I got some energy for 2010…
There must be something fundamentally wrong with me; as a human being and I put on this planet for just a flicker of a moment and I behave like this…
There was I, all alone on the top deck of a double decker bus, on new years eve afternoon. I sat in the very front seat when all of a sudden a friendly girl, just a few years older than me, with an accent hard to define, sat in the other front seat opposite me.
She smiled at me as she took her seat and I half smiled back. When she settled into her seat, she kinda leaned over and said “this is beautiful isn’t it?” she could hardly contain her excitement… It kinda took me by surprise.
I looked out and saw grey buildings towering over me, traffic everywhere, people zig-zaging on the pavement. I tried to see the beauty, I replied “its a nice view from up here”, she agreed and her whole persona was poised for a fully fledged conversation. It was at that point, I reached in to my bag and pulled out my Ipod…
I could feel her watching me and I continued to plug my ears despite this innate feeling that it was the most ignorant, ugly thing any human could do in a moment like that.
With my ipod clogging up my ears, I couldn’t shake off this feeling of self disgust, so i put my ipod away and angled for a chin wag.
By that time she had a magazine open on her lap; I noticed it was called “voyage”.
I broke the ice and we had a loose, on & off chat for the duration of the journey across London. She was so excited to be here and had only just arrived from Paris. I told her that I too felt like that when I first came here, but now I’m sort of like a horse with blinders;
She said she feels that way about Paris. We agreed that things always look better when you’re just passing through… and I said “Yep, a rolling stone gathers no moss…”
I then thought to myself how cool it would be to be a rolling stone again, a wanderer, just roaming around from place to place and settling for a while, then moving off when the time felt right.
Imagine if we just followed our every whim and we never settled down… Like if I just went home now, packed my bags and walked out on all that’s familiar and just headed off, just headed off and just went where ever the wind blew me…
Anyway, she got off the bus when we got down south of the river and I said, “Happy new year to you”. She said it to me too. I said I hope its a good one and I really did mean it. She told me that it has already got off to a great start as she has just received the best news ever. She was beaming. I said I hope some of that energy passes over onto me, she raised her two hands over me in jest and said, “I’ll give you some of that energy now!”…
We both laughed and that was the end of our encounter.
I am kind of excited about 2010 now and waiting for my good news…
Kittens in Gozo…
I sat on a wall admiring the view when I was staying in Xaghra. I heard some meowing coming from the hedgerow below. It was very faint and I wasn’t quite sure where it was coming from.
I decided to get a big stick and try to separate the hedgerow to see if i could find where the sound was coming from. As I poked the bushes I heard another cat meowing and realised there was more than one in there somewhere. I wondered if maybe a cat had given birth in there.
A little while later, I spotted a plastic bag off to the left. I poked it with the stick and it felt like there was some meat or something in there. I began to climb down the wall so I could get closer to the bag.
I was then joined by some tourists who asked me what i was doing. They got involved and held onto my arm while I fished out the plastic bag.
I managed to hook it with the stick and put it on the wall. One of the girls opened the knot on top. There were two sheets of newspaper inside which we unwrapped to reveal two tiny kittens clutching onto each other for dear life.
I asked the tourists if there was anywhere we could take them but they said there would be no such place in Gozo. We found a clearing within the hedgerow and lay the newspaper out flat so they could at least breathe freely.
I made the decision to walk away then as I didn’t know what else I could do.
I don’t know their fate after that…
Breadman of Xaghra…
While we were waiting at this bus stop in Xaghra…
We saw the breadman out on his daily delivery.
He drives his van around the town and beeps at every street corner .
The people come out of their houses with bags and buy fresh bread and cakes from him.
Some people didn’t come out, they had left empty bags hanging on a nail outside their front doors and the Breadman filled it up with bread for them to bring inside later.
Dogs of Gozo…
I love dogs.
When I was in Gozo I found myself taking more photos of the dogs than of the scenery. Most of the dogs used to hang out on the roofs of the houses and they would look down at you and give you a few barks as you were walking past just to show who’s boss.
Good Guard Dog - Angry Bark - Xaghra, Gozo
Dog at Dusk - Xaghra, Gozo
The envy of all dogs - Xaghra, Gozo
Best looking dog in the neighbourhood - Xaghra, Gozo
Feisty Dog from afar - Xaghra, Gozo
Cute little dog - Xaghra, Gozo
Dog on Balcony - Xaghra, Gozo
Dog on Balcony, Gozo
Dog on distant Roof - On way to Ramla Bay, Gozo
Clean up after your dog!
Well well well! Look what the sea washed in!…
I was cycling through Peckham on Friday – cycling along the leafy cycle path that leads to the side of that Godforsaken ugly looking thing they call a library – anyway, I look down on the ground and what did I find!!!???
Kinsale…
I’m going to take a trip back to the ol’ sod…. I’ll hop on one of these things:
While I’m waiting in the airport, I’ll sit at the bar, and have a few pints of the loosening juice and read a few pages of my book
The pints always get me in the mood for going out slapping backs in Kinsale after I touch down… First port of call is the Greyhound, have a sniff around, see who’s about… then I’ll get dragged to the Bulman which is a bit of a trek, but the sister’s a big fan of the place and she’s doing the chauffeuring. So off to the Bulman:
If it’s a blustery night, you’ll always feel it over at the Bulman because it sits at the edge of the harbour. A few more pints to get the beer coat on…and if we’re lucky there might be some of this going on:
It’s close to closing, so away back into town, tuck ourselves safely into a pub before last call.
Then if I’ve enough pints in me, I may be persuaded to go to the local nightclub, God forgive me – terrible kip of a place – the white lady, they still have a slow set there where men come up and ask you to dance to the likes of “Unchained Melody” etc. If you go out for a dance with any of the ol’ codgers, you’ll soon be wrestling with more than you bargained for… This is the white lady:
Away home in a taxi – Mike will be driving, he’s sound. He always remembers me and we have great craic driving him mad on the way home. Next morning, I’ll cook Jerry, my Brother one of my world famous breakfasts. After, he will mark it out of ten. I always get about 9 and a half out of 10. He’ll dock me half a mark for the smallest things…just to be annoying. He loves when I come home cuz he gets quality brekkies…
I might take a walk out the old head of Kinsale to clear away the cobwebs:
If my Brother, Johnny is in from sea, he might give me a tuna like he did the last time:
If not, I’ll head into fishy fishy:
This place is amazing. They have the best food in the world. I might go for something like this:
Might have a pint of Kinsale Lager to keep it company in me belly:
They say that Kinsale lager doesn’t have any chemicals in it, so you can drink it to your hearts content without getting a hangover.
Did you know that a giant lived in Kinsale once? His name was Patrick Cotter O’ Brien and he was born in 1760. His shoe is inside in the museum in Kinsale. I don’t know where his other shoe is. He was eight foot and three inches and was the tallest man in the world at the time. When he was 18, a travelling showman discovered him working as a bricklayer and brought him to England to star in his “freak of nature” show.
There you have it…
The Confession Box…
This morning, I would have caught the train if I was two seconds faster.
That’s no word of a lie and not one bit of an exaggeration… two seconds
The train selfishly departed from the platform without me being inside it. I looked on after it in well contained bitterness.
There were sparks coming off from underneath the last coach of the train (this is common on London trains)…
I said to myself: ”I hope it blows up”…
…sorry.
I’m glad it didn’t blow up now…
