Author Archives: niall

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on pause

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After a reasonably busy time at work and outside of work this last week has been a time of slowing down and taking things very easy.

As the cost of living increases and the news is full of dire warnings of inflation, energy hikes and possible food shortages it seems like everyone is hunkering down and keeping their cash close. This has resulted in a very, very quiet week at work. Speaking to reps this seems to be the story countrywide so nothing to worry about just yet. After all, living through the horrors of a war would be so much worse…

After an early spring and the tease of summer temperatures Mother Nature hit us a painful slap this week with a mid week storm and wintery conditions to top it off. Yesterday’s morning commute was in heavy snow showers with heavy hailstorms at various times through the day with a final serving of sub zero overnight temperatures. Apart from a beach walk on Sunday and one mid week trip to the woods to test drive a new pair of boots I’ve hardly been out the door. The little voice that had started longingly reminding me of warm evenings on the bike has slunk back into his corner and hidden under a mound of blankets. I think Wordle has been about as strenuous as it’s been all week…

life’s a beach

i hope summer boots weren’t too optimistic!

snowy errigal yesterday © john dyer via donegal weather channel

The pause has resulted in lots of reading and I’m almost TV’d out. Tomorrow is the end of the week and some weirdos consider it the start of a new week. For me it’s a day off, I think I need to make use of it and maybe hit play again…

the cold dish

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The Cold Dish (Walt Longmire #1) by Craig Johnson

From Goodreads:

Walt Longmire, sheriff of Wyoming’s Absaroka County, knows he’s got trouble when Cody Pritchard is found dead. Two years earlier, Cody and three accomplices had been given suspended sentences for raping a Northern Cheyenne girl. Is someone seeking vengeance? Longmire faces one of the more volatile and challenging cases in his twenty-four years as sheriff and means to see that revenge, a dish that is best served cold, is never served at all.

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I’ve been watching the TV series (Longmire) based on these books over the last few months and having totally finished the series I decided to give the original books a try. Overall I’m very impressed and think they will get even better as they go.

It’s obvious to see the influences of the book on the TV show but there are many differences between the characters in terms of personality, description and even their back story. It took me a little while to get used to this especially with the TV characters so visible in my mind but the quality of the writing and the great story building soon swept me along.

The ending really caught me out, I was worried that I would guess from the TV show but it’s definitely very different. If you watched the TV show then I’d definitely recommend the books. If you haven’t then I’d still recommend them and the show both!

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wild winter

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Wild Winter by John D Burns and read by Stewart Crank.

From Audible:

In Wild Winter, John D. Burns, best-selling author of The Last Hillwalker and Bothy Tales, sets out to rediscover Scotland’s mountains, remote places and wildlife in the darkest and stormiest months. He traverses the country from the mouth of the River Ness to the Isle of Mull, from remote Sutherland to the Cairngorms, in search of rutting red deer, pupping seals, minke whales, beavers, pine martens, mountain hares, and otters. In the midst of the fierce weather, John’s travels reveal a habitat in crisis, and many of these wild creatures prove elusive as they cling on to life in the challenging Highland landscape.

As John heads deeper into the winter, he notices the land fighting back with signs of regeneration. He finds lost bothies, old friendships and innovative rewilding projects, and – as Covid locks down the nation – reflects on what the outdoors means to hillwalkers, naturalists and the folk who make their home in the Highlands.

Wild Winter is a reminder of the wonder of nature and the importance of caring for our environment. In his winter journey through the mountains and bothies of the Highlands, John finds adventure, humour and a deep sense of connection with this wild land.

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is a beautifully written and really well narrated book. I absolutely loved listening to it and it felt way too short.

The author has an amazing talent for describing outdoor scenes and environments. His skill takes you away from your current location and firmly plants you in the spot he is describing. His love of the outdoor life and his passion for the Scottish Highlands is evident all the way through and is inspiring.

Not only does he take us to the Highlands but he allows us a glimpse of the strong friendships he has built since childhood and the struggle he had coping with the lockdown at the start of Covid.

This is a hugely positive and uplifting book and definitely my favourite audiobook so far.

Header image source: fossbytes.com

song of the week 12: it’s my life

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“It’s My Life” by Bon Jovi

  • Genre: Pop Rock/Arena Rock
  • Single Release Date: May 2000
  • Album: “Crush”

Described as a relaunch of Bon Jovi this is the best known song by the band after their major success in the 1980s. It hit Number 1 on multiple charts and reintroduced the band to a much younger audience.

To me it harks back to the original hits of the 80s but with a more mature and positive vibe. There’s a very obvious reference to “Livin’ On a Prayer” but I also find more subtle references to other hits and albums that I really liked as well as a totally out of place homage to Frank Sinatra!

Lyrics

This ain’t a song for the broken-hearted
No silent prayer for faith-departed

And I ain’t gonna be just a face in the crowd
You’re gonna hear my voice when I shout it out loud

It’s my life
It’s now or never
But I ain’t gonna live forever
I just want to live while I’m alive
(It’s my life)
My heart is like an open highway
Like Frankie said, “I did it my way”
I just want to live while I’m alive
It’s my life

Yeah, this is for the ones who stood their ground
For Tommy and Gina, who never backed down

Tomorrow’s getting harder, make no mistake
Luck ain’t even lucky, got to make your own breaks

It’s my life
And it’s now or never
I ain’t gonna live forever
I just want to live while I’m alive
(It’s my life)
My heart is like an open highway
Like Frankie said, “I did it my way”
I just want to live while I’m alive
‘Cause it’s my life

Better stand tall when they’re calling you out
Don’t bend, don’t break, baby, don’t back down

It’s my life
And it’s now or never
‘Cause I ain’t gonna live forever
I just want to live while I’m alive
(It’s my life)
My heart is like an open highway
Like Frankie said, “I did it my way”
I just want to live while I’m alive

And it’s now or never
I ain’t gonna live forever
I just want to live while I’m alive
(It’s my life)
My heart is like an open highway
Like Frankie said, “I did it my way”
I just want to live while I’m alive
‘Cause it’s my life

Header image from 8Tracks.com

the longest walk

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20miles, 32 kilometres, it doesn’t sound like an awful lot but that was my target for Wednesday. Back in 2012 I did my longest ever walk at 30.5km on The Bluestack Challenge along part of the Bluestack Way from Glenties to Lough Eske. That was an organised walk and over some hilly terrain. Since then I’ve done some longish walks in the 15-20km area and last year walked a half marathon for the first time since 2012. A few weeks ago I repeated that same walk and pushed it out to 25km.

Since then it’s been rattling around in my head to push on and beat my personal best. I’ve been walking a bit extra this month as part of the fundraiser for the Irish Community Air Ambulance and I wanted to finish March with a big one. I’ve also been listening to a few audiobooks recently on the Pacific Crest Trail and Appalachian Trail and was inspired to put in one of their days. One of the big milestones for those thru-hikers is their first 20mile day so 32km became my new target, albeit without the 15kg backpack!

I walked a very similar route to the other two days linked above but with variations to increase the distance. It was all on roads, some of which were very familiar but I also managed to find roads I’ve never been on before and yet so close to home. I was surprised by the variety of landscapes that I saw and just how quickly they changed. I had great weather, cold and breezy at times but dry all day. I had a great time and despite the throbbing knees and ankles had a massive sense of achievement at the end.

beautiful birch at lunch stop

(For some reason this video has uploaded in a low resolution version and I can’t work out why, yet another thing to learn.)

So what is the next challenge? I guess the next logical step is to walk the full marathon distance which is 42km. I already have a route pencilled out for that and I’m investigating a 50km route also. That one will require a long dry day in summer and it’s probably the absolute maximum limit for me for a single day walk. I’m going to enjoy the current achievement for a while but also enjoy making plans…

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borderlands

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Borderlands (Inspector Devlin #1) by Brian McGilloway

From Goodreads:

The corpse of local teenager Angela Cashell is found on the Tyrone-Donegal border, between the North and South of Ireland, in an area known as the Borderlands. Garda Inspector Benedict Devlin heads the investigation: the only clues are a gold ring placed on the girl’s finger and an old photograph, left where she died.

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is the author’s debut novel and is a great read. It’s set very close to me. Lifford and Strabane are 15-20min from home and it was a little bit creepy reading a murder story set like this. Some of the locations and names have been changed slightly which created a slight discomfort when reading but nothing to detract from the overall enjoyment of the book.

The storyline is very good and very well structured. I enjoyed the descriptions of complexity of how the police work right on the border and sometimes across the border. It’s nice to see a book using Northern Ireland as a location without dwelling on politics or The Troubles.

The characters were good. Inspector Devlin is the main character and I look forward to seeing how he develops. I found the female characters very badly developed (Devlin’s wife Debbie in particular was frustratingly weak) so I hope that improves as the author’s writing skills mature through the rest of the series.

The author taught in St. Columbs College, Derry for 18 years. He wrote this book in 2007. I worked there in 2001/2002 as a Science teacher and he does look familiar. I’m not sure if I’m just trying to find a connection but there’s a good chance we worked there at the same time and may even have spoken in the staff room. I’ll take it as a celebrity interaction regardless!

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the searcher

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The Searcher by Tana French

From Goodreads:

Retired detective Cal Hooper moves to a remote village in rural Ireland. His plans are to fix up the dilapidated cottage he’s bought, to walk the mountains, to put his old police instincts to bed forever.

Then a local boy appeals to him for help. His brother is missing, and no one in the village, least of all the police, seems to care. And once again, Cal feels that restless itch.

Something is wrong in this community, and he must find out what, even if it brings trouble to his door.

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The author has written a few books before this one but this is a standalone book. It’s my first time reading her stuff and over all I enjoyed it. The relationship between Cal and Trey is well done and they are excellent focal characters for the story. The supporting characters of Mart, Noleen and Lena are also good although Mart’s country shtick gets a bit irritating at times.

The storyline was a good concept with Cal being reluctantly dragged into investigating the disappearance of Trey’s brother. However, the lack of material being based in a small rural village meant that it became a bit repetitive and dragged on occasion as the author seemed to struggle to move the story forward.

This was good enough to make me want to read more by this author. She has a series based around a murder squad based in Dublin that sounds interesting.

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song of the week 11: abcdefu

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“ABCDEFU” by Gayle

  • Genre: Pop Rock/Pop Punk
  • Single Release Date: August 2021
  • EP: “A Study of the Human Experience Volume One”

This has been released for quite some time now but for some reason I’m only hearing it recently. It must have just hit the Irish charts though as it’s on a lot. When you read or listen to the lyrics it won’t be a surprise that there is an alternative radio version!

I simply love the anger in this song and it starts from the very first word. So many breakup songs are moany, winging, sad pieces of drivel but this just says it as it is…

Fuck you and your mom and your sister and your job…

She’s going for the full on Rock and Roll chick too. She intentionally broke her middle finger in March 2021 and the hospital x-ray image is used as the cover art for the EP.

Lyrics

Fuck you and your mom and your sister and your job
And your broke-ass car and that shit you call art
Fuck you and your friends that I’ll never see again
Everybody but your dog, you can all fuck off

I swear I meant to mean the best when it ended
Even tried to bite my tongue when you start shit
Now you’re textin’ all my friends asking questions
They never even liked you in the first place
Dated a girl that I hate for the attention
She only made it two days, what a connection
It’s like you’d do anything for my affection
You’re goin’ all about it in the worst ways

I was into you, but I’m over it now
And I was tryin’ to be nice
But nothing’s getting through, so let me spell it out

A-B-C-D-E, F-U
And your mom and your sister and your job
And your broke-ass car and that shit you call art
Fuck you and your friends that I’ll never see again
Everybody but your dog, you can all fuck off

Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah
A-B-C-D-E, F-U

You said you just needed space and so I gave it
When I had nothin’ to say you couldn’t take it
Told everyone I’m a bitch, so I became it
Always had to put yourself above me

I was into you, but I’m over it now
And I was tryin’ to be nice
But nothing’s getting through, so let me spell it out

A-B-C-D-E, F-U
And your mom and your sister and your job
And your craigslist couch and the way your voice sounds
Fuck you and your friends that I’ll never see again
Everybody but your dog, you can all fuck off

Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah
A-B-C-D-E, F-U
Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah
A-B-C-D-E, F-U

And your mom and your sister and your job
And your broke-ass car and that shit you call art
Fuck you and your friends that I’ll never see again
Everybody but your dog, you can all fuck off

Header image from 8Tracks.com

what a difference a day makes…

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Just in case that’s not enough to implant an earworm have a listen to this….

The lyrics are also very appropriate for what I want to write about:

What a difference a day makes
24 little hours
Brought the sun and the flowers
Where there used to be rain


My yesterday was blue, dear
Today I’m a part of you, dear
My lonely nights are through, dear
Since you said you were mine


What a difference a day makes
There’s a rainbow before me
Skies above can’t be stormy
Since that moment of bliss, that thrilling kiss
It’s heaven when you find romance on your menu
What a difference a day made
And the difference is you

Out for a walk in one of the local forests this evening I was ruminating on how fickle mental health really is and how little it takes to swing it up or down.

I had a busy schedule yesterday that started at 9:30am with a trip to the nurse to have bloods taken followed by the dentist at 10:30am. I was in reasonably good form getting up and heading out, the weather was sunny, dry and verging on warm. However, I descended into a pretty crappy funk. I could almost physically feel a gloom settling over me. I was sitting in the dentist’s waiting room and it was as if the nurse had punctured my well of good humour and it started draining out just under an hour later. For many simply being in the vicinity of a dentist would be enough to kill any good mood but this was a very short, routine appointment to have a mouthguard fitted and wasn’t to blame. In fact there really was nothing to blame, it just happened like someone throwing a dust sheet over my mind and saying that’s it for feeling happy for a while….

I got through the dental appointment and the rest of the day’s schedule but everything was that extra bit more difficult. I’m sure anyone that dealt with me yesterday probably thought I was a real miserable arse but I was working hard to be my best. Despite the perfect weather though I couldn’t summon enough motivation to go for a walk or a cycle. This is a real shame as there will be plenty of times when the motivation is there and the opportunity isn’t or the weather isn’t as perfect.

I went to bed feeling slightly better and was back in work today. I had a busy and productive day and didn’t really have time to dwell on much but I was making sure I was distracted enough too. Getting home this evening I delighted the dog by heading straight out to the forest for a 5K walk finishing just as darkness fell. Just like yesterday descending gloom I could feel it lifting through the day to finish feeling much better and much clearer in my head.

It’s not the first time I’ve felt “The Black Dog” sniffing around like this but it’s definitely the first time I’ve felt it come on like that. I’m thankful it was short-lived and I’m grateful I don’t have to fight through very many days like that. Many, many people have to face that fight day after endless day…

the eye of the world

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The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time #1) by Robert Jordan

From Goodreads:

The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.

The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and go, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. In the Third Age, an Age of Prophecy, the World and Time themselves hang in the balance. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

When The Two Rivers is attacked by Trollocs-a savage tribe of half-men, half-beasts- five villagers flee that night into a world they barely imagined, with new dangers waiting in the shadows and in the light.

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Having recently watched and enjoyed the Amazon TV adaptation of The Wheel of Time I was inspired to go back and read the original books for probably the 5th time! It has been a long time since I’ve read the earliest ones though and I’m finding details now that I missed before.

Starting this series is a serious investment of time as there are 12 instalments in total and each is well over 10 hours reading time.

Some of the themes and characters of this story are simplistic and dated by now but this is the start of one of the most epic stories in the fantasy genre. To me it is a brilliant blend of many different themes and story elements from the best that fantasy has to offer. I’m going to enjoy reading them all again, even the difficult ones!

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