The new year is off to a fairly good start for me. Well I'm not terminally depressed even though I've no money, it's dark, wet and freezing out and I've no holidays in the next few months....I'm not considering painless methods of self-annihilation and I think that's achievement enough.
It's also Friday afternoon and I've survived the first week back at work (well 3 days); a week that I've basically never had to work before because I always had teaching or college holidays. I don't see what all the fuss was about - there's been hardly any traffic, we've eased ourselves into work gently and next Monday will not be as traumatic for me as it will for every teacher and school kid in the country...mwhahahaha.
My resolutions to eat more healthily and get more exercise (I'm terribly imaginative) haven't amounted to much as yet. The workplace is my major downfall; we make tea every hour or so and there are always chocolate biscuits on offer. My willpower does not extend to the refusal of chocolate in any form. I'll just have to start skipping dinner....
The weather has precluded exercise in any form apart from running from the car to the front door. Really not sufficient if I'm going to do a mini-marathon this year. Having a car really makes you lazy. Bicycle purchase necessary soon.
I did manage to drag some non-dancers to a Salsa class last night and it was a lot of fun. Some of the guys who swing dance were there - in fact there were loads of guys there....as in more than girls in some of the classes. Wow.
Michelle and Martina were naturals at it, Declan, being both male and Irish, struggled but he did have a wicked 'salsa face' that was most entertaining. It's not unlike his 'I've a bottle of buckfast and am happy face'.
Personally I found it tricky to get the hang of the different rhythms but because I'm able to follow I could blag my way through even with some good dancers. Will hit an Improvers class next time- I learn faster with guys who know what they're doing (wink wink). Hopefully the other three will stick with it too. Dance is fun, cool and basically more people should do it.
A night of lying prone on the couch under a duvet is on the cards for me tonight *bliss* It's less a matter of laziness than sheer poverty - it's still the only thing I want to do tonight. Apparently French peasants in the nineteenth century hibernated for 6 months of the year; as in literally sleeping round the clock, only rising to eat some stale bread and stoke the fire. Sounds fantastic.
Where has humanity gone wrong that we now have to work all year round? I'll be getting on to my union about this....
Friday, January 4, 2008
Saturday, December 22, 2007
It's a Wonderful Life
Finally! Access to the internet in a non-work environment!
My deepest apologies for woeful upkeep of the blog - I'm intending to do some catch up over the holidays so stay tuned :)
It's the final night of Strictly Come Dancing - once this last show is over I will be liberated from this albatross of an addiction - I want to live again!
Gethin was shafted by the judges in the semi-final who chose to save Matt Di Angelo over him. In my opinion (and not only because I'm love with him) Gethin was a far more graceful and proficient dancer. Matt actually blanked on whole chunks of two dances one week - how can someone like that make it to the final?
*Bitter*
Anyway if you haven't noticed Christmas has hit--and with it falling on a Tuesday this year most people have a nice few days off beforehand. The anticipation of Christmas is the best part of it all so I'm glad it's prolonged this time around.
I finished work yesterday and had the obligatory drunken session with co-workers last night - quite strange when there are only 8 of us in the office. They're a good bunch of people though so we had fun nonetheless - silly dancing, shot drinking and a nightlink home - It's a wonderful life :)
Today I drove the siblings home from Dublin - we're all so grown up and independent now and since we're all living separately get on swimmingly well. I have a feeling this could be quite a nice Christmas.
I have to say I'm a bit disappointed that not a single channel is screening It's a Wonderful Life on Christmas Day. I love that movie and it's become part of the Christmas tradition over the past few years for me.
Oh well - will just have to watch some clips on youtube so...
My deepest apologies for woeful upkeep of the blog - I'm intending to do some catch up over the holidays so stay tuned :)
It's the final night of Strictly Come Dancing - once this last show is over I will be liberated from this albatross of an addiction - I want to live again!
Gethin was shafted by the judges in the semi-final who chose to save Matt Di Angelo over him. In my opinion (and not only because I'm love with him) Gethin was a far more graceful and proficient dancer. Matt actually blanked on whole chunks of two dances one week - how can someone like that make it to the final?
*Bitter*
Anyway if you haven't noticed Christmas has hit--and with it falling on a Tuesday this year most people have a nice few days off beforehand. The anticipation of Christmas is the best part of it all so I'm glad it's prolonged this time around.
I finished work yesterday and had the obligatory drunken session with co-workers last night - quite strange when there are only 8 of us in the office. They're a good bunch of people though so we had fun nonetheless - silly dancing, shot drinking and a nightlink home - It's a wonderful life :)
Today I drove the siblings home from Dublin - we're all so grown up and independent now and since we're all living separately get on swimmingly well. I have a feeling this could be quite a nice Christmas.
I have to say I'm a bit disappointed that not a single channel is screening It's a Wonderful Life on Christmas Day. I love that movie and it's become part of the Christmas tradition over the past few years for me.
Oh well - will just have to watch some clips on youtube so...
Merry Christmas, movie house! Merry Christmas, Emporium! Merry Christmas, you wonderful old Building and Loan!
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Salsa Starts Here
Gethin got three 10s for his waltz on Sat :)
and he did the sexiest Salsa ever :D
I'm ruined for other, normal, men ---he's just so perfect!
Watch his Salsa vid if you don't believe me.
My swing teacher is taking a break from teaching in the New Year--finally I have a chance to try another type of dancing--I'm pretty sure it'll be salsa cos there's a lively scene in Dublin but I'm open to suggestions....
and he did the sexiest Salsa ever :D
I'm ruined for other, normal, men ---he's just so perfect!
Watch his Salsa vid if you don't believe me.
My swing teacher is taking a break from teaching in the New Year--finally I have a chance to try another type of dancing--I'm pretty sure it'll be salsa cos there's a lively scene in Dublin but I'm open to suggestions....
Friday, November 23, 2007
Strictly Addicted
Ok so I have to come out of the closet.
The truth is that for some time now I've been living a lie.
On the surface I've been living like a normal person; going to work, drinking with friends, going to see movies etc but at night, behind closed curtains I've been hiding a shameful secret.
It involves strange costumes, unusual positions and a bizarre mix of partners. Yes, the truth is, I've embraced the lifestyle of a gay man.
I love Strictly Come Dancing.
Oh it feels so good to say it out in the open! Nobody understands my compulsion to watch this show. Saturday evening prime-time on BBC1 is normally for grannies and kids; not for young, single people with exciting social lives (ahem...).
I mean - it's hosted by Bruce Forsythe for God's sake!
I didn't mean to get hooked. It started off casually; I'd watch the odd Saturday show not knowing my quickstep from my samba. But after a while I stopped missing shows on any day; the weekend performances and results show would fuel my hunger and suddenly I was watching the commentary show "It Takes Two" every night of the week.
From Brendan's illegal use of extra lifts to Kate's hopeless stomping, Kenny's kilted Paso Doble to Barnes' wicked salsa--I love it all. I spending significant quantities of work time surfing youtube for videos of interviews or performances and I'm even keeping an eye on the online forums where fans discuss the show (quite a few of them out there Ill tell you...)
I'm a SCD nerd.
How did this happen?
Well truthfully Strictly Come Dancing has something this year it had no other year: Gethin Jones.
This beautiful Welsh hunk of a Blue Peter presenter is by far the most attractive person to grace my television in years. And more than just a fit body he has a soft Welsh accent, excessive modesty, excellent manners, the ability to dance and he's wonderful with kids. Women everywhere will understand the rarity of a package like this.
His switch from kids programming to Strictly has earned him many, many new female admirers. I swear - I haven't had a crush on a TV personality like this since the age of 14.
I need help....or at least some friends to join me in my madness. Take a look at the videos and tell me Gethin's not beautiful--go on - I dare ya.
Another month of this and I'm going cold turkey I promise - I'll have to - the show only goes on till Christmas :(
In the meantime - keep dancing!
The truth is that for some time now I've been living a lie.
On the surface I've been living like a normal person; going to work, drinking with friends, going to see movies etc but at night, behind closed curtains I've been hiding a shameful secret.
It involves strange costumes, unusual positions and a bizarre mix of partners. Yes, the truth is, I've embraced the lifestyle of a gay man.
I love Strictly Come Dancing.
Oh it feels so good to say it out in the open! Nobody understands my compulsion to watch this show. Saturday evening prime-time on BBC1 is normally for grannies and kids; not for young, single people with exciting social lives (ahem...).
I mean - it's hosted by Bruce Forsythe for God's sake!
I didn't mean to get hooked. It started off casually; I'd watch the odd Saturday show not knowing my quickstep from my samba. But after a while I stopped missing shows on any day; the weekend performances and results show would fuel my hunger and suddenly I was watching the commentary show "It Takes Two" every night of the week.
From Brendan's illegal use of extra lifts to Kate's hopeless stomping, Kenny's kilted Paso Doble to Barnes' wicked salsa--I love it all. I spending significant quantities of work time surfing youtube for videos of interviews or performances and I'm even keeping an eye on the online forums where fans discuss the show (quite a few of them out there Ill tell you...)
I'm a SCD nerd.
How did this happen?
Well truthfully Strictly Come Dancing has something this year it had no other year: Gethin Jones.
This beautiful Welsh hunk of a Blue Peter presenter is by far the most attractive person to grace my television in years. And more than just a fit body he has a soft Welsh accent, excessive modesty, excellent manners, the ability to dance and he's wonderful with kids. Women everywhere will understand the rarity of a package like this.
His switch from kids programming to Strictly has earned him many, many new female admirers. I swear - I haven't had a crush on a TV personality like this since the age of 14.
I need help....or at least some friends to join me in my madness. Take a look at the videos and tell me Gethin's not beautiful--go on - I dare ya.
Another month of this and I'm going cold turkey I promise - I'll have to - the show only goes on till Christmas :(
In the meantime - keep dancing!
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Corked
Look I have a job now...I have no time for this silly blog writing.
Don't look at me like that!
I'm sorry alright?
SORRY!
Won't leave it so long between blogs again I promise.
Who am I promising anyway?
It's not like I have readers anymore....sniff, sniff.
Disloyal, fickle gadabouts!
Ok enough of a rant...do I have any news?
Well the job's going well--still learning lots and the pay isn't as bad as I'd expected. That's as much as you can ask for really.
Outside of work I've been socialising quite a bit (the main reason for the paucity of blogs) and the debauchery climaxed at the annual Inniscarra Cork Jazz Festival Bank Holiday weekend.
After last year I swore never again. Never again would I grace the O'Brien Den of Inequity where the souls of the departed walk freely among the living (and that's before the Halloween costume party begins), never again the excesses which make Nero's Rome look like a kid's birthday party, never again the week of illness afterwards when your body sues your brain for damages--I couldn't this year--no mid-term in which to recover!
And yet I found myself there among the spider webs and pumpkins, in a silly outfit, consuming any liquid offered me (two words: Buck fast), visiting the Inniscarra Bar, sampling the 'special' flapjacks, jiving to the bands and DJs, checking out many of the pubs in Cork that begin with 'C', bopping to Rob Strong's band at Scott's...........and finally leaving, a shell of my former self on Bank Holiday Monday.
Suffice to say I didn't make into work will 2pm on Tuesday and had the least productive week's work since my last week at the Grammar School....
Cork-- I shake my fist at thee. I lost the battle but, mark my words, I will the war.......
Don't look at me like that!
I'm sorry alright?
SORRY!
Won't leave it so long between blogs again I promise.
Who am I promising anyway?
It's not like I have readers anymore....sniff, sniff.
Disloyal, fickle gadabouts!
Ok enough of a rant...do I have any news?
Well the job's going well--still learning lots and the pay isn't as bad as I'd expected. That's as much as you can ask for really.
Outside of work I've been socialising quite a bit (the main reason for the paucity of blogs) and the debauchery climaxed at the annual Inniscarra Cork Jazz Festival Bank Holiday weekend.
After last year I swore never again. Never again would I grace the O'Brien Den of Inequity where the souls of the departed walk freely among the living (and that's before the Halloween costume party begins), never again the excesses which make Nero's Rome look like a kid's birthday party, never again the week of illness afterwards when your body sues your brain for damages--I couldn't this year--no mid-term in which to recover!
And yet I found myself there among the spider webs and pumpkins, in a silly outfit, consuming any liquid offered me (two words: Buck fast), visiting the Inniscarra Bar, sampling the 'special' flapjacks, jiving to the bands and DJs, checking out many of the pubs in Cork that begin with 'C', bopping to Rob Strong's band at Scott's...........and finally leaving, a shell of my former self on Bank Holiday Monday.
Suffice to say I didn't make into work will 2pm on Tuesday and had the least productive week's work since my last week at the Grammar School....
Cork-- I shake my fist at thee. I lost the battle but, mark my words, I will the war.......
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Vive la Différence.
It's Day 10 at the new job and, as Captain Frodo says half way through the second tennis racket; so far so good.
I'm working as a Communications Officer for an NGO (non-government organisation... ie a charity but we don't like to call them that any more...) which believes in simple, affordable housing for all. Habitat for Humanity started in the US but has a presence all over the world now. The Irish operation is still quite small (only 6 of us in the office) but it's growing all the time. There are two main projects to the organisation: Global Village and the Local Programme.
The Global Village programme sends Irish volunteers to developing countries to work side-by-side with people helping build houses. They fundraise prior to departure and the money they raise makes a big difference to the communities they visit. The Local Programme builds and renovates houses here in Ireland. So far they've built 4 houses in Ballymun and we're about to break ground in Ballyfermot where we'll be building 16 houses: our biggest local project to date.
As Communications Officer I'm in charge of PR and general communication type stuff.....I think. Ok I haven't a clue what I'm doing but by God am I learning quickly! I more or less have autonomy over what I do so I'm tapping into wells of self-motivation, creativity and initiative that have lain dormant since college society days. As a teacher your day to day tasks are pretty straight forward and there's so little time for being creative that you might only spend 5 minutes a week on it. Here I'm learning and experimenting constantly. This is a good thing.
The office is so much more civilised than school. It's quiet and peaceful; everyone types away behind their partitions with the only interruption being the occasional phone call or when I have to ask an inane question of the others (I hate those first few weeks in a new job when you don't know where the stapler is....). There's no yelling or name-calling (and that was only the staff room), no thunderous bells ringing, no stampede at lunchtime, no psychopaths (so far as I can see) and, most significantly of all, no teenagers. What a relief!
It's strange—I'm working longer hours here but I leave the office less tired at 530pm than I did leaving the classroom at 345pm. I'm totally relaxed and respected here. It's...........it's actually, really, really boring........ I can't believe I miss teaching! One thing I could never say about teaching was that it was boring. Repetitive, stressful, emotionally draining yes...but never dull. I guess I can't judge just yet as I'm still just settling in and amn't doing half the work I will be doing as part of this job. For example, tomorrow I'm manning a stand at St Pat's International Day which is more or less like a Society's Day—that's got to be fun right?
I'm going to quit whinging now. I'm really happy to be exactly where I am right now. What would Kurt Vonnegut say?
“ If this ain't nice, I don't know what is....”.
I'm working as a Communications Officer for an NGO (non-government organisation... ie a charity but we don't like to call them that any more...) which believes in simple, affordable housing for all. Habitat for Humanity started in the US but has a presence all over the world now. The Irish operation is still quite small (only 6 of us in the office) but it's growing all the time. There are two main projects to the organisation: Global Village and the Local Programme.
The Global Village programme sends Irish volunteers to developing countries to work side-by-side with people helping build houses. They fundraise prior to departure and the money they raise makes a big difference to the communities they visit. The Local Programme builds and renovates houses here in Ireland. So far they've built 4 houses in Ballymun and we're about to break ground in Ballyfermot where we'll be building 16 houses: our biggest local project to date.
As Communications Officer I'm in charge of PR and general communication type stuff.....I think. Ok I haven't a clue what I'm doing but by God am I learning quickly! I more or less have autonomy over what I do so I'm tapping into wells of self-motivation, creativity and initiative that have lain dormant since college society days. As a teacher your day to day tasks are pretty straight forward and there's so little time for being creative that you might only spend 5 minutes a week on it. Here I'm learning and experimenting constantly. This is a good thing.
The office is so much more civilised than school. It's quiet and peaceful; everyone types away behind their partitions with the only interruption being the occasional phone call or when I have to ask an inane question of the others (I hate those first few weeks in a new job when you don't know where the stapler is....). There's no yelling or name-calling (and that was only the staff room), no thunderous bells ringing, no stampede at lunchtime, no psychopaths (so far as I can see) and, most significantly of all, no teenagers. What a relief!
It's strange—I'm working longer hours here but I leave the office less tired at 530pm than I did leaving the classroom at 345pm. I'm totally relaxed and respected here. It's...........it's actually, really, really boring........ I can't believe I miss teaching! One thing I could never say about teaching was that it was boring. Repetitive, stressful, emotionally draining yes...but never dull. I guess I can't judge just yet as I'm still just settling in and amn't doing half the work I will be doing as part of this job. For example, tomorrow I'm manning a stand at St Pat's International Day which is more or less like a Society's Day—that's got to be fun right?
I'm going to quit whinging now. I'm really happy to be exactly where I am right now. What would Kurt Vonnegut say?
“ If this ain't nice, I don't know what is....”.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Give a Squirrel a Twirl
Squirrels are adorable. They've got it all--bushy tails, cute button noses, not carniverous (the cat's main downfall) and a bounce to their step.
I want to adopt one.
How hard can they be to domesticate? All I have to do is collect a mini-mountain of nuts in my back garden and they'll be my willing slaves. I'm walking to and from work through Phoenix Park these days--it won't take me long.
According to the videos I've found they make great pets--Check them out.......
(they can even be taught to water-ski--a lucrative side-liner for me if Dublin Zoo will let me set up outside their front door)
Squirrels - how have we lived for so long without them?
I want to adopt one.
How hard can they be to domesticate? All I have to do is collect a mini-mountain of nuts in my back garden and they'll be my willing slaves. I'm walking to and from work through Phoenix Park these days--it won't take me long.
According to the videos I've found they make great pets--Check them out.......
(they can even be taught to water-ski--a lucrative side-liner for me if Dublin Zoo will let me set up outside their front door)
Squirrels - how have we lived for so long without them?
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