Drawings from the first warm day of Spring

O little red bird, come to my window sill...

Winter's Come and Gone - Gillian Welch

Oh little red bird
Come to my window sill
Been so lonesome
Shaking that morning chill
Oh little red bird
Open your mouth and say
Been so lonesome
Just about flown away

So long now I've been out
In the rain and snow
But winter's come and gone
A little bird told me so

Oh little blue bird
Pearly feather breast
Five cold nickels all I got left
Oh little blue bird
What am I gonna do
Five cold nickels
Ain't gonna see me through

So long now I've been out
In the rain and snow
But winter's come and gone
A little bird told me so

Oh little black bird
On my wire line
Dark as trouble
In this heart of mine
Poor little black bird
Sings a worried song
Dark as trouble
'Til winter's come and gone

Steve and Rachel bring me a huge tub of peanut butter. (And stay for 10 days' visit.)

On March 8th I went to the airport and sat in the wrong terminal (and there are only two) for a few hours before meeting Steve and Rachel who flew in for 10 days of goulash sampling and wandering through the streets of Prague. They were really into checking out the city on foot and even talked me into jumping on an overnight train to Krakow with them (didn't take much). Side note; sleeping cars are awesome. If you see Steve, ask him about how all the gadgets work. Anyways, they were appropriately excited about the piles of cheap clothing for sale at the train station and we spent a good 2 hours up to our elbows in leopard-print tights and woolly military pants. But the best parts of their visit were just sitting around in my apartment, chatting, eating good food and sipping local beer. Whenever I think about what I miss most back home, it's just that; good conversations with good people, preferably over a meal, with the promise of more to follow. What sucked was when they left and I didn't know when the next time that would all happen. Maybe sooner than later. Check back for details.
(click older posts at the bottom of the page to see more pics from S&R's visit.)

Dublin in 2 Days

So I had something posted about our weekend in Dublin and then reread it a day later and decided to un-post it. It's kind of strange to try to write about my life and put it up there for anyone to read, as anyone else who has a blog will probably attest too. You want to find the right tone for each entry and often, after rereading it through the eyes of various people, think it sounds inauthentic or dull or wordy or just plain dumb. Usually I just post it anyways and don't care so much, but this last one bothered me enough to yank it.
Anyways, Dublin was mostly a blast (can something even be mostly a blast? See, that's what I mean). Our good friend Mika, who lives there, welcomed us upon arrival and spent the weekend taking us around the city, treating us to fantastic meals and giving us all places to sleep in her apartment. We spent a lot of time walking around, popping into various pubs and famous places like Trinity College, the Jameson Distillery and the Guinness Brewery, though we opted not to actually go into these last two due to the crowds and long lines.
But Dublin's famous pubs really live up to their reputation in my opinion - they're old and cozy and the patrons and bartenders are very friendly, a bit of a change from Prague's pub scene where people are more distant and subdued. Though a large part of this is probably due to the language barrier, and in Prague people bring their dogs right into the pubs, which is really nice.
So here are some pictures from the weekend. To see more, click on 'Older Posts' at the bottom of the page.