New Year's Eve

On the brink of 2011 which feels good. Looking forward to a year of positive developments including more travel and getting more involved in the community here. I am not sure what will happen this year a little more than usual but know that if I want things to happen I need to be in the driving seat. Will we continue to live in Ireland as the heavy hand of the IMF begins to make itself felt ? Where would we go instead? How would I set up and manage a portfolio career? What new usful skills do I need to acquire? How can I better understand moneyand how to use it ? So lots of questions and the answers will be interesting. Happy New Year to anyone who reads this.

Book group

Meeting of 8 tomorrow evening to discuss "Room" which I haven't made time to read. Started it but couldn't get into it. However have also suggested that we might talk about 'Claiming our Future' which seems to be a popular/populist? movement of people who want a new way of doing politics in this country. Talk usually drifts onto other things anyway after a hour or so.

The there's the whole 'supper' issue. One of our number goes crazy and produces the likes of lemon meringue pie when we visit. Someone is making me a pumpkin pie which would clash colour wise with my proposed offering of chicken korma so I'm having to rethink this. Is it time to get back to cheese and wine? Maybe I'll bring it back there so and start a 'simple' movement, first cousin of the slow movement.

This is a kind of morning page blog today - there's a pneumatic drill going outside my window putting in new bicycle racks and inside I'm only waiting for the racket of the new lift being installed, but what a godsend it will be when it's in.

Meandering on and into the day. Gospel choir practice with Kathleen tonight which is usually good craic.

The music of what happens - not

I've lost count of the number of emails about the psychic show coming to UL which may 'damage' the reputation of the University. It strikes me that there may be other serious issues to worry about in this respect - poor attainment of funding for research recently, high drop out rates, bttom of the list of Irish third level institutions not just universities on some indices of world class performance for a start - yet none of these issues have elicted any comment from academics or anyone else.



Really like my new office and the new work set up - light is flooding in and the trees outside are heavy with crisp golden leaves as I walk along the river- I could (almost) be in Paris. Today at lunch time I plan to go to hear a poetry reading in the Hunt Museum, Catherine Phil McCarthy reading as part of this year's Cuisle Festival. Last night as part of the same event I read my poem 'Thirteen Ways of drinking Bull's Blood' in the Daghda space at John's Square which was really exciting - and I got a few laughs.

New home for the Downtown Centre

Starting again with 23 things - got behind last year when we went into RSS feeds! It's hard to get to UL for the lunchtime workshops. But my personal goal is to improve my knowledge of technology so here goes. I'd like to think of myself as an early adopter but feel really behind in this domain.

About to move into our new offices in George's Quay and as always with change there's excitement and apprehension. It's a beautiful building 'on the list to be listed' and it's been refurbed especially for us so the Downtown Centre will have a definite locus of its own in the city at last. My office faces out onto the river so I am looking forward to having light flooding in.

I wonder if Google Street View will have a pic? Must look later.