tyra banks can bite me

yesterday turned out good. choppy internal seas calmed thanks to some writing and then lunch with jayne in which we concluded that hormones are a rollercoaster of shit and that the only solution is a good cry and some cake. drinks in muriel’s followed (photo’s below) with lovely folks, and then ikon Last Supper at The Roost.

it was a privilege. peterson shared poetry, an extended scene from doin’ time in the homo nomo halfway house and a wonderful extract from a brand new project he’s writing.

and then peterson’s partner, glen retief, shared an incredible chapter from his memoir, the jack bank, which is due to be published in 2010. an equally powerful extract available here. their offerings left me speechless, shaken and stirred. amazing stuff.

::

which brings me to today…
my plan was to return to dublin this morning but instead i’m staying an extra night. am heading to QUB tonight for an event peterson’s doing (details here), and looking forward to a final nightcap with P&G after.

and the morning has proved rather eventful…

i awoke to find my plan B for 2009 of applying to be on America’s Next Top Model cycle 13 (all models under 5’7″) is no longer necessary. which is a relief, since Celia was knocked out of cycle 12’s final 4 for being “too old”. at 20-fricking-5.

so this plan B is in the bin thanks to,
(1) getting notification from UCD that,

“The Graduate Board of the College of Human Sciences has approved your application for the MA Women’s Studies programme (full-time)…We hope you will accept the offer and look forward to seeing you here in September”

colour me saying, “i will.”

and

(2) at the age of 35 and a 1/2, i’m now adding “cover girl” to my resume – *without* the help of the above mentioned ms banks. seventeen magazine?, i hear you ask. oprah magazine? french vogue? ms.? bitch? bust? national enquirer? fly fishing weekly? nope. Christian Century. details here on pete’s blog. the article’s actually an interview with pete but the cover makes for a kind of ikon where’s wally? of familiar faces and silhouettes.

as of tomorrow i’m gonna follow in ms evangelista’s footsteps and won’t get out of bed for less than $10,000. i presume this means i need to purchase a cathater forthwith.

::

photos of some of the lovely folks of the week – sadly missing is a pic of steve lawson, who surprised us with a visit. he managed to convince me of the beauty and possiblity of twitter. and did so without the use of thumb screws. i usually don’t get to see steve any other time than greenbelt so this made for an unexpected treat.

peterson and ian (mrs tumnus) strike a pose in muriel’s…

LittleBird and Pád, my love…

The Father (our host for the week) and Glen sharing a lunchtime pint at The Nook,
before walking down to the Giant’s Causeway on Monday…

right, i’m off to meet the rollins for lunch. which reminds me,

friday night, centaur, gb09. ikon will be committing theological arson. we is rubbing our collective and collaborative hands together gleefully at the plan that is coming together… we’ve now 3 months to do a Macgyver on it…

LB

p.s. i’m really rather proud and admiring of fr tim bartlett for standing up for his convictions. tim’s a nice guy, was very supportive of zero28 and i’ve seen him faced with some very difficult questions over the years in various fora. but none as difficult as last sunday.

when all your plan As are in one basket

after 7 hours huddled over the keyboard filling out a now submitted application to university i am left with nothing but
(1) tears of relief to have beaten the most !@£$%^& annoying online form i have ever had the despair of encountering,
(2) a smidgen of hope that i might get accepted,
(3) a big dollop of fear in my gut that i won’t and i’ll have to come up with a plan B, and
(4) a burning pain across my shoulder blades that only appear eased if i avoid standing up straight and stay at the laptop typing.

but it’s not all knots of frustration…

i don’t know why the weather report to the right says mostly cloudly because the sun has been shining brilliantly all day with only the wispiest clouds high above flitting by. it’s made for a nice view from my desk.

and my day has been peppered with lovely back ‘n’forth emails with lovely people, and some surprise messages too, all of which have made me smile and feel warm gratitude at knowing the kind of folks that drop you messages for no reason than to say, “hello” and send loving words out of the blue.

oh, and this morning i submitted a piece for the Queermergent blog (linked in the side bar over there —>). so that feels like another little achievement. it’ll be published in a few weeks in two parts. i’d been struggling with it for weeks in belfast, but here at my desk looking out at the trees, my head seems mercifully less cluttered, and so tidying it up today came with refreshing ease.

right, i’m (hobbling like an 80 year old) off to my parentals’ to be fed a fry up for tea and then it’s into a scalding shower for me to try and work out these knots.

oh, and universe, if you should have a plan B in mind for this autumn, make it a good ‘un please. i’ve done the best i can manage with plan A and i sure don’t have an alternative waiting up my sleeve…

LB