Day 4 – March 4th

9.45am – Not even 10 yet and flaskie is empty. This morning is proving to have a high tea requirement. Also think flaskie may be leaking. Will do my utmost to resist the lure of Insomnia later.

Spring Break – 80s cover band, all round entertainers and supergroup are playing tripod on April the 4^th. I love them. I want to go see them, but definitely can't justify spending the money on the ticket. The heat is surely on now. Am picturing myself there now, "Dancin' in the Dark" all "Footloose" and fancyfree, having "The time of my Life". Liz reckons she could buy me the ticket and I could pay her back when the 2 months are up but that's clearly cheating. Think I'll just stay here, "Waitin' for a star to fall" and carry a ticket into my arms, that's where it belongs, in my arms baby yeah, do do do do do do…….

***

I don't believe it – Judith Levine is on Tom Dunne right now! The Oracle on the subject as dear Tom has described her. In this book of hers (my new Bible) she explains that theoretically, after her year of Not Shopping, she will discover her authentic self, then subsequently worries that her authentic self may in fact be a shopper. I must admit, I share that fear (of myself, not her – I don't care whether her authentic self is a shopper or not). It was therefore interesting to hear her thoughts on her "Not Shopping" experience with the benefit of hindsight (not least because I haven't finished the book yet). It was quite pleasing and heartening to find that we're not all doomed to the fiery depths of hell for wanting stuff, though how she would know I'm not too sure. We all have a tendency towards greed it seems, so it's probably important to keep it in check. Her "Not Shopping" experiment was a way of doing that. She went on a DVD rental binge when she finished. I'll be getting my roots done.

My friend who called me to tell me the lovely Judith was on the radio has just asked me whether or not I should even be using my phone. Thanks for opening that can of worms Mark.

***

€3.95 for soup and 2 slices of bread

***

Just got home and Ciara is cooking up a storm in the kitchen. I think I may have inspired her! Hopefully there will be some delicious lunchworthy leftovers for me tomorrow.

Have left her €20 towards next week's shopping and a cupboard re-stock. Was shocked to hear we're out of brown rice – it's usually one of those things I buy, and then get home to discover there's a whole bag of it here yet to be opened. Lentils tend to fall into that category too.

I also gave her €25 to pay our Lithuanian whirlwind of a cleaner, Marina. Though not strictly necessary, she brings a surprising amount of happiness to my life once a fortnight with her remarkable speed-cleaning skills; leaving our apartment immaculate and our hearts full of joy. I'm also not about to fire her for 2 months when she's working her ass off in this country trying to make a decent living. That just wouldn't be on.

I think Orna wants to go to see "Confessions of a Shopaholic" while I'm over visiting this weekend. However, officially, I'm not supposed to be going to the cinema. It has been suggested by some that the subject matter of the film may constitute research. I scoffed at the idea at first but it's amazing how you can convince yourself of the validity of an argument the more you think about it. Still, I can't really go, can I?

 

Spent today: €48.95 (Soup, food shopping and Marina).

Not Spent: €3.40 on 2 cups of tea.

I'm beginning to hate writing my expenditure down. It's scaring me how much money I'm going through.