*blush*

Oh, Roisin! You and your wit!

Roisin breaks down the facebook photo album experience into depressing, postmodernist chunks for us plebs. It's all "ha, ha, ha" until someone loses an eye.

Well, this is interesting information

Donna & Mossy's Wedding or, How I Managed to Make an Idiot of Myself While in a Lovely Dress

Donna looks on nervously as Lucy annunciates "lovers" for the fiftieth time in a one minute speech

I think, I think, I need to explain stuff here. About, hell, eight months ago, at one of our very frequent bridal party conferences (read: nights spent drinking excessively), Donna hiccoughed in between vodka shots: "Weeeell, I don't like this shit about all the men standing up and speaking at weddings. I'm not having that at my wedding. I'm going to make a short speech. And I'd really really like it if one of ye did too."

Being the hardlined feminazi that I am, I stood up and thumped the table, punched a wall and bellowed: HELLS YEAH! Only to realise immediately that I was the only one behaving thusly and the other two bridesmaids were blinking rapidly and feigning intense interest in their beermats. Fueled by intense female pride and agreement with this position on weddings and possibly also by the amount of wine I had consumed that evening, I said "Yes, Donna. I will do a speech. It will be amazing. It will be like Cameron Diaz in that movie where she is the worst sister ever and reads a poem at her sister's wedding at the end except less crappy. I may cry."

I'll save you the long story and give you the dets: on the day, I tanked. Seriously. As soon as Ronan, Mossy's brother and best man, introduced me, the whole wedding responded in a series of cheers and catcalls and whoops that could only be faithfully answered by a striptease and/or a vitriolic political diatribe, neither of which I was prepared to give, nor, I suspect, would have been welcome in the circumstances. This was due in no small part to my reputation amongst the wedding party as a seasoned idiot. Instead, I bumbled through the first three lines of my prepared "speech" (not prepared enough, watchers noted) until my garbled brain happened upon one of my "money lines"*, one of the "burn points"** essentially:

Donna and Mossy were friends first, friends always and now friends,
partners and lovers forever.

Okay. So, it wasn't hot shit. It was thrown together five hours previously inbetween my hair and makeup being done. Anyway, it has slight rhetorical resonance and I wasn't hugely ashamed of it. Until Donna's lovely husband, Mossy, piped up just after I said "partners-" with the word "LOVERS! BHAHAHAHAHA!"

The whole place wet itself. Now was not the time to explain that actually, yes, that's what I was about to say. So I did what any reasonably shy person does when finds themselves in a joke they didn't get in on at the top: I recognised the money-maker and I rode it like the donkey that it was.

I'm not proud of this. I said about five more sentences with the word 'lovers' in, purposefully, and even paused for a beat and waited for the audience to say it with me on one line. The place was in fits of ridiculous giggles and I was a dirty, dirty bridesmaid who can't speak for longer than fifteen seconds without drawing attention away from the bride and groom towards herself. I sat down, amid applause and shame and didn't look Donna in the eye for two hours, when I felt she was sufficently tipsy to not punch me.

So, yeah. Public speaking = not for me. Ditto bridesmaiding.

* & ** These are the euphemisms I employ to make me feel my writing has effect. I am frequently seen to be squealing "Yeah, fucking money line right there Luce!" when in fact I am writing shite. Now you know the truth.

It's like all my dreams are coming true...

Blogging, Co Limerick Style

Someone posted this hilarious sign on my grandfather's woodshed. Who? Couldn't tell you. That place is lousy with hilarious jokers passing through and throwing their two cents about.

What is this illusive 'Log Blog'? I don't know, I don't speak Limerickese. Content seems a bid wooden though.

A-HA-HA-HA-HA!

Waterford #GE11 - Now with proof

From Come on the Deise, another like-minded soul sniffing out discrimination. Or Deise-criminiation if you like. God I'm good.

Sorry, have to go, Jim Corr's on the landline; we's got things to discuss...

Waterford #GE11

Here's my question: if you're going to report something quite inaccurately late after the fact, why add a time stamp? David Cullinanes votes were distributed AFTER Paudie Coffey was elected, about 2.10am, Ciara Conway was elected about 3.30am and John Halligan about 4am. If you're telling it wrong and out of sequence it's just words, not news.

In other news, I'd like to offer you some breaking news from the Lucy Aughney News Aggregator:

Sunday 27th Feb 2010 19:24 World War 2 ends

I'm glad I could perform this vital informational service for you, as you were.

What?

Uh oh....

Come on: Who here HASN'T signed up for foursquare with their work twitter? AMIRITE??

My chequered history

MAGS: Look at that there, Lucy, see that sign?
LUCY: ...
AOIFE: What sign, what?
MAGS: Lucy?!
SARAH: [Reads] "Please do not drive vehicles over grass areas" Wait, what?
AOIFE: WHAT?
SARAH: Did you drive your car over the green in Mags' estate??
AOIFE: WHAT??
MAGS: She's a knacker!
AOIFE: WHAT IS GOING ON??

LUCY: In my defence, it was dark, no one was around and this estate is ridiculously confusing. And it was aaaaages ago. We clear?

MAGS: No. Knacker.
AOIFE: [Whimpers] What?

Daily Mile thinks I'm an athlete! Jokes on them...

Even my storage devices get abuse...

Snow no!

You are wrong, I am right: My stock response to other people

The twins come from a eleven-person household, and grew up in a house equipped with two bathrooms, and unfortunately situated in what even rural Waterfordians call 'Injun country': The outer limits of Fenor. It stands to reason that they fear catastrophic events more than the cushty townie that they now share a home with. 'What the fuck are you doing?' I asked from my Sunday evening nest of newspapers, toast rinds and blankets.

'DUH. Filling the bath with water in case of a blackout from the hurricane, stupid.' They chorused back. It took my thirty whole seconds to juggle around possible uses for a bathful of water during a hurricane. Sudden personal filth that required immediate washing? Re-homing of ducks from the boating lake?

'Well, what for, though?'
'DUH! To flush the toilet when the power goes! Are you naturally this dense or do you work at it?'
'It's as automatic to me as breathing,' I mumbled, my stock response whenever I am paid a compliment. Actually, I was concentrating very hard on figuring out a) why this could possibly be an issue at 11pm at night b) why I had never thought to wonder what powered toilets flushing and c) how to prove both twins wrong without having to leave my couch.
'You are wrong, you are terribly, terribly wrong. Firstly, I cannot recall ever losing power in my home for longer than three hours and sec- actually, lastly- I cannot ever remember a toilet not flushing. In conclusion, you are both wrong, good night.'

This perplexed them both, as instead of retiring to my bedroom upon saying goodnight, I put a newspaper over my face and feigned loud whistling snores. This is my stock response to any bewildering confrontation. They finished filling the bath, filled some 2l bottles of drinking water and went to bed. They'd have been exemplary during the Blitz, I don't doubt.

This morning, after the twins had gone to work, I stood in the bathroom and chuckled at the placid sunlight winking calmly off the water in the bathtub. 'Oh, foolish, cautious twins. How you delight! How much I must teach you of living in modern civilisation! I shall enjoy remarking on your premature bathtub filling with condescension and wit!'

Then I walked into the kitchen and realised that I had left the fridge door open for a hour, had left the empty coffee pot scalding on a hot plate and forgotten to put detergent in the washing machine.

There is no limit to the petty and unamusing ironies of my days.

Things I discussed with people at Library Council Conference

1. Books (obvs)

2. Wine (double obvs)

3. Irish Book Awards. Vote now!

4. Melanie's dress

5. How savage Claire Kilroy is

6. How savage Claire Keegan is

7. How hard it is to differentiate between the two, if you're a dope

8. What a knob (apparrently) Jonathan Franzen is, though great press

9. How savage Sinead O'Connor is

10. No, you pronounce it 'Gillian Welch'

11. How cool is this?

12. Oh really, what's your hotel room like?21

13. No seriously, my bed is massive: I'm considering soliciting for a threesome later on just to exploit the capacities of the bed

14. What? Well, no, I was only joking

15. It is a big bed though

16. Hey, you know what else is savage? Literacy initiatives!

17. How savage my friend, The Casanova Wave is.

18. Oh wait, you have a hot tub? LETS GO SEE! Everyone, LETS GO SEE!

19. ...

20. That was weird, yeah?

21. Hey, Melanie's got champagne- HEY MELANIE!!!

22. - 74. Zzzzzzzz

75. WHAT? Someone streaked through the bar at 5am??? Damn; missed it :(

Now that's unusual

I watched A League of Their Own last night and cried five times. I know it was five times because I noted each time I felt tears welling up, right before punching myself in the head for being such a fairy. In other news, I called up to my mother's house to borrow an alarm clock yesterday evening and something stupid she said made me laugh for two minutes solid. I laughed so hard that I had to lay on the floor to balast my shaking shoulders and my sister ran upstairs to find out what in God's name was so funny. I told her, chokingly, and she looked at me in annoyance and disgust: that isn't even funny, Lucy.

Alls I'm saying is that maybe my usually hypercritical filtering system is off it's game. Maybe A League of Their Own is not the superb paean to feminism, female solidarty, self-belief and personal redemption I took it for.

BOOM!

Instant net celebrity! Thanks to Mairead and the Irish Red Cross for their generosity and all-round excellence!

I am in awe

Who are these people? I want them as my friends.

Wunning straight into your heart

On this Bank Holiday Monday, June 7th, I am taking part in the Women's Mini Marathon in Dublin. Thanks to a rigorous exercise schedule over the past three months I am now able to run for a period of 3 & 1/2 minutes before having to collapse and die, so I am hoping to complete the mini-marathon with a combo of running/walking, in an ambitious time of 'under six hours'. I call what I do, 'wunning', reasons that would become clear to you if you ever happened to pass me when I embark on my evening's exercise, stumbling like an insanely uncoordinated seal, if seals could run and owned sassy-looking running pants.

What I need from you, oh people of inaction and atrophy, is dough. I am 'wunning' my Mini Marathon in aid of the Irish Red Cross and so far have a grand total of €30 sponsorship to my name, which is a bit shit.

My original plan was thus: I have been held hostage in the pub SO MANY TIMES by tipsy do-gooders who have waved sponsorship cards in my face and I have shelled out fivers just to make them go away. What is fair but to claim restitution for this? So, what I intended was that I should bring my sponsorship card to the pub and take advantage of the generosity of the drunk. Unfortunately I kept forgetting my goddamned card, and hardly NO ONE will give you money without any proof.

So here, I am five days before kick off with €30 crumby quid on my card. At this point I will be forced to carry it with me to Dee's wedding on Saturday and badger those wealthy newly-weds and their inebriated guests into donating. Which I think might be a bit of a bad show. Should you like to give me money, I am more than happy to accept it. Please contact me through the normal avenues of communication (except drunkenly serenading me outside my window at four in the morning. I'm so over that) and I will slap your name down on your card, and glory in the envying looks I receive from all other mini-marathon participants.

Thank you.

Another Goddamned Sporting Event Ruining Lucy's Summer

The FIFA World Cup 2010 is fast approachin', fella. Did you know? I did not, not until my good pal and work colleague Tommy rang hitting me up for cash. "So Lucy, you wanna get in on this pool? €20 and you get to back TWO teams. And there's sixteen going in the pool so you could win BIG. I mean, REAL BIG."

I sighed and rolled my eyes at the phone. "Tommy, Tommy, Tommy. Tommy! Lemme tell ya something about this "World Cup Pool" you're trying to get going," I said. Tommy sighed and rolled his eyes at the receiver down his end.

"Tomcat, Tomster, Tommy-Tommy-uh, something; this pool malarkey will not fly with me. First of all, €20 is waaay too much money for me to expend on something that doesn't come in a glass with ice-cubes. I mean, what do I get for my €20 bucks? Nothing! One chance in 32 is not my idea of safe odds, my friend."

"Well, it's not 'safe' of course, it's just fun and-"

"Tommy! Let me finish, Goddamn you! The other thing is the unfairness of it all. The last time I was in a World Cup pool I got shitting Togo. Togo my friend! I mean, Togo is probably a great little place and God knows but its a fun word to say, but when you're up against the Argentinas and the Brazils of this world, it makes you vomit a little inside."

"But that's the beauty of this system, Lucy! You won't know who you get it, it's a closed draw, we won't find out who got the winners until after the last match! We'll seal it in an envelope and open it after the final! It's FLAWLESS!"

"Oh, Tommy. You are only a young man[!], but you have so much to learn. What is the point of having a World Cup pool if I cannot paint my adopted nation's flag on my cheek and walk around pretending to be Togolese, adopting a faux Togolese and very possibly offensive accent? Like, get a grip, Tommy!"

"Maybe some people actually like to watch football...?"

"Oh puh-lease! Don't make me LAUGH! I am laughing though, at what I imagine your sad little face looks like all now, with me raining all over your parade, ha. No, Tommy, I am out of this one. You will just have to play on without me."

"Well, alright Lucy, but don't get all pissy when you're not involved."

"Unlikely, Tommy. I'm hanging up on you now."


Then this afternoon, into my inbox pings this group missive:

"Hello All,
Almost all of the library staff have signed up to take part in the draw for the forthcoming World Cup, I should have 24 names to be getting on with..."

Yeah, yeah whatever, get on with it, you emotionally blackmailing fink...

"...I had originally planned on keeping the envelopes here and distributing them at the end of the tournament, but the feedback I've got would suggest that this idea is not to everybody's liking. Accordingly, as soon as you get your envelopes it's entirely up to yourselves whether you open them or not."

And that, my friends, is how you shame someone into your way of thinking. As they say in TV land, boo-ya!