NorthDownMuse

Ester

A few months ago, I met a young woman in Belfast when I was walking down a street with a painting of David’s looking for the Royal Ulster Academy. David was entering the painting (a landscape he did in France) into an RUA competition and so was the woman,

CA100

Today I had an interview with the Principles for Responsible Investment for a really interesting job as steering committee coordinator for Climate Action 100. I think the interview went well but I’m of two minds about the job. I think Climate Action 100 is an important initiative--dozens of large

Jenny & Arabella

The reason the Portrush trip was so exhausting for me was that I’m much better one-on-one than in a group. Today I went for a walk with my Green Party secretary friend Jenny, who was also a lecturer at Queen’s before retiring. We walked and talked for two

It’s a bloody business

I went to the doctor last week because I get so many colds. David suggested maybe I have a vitamin deficiency. I love going to the doctor here because it is so simple. You call and make an appointment. You walk into the the waiting room, enter your name on

Walk, Talk, Eat

Yesterday, before we drove to Portrush, I went to Gary’s army surplus store in Belfast, where Sheina would collect us. While there I bought a flat cap, which has been popularised by the show Peaky Blinders. Here’s me in the cap. We probably walked for 5-6 miles then

Swinging in Portrush

I realise that doesn’t sound very good. I went to a swing dance in Portrush tonight with the Swing Belfast crowd. I really enjoyed myself for two reasons. The band was excellent. And I love watching people dance. It’s just such a fun atmosphere. There were a lot

UU at UU

Today’s deadline was filling out an application for Ulster University, which is in need of a copywriter. I’ve been impressed by Ulster University since I moved here and I think it would be an interesting place to work. As a Unitarian Universalist, it might also create alliteration opportunities.

GICS

Preparing for and giving a speech, even a short speech, left me feeling absolutely knackered today (plus finishing Marek’s paper on Tuesday). I had two files due for T. Rowe Price today and left it until late in the day because my resistance was High. GICS, the classification system

BITC

Today was Business in the Community’s annual conference. BITC members work toward being responsible community members. For instance, their employees would be encouraged to volunteer. It is the weakest of weak CSR efforts (corporate social responsibility). It reflects Northern Ireland’s catch-up culture--we’re too busy creating jobs to

Competition Law

I remember a time when I tried to create clever headlines. That seems like a long time ago! I occasionally find myself writing a week’s worth of blog entries at a time, so creativity is out the window. I spent Monday and Tuesday editing a 38-page paper on the

Gareth & Nuala

The first speaker today was Gareth Pierce, who defended the Birmingham 6 and the Guilford 4. These 10 men were arrested, thrown in jail and tortured in 1975 after IRA bombings in English pubs. Their convictions, based on confessions gained through torture, were overturned in 1991 and 1989, respectively. Pierce

50 Years On

Today was a long day but very informative. Panel #1 was historians talking about the context for the civil rights march of 50 years ago. I did not understand, for instance, the total control enjoyed by the Protestant elite who ruled Derry in the 1960s (the so-called Londonderry Corporation, formed

Damien D

This week I’ve been trying to get a 40-page paper edited for my Polish professor pal at Queen’s (deadline extension agreed). I’ve been trying to vote in the US midterms, which the US does not make easy at all. You fill out a form for a ballot,

Fintan O'Toole

This evening I went to hear Fintan O’Toole lecture to a packed house at Queen’s. His main point was that the Brexit vote was the displacement of English anger over its diminished place in the world. He started by noting that surveys were done in 2011 and 2012

Wanderlust

I visited Marshall today. He’s just back from Nice and Monte Carlo. My friend Louise is in Spain with her family and Eddis is in Portugal with her family. Sophie’s just back from a long weekend in Paris and Faye and Michael next door are away to the

I’m ready for my close up now

Yesterday I made a list of 22 things I needed to get done. I got 16 of them done! So why is my list 10 items long today? The good news is my summer golf membership at Belvoir ended so I no longer feel compelled to play twice a week.

Sailortown

As if digging a few dozen holes and pulling out yards of ivy wasn’t enough fun, I then walked one hour into the city yesterday so I could go on a two-hour walking tour at 4 p.m. I must be mad. The walking tour was to learn about

Rowallane Part 2

More from Rowallane: I spent part of yesterday and most of today working in the garden. One of the tricks to creating a lovely garden is understanding how to mix colours and textures in such a way that you get four season interest. I have to admit my approach is

GBBO sighting!

Today I did ParkRun--the timed 5K run offered every Saturday in parks around the UK and Ireland. On my run was none other than Andrew Smyth, one of the finalists on Great British Bakeoff two years ago. I didn’t have a camera--or the nerve to ask him for a

The Wife

At some point this week I watched the film The Wife starring Glenn Close. In the film her husband is a writer who wins the Nobel Prize. While publicly thanking her for being his muse and boon companion, he never gave her co-authorship credit, odd given that she essentially wrote

The dirt on Northern Ireland

If I were a real journalist, I’d write something like this: In 2007, all parties in Northern Ireland but one supported appointing an independent environmental regulator. The environmental secretary at the time, Arlene Foster, prevented the necessary motion from coming up for a vote. (Arlene is in deep doo

Byline time

My article on last week’s utility conference ran today in the Belfast Telegraph. Several important paragraphs were deleted for space and an inserted paragraph was garbled by editors. Ah the memories! I was a journalist for 12 years and used to have pitched battles with editors who ruined my

The 58 shots

Last Friday was my first golf tournament, although tournament is an exaggeration. The Women in Golf members were invited to see who got the farthest in 60 shots. My friend Liz made it around nine holes in 58 shots. In 61 shots, I made it to the edge of the

The 39 Steps

Today was my first meeting with the neighbourhood book club. We read the book titled above. The consensus was that the book was “of its time.” The plot twists and turns involved coincidences that were not credible. But it was hugely popular in the first half of the Twentieth Century

Creative advertising

I saw a guy the other day walking down Botanic Avenue with a sandwich board. The copy on the sandwich board was asking people to consider becoming foster parents. The language got your attention--unfortunately I didn’t write it down. I’m also increasingly seeing this advert about contributing factors