new stanza for “Inevitably” about climbing on top of the oil pumps in Texas.
I was reminded: (1) Of the word churched as it was used in East Texas where I grew up—not as “church learnin’” but as the church’s “disowning” someone whose sins were so striking that they couldn’t be redeemed and needed to be made an example of. Of course, I never knew of this ever actually happening, but it was always there as a threat in the air. (2) I was also reminded of the Japanese expression that means, “I am full,” applying not just to food, but to one’s life being full and rich with experiences and blessings. (3) My student, Elizabeth, who said that she had never been a stranger anywhere. At the time, I was envious of that kind of certainty, but today as I was so much aware of my Otherness as an American, as a tourist, etc., I was pleased with the freedom that comes when you embrace the tag, “Stranger.”
Read: At the internet café, several poems reprinted online by Pat Boran, Joseph Woods (who I hope to interview Monday), and Eavan Boland.

Tuesday, July 4, 2006
Independence Day
I must be feeling more confident about getting around Dublin, because several people stopped me today to ask me for directions! I was a typical tourist today though, and I used the remaining hours on my hop-on-hop-off tour to go around the city several times, making notes about bus numbers and planning out some activities for my remaining days.
To celebrate July 4th, I had a cheeseburger at Eddie Rocket’s for lunch—not Miss Bogie’s, but it was still a good little salute to home. I listened to “I Only Have Eyes for You,” “Get Up Off That Thang,” and “Rock Around the Clock,” and I felt very American!
Then, I went to what I now know was the last big poetry reading to be held at the Bank of Ireland Arts Centre, a part of the old Parliament Building. The bank is closing the centre to pursue some profit-making venture. (Boo! Hiss!) But, at the end of the reading Theo Dorgan spoke about the closing in a way that made me think he had done more than kiss the Blarney Stone; it was the most eloquent speech I have ever heard, and if he’d asked us to follow him through hell and back, most of us would have answered “Do I have time to put on my hiking boots?” He insisted that the closing of the centre wouldn’t kill poetry in Ireland, but he worried about the soul-killing effects of making decisions for pure profit and reminded the audience of the story of Old King Midas. “Poetry,” he said, “is one of the last places we can go to remind ourselves we do not want to live and die for gold.”
I had gone to the reading to hear one of my favorite Irish women poets—Eaven Boland, and as a bonus I was able to hear her read with Paula Meehan, whose name I was familiar with, but whose work I was not. She read several works that dealt with the diminishing natural landscape; I’m looking forward to including her in my Irish Poetry Lesson Plans. Poetry Ireland sponsored the reading, so I was also able to meet its director Joseph Woods who I am also hoping to include in my project. Wine and finger foods had been provided by a benefactor; most of you know how I have an oddly strong love for “little, tiny sandwiches.” Sitting in a room filled with history, letting the sound of Irish poetry wash over me—I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day in Dublin!
On my way home, the bus driver (from Nigeria) told me about his parents who live in Waco, Texas, where my grandparents live; it is a small world.
Wrote: A draft of a love poem about independence; a draft of a lesson plan based on Meehan’s “Death of a Field” poem; a few lines of my own version of Meehan’s poem, “Death of a Field,” based on “my” possum lost to a new housing development in Alabama, my abundance of persimmons just rotting on the vine, and my willingness to believe the salesman who told me when I asked about the likelihood of urban sprawl taking out the pasture next door to our house, “I don’t see how they could.”
Read: The Man Who Was Marked by Winter and Pillow Talk—two collections of poetry by Paula Meehan, plus more chapters in my enthralling Haruki Murakami novel, Kafka on the Shore and
Best Thing I Saw Today: A stranger on a bus wordlessly stand up and open a complicated baby stroller for a young, overwhelmed mother.

Monday, July 3, 2006

2006-07-10T13:52:00.000-07:00

The Joys of Public Transportation
I am still learning the bus systems, but today was much easier. Instead of walking the two miles to the DART station, I used the bus stop about 50 feet from my front door…much better! I love not having to drive! If only we had, say, a DART system between Huntsville and Scottsboro….
I spent the morning visiting the two internet cafes in Sandymount to no avail; obviously, I’ve changed a setting on my computer that I shouldn’t have, because my handy-dandy internet launcher either isn’t picking up the signals or isn’t linking to them once they are picked up. I should have thought to e-mail Mr. LaRue while I was at the Global Internet Café today! (Thank you, Rick Steves!)
I bought my hop-on-hop-off City Tour ticket this afternoon and made notes about places I want to visit tomorrow. The ticket is good for 24 hours, so I’m planning an early start (out by 9 a.m.) tomorrow to get a good orientation of the city and its major attractions. O’Connell Street has become my “safety zone;” I can always find my way back to O’Connell, and I know I can always catch a bus to Sandymount from there.
Tonight, I wandered into the Temple Bar area and found myself unable to resist my greatest temptation: Mexican Food. The Alamo billed itself as “The Best Mexican Food Restaurant in Dublin.” It was certainly the most expensive—16 euros for a starter and a bowl of nachos, and that was the early bird special. Add to that a Diet Coke and one margarita, and I had blown my budget for the day! Oh well, all I’d had all day was a bowl of corn flakes and one tea cookie, a Diet Coke and a pot of peppermint tea, so really that was my lunch and dinner budget, and the food was good, not hot like I like (if I don’t break out in a sweat from the jalapenos, it’s not hot enough for me). I think it had a more California flavor than the Tex-Mex I love, but I’m not complaining one bit.
Wrote: Notes about the places I visited on my hop-on-hop-off tour of Dublin’s attractions and a template for a “Virtual Tour of Dublin” PowerPoint to send to Indiana University’s Western European Studies Department, along with my lesson plans.
Read: more in Kafka on the Shore, which I highly recommend! It’s even better than A Wild Sheep Chase, also by Haruki Murakami.
Best Things I Saw Today: Two little Irish boys riding double on one bike with their soccer ball wedged between the bars; they were smiling like crazy. Also, the bust of W.B. Yeats in the park in the middle of Sandymount Village, noting that he was born here….

Sunday, July 2, 2006

2006-07-10T13:45:00.000-07:00

Inspiration Strikes
My day started with a bang—a bolt of lightning hit the house! (I wish I could say it was because of my being so inspired!) It knocked out my t.v., which is being replaced tomorrow, and while I was out this morning the fire brigade was called in to check the house!

Other than the initial strike, I missed the excitement, but I did manage to hall myself to the Dublin Unitarian Universalist Church (one long walk to the DART station in mild rain, one short taxi ride to St. Stephen’s Green). The guest minister spoke about the beauty of silence, so I’m trying to remember that while my t.v. is out! The service was similar to our services at the Huntsville Unitarian Universalist Church, but the building was very different—very old with lots of stained glass, including Biblical scenes and a lady who looked like Joan of Arc in her Armor. The building seemed plenty large to me, but my taxi driver said, “There’s that small church West of St. Stephen’s Green; that must be it.”

Then, I walked blisters on my feet, wondering around the edges of the Temple Bar Area, Grafton Street, and O’Connell Street—mostly in “soft weather” as they say here. My first souvenir was a black and white polka-dot umbrella. I should have reminded myself that I didn’t have to see everything today…. I had lunch at Madigan’s pub on O’Connell Street. It was cool and still raining some, so I popped in for thick, warm vegetable soup with bread and butter. A nice lady kindly explained to me what a “shandy” was—a beer and lemonade. “It cuts the bitterness, and it’s not as strong,” she said, “for lunchtime.” I followed Rick Steve’s advice and sat at the bar to eat to have more opportunity to talk to people. One older Irish man said to another, “All this to drink, and she orders Diet Coke. Diet Coke!!?? Ah, the Americans….”

It has taken some time to get used to the noise of cars by my place, but I’m trying to remember what astronaut Story Musgrave told a younger colleague who complained about noise in a space shuttle: “It’s just part of the music [of being here].” My view is idyllic. It’s not the wild Irish sea I was expecting; it drifts in and out at a calm pace, and there’s something endearing and reassuring about the father with his son or the old man with his dog or the young couple or the middle-aged woman walking by herself on this beach.

Wrote: one poem “Sandymount, July 2006,” a draft of a lesson plan to accompany Gerry Murphy’s poem “A Neighbor of Ours,” and a few postcards.
Read: more chapters from Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami and the Dublin Visitor Map.
Best Thing I Saw Today: The Sandymount Beach visited by Leopold Bloom and the Strand visited by both Stephen Dedalus in Ulysses.

Saturday, July 1, 2006

2006-07-10T13:33:00.000-07:00

Home Sweet July Home
Our friends Ward and Jane Welty rode with Ken to deliver me to the Birmingham Airport (and to eat dinner later at the Cheesecake Factory) on Friday; knowing I was leaving Ken in good company made leaving a lot easier!

As Elwood said in Harvey, “Veda’s done a lot today.” I arrived in Dublin this morning and took the Aircoach to the city centre and then took a cab to the house in Sandymount where I have an upstairs apartment. It’s very airy—lots of white and beige and skylights in each room, and it looks out onto the Irish sea. This afternoon, lots of families were walking with baby carriages and lots of older people were walking dogs on the beach. From my bedroom window, I can see the lighthouse that many of our students photographed from the ferry when we left Dublin in June on our EF trip. The bathroom is large and has a nice tub! (Like Blanche DeBois, I do love my hot baths!)

Already, I am looking for Seamus Heaney around every corner; he lives on “my” street, according to my landlady. Sandymount is also W.B. Yeats’ birthplace, and it plays a part in James Joyce’s Ulysses. If I can’t write here, I can’t write!
Following directions, Mrs. Hynes had e-mailed to me, I walked to the village shops, discovered a lovely park, and made my first trip to the Tesco (ie: The Irish Piggly Wiggly) for “supplies.” This may be the year I wean myself off Diet Coke; lugging my big plastic bottle for two or three blocks may prove too much even as addicted as I am! Then, I stopped at one of the specialty stores on my way home and picked up apple jam for toast and a serving of hazelnut, tomato, and broccoli salad. It’s all in my kitchen, but I’m thinking a nap sounds better than food right now!

I bought a small cell phone, so I wouldn’t be completely out of touch this month, but I couldn’t get my month-long bus pass at the desk in the airport; I will have to go to the DART office tomorrow!

I can’t believe I’m finally here!

Wrote: a short memoir/devotional about going to Atlanta on an FHA trip when I was in high school thanks to the good graces of my parents.
Read: Rick Steves’ Ireland 2006 and a Dublin bus schedule.
Best Thing I Saw Today: The key for my apartment, poking from under the flower pot!

I've arrived!

2006-07-03T10:16:00.000-07:00

I'm here, happy with my apartment and my James Joyce-related view, and apparently incapable of making my laptop work. But, I hope to be able to add pictures in a couple of days. Please check back!

Irish Poetry Online Resources

2006-06-20T14:59:00.000-07:00

The BBC's NI School Program features an online resource on Irish poetry, centered around the themes of growing up, relationships, a sense of place, nature and landscape, and war. Using this site, students and teachers can read the written text of poems, listen to the poets read their poems,watch a video with images from the poems, see pictures of the poets, and read brief biographies about the poets. Educators can also download free teaching guides with copy of the poem, related quotations by the poet, and discussion questions.

Darragh Casey's website features excellent photographs of several Irish poets, including Seamus Heaney, Medbh McGuckian, Ciaran Carson, Máire Mhac an tSaoi, Leland Bardwell, Michael Longley, Benedict Kiely, Gerald Dawe, Mary O'Malley, Padraic Fiacc, and Sinéad Morrissey.

Poetry Ireland is "Poetry Ireland is the national organisation dedicated to developing, supporting and promoting poetry throughout Ireland. [The organization is] a resource and information point for any member of the public with an interest in poetry and we work towards creating opportunities for poets working or living in Ireland."

The Irish Writer's Centre houses an amazing number of resources!

The Irish Poetry Page, sponsored by the Department of Linguistic Data Processing, University of Cologne, Germany, contains links to the full text of poems by many great Irish poets past and present.

The Liffey Project includes an Ireland section with links to poems.

EF Tour 2006: A Preview of Coming Attractions

2006-06-08T04:28:00.000-07:00

Below, flowers for sale on Grafton Street in Dublin....

Below, a scene in Saint Stephen's Green.... Mrs. Lovvorn and Ms. Ashburn enjoying mussels and Guinness casserole....
A Statue of famous Dublin street vendor Molly Malone....
June blooms in St. Stephen's Green....

Ken and I had a blast on this year's student trip through EF Tours, "Across the Irish Sea," which began in Dublin and continued in Wales, Northern England, and Edinburgh. Thanks Tim Lord, Ian ("Corndog"), Betina, Samantha, Caleb, Melissa, Sheila, Kathy, Reba, Haley, Courtney, Karen, Tiffany, and Chris for making this such an easy, fun trip for us! Our experiences whetted my appetite for the long-awaited July 2006 trip to Dublin, where I'll be completing a poetry project and writing lesson plans to fulfill my grant obligation for Indiana University and where I'll also be exploring and doing some writing of my own. If you are a Scottsboro High School student, a parent, friend, or Scottsboro community member, you are welcome to join us on our 2007 EF Tour, "Athens and the Islands." To sign up, go to EF Tours website and register for tour number 839935. But, we warn you that travel is addictive!