new home and fun facts
The hunt for a place to live is over. I’ve decided on sharing a Georgian townhouse on a quiet cul-de-sac in a prime location with two grad students (“postgraduates” here) at Trinity College Dublin. One is an M.Phil. student in Irish writing (formerly called “Anglo-Irish literature”) and the other is a Ph.D. student in computer science. Clarissa, studying literature, is from the US and brought her dog with her as well. He’s a bit old, so he mostly sleeps and rarely barks. The other, Brian, is quite reserved. Scottish, I think, but I didn’t get much out of him. Said he did some Semantic Web stuff and worked with “Dublin Core and all that crap.” Perhaps if I drop the name of a certain markup languages specialist in Edinburgh he’ll warm up to me.
The house has a working fireplace (for those chilly nights in Dublin) and a sleep sofa for visitors. (I’m told that the mattress is best used on the floor, though.) As is standard in Ireland, the hot water heater is on a timer so you have hot water for your morning shower. (No guarantee for the middle of the afternoon.) No television but a daily subscription to The Guardian and the corresponding Sunday subscription to The Observer. There was a large amount of fresh kale on the counter when I visited, and Clarissa gave tips on the good farmer’s markets. I think I’ll do just fine there. I move in on Thursday!
I stole the three photos from the housing ad:
Fun facts related to today’s post:
- Dublin Core was named after Dublin, Ohio, not the one in Ireland. It has less cachet now, don’t you think?
- Perhaps the University of Michigan is officially incorporated as “The Regents of the University of Michigan” and Harvard University as “The President and Fellows of Harvard College”, but I think Trinity outdoes not only Harvard but even Oxford and Cambridge with the “The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin”. Its ancient status entitles it to a copy of every book printed in the UK—the only library outside the UK with this right. I heard that their offsite storage facility is under the runways at Dublin Airport.