there were boxes and people that i'd never met before

Thursday and Friday of last week we had workshops with Claire and Richard from Forced Entertainment. With Claire and Richard we flocked and made up a dance. We spoke about our fears and all of the things we are absolutely NOT afraid of. We hid in boxes and picked up chairs. We ran around and played games. We chatted about our likes and dislikes. We discussed the next step. We were critiqued and encouraged. We tripped over our own feet and said things we thought were funny. Nobody cried. Some people talked too much. Some people only listened. We didn't have fancy lights. There was a trip to the beach. We went to many beaches all at once. We made the beginning of a show. Maybe. Feel free to google them.

Last night Cathy, Ali, and I went to see Cat play at a pub that she described as sort of republican. It was in fact very republican. It was the most bizarre pub experience I've ever had. It was like some horrible Lifetime movie. There's Cat all in white the innocent singer song writer doing her best to make it happen playing were she can with just her guitar to protect her from the sea of drunk rowdy men. In the movie something horrible would most likely happen...however, not the case in reality.

Still it was the kind of place you walk into and are immediately reminded that you are a woman. On top of that this particular pub was full of locals so three completely unknown women were even more of a unique commodity. Before even buying a drink we were confronted by 'Pink Jumper Man' he had a loud voice and a short-term memory. I told him I was from New York at least 3 or 4 times. He guffawed every time. After chatting us up for a while and being quite rude he blessed us with his saints medal thus proving he was in fact a good man. Finally he departs only to make a triumphant return a few minutes later completely surprised to find two girls from Cork and a girl from New York in the pub. His comings and goings grow shorter and less frequent throughout the night but that does not mean that we were left lonely.

We had one guy who was in fact not too bad. Friendly and not too inebriated though at the end of it all when he was chasing poor Cat back to her car I thought perhaps I ought to reconsider is level of intoxication.

'Blue Man' who was not only wearing blue but I think was in fact quite blue fell madly and deeply in love with Cathy. He was sorely disappointed to find out she had a boyfriend. Even the promise of UB40 playing at their wedding could not lure her away from her man. 'Blue Man' also had a sidekick. He was an electrician and lived across the street.

Just before leaving we met 'Mr. Marty' the artist behind all of the artwork in the pub, which actually was quite good. He had spent time in New York painting sets and had been to the Irish Arts Center. Weird.

Finally we piled into Cat's car off to find some late night chips. A task we had laid out for ourselves quite early in the night and one we were determined to complete. Due to the closing of a peace wall (peace walls located in various parts of Belfast that are closed in the evening to separate Catholic and Protestant areas in order to prevent any misdoings in the night. they are meant to be removed. slowly i suppose) any way we had to drive the long way to bobby's Chinese, which apparently isn't even run by bobby anymore, where we got chips and rice drenched in sauce. too much sauce. but still yummy at 130am.

A few glasses of wine later we hopped in a cab at 3am and went home. good times.

Today I plan to finish cleaning my house. Do some reading. Use my hunter gather skills at the market and attempt to do some laundry in the bathtub as our washing machine has given up on life. That is all.

the best,

jen