twenty-two
A palindrome age in a palindrome year. Not for long, and the next palindrome year isn’t for another 110 years. So yesterday was an important day. 
I had a good time on my birthday, met up with friends from merchants for pints and went to dinner at a very posh vegetarian restaurant. And I bought a new t-shirt on a whim, with a big red chinese dragon on the front. I like it a lot.
There were lots of funny things yesterday that reminded me of canada. It was a totally clear day, hardly any clouds in the sky and not a drop of rain all day. and cold too, quite cold. A beautiful pink winter sunset. As tom & I were walking to the restaurant, we saw a giant pickup pull up to the intersection. A canadian-sized pickup, which is really quite rare here. The wine we had at dinner was from Blenheim, New Zealand, which reminded me of living in vancouver as a child. And I spoke to a letting agent who was going to vancouver in a month. the dj at the pub we went to was wearing silver sony headphones. And the music and the atmosphere reminded me of the backroom vodka bar.
I went house-hunting in the afternoon, and saw one little house in town, which was freezing, next to a very busy road, too small and badly decorated. I saw some other apartments a bit further out of the city center, and the letting agent drove me there in his bmw boxter. ((somehow I automatically distrust landlords or their agents who are suspiciously rich. where exactly is my rent going? to your car payments??)) Anyway, as we drove up to the place, we turned off the main road onto a small, dark road going up a hill and leading to a very large, ominous, gothic style building. Immediately, I knew I would not take this apartment. The gothic building is famous for a few reasons, one being that it has the longest single corridor in europe. The other is that it was a mental hospital for a long time back in the days when they didn’t treat you very well when you were crazy.
Now, the apartments I looked at were in a new building located behind the gothic building, but all the windows looked out at the back of it. In the nicer of the two apartments, which was huge and had two bathrooms (one which was en-suite), two enormous bedrooms, hardwood floors and was all-brand new (albeit decorated without much taste), there were some pictures hanging on the walls. They were a set of three famous literary personas, with a line-drawing bust and a quote beneath. Trying to be witty and modern, two of the three were about dancing and some connotation between dance and the expression of other desires, but the first said “I have no bone to pick with graveyards”. EEEEEEEKK!!! I nearly ran out of the place right there. Now, maybe I am just too superstitious for my own good, but I couldn’t handle living there with this old mental hospital which is rumoured to be haunted right out my front window, and quotes about graveyards on the wall. Even if it was the most spacious apartment I had seen in ireland for only 860 a month.
anyway, all this served to reinforce how nice the house we had seen at the beginning of the week was, and so we decided to take it. It won’t be final until monday morning, but it’s nice to have decided.
Dinner was exquisite. Expensively exquisite. But there was a lot of attention to detail that had gone into every aspect of our meal, service, and surroundings. I had the sweet-chili glazed tofu on leeks and cabbage in a lemongrass and coconut sauce, with baked squash with sesame seeds and cumin. And the most delicious veggie sushi I have ever tasted, with olives and fresh herb bread for starters. And a lemon tart with praline ice cream for dessert.
I came to the conclusion that food is all about complimentary contrasts. or at least my meal was. but the spicy squishy tofu went very well with the soothing creamy crunchy cabbage.
It was a good birthday. I feel like I am coming into my own, fully adult and taking control of my life. Learning what I like, and what I don’t. Creating positive change. It is satisfying.
