from one dubliner to, well, some more…
It’s always good to be back in Belfast – the sun is shining, the sky is blue-ish (at the time of writing, at least) and my last minute venue change has certainly proved to be one for the better – yay! Timewaster Central to cartoon levels though it is (and even with my usual built-up-specially-for-the-trip tolerance on, I’m currently taking a necessary hour-long break from answering stupid texts and calls to get this finished), the Northern Irish capital remains one of my first choice cities and I will be a little sad to be dashing off tomorrow morning to get to it’s Southern counterpart in time for check-in.
I arrived at Belfast City to pouring rain and half the usual compliment of airport buses – travelling anywhere by public transport on a Sunday is generally hectic and not a little odd, and between yesterday’s route change on the train, the Saturday night-outers on the way home and the early-starters on their way to the football along with the (always) faintly panicky looking airport crowd I was eternally grateful for 1: my reserved seat, even if it was in the window corner of a table (which I have yet to find a way of preventing the automated system from giving me) and 2: my MP3 player, since attempting to concentrate on anything the Kindle had to offer in the resultant sea of noise was impossible even for someone with hearing as dreadful as mine.
Considering this last week was supposed to be something of a relaxation and refreshment exercise, the amount of time spent on trains and wandering about towns and cities where I do not live has been well over average, as the long planned outing to Newcastle to see Dara O’Briain (recommended as very funny and also pleasingly tall) rolled round – woohoo! To recap, I also have tickets for Frankie Boyle in November, the Hackney Weekend in June, Frightfest in August (fingers crossed) and not forgetting Thailand in July – any suggestions for September and October to fill the gaps will be considered. I may even catch up with Dara again somewhere along the way (not in a work context, obviously).
This particular jolly was planned long enough ago that it was stupidly assumed the weather mid-May would be, if not Mediterranean, at least reasonably pleasant, so naturally and in typical North East form it instead alternated between determinedly constant drizzle, heavy downpours and greyish dampness but without actual precipitation throughout. The conditions put something of a kibosh on the walking about but did nothing to harm the finding of a KFC, and positively aided our early arrival at the City Hall to the joys of Fosters in plastic glasses (with lime in my case as the thought of forcing it down unmasked was not one I was prepared to contemplate). Fortunately the balance was redressed in an equally waterlogged (and see pic) York on the way back with a pint of Thornbridge’s Pivni IPA at the fairly-new station tap following a blowout at the all-you-can-eat buffet up the road – this after a breakfast of builders tea and one of M&S’s newer creations (which was deservedly unwrapped with the sort of care and reverence normally reserved for expensive clothing which is to be ordered, tried on for fun and then immediately sent back); the majestic Pork Pie And Egg sandwich. Cor.
As to the present moment, and I will shortly be packing all but the necessities in preparation for a few days in Dublin as of tomorrow – there’s room for an early appointment first thing, but to all intents and purposes we’re done in Belfast for another couple of months. Back at the homestead, I will be away this weekend doing Other Stuff, but have a rare three weeks in Scarborough before the next jaunt – rainy day entertainment a speciality!
Update soon. Dara, you really should have asked me what my job was instead of the other folk…
what a difference a day (or so) makes…
And to pick up where I left off last time, a hop skip and a jump in an even-minier plane than last time (and see above; yes that is the pilot) and over to lovely Guernsey, or at least what I have thus far seen of it – even after four visits, still not much. Thankfully this was less to do with the weather (which had calmed down considerably) and far more with the usual enthusiasm of the menfolk, which ensured that any free-time recce was limited to popping out to get lunch, and some very enjoyable outdoor-ish Kindle reading from the comfort of my lovely hotel, where the sun had his hat on all day Wednesday and lifted my mood no end.
My (woolly) hat stayed resolutely off until touchdown at Gatwick on Thursday lunchtime, whereupon it was hastily found and replaced as the reality of my good fortune a few miles further South sank in along with the chilly drizzle and grey skies. However I had a lunch date at Dim T (again) with the lovely Kinky La Rue and we were celebrating – for those who haven’t seen her blog already, my friend has got ‘erself a Proper Job after a ten year break from the 9 to 5! Despite having a stinking cold on interview day (an unenviable prospect at the best of times and I don’t even remember the last one I had) she managed to impress them so much that they rang the next day offering the job – no messing about. 
We celebrated over lobster gyoza, pork buns and duck-with-all-sorts and after green tea and a banana fritter (and a pic – see left; the new Prada sunglasses I bought at Jersey airport for a treat seemed less optimistic at the time) I sallied forth to my very bijoux Kings Cross mini-room (for one night only) and a quick shoe-change later (rain again) I was on my way up to Kentish Town for the English Collective of Prostitutes’ Rights Sheet launch. Those who know me will probably be aware that public speaking is very much not my thing, and that whilst I have no trouble at all prancing round a hotel room in front of a total stranger wearing nothing but six inch patent heels and tinted lipbalm, any more than two eyes on me (clothed or otherwise) and something in my brain begins to shut down as a defence mechanism.
I can’t honestly recall a word of whatever I babbled, however, everyone was very kind and to be fair it mattered not – the main speakers from organisations all around the world including Guyana, India, Ireland and the USA amongst others were all wonderful and I left on something of a high that can only come from the act of standing on a stage in front of a few dozen strangers and explaining that you are a happy and willingly working prostitute who is very proud to spend some of her free time helping support other prostitutes. And is not a little hacked off that even in the 21st century we may still not work under the normal conditions that everybody else is entitled to (namely with Another Person there) unless we want to get them, ourselves or both arrested, prosecuted and relieved of whatever property we may have been fortunate enough to amass; the Know Your Rights sheet may not change the law, but will at least provide even more working women (and men) with a bit more back up in the event of police interference or misunderstanding in much the same way as SAAFE aims to do, and in turn, hopefully give us a little more power back. Never a bad thing.
Friday morning saw me headed for home via the shiny new Kings Cross concourse – more on this next time as I had forgotten about my planned exploration and left only enough time to board my seat and await my free tea and shepherds pie, but the place is looking better than it has in years, and I promise to get some pictures (although these will not distract me from the progress of my new favourite building, the Shard, which I was beside myself with excitement to have a clear view of from my hotel room window and am planning a trip around as soon as the tickets go on sale). In the meantime, the Londonist (linked above) has plenty.
To this week, and not a lot to say really – I will be away Thursday and Friday, am already busy Wednesday and Saturday bar a couple of scant appointments and the next twenty four hours are pretty much spoken for too! Belfast is the next port of call before a couple of days in Dublin (and a far better organised departure from the lovely Dublin airport this time – orders for soda bread, white and black puddings and other delights have already been taken). Normal service will be resumed in Scarborough on Monday 21st, or possibly the 23rd depending on a flying dash back to – yep – London. You’ll be the first to know…
raindrops keep fallin’ on my head…
I post from a breezy but thankfully dry (compared with yesterday, when I got so wholly and comprehensively drenched it took me an hour to get dry and warmed up again and my poor shoes are still completing the process) St Helier, and the end of the latest Big Trip is in sight!
Whilst the attitude of the Adultwork users of Jersey, I’m sorry to say, has not improved since my surprised and disappointed observations back in February here, I have resolutely kept my chin up and as ever the gentlemen who have actually read, booked and turned up without any of the rude calls, illiterate text messages or the general petulant bleating (mostly professing complete ignorance of my booking process and expressing their disbelief that I am not falling over myself to encounter someone who thinks it perfectly acceptable to initiate contact with a total stranger from whom they are looking to receive a professional service via a text message that says ‘hey babe R U free 2day?’ or some such) which I have sadly come to expect here following two visits in a row of same, have all been delightful, lots of fun and to be honest, the only reason I am even contemplating coming back. To be fair – given the situation – the numpties are the big losers. We’ve all been having a lovely time!
Meanwhile back in That London last week, the torrential rain and did-anyone-notice tube strike had what could be called a minimal effect on day-to-day activities and in my new ‘trial run’ venue close to Victoria Station especially the pace was, er, brisk. Fortunately the diabolical weather did not encourage much in the way of leaving the hotel, so plenty of indoor entertainment was the order of the day (with a mini-excursion for Thai dinner and gossip with the lovely Daisy, who happened to be visiting from Manchester) and after a couple of days of novelty, normal service was duly resumed in Waterloo on Thursday lunchtime – yay!
The weather did not preclude me from my planned trip to the Tate Modern, and everybody ought to go and see Damian Hirst’s ‘For The Love Of God‘, the platinum-plated and diamond-encrusted skull pictured last week – no photograph on earth could do it justice (not that I got the opportunity to test the theory, since cameras are strictly prohibited); sparkly, shall we say. I also wandered through the rest and even had time for a whizz round Yayoi Kusama (see above) plus a brief pit-stop in the Member’s Room for tea and a biscuit, thanks to a not-entirely-unwelcome cancellation on Friday afternoon; coincidentally about the only time when it stopped pissing down for more than ten minutes.
The weekend started with charming company, very blue steak and a gratifying enormous île flottante at Chez Gerard, and continued in a thoroughly positive way for the next 24 hours and to Matsuri St James for a long-planned Teppanyaki dinner with Jemma Fox (erstwhile of Stockwell and also Ping Pong back in December) and the lovely Charlotte, whose new dress I coveted having nearly bought the very one myself (and still might); the rain did not put anybody off and the nothing-short-of-stunning food was as fabulous as the company. Anybody checking out the site can look at the Taiko set menu and fantasise – I am happy to say I no longer have to (and for those wondering what Fireball ice cream is, see below!)
So back to the present, and I will be whizzing across to Guernsey tomorrow afternoon hopefully to my usual enthusiastic welcome and maybe even some sunshine; fingers crossed the winds will have dropped a little by then (even Marks & Spencer in town earlier was looking decidedly thin after the weather delayed food deliveries, although happily the stock of strawberries, mini yum yums and tropical fruit in jelly was holding it’s own). A few appointments are left, although not many and I will be back in London on Thursday for the previously-mentioned ECP launch, not to mention the KLR lunch beforehand.
Next week in Scarborough is largely booked up or unavailable thanks to my trip away over Thursday and Friday but oddbods remain, and then Belfast and Dublin await at the weekend! The ads will be going up at the end of the week, but anybody wishing to get in early by all means do.
More soon. There’s still two yum yums left.
About the Author: Busty, brunette, fun and frisky! Sharp mind, big gob and tidy line in fancy lingerie - meet your very own pay as you go girlfriend...