Often, what inspires me to write is some song or the other playing in the background while I’m doing something else. Last night, for example, I was cooking our Pancake Tuesday dinner and this track from 80’s greats Camper van Beethoven came on the old iPod.
…And if I weren’t a civil servant, I’d have a [...]
Archive for the ‘Britain’ Category
And if I weren’t a civil servant, I’d have a place in the colonies
Ramble up the stairwell, into the hall of books
As I was walking by the university library on my way to lunch today the automatic door slid open, temporarily smothering me in luscious air condition and that particular smell of library. I stopped in my tracks, caught in a Proustian flashback.
I’ve always been most comfortable in libraries. In Junior High school, my best friend and I used [...]
Don’t you see what life here has done to me?
28 Sep 2009 at 22:11
A Free Man
Australia, Britain, Country, Florida, Georgia, USA, expatica, politics
I feel, of late, that I’ve been veering uncontrollably into the Daddy Blogger genre. I guess that’s what a new baby and two weeks of paternity leave will do to a guy. This bothers me a bit, because one of the things that keeps me interested in blogging is trying to write about a wide [...]
And i just wanna stand outside and know that this is right
I love the winter in Australia. It is just mild enough that all you need is a light jacket most days but cool enough that cuddling up next to a roaring fire is not an unreasonable activity. Rather like the British summer.
As an aside, I was listening to a podcast of the daily news on [...]
Come on, save my soul. I need some sugar in my bowl.
Like any good parent, I’m concerned about what I feed my kid. I’m not a zealot, I give the boy an occasional piece of chocolate or one of Dr. O’C’s oatmeal raisin cookies when she deigns to make them. But if there is one thing that I hate it is being screwed over by big [...]
About A Dog
The dog.
He’s sort of the forgotten member of the family these days. Quite literally sometimes when, for example, I stumble over a neglected empty water bowl or remember half an hour before bedtime that he hasn’t been walked. I feel bad for him sometimes, he’s been through a lot – with transcontinental moves and the [...]
I’ve got soul but I’m not a soldier
I’ve often been told that I have the face for radio. In fact, during my first stab at college I was briefly employed as a DJ in a Top 40 radio station in a neighboring town. Actually, I was employed for one whole day. I was hired to man the dials for the early morning [...]
I’m a free born man of the U.S.A.
29 Jan 2009 at 14:22
A Free Man
Australia, Britain, British Artists, Dr. O'C, Irish artists, Music, USA
Do you know what music you want played at your funeral? I do. Not because I’m obsessed with death or anything, far from it. But if you don’t plan for these things some well-meaning relative will play “Goodbye My Lover” by James Frickin’ Blunt or Robbie Williams’ “Angels” or “The Wind Beneath My Wings” for [...]
The Pogues - : Play Now | Play in Popup | Download The Pogues - [2:08m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download The Pogues - [4:49m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadAnd all the fallen leaves filling up shopping bags
The company that I write for has a number of American clients. Yesterday at work two of my co-workers were in my office talking about one of them that is giving us a bit of trouble. One of them said, “Well, you know how the Americans are – rather, ru…”, and then as she glanced [...]
A Free Man’s Top 10 of 2008: No. 4 – Frightened Rabbit – “Midnight Organ Fight” and THE GRAND PRIZE!
Just a reminder of where we’ve been thus far:
10. The Hold Steady – “Stay Positive”
9. The Black Angels – “Directions To See A Ghost”
8. Sun Kil Moon – “April”
7. Frank Turner – “Love, Ire & Song”
6. Vampire Weekend – “Vampire Weekend”
5. Jon and Roy – “Another Noon”
One of the toughest things about living in [...]
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