Autumn Is Here

Fall has set in in Dublintown. I've been keeping busy with...

Researching my grad school application paper. I'm applying to a few MA Lit programs in the US and Ireland. I'm considering getting a PhD, possibly in postcolonial Irish diaspora literary studies....but as you can imagine, that's a pretty narrow field. :) So I might lean other ways; that can all be fleshed out during my MA studies.

I'm writing my application paper on the counterrevivalist Irish movement and writer (but not 'Irish writer'...he'd hate that I said that) Patrick Kavanagh. It's requiring a lot of research and note-taking, done under the gorgeous Georgian dome of the National Library of Ireland. I have spent many hours here already, with many more to come:

Running in Phoenix Park trails. I've lost 10lbs in September since I ramped up my mileage/frequency. I'm up to roughly 7k (4 1/2-5miles), 4 times a week. Phoenix Park is the biggest city park in Europe. It has herds of deer, rolling hills, forests, streams and TONS of on- and offroad trails. Here's a pic of a tiny sliver of the park, and as you can see even the tiny sliver is huge! This is taken from so high up you can't even see the cars on the road!

I'm planning a weekend "away down the country" in Ireland with Claire. We're going to Donegal. It's....well...stunning:

My Halloween weekend trip to the continent. It's between a return trip to my favorite city, Paris, or possibly Vienna:

And in December, it's off to the Christmas market in Munich:

(okay this is the Hamborg Weinachtsmarkt, but it looks very similar to the Munchen one and it was a better quality photo. Please don't riot in the streets over my sloppy photo inaccuracies!)

And then I might have some more plans in the works for myself for 2010...

See you soon, USA. :)