Caught in a downpour, I rounded a corner on my way through town and was greeted by this beauty. It brought me right back to my home off the coast of County Mayo, Ireland. Every few years a whale will wash up on the shore and it’s always a spectacle for the locals. Some families will…
Month: August 2015
Blog Awards Ireland 2015
In a very interesting turn of events, I have been long-listed for the Blog Awards Ireland 2015 under the Best Diaspora Blog category. This is cool news, I must say. Thanks go out to Tenderness on the Block for the nomination.
A Rural Idyll in Steady Decline
The people of that plainly built farming town led simple lives and were proud of the hardship and forfeiture rural existence assumed of them. They knew their place in that world and – as is customary in such isolated surroundings – they conducted themselves with the same sheltered constancy as so many of their forebears had done for generations before.
A state of perpetual change
A few weeks ago I posted about a piece of street art that had popped up in Stucley Place (AKA “Shit Alley”) in Camden. Well, that piece has already been replaced with this very interesting work. The artist responsible is a young man from Hong Kong who goes by the name of Roes. I actually…
Happy Sunday
Herself celebrated her 26th birthday this week, and with all the partying and celebration, I haven’t had time to write a single word. I saw this sign today while we were walking along London’s Southbank and thought some of you might get a kick out of it. Have a great Sunday!
Scoping out the West
The search for our first place continues, and on a fine August Saturday afternoon it took Herself and I to Chiswick in West London. We had arranged to view a neat little one bedroom flat above a restaurant on the High Road and we’re excited about a change of scenery. We set on the idea of getting…
One for the poets
In the closing chapter of Augustus by John Williams, a novel I have just finished reading for the second time, I noticed yet another passage that I criminally overlooked on the first read. This quote appears in a letter written by the elderly and reflective emperor Octavius Caesar, to his friend, the historian and philosopher,…
A splitting headache
I enjoyed the captions that everybody submitted yesterday so much that I have decided to do it again today. Okay, are you ready? Here’s the picture: Please leave suggested captions in the comment section. Interestingly, this piece was created by the same artist as my last post, the very talented Sr. X. Last time I…
Too weird to not post
I went to the dentist before work today and spotted this very unusual piece of street art near Camden Town tube station on the way to the office. It’s incredibly odd, but I quite like it. Any suggestions for a caption? Please comment below.
Custodian of the ephemeral
I’d like to keep things simple today. Herself and I go to Brick Lane at least twice a month, and it’s remarkable how quickly the street-art changes in that neighbourhood. Here are some of the pieces that we found while out on a Sunday stroll last week. That’s all I’ll say for now as I’d much rather…
The Romans and the Moralists
I am half way through rereading Augustus, a suberb novel by John Williams, author of the equally brilliant Stoner and Butcher’s Crossing, and noticed this particularly eloquent passage that I had overlooked the first time through. The quote is taken from a fictionalised 12BC letter from the political advisor Gaius Cilnius Maecenas to Titus Livius and…
The Long Way Down
With unrealistic demands, a laughable budget, and an impossible deadline, we were humoured, had our details taken, and then swiftly shown the door from least 10 different offices. If anywhere was available, they told us, it was taken just before we walked in – of course. Not to worry, I said to Herself, if it comes to the worst then we can always spend a few weeks sleeping on the Embankment like a pair of down and outs. At least we’re having nice weather at the moment. I can start collecting cardboard boxes just in case. I like to think of these kinds of ideas as being romantic, she prefers to call them stupid.