I have an identity crisis looming. It’s all my mate Andrie’s fault. She says I should consider changing the name of the book. Panic! But am I over-reacting? . The case for the prosecution: JULIET: ‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy; Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What’s Montague? it is nor... Similar posts

This is Bergen. A couple of weeks ago, I didn’t know much about it other than the fact that it was home to something called the Hanseatic League and, more recently, the Kings of Convenience. Now I know that there’s a huge fish market in the middle of town, and that one can make up a rather substantial snack from all the free samples the fish sellers give out. I can also confirm that smoked whale tastes just as odd as it sounds. I know what a fjord looks like from the clifftops, looking down the sheer rock face, and from the water, wrapped in blankets on the deck of a boat. I know that Bergen wasn’t always the beautiful, peaceful city it is now. We spent the second night of our trip huddled round a firepit on a patio originally built as a German lookout during World War... Similar posts

Dear Readers, Happy Monday, I have to tell you, I was chatting away to my friend Nic on Friday night as were walking along. I randomly looked up and saw the brightest rainbow. I’m quite keen on a nice bit of sky, clouds (see later in the week), moons, stars, you know the stuff. But... Similar posts

I’m still searching for free or nearly-free fun things for readers to do and I think this will appeal to a good few of you, especially those who fancy themselves as good kissers! The Science Gallery at Trinity College, Dublin is looking for couples to donate their kisses to a ten-year artistic project called Anatomy of... Similar posts

... is it with the Western in the... Similar posts

I have been working on laterality, specifically handedness, for some time. But there is a lot more to laterality than handedness and lateralisation in the brain is an important topic in neuroscience. The following paper caught my eye as being potentially useful to my young, or even not so young, colleagues.What McKay et al show is that self-esteem is lateralized.So imagine subjects hearing particular words in each ear (i.e. one ear at a time). It turns out that words heard via the right ear (which are processed in the left-hemisphere) generate a higher feeling of self-esteem than those heard via the left-ear. So if you are going to whisper sweet nothings to your partner, or your desired partner, then you know what to do. I think you will be pleased with the results. Alternatively, if you... Similar posts

... is that this movie... Similar posts

Staying with the Valentine’s theme given the week that’s in it, if you’re a lover of golf and in need of a hot date, then check out a new dating website which marries the two! Fairwayfriends.ie is a brand new site where those with a good golf swing but who are lacking in the romance... Similar posts

Here’s a few pics of romantic bedrooms to get you in the mood for Valentine’s Day!!  Courtesy of House Beautiful Lots of textures from throws, lampshades, pillows and cushions create a lovely relaxing, romantic feel and the addition of a few candles and fresh flowers adds to the... Similar posts

Part of my identity as an equal-opportunity ridiculer of the irrational means that I will gladly turn my ever-present scepticism inward, re-examining certain episodes in my life with a critical slant, and this blog entry is another example of this.Sit a little closer, dear reader, as your champion of rationality rebuker of the deluded shares a tale of how he came to be so disgracefully mawkish that he had sentimental feelings towards a unit of legal tender.Back in the spring of 2005, I made the acquaintance of a girl called Caitlyn, an exchange student who was spending a semester at the University of Limerick, and we managed to strike up a fairly solid friendship in no time at all. Before returning to her native Wisconsin, Cait went wandering around Europe to cap off her sojourn. During... Similar posts

The receptionist smiled blandly at me when we arrived, and there was a moment of awkward silence. I had expected Andrew to speak. "We have an appointment with the Registrar" I said, making sure to pronounce the capital R. "Rosie and Andrew". I don't know why I didn't give our surnames. I'm still trying to decide if I'll take his when we marry, and it somehow seemed important to introduce ourselves as a couple. She asked for them anyway, and I saw her finger trace the syllables in mine as she memorised the pronunciation, ticking us off in her appointments diary. She directed us through the hall, to an office down at the back.I marveled at the seats. Fixed to the floor and bus station blue, there seemed to be so many of them. I wondered if our thirteen guests will fill the front row. I... Similar posts

Nobody warned me that once I'd committed to spending the rest of my life with my love, I'd become entirely preoccupied with death. His death, my own and that of anybody else you'd care to mention. I feel like I'm 8 years old again. I blame Disney, mostly. Up had me snotting into my 3d specs while my widowed Nana sat stoically beside me. "I don't know what yiz were all crying about" she told us after the film. "I didn't think it was that sad". She lost her fella after more than 50 years of marriage. 50 years of Aston Villa and pitch and putt. She misses him something fierce, especially this time of year. I wonder, when he asked her to marry him, did she sit down and have a good cry when she realised that some day, he'd die?Probably not. She didn't have a... Similar posts

Pretty as a peach photography by Lola's Room.  Hard to choose a favourite, but I adore this pic by Valerie H.Images found at Peace Love Bella Vita.Wish for love...Visit Lovely Journey to see more.Irene Suchocki's Etsy shop will leave your heart pattering and your wallet lighter :)Love painting by Sorcha Gillett (thats me!), available in my Etsy... Similar posts

My brother had swine 'flu some weeks back and I joked about calling down to Kildare to lick his cutlery. I fancied a few weeks off work. I had romantic notions of staying at home with Andrew, snug on the couch with the Gilmore Girls and a touch of the sniffles. Then I remembered the 'flu I caught last February, the subsequent chest and sinus infection, the antibiotics, and the subsequent yeast infection. The Gilmores are a lot less fun with fever and a dose of galloping gee-rot. So I asked my brother if there was anything I could do for him, knowing he'd say no, and then left him to rot. Or recover. Whatever. He's fine.I wish I'd sent a fruit basket.On Wednesday morning I tipped along to see nurse Margaret for my biannual blood tests. "Dr. Murphy!" she hollered. Not to greet me, but to... Similar posts

Such is the richness of information technology these days that I just ’stumbled upon’ something on my computer, not 3 months old, written in my own hand, yet still somehow new to me! Time flies! Some gibberish I wrote about SpaceFairy. And I had vowed, more-or-less, not to write poems about women anymore, because they are rarely – no, never – worth that level of praise. O the folly of man… yet there is still something awfully alluring about romance, not to mention sentimentality, isn’t... Similar posts

November 2009 Irish Tatler Photography: Barry McCall Stylist: Sarah Rickard Hair: Dylan Bradshaw Make up: Paula Callan O’Keefe... Similar posts

Thank you Ralph Lauren, for saving our sensitive eyes the pain of looking at this model’s disgusting flab. She really ought to sort herself out, it’s not healthy. Thankfully, her client has her (podgy) back. Ralph and his fat-busters blitzed her bulge in a recent campaign and restored her to a more presentable state. Phew!! Filippa... Similar posts

I left a vase of roses to rot on my kitchen table last Tuesday. I should have thrown them out once their petals drooped, but I was drooping with them and I hadn't the heart. Or the stomach. I hate the smell of dank water and my skin crawls at the thought of touching their slimy stems. I sat for a few minutes, looking at them, wondering how I might fold them so that their stalks wouldn't tear the bin liner. I didn't want to touch them. I thought I might smother them with a paper bag.I didn't realise that I was crying until a tear tickled the side of my nose, making it itch.I wasn't crying about the flowers. I'm not sure what I was crying about. I left them there and went for a walk. I stole a cigarette from his sock drawer and stuck it behind my ear, then spent ten teary-eyed minutes... Similar posts

Let's just be... Similar posts