the scrotum tightening sea

That's how James Joyce described the Irish Sea. Someone posted a comment on here recommending that I try a swim at the "forty foot" in Sandymount as as the weather is so amazing that's what I am going to do today, so I will see for myself. Or, to be more precise, I'm dragging Bepe along so HE can see for himself. He'll be going to a craft beer event in Phoenix park this pm, for professional reasons being a chef 'n' all so I guess it'll be good for him to work up an appetite. Not that he ever gets drunk.

Apparently, the forty-foot (no doubt I will find out later why it's called that) used to be the only spot where male nudists could go for a legal naked dip, but now women go too, and everyone keeps their kit on (whew). I'm guessing Joyce must've gone there himself back in the day, to know about the interesting effects of the sea on the male anatomy. That's really pretty cool--getting changed and going for a swim in a place that has been made part of one of the world's most famous books. I've never managed to finish Ulysses, but perhaps after today I will be inspired.

After the dip, I'm meeting up with Saoirse, who is having lunch with her FAMOUS ROCK STAR COUSIN who lives not all that far from there. I would totally love another invite but don't want to look like a doofus and actually come straight out and say it, so let's hope they loved Mom's bottled moose (my picturesque gift, the time I was invited over) and are dying for seconds...