I read an article on the BBC news website this week reporting on an academic study published in the American Psychologist journal. Its conclusion: there are more Good Samaritans out there than we might think. It made me laugh, not because there was anything funny about it, rather because of our tendency to require research to … Continue reading Standing By
‘Look, darling, her tee-shirt says we can ask her a question.’ She nudged her husband in the ribs, ‘I don't have one, do you?’ He didn’t either. She looked disappointed, they walked on and I loitered some more. Not so tongue-tied was the uniformed bus driver on his way down the hill to work. ‘Are … Continue reading Ask Me A Question
Edinburgh is neither boastful nor pompous, which is not to say that this is a modest city. I’m not saying it’s in any way conceited, but I would characterise it as a place that quietly, but most assuredly, knows itself. It is definitely not a city given to swagger. It doesn’t strut like Danny Zuko or wiggle … Continue reading Dressing Up Box
Hadrian’s Wall: a defensive fortification built by the Romans in AD 122 in the reign of Emperor Hadrian. Coast to coast, it runs for 73 miles from the banks of the River Tynenear the North Sea (a little east of Newcastle) to the Solway Firth on the Irish Sea (a little west of Carlisle). Back … Continue reading Walls Between Us
J. was here at the weekend. He’s eight and he’s a numbers boy. He assessed my fuel gauge as we drove out towards the coast. It’s shaped like a clock, with twelve rays fanning out in a circle, all of which light up orange when it’s full, then each ray is stubbed out as the … Continue reading Numbers
Today, June 16th, is Bloomsday. It has become aday for Dublin to commemorate and celebrate the life of Irish writer, James Joyce - because this is the very date, in 1904, when the events of Joyce’s novel, Ulysses, unfold. From 8am on the 16thof June, through to the wee small hours of the next day, … Continue reading Meeting Ourselves
Donal Ryan is an author from Tipperary with an accent like a beautifully played reel on the fiddle and an engaging smile that suggests he is not entirely sure of anything, but that he’s content not knowing. I heard him speak in County Carlow this weekend. His candour was endearing. He told us that every act … Continue reading I Made You Up
Small things. That’s what it’s all about. A look, a turn of the head, a word, a phrase, a nod, a smile. Either from a stranger or a friend - it doesn't matter. If you take time to notice the detail, it will always give you pause; take you out of yourself. It might be … Continue reading Detail
Me: ‘I’m practically a vegetarian.’ A: ‘Yeah, right.’ (Those two little words, both in the affirmative, tacked together in local vernacular become a loaded judgement, which is altogether negative and gently withering.) Me: ‘But I am!’ (Indignant) A: ‘What about the steak you had on Tuesday night?’ Me: ‘I only eat meat in restaurants.’ A: … Continue reading Bacon Roll
I heard the phrase a few years ago when a young student sidled up to my husband at an event we were attending, stretched out his arm and offered his hand, saying, ‘I am so pleased to meet you, I have had a brain crush on you for years.’ What does one say in such … Continue reading Brain Crush
