Monday, December 20, 2004

Friends, fiddles, and guiness

O'Leary's on Beacon Street in Boston is a little slice of heaven. I smile just thinking about it. Last night a group of friends went to mass and then migrated to O'Leary's Irish Pub. We sat and talked and laughed and shared and smiled, a lot. We were nostalgic about the past, and sad and excited about the future since many were leaving for distant countries, or the real world, but throughout our time, continually grateful for the present. Those who ordered food were pleased with their delectible selections and those who ordered drinks were overjoyed with their choice of reward for completing a semester :-) Cellphones may be considered a technological intrusion on our evening, but when realizing they allowed new friends to come and find us and join our celebration it was truly a blessing in blue and green buzzing disguise. Wave after wave of new smiles and stories came through the door from the cold and rain outside into the warmth. A sort of musical chairs ensued as we welcomed each new person. And then there was the live music... To begin, I am a sucker for live music of any type, no matter where and when. And the fact that I felt as if I walked from the streets of Boston into a pub in Dublin was further enforced through the music. They played, without pomp and circumstance, in the corner, for themselves and each other. The rest of us were just lucky onlookers. There were men and women, and even girls, probably someone's daughter playing. And then someone sang, and everyone turned, and became silent, just to hear him. The only line that remains in my mind was "Whisky in the morning and at night", but despite it's humor, his rough accented voice, without training or grace, was the purest sound that I heard that night. It came from inside. And we couldn't help but listen and watch...

I have a list of things in my prayer journal that I hope to see in heaven... this is one of them.


Wednesday, December 01, 2004

Rainy Day

It was raining this morning. How beautiful! Here's an Amelie moment for you- when you look up into the sky when its raining, and is just cloudy enough for you to not be able to see the rain at all. You can only feel it- you can't see it. I have been extremely productive recently. I am not sure why- but I am enjoying it! Although a major drawback is staying up until 2am because I keep working... But nevertheless I am very happy to be productive.

Nothing out of the ordniary happened this week, and yet I have had an extra-ordinary "high on life" kinda feeling for the past few days. I am not going to jinx it either- but it is quite unexpectedly pleasant. I like that word, pleasant. I use it a lot. I think because it refers to a joy that is no exuberant, or excited and full of energy, but rather enjoyable and relaxed and calm. Too often people feel that they must be full of energy, bouncing off the walls, or grinning from ear to ear in order to claim the term "happiness". I guess thats why I enjoy pleasant. Hmm. I like being able to randomly talk about things that either don't matter, or do but get lost in the hustle of the day. Its refreshing. And although it may seem extremely artsy, or uber intellectual, I don't care, because you know that these reasons are furthest from my actual motivation.

and that's nice...


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