June 20c Dublin... from Sean's perspective.

I know, you all probably figured that I'd post a bunch of blurry pictures because hey, I'm an Irishman visiting the Motherland and, well, yes, that is something I would be likely to do; however (1) I don't have many blurry pictures of the day, (2) I didn't drink very much anyhow, (3) I want to give you more of the "funny" story Sara referenced.

You all know Sara. She never stops thinking and loves to learn stuff. While we were enjoying a pint at a local bar that had traditional Irish music playing, Sara wanted to watch the musicians to see how it all worked. She focused on those musicians playing the flute/tin whistle instrument and the drum. Since there was very little room around the players, she had to make a real effort to see them and one of the guitarists probably thought she was really making an effort to see him. When she watched the others, she could feel that somebody was watching her - creepy, right? When she would turn, this guitar dude would be smiling at her. After a few minutes of this, she returns to the bar where my Dad and I were still standing and she told us about the music - how one person seems to start each song and, as the song goes on, more and more people join in - and she told us about the dude that might think she's looking at him. We had a good laugh at the bar and then Sara went back to enjoy the music.


If you look in the middle of the picture you'll see Guitar Dude talking with Sara.

This time, Guitar Dude wasn't sitting down and playing with the band; instead, he was standing up and waiting to talk to Sara. Once she got within range, he comes up and asks if she can sing - there were a few ladies who were singing some old Irish songs while the band played. She said no. Guitar Dude asks if Sara knows any poems. Sara says yes. Guitar Dude sees a n opportunity here and asks if she knows them by memory. Sara says no. (And probably says sorry, too.) Guitar dude - I'm going to abbreviate and call him GD now - so GD tells her that there are a whole lot of poems and surely she knows one so she can recite it while the band plays. He even asks if she can play an instrument and when she responds that yes she can play the flute, he asked if she brought it with her. GD tells Sara that this is the whole reason they're playing, to get people like Sara involved. GD is trying hard. From here on out, when a guy is trying to impress a girl this much, I will think he is trying GD hard and asking a lot of GD questions.

It was funny. If you don't think so, you should go back and re-read the post until you recognize how funny it was.