Mar23

A picture-perfect birthday

Posted on March 23, 2026 by perfectusvarrus

Saturday, 12-July-2025

I turned 38 this year.

It was a perfect July day – sunny, but not painful, and warm, but not oppressively hot. A few classmates of mine had birthdays close by, so we combined them all into one big shindig; a day in the park, followed by a cookout at my apartment’s grill deck.

It was, simply put, lovely.

Fun, pleasant, fairly relaxed, and a lovely escape from classwork or job hunting. A chance to kick back and enjoy the sun, chat with friends, and just… chill. Just chill.

And hey – it started with a ladybug landing on my hand, so… win, right? Right!

Mar21

Climbing at Dalkey Quarry

Posted on March 21, 2026 by perfectusvarrus

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Sunday, 06-July-2026

I swear, I still rock climb.

I mean, okay. It’s been like… a long time. A really long time.

I’ve been lifting weights about once a week, but I’ll be real here – it’s been months since I’ve gotten to the climbing gym, and even longer since I’ve gotten up on actual rock. I mean, I brought all my climbing gear to Ireland with me! I just… haven’t used it.

That finally changed, thanks to an invitation from a classmate and his wife – The chance to touch rock! To climb stone, place gear, and enjoy a bit of time outside of the city!

Now, what did I climb? Well. I’m glad you asked!
– Drinker’s Direct, 5.4, Trad lead! Twice!
– Honeypot Crack, 5.5, Trad lead!

And… I think that was it. I may have done a variant of Drinkers Direct, but… yeah. Just a nice calm day on the rock.

With a lovely burger to finish it off, of course!

Mar19

Noctilucent Clouds

Posted on March 19, 2026 by perfectusvarrus

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Monday, 30-June-2025

I’ve always wanted to see the Northern Lights, but somehow I keep missing them… But tonight, I saw something even less common. Something I hadn’t even heard of before we looked it up.

Noctilucent Clouds.

In short, these are clouds so high up in the atmosphere that they’re reflecting sunlight from the other side of the Earth. They happen at high altitudes, late in the evening… and tonight, Andrea and I happened to be still up working on a paper for class… no idea which, since June was basically just all papers at that point.

But still. A glorious view from our window, and something I’m incredibly grateful to have seen.

Link to the Wiki article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noctilucent_cloud