Gone to America

Yes, I’m still here. My extended absence can be largely attributed to the upcoming E3 Expo and the resulting hours creep (staying a little later, coming in a little earlier) which culminated in actually working yesterday. Working on a Saturday! Of course, nobody likes working on a weekend, but ker-ching. Although there does generally seem to be a lack of posting these days. Many of the blogs I link to seem to have slown down or even stopped entirely recently. Maybe blogging is seasonal. Who knew?

I went to a birthday party last Saturday (not yesterday – this potential confusion is precisely why it’s important to post at least once a week) and was sternly taken to task by the birthday girl, Anne (I shan’t reveal her age for the sake of propriety) for never having mentioned her on the blog. Anne and her fiance Mike are friends and neighbours of Julian and Lisa. They’re getting married in August in Long Island, whence Mike hails. I see one or both of them fairly often in the way of things.

So why have they never been mentioned? I don’t really know. It’s almost as if this text based reconstruction of certain parts of my life has a clearly defined cast, and it’s an effort to introduce new members. I’m not sure exactly how or why this process doesn’t always occur. There seems to be a division between the friends I made and the people who I met through them. Friends are cast members, but friends of friends are not, even if they subsequently become friends in their own right. There are quite a few people I see a fair amount of and never mention.

As an example, Monday before last I went to a surprise birthday party in Lunasa for Anne Marie, an Irish actress working there who I met when Helen McMahon of STI was visiting. Helen also introduced me to Gavin who owns Lunasa and Ciara his girlfriend who designed it. They actually live near me in Sunnyside. I was in Lunasa again on Friday (day before yesterday), where I had a drink with Drew Bellware, chatted to Anne Marie and Grace (a waitress there), said hi to Gavin and hung out a little with Ryan, Anne Marie’s boyfriend. Last night I went to a bar with Vanessa to meet her friend Theresa, who was throwing a party for a friend of hers. After that we went to a very cool house party in Chelsea with Julian, Lisa, Anne and their friend Lauren who was our introduction. I went to see The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy with Young Min, with whom I quite often see movies. I met her through Conor, through whom I also met Mike, Michael, Michael, Colm, Alan, Maxine, Barbra Ann, Gene, Florelle, Kevin and various others. And then there are the people I work with…

But that’s caught up a little I suppose. There are more. I’ve met various friends of Vanessa’s, more of Julian’s and Lisa’s I haven’t mentioned, more in various bars… You get the picture.

It seems that even as I bemoaned a lack someone was working to fill it. What a time to be alive! Now if only they’d change the length of the TV hour. It’s 42 minutes. That’s just a little too short for my commute which allows me watch for about a half hour. I’m usually just coming up to the climax when I have to stop, and then I only have half a journey’s worth on the way home. I wish they’d fix that… [waits expectantly].

Those of you on the West Coast may wish to check out my feature film sound design debut, which is screening at Filum ’05 on Thursday the 19th of May at 3pm. That’s a bit too far away for me to make the trip. I will never see this movie. Thanks to Sunniva in the Irish Film Archive for the tip. Those of you in New York interested in history should check out Julian’s JWalks which start next Sunday. Go Julian!