"I was born in sixty-seven, the year of Sergeant Pepper, And Are You Experienced..." (© Porcupine Tree). I've decided to do an Iron Man race before I turn fifty. Not so much a rage against the dying of the light, as being slightly miffed at the brevity of the sunset. That, and I've noticed I'm holding jars at arm's length in order to read the labels.
Dad died on January 24th last year, and we said our goodbyes a few days later, on Saturday 28th in St. Mary’s Church in Leixlip. And on Easter Saturday just gone, we bid him a final farewell when we scattered his ashes on Three Rock, about a mile from where he grew up in Ticknock, … More The Scattering
IN WHICH WE TAKE A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE. NO, I MEAN AN ACTUAL LANE. AND THERE A LOT OF MEMORIES. SO YES, IT’S AN ACTUAL TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE… The magnolia is out next door. It’s a sure-fire sign of Spring, though full disclosure: I don’t really like magnolia trees. Not sure why; they … More A trip down memory lane
“Ring the bells that still can ringForget your perfect offeringThere is a crack, a crack in everythingThat’s how the light gets in.” AnthemLeonard Cohen Despite the rather ominous look of this picture, the overall outlook is more amber-to-green, rather than red. It’s just that the traffic lights they installed at the top of the Avenue … More That is how the light gets in…
The above picture is a cunning segue from the end of the last post. Can you see it? No. Can you be arsed to work it out? Also no. It’s okay. I’ll tell you. Just as a by the by, this is not actually a lake; it’s a flooded meadow – a deliberate act by … More Your pain cave
It is counter-intuitive for any of us who have ever run a race, but there is one running competition where in order to win, you must finish last. It does seem, on the face of it, like some manner of cunning riddle that Gollum may have pitched to Bilbo Baggins in the caves under the … More Last but not least
There is not much to report from unironedmanland. Although, on the plus side, there has been some progress in terms of rehab. I am happy to report that I can now put on both shoes AND socks without the aid of another human being. It’s a form of elevated/single leg squat/lunge that I think I … More Pootling
My recent injury is giving me a taste of old age. Since my tumble off my roof and subsequent convalescence, I have had to rethink a few basics. And other things were completely out of the picture. The obvious items that were struck off the list included work, music and running. With a fractured L1 … More All hail the opposable thumb…
It does occur to me that the title of this blog, whilst it trips off the tongue for me like the Lord’s Prayer or the first twenty elements of the periodic table, may not resonate with everyone in the same fashion. But then, not everyone grew up in a household where their Mum spent every … More Ladies and gentlemen, play is suspended…
“Toss me a cigarette, I think there’s one in my raincoat”“We smoked the last one an hour ago”So I looked at the scenery, she read her magazineAnd the moon rose over an open field… AmericaSimon and Garfunkel That song was written the year before I was born. It’s an absolute, certifiable classic, and for many, … More A measure of time…
To be honest, that was just the first thing that popped into my head. I know it’s an old Clint Eastwood film, and I have seen it, many moons ago, but it just happens to have ‘misty’ in the title, and I had a long run this morning, and it was misty. Look, I never … More Play misty for me
unironedman 