June 2nd, 2017 Yesterday I wanted to post a bunch of expletives. I still do. You know things are truly awful when the tabloids display a greater grasp of science and language than the manchild at the wheel. Today, I, a former librarian, will be singing in a bookshop. Which […]
The things people tell us. The things people don’t tell us. 11 years old Patrick took his cousin’s dog for a walk. Too loose on a faraway leash, the dog got hit by an oil truck on a country road. Devastated, 11 years old Patrick dragged its body down […]
“All your crying don’t do no good, Come on up the the house, Come down off the cross, We can use the wood, You gotta come on up to the house. “ – Tom Waits, ‘Come on Up to The House’ ( Mule Variations) Easter Sunday, April 16th, 2017 […]
March 8th, 2017 The weather remains schizophrenic. The news keeps up just fine. This morning the wind howled down the avenue and the rain tap tapped on our pre dawn window. I was woken up long before the usual rattle of traffic. It is lunchtime now. The sun is out. […]
February 25th, 2017 Cambridge, MA I read somewhere once that eavesdropping is good for writing. Hearing that gave me great freedom and shameless confidence. In eavesdropping. It is unseasonably warm. I’m in a non barducks coffee chain. An hour too early for being an hour early is two hours early […]
Orphaned Christmas trees line the footpaths. Some in clear plastic bags. Like palm tree Laura Palmers. Back in Brooklyn. I took a week off after St. Stephen’s Day. I am one year older than I was then. Now I am back at it. Organising band rehearsals is no joke. […]
Advent in Brooklyn Already two bottles of liquor on the counter at Meat Market. Customer appreciation, the Brooklyn-Italian way. It produces a feeling akin to the season’s first airing of ‘Fairytale of New York’. By Christmas week there’ll be nine or ten half empty bottles on the shelf. Hard liquor […]
Fri, Oct 21st 2016 Train 49 Penn Station to Union Station 4.17pm At Penn Station on a Friday afternoon. I forgot about that part. Discomfort. Crowds. Too much luggage. On the train and seated, all is grand again. It emerges alongside the highway. Leaving New York’s Friday traffic in its […]
Photo by Anthony Mulcahy/Mullography Thur, Oct 20th, 2016 Surprise Rockwood Music Hall Gig, Tonight 7pm I have a last minute gig at Rockwood Music Hall tonight at 7pm. This one is a surprise for me too. If you are lingering after work, or enjoying this ridiculous October weather please […]
Thu, Oct 13th, 2016 Listening to Kevin Barry narrating his novel ‘Beatlebone’ on the D train. On the day that Bob Dylan won the nobel prize for literature. Kevin is not on the train. Far as I know. He is in my headphones. It’s a good book. “Time slips”. The Times […]