NorthDownMuse

Tom & Marshall

I’m going to keep on the woe is me theme. My neighbour Marshall, whom I visit on a regular basis for tea and a chat, is selling his house and moving somewhere smaller. He’s lived next door for 29 years. He has a right to downsize, of course,

Visa trouble

I met today with Mimi Unamoyo, an amazing lawyer from the Congo who is leading an integration project for refugee women in Belfast. And she’s doing an LLM at Queen’s. I’m working on an annual report for the integration project, basically a list of all the things

P.S.

I spent about five weeks developing a website for Preventable Surprises using a platform called Weebly. The head of P.S., Raj, didn’t like my prototype site. I’m not offended by this b/c I’m not and never have claimed to be a web designer. He hired

Choices

David and I were both in town this weekend, which means a deadly level of productivity. I could zoom in on any of a number of things or just keep a broad focus. I’m going with the latter. We spent the first few hours moving furniture, books, and artwork

Belfast Film Festival

"... represents a showcase of 130 films and events, celebrating talent from 35 countries around the world.” I made it to my first film last night and the festival ends in two days. Whatever. The film was called Cameraperson. It was a melange of the work of cinematographer Kirsten Johnson,

The Noise of Time

The book, by the way, was The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes. I had suggested the title, which meant I would lead the discussion. Hence my eagerness to read it. It was an imagined biography of Russian composer Shostakovich during three periods of his life. It is the story

Apptitude

I have never downloaded an app to my phone. It’s a basic phone that I use for calls and texting. I have tried and occasionally succeeded at using the phone to check something on the internet, but so far I have managed just fine without apps on my phone.

Return to reality

One more photo of Culdaff beach. Yesterday started perfectly. I took two of Julie’s classes at U3A (University of the Third Age), one on mindfulness, one on yoga. I got a look at my future--Julie gave me a tour of the U3A building, where there are language classes, a

Mind the Gap

After we hiked around Fort Dunree yesterday, we drove through Mamore Gap to Carndonagh, where we had lunch. "Near the summit of Mamore Gap a number of holy relics can be found – a holy well devoted to St Eigne and a small alter of statues are the centre point

Driving Miss Casey

Julie is working all weekend, so I suggested to Ian, her husband, that we should do a day trip to Donegal. He volunteered to drive so I got to drink in Donegal, like a thirsty sailor fresh in port. We started at Fort Dunree at the mouth of Lough Swilly.

Former Pupils Association

My high school is celebrating its 400th anniversary. I attended the annual former pupils lunch with 114 other students, including classmates Cathy and Jennifer: The lunch started at 1 pm and the last former pupils left at 10 pm. I left at 8 pm--I just don’t have the stamina.

Derry Days

Today I had workers at the house who installed a wood laminate floor (in between four smoking breaks) while I did chores and worked on Preventable Surprises stuff. Tomorrow, I leave for Derry for the weekend. I took a lot of photos over the weekend (I’m writing this on

Post Truth Society

Yesterday, Theresa May triggered Brexit. And with a phalanx of fossil fuel executives standing behind him, Trump gutted the Clean Power Plan, Obama’s attempt (against the will of the Republican congress) to bring America in line with the Paris Agreement. These are parallel tragedies. The gloom and doom over

Hadski's

I met a woman called Sophie on the hike last weekend and we decided to go to dinner at a high-end place called Hadski’s in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter. I was really excited because I never eat out at a restaurant, a very expensive habit here. While the food

Swinging

I skipped a few days because, in recalling them, all I remember was cleaning and painting on Sunday, and swimming and working for Preventable Surprises on Monday. I remember today’s highlight. I took a swing dance lesson. It’s been nearly a decade since I went somewhat regularly to

ABC

A is for Andrea, who led the MeetUp hike I went on today with about 50 people. B is for Bosco, her loyal dog (at her feet in this photo). C is for Cavehill, one of the mountains that overlook Belfast. You can see the city in the background from

OMG Bob Geldof

My teenage heartthrob was Bob Geldof, for three primary reasons: *His songwriting abilities--his lyrics were clever, political, and passionate, all a teenage girl wants. *His sultry looks--natch. *His efforts to save the world. Band Aid, Live Aid, Do They Know It’s Christmas--all aimed to relieve suffering during African famines.

Martin

The funeral of Martin McGuiness, 66, was held today. Martin was from Derry’s Bogside, where the civil rights movement for Catholics in Northern Ireland began. He was already a leader in the IRA in 1972 on Bloody Sunday, when British soldiers shot 26 unarmed peace marchers. Martin went on

The Moth

In the U.S., there’s a podcast called the Moth, which features people telling true stories from their own lives. Here in Belfast we have Ten X 9, nine people getting 10 minutes each to tell a true story. Each month has a different theme; tonight’s was Secrets

Women’s Equality Party

Yesterday I went to the only Imagine festival event I’ll get to this year. It was about the Women’s Equality Party, which was co-founded by author and journalist Catherine Mayer and broadcaster and author Sandi Toksvig. Mayer, who was the speaker yesterday, has written a book titled The

“Thanking Christ for the BBC"

The Pogues sing a song about growing up in a parochial, oppressive Ireland in which the BBC was a window into a more promising, open-minded world. The title is from that song (rhymes with: “...a stupid, fucking place to be/down on Rain Street”). I am constantly grateful for the

Spoilt for choice

Belfast loves its festivals. There were three big festivals in January and February (that I know of, I don’t pick up on all of them). March and April bring us: The Belfast Film Festival, with 130 films and events. The Imagine Festival, with 62 events. The Respect Human Rights

So this happened

I have written in the past about the "ash for cash" scandal--where farmers and businesses could get 1.60 pounds for every pound they spent on biomass burners. The program, unsurprisingly, created a billion-pound overspend, half of which the UK swallowed and half of which comes out of

St. Pat's

There were all kinds of events on in Belfast today--a parade, an outdoor concert, lots of music in the pubs. I didn’t go to anything. I had the same feeling I have on New Year’s Eve--I should do something. The older I get, the more I give in

Orangefield Primary

Today was the first of my weekly volunteer gigs at a primary school, where I’ll be giving one-to-one support to two primary students who are each maybe 9 years old. They read to me and I help them with words they can’t pronounce or understand. This supposedly boosts