What happens when you catch snatches of conversations in New York – you might not always like what you hear
Russian Doll and the fantasy of the life do-over
What would you do if you could live life all over again?
Are we there yet? Sharon Van Etten’s ‘Seventeen’, a disappearing Dublin, and me
On my way to and from work, no matter which way I travel – by busy Luas or slightly-rushed foot – I pass building sites. A new layer to Dublin is being built before my eyes, or sometimes, like with the former Camden Street dingy hostel that’s to become a Wetherspoon’s Hotel, is being assembled…
The unexpected tenderness of Salt Fat Acid Heat
There’s a moment in the first episode of the Netflix series Salt Fat Acid Heat when an Italian baker in the Liguria region gently smooths olive oil over a rectangular lump of dough, his palms slowly sweeping up and down the future loaf of focaccia. Then, he takes three fingers and lightly presses them into…
Paris in black & white
Paris is grey. Aged stone of different shades of grey. It’s buildings that have seen history happen around them and which wear their ages well. It’s skinny rues and wide avenues, and puddles on uneven streets. Cafés with wicker chairs gathered around small tables with ashtrays on them, sweating under plastic canopies. The cafés always seem…
Short story: Beara
I went on a trip to the Beara Peninsula with two of my best friends – the bad bitches Kim and Vicky – two years ago. We stayed in a gorgeous old house that opened at the back onto the sea (they filmed Ondine next door, a few years earlier) and ate breakfast watching the boats pull…
All of the lights: Adventures in Vietnam
Thoughts on a trip to Vietnam with my sisters.
This is why Mystery Show is so damn great
‘You are full of information’, a stranger tells Starlee Kine in the most recent episode of her podcast Mystery Show. Listening to this line (from case number six, ‘Kotter’, about a guy who wants to discover the meaning behind the animation on the cover of a lunchbox) while sitting on the train to Dublin, watching the sheep-scattered dull green…
What I think about when I think about thinking about running
I started running almost 18 months ago. If you think my next sentence is going to be: ‘So now I’m training for my first half marathon, after doing six 10ks and a handful of 5ks’, well, my friend, you have more faith in me than I do. I’ve racked up a grand total of two 5k…
A six-pack of reasons why you should go see Magic Mike XXL immediately
The plot of Magic Mike XXL is so barely-there that you could fit it in one tweet and still have enough characters left to create a witty hashtag: And yet, what appears at first glance to be a flimsy thong of a movie (a follow-up to 2012’s Magic Mike, which had arty Steven Soderberg at the helm) is so…
Sweet Oblivion 