Purple, Prisons, and Poetry

Mondays are my favorite. Classes don't start until 2pm,

giving me a chance to catch up on all of the sleep I don't seem to get here.

Today was a PARTICULARLY exciting Monday, because class

was replaced with a super cool field trip to the Kilmainham Gaol:

a former Dublin prison now turned museum. Neat-0.

And so, I slept in until my heart's desire, slipped on my brand new...

super awesome...

ultra funky...

oober fresh...

BuRnT OuT PUrPle Tee ShIrT

and headed for jail.

Pretty fly, for a white guy.

Then in my ultra chic walking field trip prison viewing gear,

I started my prison viewing.

But not without a ticket.

The place was pretty scary. With capacity at about 200 prisoners,

imagining a full house was not a nice thought.

Lot's of cells. and I ain't talking bout no bloodstream.

Imagine this place cold and damp. Not the most humane of conditions...

Get me OUTTA HERE.

Surprisingly, the prison did have a church, so prisoners...

could pray to escape?

The cells were bleak. Dark. Cold. Small. Isolated.

Not digging the idea.

And what's the most surprising is some of the insane reasons people were sent to jail.

Examples:

- stealing a deer

- stealing apples

- stealing potatoes

Considering many of the jailings occurred during the Irish Famine

when resources were scarce...

what did they expect people to do?! LAME.

After an educating but disturbing day of jail talking, hanging talk and starvation...

I was in need of a mood lighten-upper. And then I realized.

MONDAY NIGHTS ARE SLAM OPEN MIC NIGHTS AT THE INTERNATIONAL BAR.

Glór Sessions here I come! ("Glór Sessions"= the name of the open mic night)

...When someone cancelled out from the set list last minute,

I managed to snag a spot!

And my suite came for moral support :)

Don't worry. Bulmers was there for moral support too...

(The place: Underground. Beer. People. Tables. THE WORKS.)

Want a taste of the slam? TAKE Ittttttttt!

Sorry about the commercial breaks, but just take it as a sneak peak!

The show was fun and I'm so happy to be testing the slam waters here in Dublin...

hopefully I keep it up.

Until then,

Keep it Glór-ious.