all the blue light reflections that color my mind when i sleep

I'm feeling rather wrecked tonight. After leaving the office this afternoon, I procured some ibuprofren (which was *key*), had a sandwich at McDonalds (not so key, but European McDonalds seem tastier than the American ones, and it was quick and easy), and then met Darragh at the gates of Trinity College. We met up with Liz, which was great; I love both of them, so it was great hanging out with both of them at the same time. We made our way to the Chester Beatty Library, which is on the grounds of Dublin Castle. The library was gorgeous--it's more a museum, really, since the public areas have fantastic displays of books and prints from various areas of the world. The collector, Chester Beatty, made his fortune in copper mining and started collecting books, reaching the point where he was acquiring more than 1000 rare books a year. There were amazing medieval illuminated manuscripts; fragments of 2nd-century Christian scrolls; prints from Edo-period Japan ('ukiyo-e', or 'pictures of the floating world', which I studied in college); lots of beautifully-scripted Qur'ans; story-telling artistic scrolls from China; and tons of other books, scrolls, and artifacts. As you can imagine, I loved the place.

I would have loved it even more if I didn't feel like I was dying. In fact, all three of us were kind of struggling; Darragh and Liz had ended up spending the night at the house I was at last night, and none of us were in peak form today. In fact, we had to take a break in the middle of going through the exhibits to reinvigorate ourselves with tea in the cafe downstairs. We were a bit out of place, since I didn't see anyone else who seemed to be a hungover twentysomething, but I'm so glad I went.

Afterwards, I came home with the intention of packing my suitcases, but instead fell asleep on the couch. Sonam and I ordered Thai food, which was tasty, and now I'm casually watching the final minutes of the Argentina/Mexico game. I think I'm going o go to bed rather than trying to pack; I'll have to pack tomorrow, as well as go into the office to make up for some of the things I was too busy to finish during the week. Three more days in Dublin! That seems completely incomprehensible.