(no subject)

[rosiedoes]

Things that have happened in the last few days:

- I have almost died when a plane thought it was a Jeep;
- I have seen wild dolphins in the sea off Wales;
- I have sat on a ferry and watched one of the most important historical moments of recent times, with tears rolling down my face - in a bar, on Sky News;
- I have driven passengered fourteen hours in a car from Waterford to Brighton;
- I have been to Avebury, and will be back again on Thursday;
- I have been in the Atlantic off the coast of Ireland and jumped into fifteen feet of water from a height, while virtually unable to swim;
- I have deleted huge passages of fic and re-written it, but I think I'm finally getting somewhere;
- I have booked tickets to see Four Year Strong at the Underworld! Hurrah! Tiny venues FTW.
- I have had a phoneline installed! Woot!
- Our internet was not - but it will be by the weekend, in theory: I shall return!


In the meantime - my laptop seems to be overheating. It almost burns to touch it underneath and it's nothing to do with the battery. I'm taking it to PCWorld tomorrow to get it sorted out; it's insured, but it's also still underwarranty so I should be fine. It could take up to two weeks to get it back, though... *flails* THE HORROR. Julie has her laptop, though, and I have my sidekick, so I should manage - but all my fic will be gone and I will be screwed. I'd kind of like to get TWNW 14 posted before I go, to be honest. I don't know if it'll happen, but watch this space. Or rather, the space where you know it will be, because it won't be here.


But yeah - I hope everyone is okay. You'll have to update me when I'm back, because I'm sure there's stuff I've missed. xo


(Also, happy birthday for yesterday, Joe; even if everyone else forgot...)

Comments

[moondarri.livejournal.com]

hey dude, hope you're okay. i'm in california right now, & i was wondering if i could poke you for some advice, if you have time to give it before you go back. we're going to chicago in a couple of days, & since you've been there & had an awesome time, i just wanted to ask you like, where you stayed in chicago, what kind of places you visited, what sort of things are good to do. it's just we're going in sort of blind, & since i know you really enjoyed your time there... well, if you have time to impart some wisdom, then awesome. if not, no worries. hope you're having a good time in ireland. :)

[rosiedoes.livejournal.com]

Hey - hope you're having a lot of fun!

I don't know what to say about Chicago, really, except avoid Arlington House Hostel, as it is a total dive. Really awful. The first time we stayed, we went on MTV's money, so we stayed in a five star hotel opposite Navy Pier and I doubt you'd want to go for that!

Being geeks, we did a bit of a tour of the North Suburbs to see what kind of environment the boys grew up in, so if you're into that kind of thing, head up Lake Shore Drive through Evanston and through Winnetka and Wilmette. The actual Borders Patrick worked in is in a little complex off Lake Street, I believe, with the junction of the I94 at Glenview.

We avoided their actual houses like the plague, though, so I don't even know where they childhood homes are and I know neither of us would be into that anyway.

As for places in the centre... the John Hancock Centre has a viewing platform, but it's quite expensive. There's a restaurant at the bottom called The Cheesecake Factory, which is a little bit pricey, but if you just go for Cheesecake it's awesome.

If the weather is good, take a walk from Navy Pier (not much on the pier that is of note, but the beaches nearby are nice) south toward Soldier Field and Millennium Park (I think) where the Natural History Museum thing is. If you head north from Navy Pier, the walk up to Lincoln Park is really nice. It's a great part of the city. Joe lives around that area - it's a very kind of hip place with lots of cafes and shops. It's south of Lakeview, which is where the Clan store is, on (I think) Newport and Clark.

South of there is Boystown, the gay area of the city. Worth checking out for sure. It's identifiable by the rainbow flags on the lamp posts.

Try to be a bit careful if you go Uptown, as it's a bit shady at night.

If you're looking for a restaurant, there is a place called Maggiano's Little Italy at 516 North Clark, which is Italian, and fairly reasonably priced, Downtown. The food is great and the portions disgustingly enormous. If you want something a bit more down market, there is a place called Johnny Rocket's, which is a fifties-style burger joint that I used in TWNW. looks like that one closed down...

Not sure what else to offer you, dude. I hope that helps in some way.

Have a safe trip!

[moondarri.livejournal.com]

this is all really awesome advice, thankyou! will be sure to check out the places you mentioned. we've got 10 days up there, so it's nice to know of some things we could see. thanks again, this is all really useful. :) speak to you soon. ♥

[rosiedoes.livejournal.com]

Ten days?! Wow. That would be awesome. We're hoping to go to next summer for two weeks.

If you fancy going to shows, check out The Beat Kitchen and The Metro.