In a case of extreme exam-study-procrastination, M insisted we watch the entire 'Pirates of the
Caribbean' trilogy between Sunday and Thursday this week. Amazing Depp,
amazing CGI/pirate ship action, weird chin-jut acting from Keira Knightley (is it just me,
or does it get more pronounced as the films go on?) Am experiencing my
Luke Wilson "Midnight in Paris" moment -- is it wrong to think life as a
whore in Tortuga looks kind of fun? If perhaps unhygienic...
By pure coincidence (life imitates art?), my quarterly work team event, which took place on Wednesday (towards the tail-end of aforementioned POTC marathon), happened to be an afternoon's privateering sailing in and around Dun Laoghaire harbor. We had six in our boat, plus Donal, our long-suffering instructor. Sun in the
sky, post rainshower, a warm, brisk breeze at our stern -- perfect
sailing conditions. If I sound like I have any idea what I'm talking about in that last sentence, it's testament to Donal's good teaching -- he claims false confidence is a huge part of successful sailing. Which suggests I may have a career on the high seas yet, despite my disastrous attempts at manning the tiller.
We reached Dalkey Island in under an hour, with the wind on our side, taking
a route around the eastern shoreline before swinging back to pass
alongside Coliemore Harbor. True pirates would have pillaged ‘n
plundered with wild abandon; I settled for the watered down version:
gazing enviously Dalkey shore-front real estate that will never be
mine...unless perhaps I start a more lucrative career in -- for sake of
argument -- privateering. But what’s the
point in owning a nice house you can never visit ‘cos the East India Trading Company are
after you? A vicious, existential circle. I’m sure the pirates of old
struggled with this very same quandary during their long days at sea, per SNL Jack Handey's famous quote:
"It's
funny that pirates were always going around searching for treasure, and
they never realized the real treasure was the fond memories they were
creating."
And with that, some fond memories below, for posterity. (Donal suggests I keep my day job.)
Ahharrrr...
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