NorthDownMuse

Tick tock

I leave in a week. I was hoping to have two more papers done before then. I'll be lucky to have one finished because so much research goes into each. Tonight was David's company dinner party. Remember how he said yes to the dress? He changed

A very small world

I'd like to begin by wishing you happy Human Rights Day. On this day in 1948, the U.N. adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I've been on a wonderful committee for the past two months planning today's events. We hosted a panel

What a pain in the neck

Today (drumroll) I finished my first essay. A trenchant report on the state of the U.N.'s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. I left the library before I put the final polish on it because I had a splitting headache, which I've had for

Christmas past

This is from 2009. That dress was from a consignment shop in Chester Springs. I'm trying to talk David into a red bowtie this year but I'm not making any headway. "I'm not a bowtie kind of guy." Sigh. 12-08

Christmas cravings

In church this morning I noticed a woman wearing a Christmas brooch. I was a little jealous because my Christmas brooch, from my grandfather, is in storage. As are my Christmas CDs (Julie Andrews, Jonny Mathis, Andy Williams--yes, I am old), as are my decorations, most of which were made

What do you get a dog for Christmas?

A mobile bone. Why did the donut maker close the shop? He got tired of the hole business. David and I had a wonderful meal at a restaurant in Bangor last night. We began with Christmas crackers, the cardboard tubes you pull apart. Each had a joke, which I felt

Yet another Lanyon photo

I was in class from 10-5 today discussing the political and economic context of Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal. I really enjoyed this because it brings together my interests in how the world actually works and what a talented artist can do with that information to pave the

Methodology

Here's how I go about writing a 4,000 word paper. 1. I read 40 pages of notes taken on readings from more than two dozen academics. 2. I filter the 40 pages down to 13 as I select for what is relevant to my topic (the U.

Town and Gown

I think that means something about relations between universities and their host cities. In this case, it means I bought a gown for next week's Christmas dinner. I was at the library from 8am-2pm working on a paper. I hit a wall then went shopping for something to

Before, part V

I never showed the house itself. The main outdoor project is tearing up tarmac and putting in gardens to increase permeable surface/decrease water flowing toward house. Dampness in the house is a concern and we think installing herringbone drains and grass will help. Without car. The bit jutting out

Before, part IV

Where were we? The master bedroom, I think. Most of the houses we looked at had zero storage. This house had a lot of storage and we're removing a lot of it. The right-hand wall above had two sets of wardrobes on either side of a vanity, which

Comber Greenway

We stopped by the house to check on progress and the skip is filling up. Then we got the bikes out of the shed and cycled to Comber and back, about 10 miles, on a former rail line that is now a cycle path. It was quite lovely. Reminded me

Thankful, part 2

I plan to return to the house tour, however I want to wait until I'm at Queen's, where photos load at lightning speed. At home I sit and watch the blue loading bar for a very long time. For Thanksgiving dinner tonight, we hosted neighbor Kevin,

Thankful

I was too busy ranting yesterday to offer up my thanks for: @Diarmuid Kennedy, the wonderful librarian who unlocked the secrets to doing research on Queen's Online Library. He probably spent a half hour with me yesterday researching race riots in Britain and the U.S. @Our new

Meltdown

I'm interrupting the house tour to relate the Monday meltdown and the Tuesday rehabilitation. I spend a lot of time reading turgid academic stuff I don't understand or am not interested in. The U.N. machinery, the concept of piercing the corporate veil and the principal-agent

Before, part 3

The top floor was a study but it will become a guest bedroom. This odd window will be replaced by a wider dormer window, so the dropped ceiling on either side will be lifted. The bathroom will go in this corner. 11-26

Before, part two

The lovely kitchen. It's basically a long, narrow room. We plan to put a bathroom/laundry room at the front end (as you enter the room) and shift what is now on the left wall (fridge, oven, microwave) to the right wall. The left wall will have a

Before, part one

Our contractor begins work on the house on Wednesday. So I took some before pictures. This is after we undecorated Hillary's carpets and wallpaper and before we redecorated with our stuff (which won't be for months). So this is ground zero. Beginning with the living room

Studious

Here is what I've learned so far as a master's student. 1. I'm not as smart as a I thought I was. So painful. 2. Being a writer is not as much of an asset as I thought it would be. 3. The idea

Waste management

Since I moved from the PC to the Mac, I've struggled to understand a few things, like editing photos before uploading. My sideways shot was meant to convey a bit how garbage works here. Every house has three rolling dumpsters outside whose contents are collected on different schedules.

GOT Greensman

It cracks me up how I keep running into Game of Thrones people. Today I was in an all-day class that was partly about employment opportunities for postgraduates and partly about researching and writing a dissertation. The panel of speakers included a greensman. He had long black hair, a long

Decking, part 2

This is a shot of the side of city hall. It says Happy Christmas Belfast in English and Gaelic. I met yesterday at the house with the water guy, the gas guy, and the contractor. We need to replace a lead water pipe serving the house with PVC. And we

Deck the Halls

Actually, City Hall. Decked. Check. The hall is in a big green square in the middle of Belfast. Right now the square is full of tented beer halls and stalls selling bratwurst, French pastries, Dutch cheeses, jewelry, sweaters, you name it. Very festive. 11-19

George Clooney

You know how famous American actors do ads in foreign markets but not domestic to maintain their image? George does an ad here for some kind of fancy coffee. I don't think he does that in the U.S., but I never watched much TV there. It definitely

Shambolic

This word is used a lot here and I love it. It means: chaotic, disorganized, or mismanaged. So a lot of what happens at Stormont is shambolic. I've figured out I have six papers due in January, two in the 4,000-word range. Given how much time I