NorthDownMuse

First snow in new house

We’ve lived here three years. Surely we’ve had snow before? It snowed heavily all day but it was a wet snow and didn’t amount to anything. But it’s lovely to have snow leading up to Christmas. I totally don’t miss heavy snow and ice storms

Battle of the Sexes

I rewarded myself with a pretty light day today, cutting out early to see the film about Billie Jean King and Bobbie Riggs. The level of explicit sexism in the 1970s was awful. Women being told outright they belonged in the kitchen and bedroom, not on the tennis court. And

Release day

So today a press release went out to a few dozen media outlets promoting the report I’ve been working on forever. We did an early embargoed release to a few select reporters, allowing the Financial Times to publish an article today. With the exception of IPE, no other reporters

Vegan update

I haven’t been buying eggs, cheese, or milk. The only thing I really miss is Greek yoghurt, which I enjoyed on fresh fruit in the morning. I’m trying to learn to like soy yoghurt. This is not to say I’m 100% pure vegan. I eat prepared foods

Giant’s Ring

Today was lovely--sunny and not too cold--so I decided a hike was in order. Plan A: download an app to my phone so I could listen to a BBC Radio 4 podcast. I downloaded the app and found the podcast I wanted (minor miracle), then realised I don’t have

Pure Derry

I spent the day with Julie, walking the dogs, eating her yummy porridge, doing a bit of shopping down the town. Then I got on the 4 pm bus to Belfast. I’d paid my 21 pound roundtrip fare for the bus so you’d think I’d stay the

Duncreggan House

Today was madness. I needed to be in Derry by 7:30 pm for a wine & cheese at Duncreggan House, the heartbeat of my high school, Foyle and Londonderry College. The school is moving to a new campus and leaving this lovely old shipbuilder’s mansion behind. The day

A Bend in the River

I saw the month out by working on the media strategy for my now published Missing55 report (28 pages, 14 tables of data). Press release. E-mails. Thunderclap on Twitter. I have publicists in New York and London feeding the story to multiple media outlets, with an embargo until Tuesday, Dec.

“Olympia and the internet"

On the train to Derry I read an article by Northern Irish poet Derek Mahon with the title above. It celebrated three generations of typewriters: Adler, Remington, Olympia. And it cast a harsh eye on the internet age. A sampling: “An analogue simpleton, I couldn’t be bothered with all

Trains, brains, a sad refrain

Over toast at Jill’s, we had an interesting conversation this morning about farming (she grew up on a farm) and how EU policy has incentivised a farming system in N.I. that is highly inefficient and inflexible (and very meat oriented). Then I took the train to Derry--one of

Portrush party

Apropos of nothing, here’s the set of The Book of Mormon during the intermission. Such a funny musical. Today I got a lift to Portrush with swing dance buddies Gary and Sheina (she’s Scottish, which may explain the spelling?). They are a lovely couple in every respect and

My reward

Today was the perfect antidote to travel stress. Tea with Jenny in Ballyhackamore for a start. She’s a retired Queen’s professor (housing policy and urban regeneration) whom I met at a Green Party event. She’s like Carolyn, a music nerd. I find it so entertaining talking to

Endurance

Photo of a random shop in Covent Garden. I poked my head in to get a glimpse of Christmas shopping in London before I went to Book of Mormon last night. Today, I left Carolyn’s at 4:45 a.m. The Kentish Town train station isn’t open so

Christmas in London

I went to a sustainable finance breakfast near the London School of Economics and, of course, got totally lost trying to find the address. I successfully used Google Maps on my phone to figure out I had gone the wrong way on Farringdon after climbing down the stairs from Holborn

Beasts and bears

Today was not a complicated travel day, thank heavens. Carolyn and I had a lengthy conversation over breakfast about everything that has happened since Weinstein’s accusers came out. We reacted differently to the lengthening list of accusations (many of which are not as serious as the Weinstein list). Carolyn

Trains, planes, kennels

Given my little cat Isabelle’s loss of her brother, I didn’t want her at the house alone this week while I’m in London (and David’s in Bristol). So this morning I took Isabelle to a cattery, then took the car to a garage for repairs, then

Lost weekend

I spent most of the weekend working on two things, a newsletter for NICRAS--Northern Ireland Community of Refugees and Asylum Seekers. And proofing the 28-page report I’ve done for Preventable Surprises. Saturday night we had our hiking friends Colleen and David over for dinner. Husband David did all the

A Juxtaposition

I went to city hall today for the launch of a guide for refugees and asylum seekers. I was invited because I edited the guide at one stage. It was great to see Justin Kouame, whose brainchild it was, be thanked and celebrated by so many people. Like many of

Mince pies

I should first note that I haven’t been very successful as a vegan. It’s easy not to buy milk, cheese, eggs, butter. Much harder not to buy a cheese pizza, or tortellini with cheese, or a piece of cake. When you want a sandwich on the fly, as

Nolan

Tonight I attended a BBC taping of the Stephen Nolan show. Nolan has a daily call-in programme on BBC Radio Ulster, a weekly panel show on BBC TV (the one I attended) and he does a show called 5 Alive that I’ve never heard, but which promises: "Fierce

Time to Read

Not sure if I’ve mentioned my two new students in Time to Read. Lilly and Liam. Lilly is a wiggle worm who reads well but retains nothing. Liam also is a good reader but I don’t think enjoys it. They both have dyslexia. Their teacher says it shows

The Royal Mail, Iran, and the Holocaust

When you go to the post office here, it takes forever. There’s always a long line and people do a lot of business there. I’m not sure why, but I see people bring envelopes full of money. Maybe the Royal Post handles bank transfers or something. Or it’

Swing Gals

Maria and I went to St. George’s Market, where the Swing Gals were singing some swinging tunes. A few other Swing Belfast dancers were there and I had a few dances with David McAllister, one of the dancers. Here we are doing our thing. I ran into Preeti, a

Sophie

I went to a dinner party tonight at my friend, Sophie’s. I met Sophie on a hike and have enjoyed getting to know her and, tonight, her friends. A really interesting group of people. It’s such a treat to be at a party with 10 interesting women, particularly

Flight dismay

My main goal today was to book a trip to London the week after next for work and book a trip from West Virginia to Florida in February during my visit to my mom. I think I spent over an hour on this and got only one flight booked. When