"It started off with a kiss, how did it end up like this?" - 'Mr.Brightside' - The Killers

Alrighty, what to talk about today? And why are there people in school uniforms walking around my college? :-s At least my ex-college, a part of me is gutted that I'm not a student anymore... I suppose at the moment I'm just a fucking directionless bum though so heh, that's got a kind of sub-cool glamour of it's own anyway. Speaking of direction I still dunno what I'm gonna do in the mid or long terms with myself. In the short term, I figure I'll finsh this entry, hang with Niall for a bit, maybe Don and Trev too, possibly get something to eat, drop my brothers pants into him at work and then go to work myself. Then after work I'll come home and probably just sleep. Ditto for tomorrow.

My brother was over last night which was cool cos I hadn't gotten a chance to hang out with him for a while. We watched 'Grosse Point Blank' (can you believe he'd never seen it??? :-o) , played some music, just talked crap back and forth for a while. I feel like running a bit wild at the moment but nothing springs to mind. I'm just sooo lethargic that it's not even funny. I mean I have got a few project type things that I should be throwing myself into: the demo/EP thing, the website, tidying my room, organising my future and other little things like that. But I just really could not be arsed. This is the first September since 1984 that I haven't had some kind of education to return to and I'm liking the whole experience.

My plans for the next few weeks are pretty vague to be honest, I figure I'll spend too much time Niall, just about enough time with Bob and Don, not enough time with Brian and Kitt. I'll probably go to a few football matches, work more than I enjoy, play a little music, go out a few times, maybe see a few movies.

In the slightly longer term I gotta go home for a week to take care of my kid sister while my Mum heads off to Spain or somewhere like that. I haven't spent a whole week at home in about 4 years so it should be a boring, unrewarding experience wasted in front of the computer playing Championship Manager. If any of you fancy a trip to Bruff between September 23rd and September 30th feel free to come out and realise that dream. I'll appreciate the company. I'm also considering a trip to London since I've basically been offered free accomodation over there. That probably won't happen until November though for reasons both logistical, financial and strategic.

Anyways Don feels that he was misrepresented in my entry on yesterday. For a more complete account of his crimes I suggest that you people take a trip over to http://www.niallworld.blogspot.com and make a final judgement yourselves. :-D

I realise that this is another poor entry but never fear, I think that I'm gonna go through my regulars again shortly and talk about the role they currently play in my content if disorganised existence.

"This world's an ugly place but you're so beautiful to me" - 'Going Away To College' - Blink 182

Ok, I'm gonna have to be fast today cos I ain't overly blessed with time. Just outta 'Dodgeball' with Niall & Don and while it's the best movie I've seen in the cinema in a while I've gotten used to better company on my trips to the cinema. Better-looking anyway! ;-) Regardless 'Dodgeball' was funny. A bit cheesy and hippy-happy too but decent at least.

Ah, Limerick lost in Sligo and there were a few hairy minutes where we couldn't find an open petrol station and were nearly empty and it looked like we'd have to spend the night in Knock, the holiest and by extension most boring/creepy town in Ireland. Fortunately we persuaded some dude to open up for us. And then passed a half dozen or so stations in the next ten or twenty miles. Which was probably God's way of punishing us.

Speaking of Don, his behaviour has gotten deplorable in the last few days, he seems to be reinventing himself as a go-to-hell boozed up decadent of some kind. I can't even tell you what he's been up to because he's really left himself down. And by extension me and Niall. Who have gotten great entertainment today by dishing out the levels of slagging normally reserved for Bob. Who's not here incidentally which is why he's getting off so light.

For some bizarre reason I seem to be turning into a type of alternative heart-throb with the midteens who shop where I work. This is both distressing and worrying. I think I've just been too nice to them to be honest. Maybe if I behaved more like Don! Anyways I'm off work today so I needn't worry about running into any of them. I mean, attention is all well and good but 2 horrible incidents in 2 days is too many, especially when they're drunk, want to hug me and my dad is waiting across the road to give me a lift-home. Though I've been called worse things than Spiderman! :-p

Anyway, I have very little in the way of plans for this week. Hanging with my brother on Thursday, Bob's 21st on Friday and work on all the other days. Though for no more than 5 hours on any of the days in question. Which isn't bad.

I'm tired. But in pretty good spirits overall. Which is nice. I shall bid thee all adieu and give a special mention to Cack for all her comments of late.

"Dad must have been drinking the night I was conceived, a flailing lost delirious sperm, a seaman lost at sea" - 'Die In Your Arms' - Soul Asylum

Well hello my children, I hope you feel privileged that I got up early today to write in my blog before going to Sligo with Niall, Don & Trev (my brother got called into work). It's even more impressive when you consider that I was woken up at 4.30 this morning by Don and Lorraine because Lorraine wanted to see how I was... :-/ Tired and irritable at that hour Lorraine! And Niall, who had the good grace to stay downstairs didn't help much because he gets progressively louder the drunker he gets. Oh and he bailed on our jog last night too! Twice in a row. Clearly his commitment to improving his fitness is already on the wane. Tut-tut Niall. You may be Person of the Week but this type of attitude had better be improved upon or else somebody else might take your crown. Like Don. Or Bob! Well ok, maybe not Bob! :-p

Anyways, I haven't got a whole lot more to say. Sligo is a long journey and a crap town and Limerick always tend to lose there (especially when I bother to make the trip) so I'm not expecting a huge amount. Against that we are on a comparative roll at the moment so who knows right? And we're picking up some new gear so I'll gt first dibs on that too (well along with the other three lads but that's not a major concern cos we're all different sizes anyways.

You know somebody said the other day that this blog reminded them of a reality TV show but personally I prefer to think of it as a sit-com. It could be called 'The Dar Show' or just as simply 'Darspeak'. Or 'Deadtime'. Naturally I would be the 'star' in the broadest terms in the same way that Jerry is technically the top dog in 'Seinfeld'. But bless you guys because I honestly think that Niall, Bob, Don and occasionally Brian (when he turns up) easily match Elaine, Kramer, George and the sporadic appearances of Newman. My show would have a much better soundtrack too and appeals to far more demographs. We have my quartet of Bangladeshi workmates to corner the Asian market and now there's even an American interest. And somebody from Achill Island to lower the tone of things... Oh and Dave T's from Waterford which must count for something. Oh the possibilities are endless. Though it would probably just wind up being episode after episode of me and Niall sprawled out in my room... though that could be interesting too.

"Tell me all the things you would change, I don't pretend to know what you want" - 'Distant Sun' - Crowded House Today I am kinda buzzing. Had a huge row with somebody who shall never be named last night and even though they apologised this morning I remain supremely irritated. Supremely! Finished the lyrics to my four chord song the other day. It's now called 'No More Lies'. My Pet Giraffe are going recording on September 11th by the way. In a real studio. As opposed to my kitchen/dining room. As for today Niall is sitting next to me updating his blog http://www.niallworld.blogspot.com which is basically an alternate version of this one. So you should probably read this too if only because he says such nice things about me in his first entry. After this we shall probably go forage for food or something. And I have work at 5. Trev is back from the states and throwing a B-B-Q tonight but it now looks unlikely that I'll get to go. I have to get my jog in too of course. Actually speaking of jogging Niall pulled out last night so I had to go by myself. In the rain. And because I was in a whore of a mood I pushed myself far harder than I should have and nearly killed myself. I was completely and totally wrecked afterwards and because I knew if I lay down on my bedroom floor in my sticky, sweaty knackered state I'd smell out my room, I lay down on Bob's floor instead for a while to recover. Tomorrow I'm off work and could be going to Sligo. My brother wants to go so if there's room for him in the car then I'll go and if not I'll probably just hang with him for the day instead. And naturally if I go to Sligo then I won't bother with my blog tomorrow which might be no harm because it's been crap for a few days now. I'm trying in vain to think of something I could do every Friday. Actually here's an idea... Dar's Weekly Awards Person of the week: Niall naturally, well we do live in each other's pockets and God knows he has to put up with enough. He'll probably win this every week anyway unless somebody can mount a serious challenge. Honourable mentions: Kitt, Bob Villian of the week: The nameless person who had an argument with me last night. No more shall be said. Honourable mentions: RTE, people who abuse the express checkout in Dunnes Day of the week: Monday, I went to Cork, hung out with Kitt, saw a movie and bought a few CDs. Sound ok to you lot? Honourable mention: Tueday The Invisible Man of the week: Trev, but he was in America so he has an excuse I suppose. The Phone Person of the week: Kitt, again this could prove to be a lock for Ms.Vercetti because she gets bored at work and texts me in the morning when I'm still in bed and before I know it it's time to go to sleep. Honourable mention: Cack Band of the week: Dashboard Confessional, they're just great in my less than humble opinion. Wicked song on the 'Spiderman 2' soundtrack and I've been listening to the two studio albums a lot as well. Honourable mentions: The Beautiful Mistake, Yellowcard, Funeral For A Friend Workmate of the week: John, if only because he's had to work with me a lot and still manages to show a gratifying interest in all my crap! :-p Honourable mentions: Kalam, Hazel Until next week

"All by myself, cause I don’t want to drag you down, Hold you down cause you’re a friend. I blame myself I guess you think it’s funny now, funny now, it’s such a shame" - 'Just A Day' - Feeder Today has been a bit of a false start thus far. It's gone fairly well but I haven't really done anything with it either. My legs are a bit stiff because myself and Niall pushed ourselves fairly hard on our jog last night but I still feel all the better for it. It's probably just a mental thing but whatever. Positivity is a good thing after all. I'm really at a loss for something to write about today for some reason. I'm trying to think what else did I do yesterday. I met my brother because he wanted to borrow some money but that's hardly gonna keep anybody glued to their pooter screens now is it? Getting it back might be more difficult and more interesting as well. Whatever though. Man, I'm tired too but then again I did get a text message at 8.58 this morning and I've been up since so that's perhaps understandable cos it was well after 2 when I hopped into bed this morning. I have sod all in the way of plans for the day either outside of another run tonight. I can only apologise my children for this impotent entry. Hopefully it won't happen again. Going to try and scan some pictures now so I might even throw one of those up or something.

"I am flawed, but I am cleaning up so well, I am seeing in me now the things you swore you saw yourself " - 'Vindicated' - Dashboard Confessional

I have a nice little psychobabble conundrum that I don't know yet if I want to share with the rest of you so firstly I'm gonna talk about more mundane stuff. Otherwise it'll just be Rob and Niall who get to hear about it which is perhaps fitting as they're my two most prominent lurkers (people who read this but are just too lazy to actually pass any comment) anyway. Anyway on other topics for now especially the two things that really, really bugged the hell outta me yesterday.

Thing number 1. - The Express checkout in Dunnes Stores. The sign above it states quite clearly, in nice big lettering "10 Items or less". Now it's a pretty simple instruction I would have thought but yesterday proved to me that the average professional woman on her lunch break possesses no math skills whatsoever. All Niall wanted was to buy a box of one of those fruity cereals (Fruit N'Fibre or some such, if he ever gets motivated enough to post here then he can tell you himself) and the woman ahead of us had no less than 18 items in her basket. 18!!! I mean, that's nearly twice the limit. So I was quite vocal about this to Niall and the woman turned a strange sort of beetroot colour. That's when I noticed that the woman behind us looked a bit edgy and had kinda moved in front of her basket. So naturally I had a look... sure enough another overflowing basket. In all fairness like, 10 items people, 10. 10. That's ten. Dix. Zehn. Whatever like. The till-monkeys need to to take a stand (and as a till-monkey myself I'm allowed to use the term) and tell these people to fuck off back to the regular checkouts where they belong. If this is middle-aged, middle-class rebellion there is something badly wrong.

Thing number 2. - This is the one that really annoys me. RTE have long been held up as an example of a shit national TV station but last night they well and truly showed their ineptitude. Shelbourne were playing Deportivo La Coruna in the biggest match in the history of Irish club football. With about 8 minutes to play Shels were 2-0 down and desperately needed a goal. So did our respected national broadcaster give this struggle their undivided attention to it's ultimately miserable climax? Of course not, they split to a ridiculous split-screen so that we could watch the 1,500 metres final of the Olympics as well. In reality it meant that you couldn't watch either event properly. Then to compound this they actually got rid of the football for a couple of minutes so that we could watch a Moroccan and a Kenyan battle it out for the gold medal in what was to be fair a fine race. However I was livid to be honest and for a few reasons. First of all, they didn't announce they were cutting to the race until seconds before it false-started... so any athletics fans in the building had presumably already switched to the BBC (which offers far superior coverage in any case) to watch their race. Given the already shambolic coverage given to the eircom League it's a pretty safe bet that anybody actually watching the game wanted to see it all. Reason number 2 for my annoyance. There was no Irish interest in the race. Nothing. And as nice an athlete as El-Gherouj (or however he spells his name) is it was an awful judgement call to assume that the people watching Shels really cared more about what he did than an Irish football club who had overachieved to get where they were last night. So we used to produce pretty good middle distance runners fifteen years ago, why in God's name does that mean we'd sooner cheer athletes from other countries? And finally here's the part that really got to me. They get back to the real action just in time for Shels to concede a third goal, have a brief after match analysis and then go back to the athletics. Fair enough. I like the Olympics too after all. They show the 1,500 metres again. The whole race. A whole what? 10-15 minutes after the first airing of it. Complete and utter rubbish from RTE. But at this stage I'm hardly surprised...

Anyway on happier news I started jogging again. With Niall to keep me company. And tonight Bob will be coming even if I have to drag him by his armpit hair. Last night we were both pleasantly surprised that we managed to complete our little circut without collapsing in a sweaty, skinny heap of bones and testosterone. We're not as criminally unfit as we thought. So we're gonna do it every night from now on (though there will probably be exceptions when we're just not there I suppose).

I'm back at work tonight after two glorious days off. Which is bad. But I shall persevere. And stay strong. I'm just gonna finish up for now without getting into the thingy I referred to earlier on. Let's just say it centres on how much... actually let's not even go there for now. You all have a good day anyways (or night depending on what time you read this).
Stay happY
dAr

"She will not wait for me anymore, anymore, why did I say all those things before I was sure?" - 'Gifts And Curses' - Yellowcard

Well I'm back in Limerick anyways after another pilgrimage to Cork. Boy. :-p Just like last time it was a good day, a wet day and a movie that Kitt didn't enjoy... But it was good overall, I like her blue hair even if she doesn't and aside from a strange encounter with a desperately unhappy bum named Simon in the park it was all sorta fun. The movie in question is 'The Village' by the way and I thought it was fair enough personally but my prettier companion for the day was massively unimpressed. Again. I will have no further input into the movies we go see apparently. And I really wanted to see 'Dodgeball' too. :-( So Kitt is still a good thing. Good for you Bunny! :-p

Anyway I bought a couple of CDs again too. Less Than Jake's 'Greased' where they just cover the songs from Grease which is fun. And the 'Spiderman 2' soundtrack which is excellent actually. So many bands that I like on one CD (Yellowcard, Dashboard Confessional, lostpropets, Ataris, Train etc) and a whole host of bands that sound like the kinda bands that I might get into (Hoobastank, Taking Back Sunday, Midtown, Smile Empty Soul) as well as a couple of groovy Danny Elfman pieces and a sadly poor Maroon 5 effort as well.

And speaking of 'Spiderman 2', in the last few days a couple of people that I wouldn't have put down as the kinda people who'd like super-hero movies have told me how much they enjoyed it. it kinda escaped me at the time but I'm just starting to realise how much of an impact the Spiderman story can have on people. I've always sorta identified with Peter Parker (as mentioned in one of my first entries here) but it's cool to see that it touches so many people (except for Dave R who I sadly now assume is a souless, heartless monster...), that the warmth and sincerity of it all, the struggle to do the right thing even in the face of so much hardship still gets to people. Maybe there's more hope for us all than I thought? Personally I still feel like I'm on easy street, everything is sorta coming together nicely. Quietly but nicely. Tonight I am gonna watch football, eat pizza and play some music. Tomorrow... I dunno yet, I was decide at a later date.

"You are my faith" - 'Cure My Tragedy' - Cold

Well I'm in a net cafe and a gobshite Davy Havok wannabe has just flounced up the stairs in a manner that would make the AFI man wince visibly. Bloody posers!!! :-p

Anyway it's been a couple of days since I posted but still not a lot has happened. I did work a full 8-hour shift yesterday alright. Wasn't as tedious as I feared but still didn't make me overly joyfilled for any length of time. I do have sopmething approaching plans for the week ahead though so I figure I'll just focus on them and try and get them done before I have to run off to work in about 45 minutes.

So here goes, tomorrow I'm heading down to Cork to hang out with Kitt again. She has blue hair now apparently. And I just hope beyond all hope that 'The Village' is better than 'The Bourne Supremacy' because I don't think I can handle that hostile stare again! :-p Actually, I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I shall also be off work on Tuesday so depending on whether I get back up to Limerick on Monday night or Tuesday morning/afternoon I will work on the music or just arrive back in time to get out of my wet pants (because it will rain on Monday!) in time for the second leg of the Shels/Deportivo game. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday will probably fly by in a haze of work and other crap, punctuated by hanging out with Niall and Bob and countless games of chess. Saturday I'm off to Sligo, Ireland's crappiest town for a football match between my much-loved Limerick and Sligo Rovers. Oh and Trev's throwing a B-B-Q on Saturday if any of you lot are around. Oh and I'm meeting both John and Liz later. Seperately though.

You know what, I have a while before I have to go, so bearing the comment below in mind (I think it's Sorcha's) I'll give a run down on the movers and shakers who I think I've probably mentioned in the course of this blog.

Bob: Hopelessly naive and innocent in many respects Bob (also known as Robert, Rupert, Britvic, Captain Gullible and Son of Himbo) has got a very, very, very big heart. Brimful of enthusiasm, for a big guy he can not hold his drink and has been known to occasionally do things when drunk that he probably shouldn't... He's always affectionate but worryingly so when there's alcohol involved. He drums in My Pet Giraffe and had better not cut his hair anytime soon!

Brian: My ickle brother. Am outrageous caricature of me with a fondness for wine. Opinionated, outspoken, rude at times to be honest, totally un-PC and unrepentant as hell about it. Arguably my closest friend though work and other things have conspired to make us infrequent guests in each others lives of late.

Dave T: Where to start? Ah, Dave and me go back a while now and there are a multitude of stories that I couldn't be bothered typing up. He used to live with me, has been in any number of dodgy bands with me, is involved in the EP thingy in a couple of capacities and has recently grown a ponytail. Just like me. Some people say that he'd like to be me (as long as he can keep his career and comic-book collection)

Don: Short, truculent wiseass who's univerally known as 'The Spoon'. I love him to bits because he's great to live with and we have very, very similar interests which means that we never run outta things to say to each other. Don is a Man Yoo fan but other than that I really can't think of any faults.

John: John lived next door to me, like when I was born, and we've been friends ever since. He makes me laugh (both at him and with him) and he's got a nice sideline in dry wit that kinda reminds me of me. If he realises how nice a guy he was things would be easier for him.

Katelyn: The new kid on the block that I've only actually met once before. Also known as Kitt and Bunny. Met her online which is a bit embarrassing I suppose but fuck it, it's worked out well enough so far. Sarcastic as hell but strangely adorable with it. Confuses the hell outta me anyways! :-s Tomorrow I shall see her blue hair.

Liz: Has forbidden me to say anything bad about her. But that's ok because there are some nice things which can be said. She's got a huge heart and is passionate as it's possible to be without self-combusting. She's in college in Glasgow.

Niall: My hetero lifemate. Which should say it all really. A top class dude that I don't have a bad word to say about. 5 years of lethargy already man, who'd believe it? Here's to the next 5! :-p He's fun, he's into the same crap that I am and is similarly unmotivated. If I was gay (or drunken Bob!) he's the kinda guy I'd go after! :-D

Rob: Another person who only hit the scene in the the recent past, I like Rob because he shares both a sense of retention for pointless stats and an interest in the most overelaborate psychoanalysis possible. And he's got an enthusiasm for sport that warms the soul. And I owe him one. A big one.

Sorcha: Cwazy Connacht native who breaks a trend of millenia by being a girl who actually pulls off short hair. Routinely slips into her own world of purple clouds and talking plants but choice of birthday presents aside I wouldn't change her at all! :-p

Kalam, Saif & Tipu: Threee bangladeshi lads I work with. As I'm running outta time I'm just gonna say Kalam is Niall, Saif is me and Tipu is Don. Sorted.

For those I forgot I'll get you later. My hour is up.
Stay happY

"Been around the world and found that only stupid people are breeding" - 'Flagpole Sitta' - Harvey Danger

No work today. Good. Decent weather for once. Also good. Plans in place for the evening. Good Thing number three. Overall, my mood is pretty excellent. Even if the new issue of Ultimate X-Men was another one that was really just building towards something so nothing really happened. *sigh* Next time no doubt... And with Bob and Don gone home for various reasons (The Swede and work respectively) I've had the house to myself the last couple of nights. And though I never thought I'd say it it's getting a little bit fucking lonely up there! :-p I dunno that I'm in any real rush to get them back but overall it might not be a bad idea!

Joanne dropped down from Galway yesterday, she's leaving for London (well near London) on Monday so we had a few drinks, I brought Niall, she brought a couple she hangs with whose names I can't remember, she told me I was lazy, yadda yadda yadda. It was good to see her again though. Besides I already knew that I was lazy so it's no biggy.

And tonight I am gonna be hanging with Liz it seems. Before she also leaves the country again at the beginning of next month. And Niall is trying to head back to France for three weeks. And I'm meeting Kitt again next Tuesday so I presume that she'll wanna tell me that she's moving to Bolivia or something like that (Hey, it beats "It's not you, it's me!" Actually if somebody actually moved to Bolivia to get away from me I'd actually be pretty impressed).

Alright today is still young. I shall go and do something with it. Even if that something is as simple as getting back into the wrestling card game I mentioned way back at the beginning of the blog.

For the sheer hell of it I'm gonna quote Shakespeare (who I think is over-rated as it happens but this is a great quote!): "Life is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing..." - MacBeth.

"I would stop time to stay with you" - 'Last Summer' - Lostprophets Ok, I'm actually listening to Idlewild still but I listened to this last night (after A Beautiful Mistake) so for the sake of variety I figured I'd put this at the top. Anyway, what to tell you. Work was work, nothing to write home about but nothing bad either. Actually I just realised that I gave my boss's brother the URL for this and he might be reading this... I do appreciate my job Johnny, you know that right? ;-) Actually it's due to John's good nature that I was able to go hang out with Kitt on Monday and it'll also be down to John's good nature that I can repeat the trick next Monday or Tuesday. Well obviously it's down to Kitt herself too but I figure that anybody with enough brains to follow my sometimes rather fractured style of writing will have had no trouble figuring that out for themselves. Especially as the two people mentioned, John/Johnny and Kitt probably comprise 20% of my readership and are smart enough to grasp what I'm trying to say, whatever about the rest of you! :-p I'm feeling like talking a bit of pseudo-smart crap today anyway so yay for that! Basically after a few months in which I kinda thought I was turning into a bit of a cynical, bitter tosser the old lovable (well more lovable anyway), self-deprecating but fun Dar appears to be on his way back. I felt kinda like the dude in 'High Fidelty' there for a while but things are getting to the stage that I like the way things are going again. They're not going anywhere much overall but it's comfortable. And after a few months where I felt like I was sitting on something really fucking hard and uncomfortable (use your imagination!) it's a relief (in more ways than one). It would remiss of me not to offer a clap on the back to the good people who put up with my crap when I was at my most ignorant. Your names have been noted and you will be rewarded (albeit in small pointless ways. Like Love). And those people who kinda dropped off the radar while I was doing my butterfly turning into a caterpiller impression, your names have also been noted and you have made 'The List'. This is not a good thing and some day you'll get yours! Only joking. Or am I??? Mwah-hah-hah! Ever wake up in the morning and realise "I haven't fucked up yet today! I've got a 100% record of doing the right thing so far!" Things aren't really as negative as people think. Sure, our planet is a bit of a mess but fuck it, it's only life right? And no matter how good it is at the moment, it's only the shitty parts that makes times like this worthwhile. I think that the last month or so has been pretty great overall, the people that have been contributing to my life are truly great people who actually care about me. Some of them I've known for a long time, others for hardly any time at all but damn it, you guys rock. You know who you are. Either your names are on that list a few entries back or you're Dan Mooney who I forgot about at the time but also deserves a mention (especially for the day of Championship Manager/Bloodbowl). I am in a rut, my long-term goals are hazy as hell, my medium-term goals non-existent and in the short-term I'm just trying to figure out whether I have time to go home and get a camera before I meet Joanne who's coming down from Galway before she leaves the country on Sunday. But, here's the good part, I like my rut and aside from maybe my parents, there's nobody in my circle now who'll be too down on me if I just squat here for a while. Let's get comfortable people! :-)

"They'll stay with me, until I can see, until I can see that I'm no one" - 'When I Argue I See Shapes' - Idlewild

Well I've got the same lyric as yesterday up because I'm still listening to it and it's still fucking excellent. Bob is starting to develop a twitch from exposure to it. About the only time that I stopped listening to it yesterday was when myself, Niall and Bob tired of watching the Olympics and I played the same song over and over again for a coupla hours making up words about pretty much everybody that I know. It made the lads laugh anyway and made me take a few seconds out from texting. :-p And this morning Bob made me do it all over again. Not that I mind really. I understand now why my brother does it for hours and hours at a time, long after everybody else in the room has gotten bored of it...

What else is there, well I'm back to work today which blows but I'm in good spirits and feeling a bit argumentative so woe betide any of the crap customers who pay a visit tonight. Of course I could channel my agression in a more positive manner and just give the floor a really great mopping but meh...

Going through a collosal amount of credit at the moment actually but I suppose it's worth it Bunny! :-p And on an aside, bon voyage to Trev who's gone to America today. For a week or 8 days or something. Anyway even though this is by far and away the worst entry in my Blog to date I am gonna finish up because this is sorta proving to be the quiet day after the heady dizziness of the last coupla days.

Stay happY my flock.

"They'll stay with me, until I can see, until I can see that I'm no one" - 'When I Argue I See Shapes' - Idlewild

Welcome back after a days absence Dar, yesterday was actually worth writing about for once so here goes. In a nutshell it was a day of both good things and bad things. So I figure I'll separate them into those two categories in the name of all things both anal and dramatic. Naturally we'll start with bad things (I hate them sooooo much!)

The Weather:
Mental note to self, wet weather and hopelessly baggy pants are not a winning combination. And while I had been warned about the rain in advance, an unusual streak of optimism meant that I ignored the little voice in my head that said "Baggies Dar??? Dude screw the fuckin' aesthetics of the situation, put comfort first for cryin' out loud! It's me, your subconscious who'll have to listen to your bitching afterwards!" So yeah, my pants got very wet but that aside who cares right? There are far worse things than rain.

The Movie:
Matt Damon has never been my favourite actor. After 'The Bourne Supremacy' he's slid all the way down my ratings system into Chris O'Donnell territory. And that's about as low as it's possible to slide. 'The Bourne Supremacy' is plotless, pointless, overlong and aside from nice shots in the action sequences devoid of anything worthwhile. It blew. In a way that I haven't had to watch a movie blow in a very long time.

Anyway, let's leave the negatives aside for now shall we? The positives were as follows:

The Music:
Picked up two CDs in Virgin for starters, a Yellowcard EP that's not bad and an Idlewild album that's not bad either and is in fact brilliant in places, most obviously on the top class 'When I Argue I See Shapes' which I've listened to about 100 times since I got home. In fact I'm listening to it now. Yay. I mean, I've seen Idlewild a few times and enjoyed them but I never really noticed this. Next time. Speaking of music I can also confirm a title for the My Pet Giraffe demo/EP thingy. It's gonna be called 'Invisible Wounds'. Which brings me rather nicely to the second positive thing...

The Girl:
The girl then, who regular readers may recall answers to the name of Kitt, was of course the reason for the whole trip. And while I'm wary of saying too much because she'll be reading this and I don't really wanna embarrass either of us! (actually she just texted to basically just get me to hurry up and finish). Alright then, here goes... Kitt is great. She's fun, she's sweet, she's got a nice American accent that occasionally slips into an Irish one and though I may later regret admitting this on so public a forum she's really, really pretty too. I am really glad that I met her, though she's the first American I've met who's grasped sarcasm and man is she able to use it! We didn't do anything huge, just got some food (well ok, I ate), bought some CDs, hung about a bit in the park and went to that horrible film (I'm really glad I paid for her now because I'd feel guilty as hell now!). I had fun, I think she did (though she was knackered so it was hard to tell :-p) and we've agreed to do it again. And she's even texted me since so she means it too. I think. Right Kitt? :-p

Overall it was a good day. And when not even the Dark Prince of Celluloid himself Mr.Damon can ruin your day you know it has to have been a good one. I'm still smirking (though that's probably because I have 'When I argue I see shapes' on repeat). Whatever the cause I'm pleased.

"Can you tell me one thing you will remember about me?" - 'Round Here' (Live) - Counting Crows

I'm up absurdly early this morning before work, especially considering I was out for a while last night. It was actually pretty decent actually. Just myself, Niall and prodigal son Don taking it easy and talking football in The High Stool where, believe it or not, there was actually some talent last night. The three of us are too jaded and cynical to have tried anything though (and the football was on too so...) but it made a pleasant change. The rule of three makes a difference. This has nothing to do with American Pie, just a simple rule that appears to suggest that anytime Niall, Don and Bon are together something idiotic happens. When there's just two of them there's no fear of fights or spelling out rude messages in stones on people's doorsteps or similar rubbish. So basically I refuse to go out with the three of them together now. And Bob was gone home last night so it was ok. For everybody. including Bob. Who met a Swedish girl.

Actually speaking of Bob and Swedish girls, I'm meeting a certain somebody in Cork on Monday. :-) A girl as it happens. And hopefully a real one. If it goes fairly well I'll doubtless talk about it at great length here. If not I might just pretend it never happened. And for the sake of some background I'll just say that her name is Kitt, she's 23 and living in Cork but from California (where a number of my favourite bands emerged from). So it's all god, especially as I haven't been in Cork in months and I fancy blowing some cash in Virgin too.

Yesterday the football gods smiled on me. Limerick beat Bray Wanderers 1-0 to climb up to second bottom in the league (take that Monaghan United) and Aston Villa and Bolton Wanderers both started their English Premiership seasons with good wins (2-0 & 4-1) respectively.

Life at this moment in time is full of promise and hope. It feels like it's starting to work again. And I gotta go to work now. Which sucks. I was gonna try and finish with something profound but I'm drawing a blank. Anyway here's to tomorrow. And a movie (though it's a week too soon for 'The Village')

"I was tired of being tired" - 'I Did My Best' - Soul Asylum

I feel good. Despite the spectre of work hanging over me (lesss than three hours away...) I am in flying form. I'm in such good form that if I wasn't in a net cafe I would be sitting at this computer in the nip, with something noisy and high-spirited playing in the background (for arguments sake we'll say Lostprophets). And no, I have no idea why happiness and nudity go together for me, they just do...

Anyway, I went to see 'I, Robot' last night with Niall and we both enjoyed it more than we thought we would. It's actually decent and though my tongue may turn purple and burst for saying it Will Smith actually turns in a decent performance. Yes, I'm as surprised as you are.

Watched a bit of the Olympics this morning too, mostly because my DVD player threw another strop and kept on skipping throughout the Family Guy DVD that Niall loaned me. I remember when I was 15, really getting into the Olympics but for some reason this morning with it's mix of cycling, shooting and even one of my old favourites gymnastics left me cold. Only the swimming and naturally the football kept my interest.

Anyway, I'm just gonna post this. Be good people, be good and Stay happY

"We live to regret it, and we're trying to forget it," - 'How Does It Feel?' - The Galactic Cowboys

Hello, people who actually read this. I am rather tired because I fell into bed at some absurd hour last night and then I went and got up early as well so I could check my mail and do the net thing before work (at 1). So if I appear cranky and even less focused than usual so be it. Anyway, a few things of note happened.

First of all routine deepened. This really means that myself, Niall and Bob played chess and a little Playstation 2 last night. It's getting to be a bit monotonous especially cos I decimated all in my path again. Go me! To break things up a little though myself and Niall are going to the cinema tonight. Probably to see 'King Arthur'. And we went out for a while last night. Firstly with my Dad and one of his mates where we didn't pay for anything. Then we went to a more youthful pub where we bumped into Liz and Isabel and the night proceeded along usual lines (*edit: somebody took offence at what I'd written here... * and we all end up in a 'friendly' discussion/argument that's always only seconds away from kicking off).

Though in happier news there's now a good chance that 'Ok', the piano song could be back on the agenda for the My Pet Giraffe thing. And on a related note, I almost changed the bands name last week. To 'My Internet Romance' but I kinda like what I have.

And finally somebody totally thrashed my story. I think it's just because they're too old/grown-up/conformist/boring to deal with the fact that it's not totally linear but still! I was hopeful that they'd provide useful criticism but well... they didn't really...

Anyway, in the interests of not rabbiting on like a loon I'm gonna wave goodbye for now.

"Don't waste your time on me, you're already the voice inside my head" - 'I Miss You' - Blink 182

Today, I AM FRUSTRATED. I'm not sure why, I just wanna run up to something, kick it really hard and then hobble around swearing loudly after breaking a bone in my foot. However in the name of setting the mood I'll start with some good things shall I?

1. Shelbourne FC 0 - 0 Deportivo La Coruna. Not the most entertaining of games but putting Irish football on the map takes precedence over aesthetic issues. A scoreless draw against a side that reached the Semi-finals of the Champions League last summer is a great result. Hats off to Nutsy Fenlon and the boys. No matter what happens in the second leg, you've done us proud! Well, me and the handful of eircom League devotees that read this. The rest of you are probably a bit bemused.

2. Got my revenge on Niall on the chessboard last night (I'm aware that Chess is hardly the zenith of cutting edge entertainment but I'm good at it so bear with me). I stumbled out of the blocks and I thought he was going to demolish me again to be honest because he streaked into the lead. This would have been twice in a row and would have put my position as undisputed number 1 amongst our group of degenerates under serious threat. But I buckled down, played my way outta trouble and demolished him instead. Then after he'd gone home I had the bit between my teeth so I thrashed Bob 3 times (the second win took me 4 moves). So I'm back in the hotseat. there at least with my crazy new chess set (Marvel Heros and Villians theme).

3. I've been listening to the new Blink 182 album again in the past coupla days (listening to it now in fact) and it is absolutely amazing. I mean it's really top class. The days of fart jokes are long gone it seems for Mark, Tom and Travis and in their place are some of the most complex, emotive and unique songs this side of the millenium. Ah... "Stockholm Syndrome", what a tune...

4. Speaking of music, My Pet Giraffe continue along their merry way, another support gig in the pipline for anybody who wants to know, come and throw things (hopefully support) in our general direction. And I'm considering abandoning my earlier magnanimous idea of throwing 4-5 possible titles for the Demo/EP thing on the website and allowing people to vote. No, now instead I've got a pretty solid idea of what I wanna use but it'll have to wait because it's the name of somebodies website and I should probably ask their permission first? If they're happy enough, I even have a great idea for a cover (front and back). :-)

Hmmm, after listing those things I actually feel a bit better. It's the little things that count, according to many many people since people started saying stuff. I don't really have any plans as such, think my brother might be calling over later on to join in the noisemaking/jamming practice type thing and just hang out I suppose. We'll probably watch cartoons. Though he probably won't show because he has a habit of not showing! :-p I think my Dad wants to meet up tonight too. There's the potential there for a really lame family are like buses gag but I shall refrain from making it. Niall will doubtless call over too (routine is setting in) and we'll probably do the chess thing again. And the Playstation 2 thing. And I could be making a phonecall too. Ain't that right helium-bunny? :-p

Insert witty title here

*Note* I'm on a piece of shit public PC that stubbornly refuses to let me change the font colour or style. This does not amuse me. I'm a sucker for structure and this is messing mine all up!

"There's things I remember, there's things I forget, I miss you, I guess that I should" - 'Raining In Baltimore' - Counting Crows

Today is another one of those days when I can't quite figure out what kinda mood I'm in. I blame the past. I mean, for the first time in ages I'm actually looking to the future with a degree of optimism when the past rears it's head to take a big, big shit on me. Let's forget trying to fix what's gone wrong and just leave it buried for cryin' out loud. Some things are irreparable, as much as we might wish otherwise. If you're scarred, cover it, deal with it, sort it out and start afresh. I think.

There's a whole lotta something out there to be explored and hopefully you'll find your spot. We can't all be Zidane (with or without hair), hell most of us can't even be Dom Foley. But we're all somebody anyway and if you throw enough at the wall something will stick. Eventually. And hopefully it's bearable.

I'm getting closer to the time that I gotta make some decisions again. I'm tempted to just throw all the options into my beanie hat on scraps of paper, pull one out and hope it's the one that says "Do nothing!"

Oh yeah I messed up with the stupid, never tell the right time clock on this thing and the two posts before this are in the wrong order.

I'm gonna finish up here. Gotta coupla things to do before I go watch the Shels-Deportivo game.

For no reason at all I'm gonna list a few people who have been of some value to me in the last coupla months. This is not in order. And if you're not listed I either forgot you or don't rate you or just haven't really seen you much.

Niall, Don, Dave, Bob, Rob, Brian, Trev, John

and the ladies

Denise, Cack, Joanne, Sueanne, Gwen and Katelyn

Damn it, I know I'm leaving somebody out... this is probably a bad idea... :-)

Tired and emotional...

"Tired and walked away, said it's far when you don't have a place to go," - 'Explode And Make Up' - Sugar

I am in flying form. I do not know why. I will not question it. Actually I have a few ideas as to where this upsurge of optimism may have come from but they're not huge things by any stretch and shouldn't really have such a massive impact on me. Either way it's all good.

Played football with a load of lovable stoners today so I was by far and away the most productive/fit/useful player on the pitch and bossed a game in a way that I've never ever done before. It was a rather amazing experience, kinda like being Zidane for an hour or so (albeit with more hair) and I think I shall have fond memories of it for ever and ever.

No work today which was nice and I have some strange hours for the rest of the week which could make for some interesting times ahead. Too many early starts though (if 1 in the afternoon can be considered an early start?)

I would imagine that tonight will be spent watching videos with my hetero lifemate Niall. Just like last night. And far too many nights of late for comfort!

And on that note I shall depart.

To Hell We Ride

"Out of all this hurt we have, beauty doth become" - 'Mourning' - Tantric

Today was a strange day to date, a mixture of good and bad things. Feeling a bit numbed by it all to be honest. Last night was a bloody weird experience too, spent it in a tiny flat with a gangload of Bangladeshi guys who were playing me Bangladeshi rock music and insisted upon me singing before I left. They sat in a circle around me on the floor with their eyes closed. Totally surreal but a lot of fun. I think. Kalam rocks!

Today I started recording the My Pet Giraffe thing. Dave T, the producer and sometime guitarist and myself laid down some tracks on 'Make Up And Make Out'. That was fun.

On the other hand, Niall gave me the worst thrashing I've suffered on the chess board in years. It may not seem like much to many of you but I got my tail handed to me. As well as an e-mail that's kinda confused me a bit and opened up old wounds. Reminds me of another lyrics, this time by The Gin Blossoms, "The past is gone but something might be found to take its place". Let's try and hold to that.

Gotta run.

Just after work...

"If I'd known it was the last night that we'd spend together, I'd have tried a little harder to make sure you came" - New True Lie - My Pet Giraffe

Ok, I know that self promotion is no promotion at all really but it's the only kind open to me at the moment for starters and secondly and perhaps more significantly I think it's a good lyric (though I only wrote it this morning and may have a change of heart sooner rather than later). Song is basically directed at a metaphorical ex-girlfriend where after two verses of whining about missing her the narraot (me I suppose) owns up to falling for somebody else and finally getting over the first girl. Puerile and juvenile I know but what the hell, I've been listening to a lot of snotty punk the last few days. And also a Funeral for a Friend EP I picked up yesterday. Tis good. Though the version of Juneau is not as good as the album version in my less than humble opinion.

Ah the songs for the demo are coming along quite nicely though I may have to scrap the song with the piano for reasons beyond my control. Actually, that's not entirely true, an apology on my part would probably smooth things over but I don't really think I did anything wrong and besides the overall sound is getting woosy enough so it's probably no harm to scrap it.

My story is going well also, I've actually gotten seriously good feedback (and some of it from a person who normally takes great pleasure in degrading anything I do) and I might actually keep this going. For a bit anyway. Wow, there's loads more than I wanted to type today but I couldn't be arsed really which is probably a good thing because it means that things in the real world are looking decent. Yay for me. And Limerick FC who managed their second league win of the season over Cobh Ramblers last night. Come on boys, only three points behind Monaghan now and we got them at home next!

Hmmm... I wanna go to the cinema cos I haven't in a while. What should I go see???

Save Boxer from the Glue Factory

"If I seem distant that's because you shouldn't see me crying, Ice Cold Ice" - Ice Cold Ice - Husker Du

Orwellian titles aside I do have a bit of a bee in my bonnet today anyway so settle back a bit and get comfy. I dunno why but it hit me last night/this morning/some time that I shoulda been asleep but wasn't that falling out of love with somebody is about the worst thing you can say about somebody. I mean, look at it reasonably here. You go from saying, not literally perhaps, but in essence "You're amazingly special and wonderful" to "Actually, scratch that, I was wrong". And people wonder why exes can't usually get on after serious relationships??? Hello? Has 'Sex & The City' really made morons of everybody? The more I think about it I'd sooner be told "Dar, I don't think you have a single redeeming feature about you. Not even your laid-back, self-deprecating charm and dry wit. Seriously. You in fact suck," than for somebody to say "I don't love you anymore." I can handle somebody not liking me (probably just as well too!) It just means that they're wrong right? But when somebody recognises my usually unrecognised good qualities and then still comes to that conclusion after being about as far from that conclusion as it's possible to be at one point I think I'm justified in being just a little bit aggrieved. But enough about that. For now. I may return to this topic at a future date.

Onto other news, I had to work extra hours in work today because Tipu was sick. Tipu, if you are reading this then let me tell you that you also suck! Not as much as anybody who might fall out of love with me but at least a little. Actually I don't mean that at all. Tipu in fact rocks. As one of only two people (Trev being the other) who made the trip out to watch My Pet Giraffe supporting local band Battery a coupla weeks ago he scores highly on the Darometer.

As does Sorcha who I saw unexpectedly for the first time in what feels like millenia today. It was good. Sorcha buys crazy birthday gifts. Not always practical mind you but always good for a laugh.

Anyway, I shall make tracks now. Possibly in the direction of home. I didn't get paid today though. :-(

And congrats to Shelbourne. Everybody still hates ya but you done us proud boys! :-D

Naked In The Rain...

"And you stood at your door with your hands on my waist and you kissed me like you meant it. And I knew that you meant it" - Hands Down - Dashboard Confessional Well I figure that the title will have piqued the interest of the casual reader though truth be told the prospect of me naked in any weather should be enough to send most people screaming in terror into their homes. :-) Anyway, I didn't actually get naked in the rain though it would probably have been in my best interests to really because my stoopid baggy pants got soaked and I got bloody wet in general. About all that kept my spirits up was knowing that somebody was worse off than I was (she knows who she is! ;-) ) There was also a delighful training exercise at work. Did you know that we should try not to contaminate the food we sell??? :-o No really I'm serious. It took two hours to get this point across to us mind. It's all a bit of a moot point for me because if anybody will be spared the indignity of that bizarre deli uniform it's me (who said dodgy facial hair had no use?) After that I went home and played music. The My Pet Giraffe thingy is eerily taking shape... which is a bit of a surprise to be honest. But no, I pretty much have the songs all written now, they just need to be tightened up a little bit and then we're ready to rock. A bit. It's kinda emocore and mellowish to be honest. And it turns out that my second poster here was neither Denise or Sorcha but it was in fact Cack. So apologies to all three of them. Today I have no work. I also apparently have a visitor coming from Galway (instead of me going to Galway) but their phone has died so I really don't know what I'm gonna do with my day now... :-s

For today's lesson...

"Stars are out tonight and you're the brightest one shining in my sky" - IOU One Valentine - The Ataris I'm in better form again today. I dunno if it's just because other people are fucking up more than I am at the moment and making me feel less like a walking disaster area or if it has to do with more subtle good things that have been going down. Though I have a runny nose that came out of nowhere for some reason. I suspect work with its ludicrously high temperatures that make walking home like a trip to the South Pole. Anyway, what news... well I'm going to Galway tomorrow or at least that's the current plan. And I'm off on Saturday and could be going to Cobh for a match but I don't really think I'm up to St.Colman's Park again just yet so will either just go as far as Cork or else not go at all. :-) Probably the latter. And when I went home on Sunday to play Championship Manager my Limerick team continued to punch above their weight which made me happy. And I bought the last Dashboard Confessional album in the last few days and it's mostly pretty good too. So overall I'm content as the proverbial pig. I can't think what else to write. I have vague memories of having a bit of a run in with a customer at work last night and that might be a bit entertaining right? Sadly though I'm rather blurry on actual details... never mind, I'd probably come across looking like the bad guy anyway so maybe it's just as well that we don't swell on that. I think I shall go to the cinema again actually. Might go to see Spiderman 2 again with Niall cos he hasn't seen it yet... Thought I, Robot looked decent the first time I saw it but now I'm really not so sure. Blah, I'm getting a bit bored here... but still happy. Hurrah! :-p

Just before work 2...

"I wanna be in the minority, I don't need your authority, down with the moral majority!" - Minority, Green Day

Today I feel a bit less comfortable than I have done for the past coupla days. Dunno why. I suppose I kinda feel that I've sorta regressed a wee bit in a few areas of my life. However it's not all bad. For starters I've had my first two comments on my Blog. Yay for me! However sadly I'm not sure who they are... :-( I think that one of them is either Dave Graham or Rob and the other is either Sorcha or Denise. Own up God damn it! Don't keep me in suspense any longer please!!! :-)

The other positive thing is that I started writing a suicide again. It's called 'Jessica Suicide' and it's about a guy remembering and trying to deal with the suicide of a good friend. I nicked the title from a Bad Astronaut song that Armchair Martian covered and away I went. Feedback so far is good. Yay for me! Anybody who fancies test-reading e-mail me or whatever and we'll sort something out. Go on, you'd be doing me a favour and it's cheaper than actually buying a book!

Dragged another drummer on board for the My Pet Giraffe demo and am meeting my manager tomorrow to sort some stuff out (Ooh, my manager, it makes me sound like a real old pro doesn't it?) Will hopefully start recording that soon enough. Anyway, enough about that. If anybody does wanna go more, then go back to the website.

Also I'm getting my ass in gear as far as some proper movement goes. Hurrah for me. I'm off work this Wednesday. Originally I planned to go to Dublin to take in Shelbourne Vs. Croatia Zagreb in the UEFA Champions' League 2nd Round 2nd Leg (that's football for the uninitiated). Now instead I'm going to Galway. Primarily to hang with Joanne before she leaves the country. Though I will prolly text Rob and Sorcha too. Trips also being planned to Cork (for music & people), Dublin (music and/or football) and potentially London (for people and football) also all in the pipeline.

I realise that today's entry lacks the semi-deranged warblings of before. Rest assured they will be back. I just worry that if I head in that direction today I will slip right over the edge into full-blown dementia. And not turn up for work. And lose my job. And have no money. Which means no trip to Galway. Or Cork. I hate vicious cycles don't you? Anyway that's why I'm staying away from Soul Asylum territory today. And listened to Green Day earlier instead. Laters my flock.

Just before work...

"Such a stellar monument to lonliness" - The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most, Dashboard Confessional

Hey, I gotta go to work in a few minutes so this won't be anywhere near as long (or as pseudo-profound) as yesterdays entry. I'm going to spend five hours serving little old ladies and people desperate for a big lotto scoop so I might as well put my brain on standby right now! Anyway, the thought for the day is what the hell causes us to change? I mean think about it, have I changed since you first met me? Probably. Something causes us to constantly evolve and I'm not sure I'm really able to keep up.

Maybe it's just the way I feel today. Maybe working on an old song with Dave Tobin (forever after to be known here as Dave T) has got me thinking about the past. The song, "Make Up and Make Out" meant a hell of a lot to me when I wrote it over two years ago. And it still does mostly. And the person that I cared about enough to write the song is still somebody I care about. But it's not the same. The Dar of two years ago (who was still mostly Darragh then I suppose) was a very different guy. I figure he'd get on with the present day variant of himself but I don't know how much he'd really like him? Fortunately I like him.

And I like my boss. Even though his phone call earlier asking me to cover for somebody else who was sick means I'm gonna miss tonight's football match. Limerick Vs. Kilkenny City will progress without me. As will the lives of all the people I've touched upon (except for the few who happen to pop into the shop while I'm working tonight right?)

Sometimes I wish I was stupid! :-p T'would be ever so much simpler! Actually I don't...