Luck and The Irish

What can one say about the one, the only, the infamous...Bernie Murphy. This guy is like the Pied Piper of fun! He's the kind of lad who just thinks of the word "party" and people from all over the globe will show up.

I met Murphy the summer of 1997 in Capitola, a sleepy little beach town about 60 miles South of San Francisco. He is originally from Kinvara, on the West Coast of Ireland and was visiting his mom while on break from University. We instantly hit it off and over the next few months would spend every weekend together, usually hosting visitors from Ireland or England, or hanging out with his work buddies at the beach or in San Francisco. And, once you are in Murphy's tribe, it's friends for life. Thank goodness because not only did he rescue me from a challenge yesterday, he was kind enough to give me a train pass, buy me a few beers and then take me out last night to meet with some local friend in Chelsea, a very posh part of the city. His friend Noel came in from Belfast, along with English Dan and another friend Lisa who just make a documentary short called "The Beholder" which was accepted at the Cannes Film Festival. Anyway, now I have three new friends, thanks to Murphy!

Right now, I'm sitting at his computer overlooking the London suburb of Streatham, about 20 minutes by train from the center of the city. It kind of reminds me of Brooklyn.It's a typical cute little house, long and narrow, with steep stairs right as you walk in and a cool back yard. There are 2 bedrooms, an office and a bathroom upstairs and living/dining rooms downstairs. My favorite is the kitchen because of the small appliances and the fact that the washer/dryer is all one unit, situated right next to the oven! There is also a piano, which I trust will be tickled by Bers all weekend. He has been kind enough to offer me the guest room, complete with electric blankie and a place to store my stuff while I travel this summer.

Tonight, we are going to a benefit for Tsunami victims (he works for Reuters) and then tomorrow night we are going to have a few people over for dinner. Saturday his friend arrives from Ireland and then off to a Rugby match in the afternoon, followed by a party in Central London. Mindy is still planning to come out, just later than she thought, so I may have more adventures with her yet. Tomorrow I'm going to start planning my trip by booking transport and accomodations. I'm sure I'll have more stories and hopefully some photos from the party tonight. LATERS!