As many of us face once more into the remote working breach, continuing to bid a prolonged and indefinite ‘A bientôt!’ to watercooler chat and after-work drinks, I find myself mourning but also interrogating the hallowed structures that defined my pre-lockdown working life. One of these was my caffeine dependence: an intense and unwavering obsession… Continue reading A Drop in the Ocean: Boiling it Down – The Uncomfortable Truth of my Caffeine Addiction
I always believed the Internet was essentially “green”. Online resources like OneDrive save trees and the need to print, video conferencing – as we are all now acutely aware – prevents millions of miles of air travel, while the Internet’s connectivity has emboldened global climate activism. Our digital lexicon – words like “cloud”, “web”, “lightweight”… Continue reading A Drop in the Ocean: Lightening my Online Footprint, one Unsubscribe Button at a Time
I may be someone who religiously keeps a slab of chocolate on their bedside locker (and thus someone who regularly has trouble sleeping and/or terrible nightmares for no discernible reason). Easter is therefore a much-anticipated event for me – a welcome respite from closeted snacking and a foray into full-frontal, unapologetic feasting, unfettered by the… Continue reading A Drop in the Ocean: Carbon and the Chocolate Factory
My fitbit has given me eczema. Pneumonia has allegedly given me asthma - I have an inhaler now and it seems incongruous with everything else I think about myself. I am wearing pink jeans that are too tight to make any kind of movement comfortable. I cannot bend down, sit down, squat down, come down… Continue reading Groundhog Daze: I felt restless so I gave myself bangs
Watching Little Women while attempting to eat pizza should qualify for a new Olympic sport. Attempting to swallow molten mozzarella while choking back sobs is, I believe, a feat of Herculean strength. Just an observation I've had. The solitary hair sprouting from the corner of my right upper lip is still very much there, doing… Continue reading Groundhog Daze: How Future Holly will make Past Holly proud
I wish I was the kind of person who knew how to correctly apportion food. Tonight, I swore I only wanted a snack, a nibble, just a few bird-like mouthfuls of Sunday's roast skewered together in perfect symphonic harmony and somehow I ended up with a plate the size of a small child. I said… Continue reading Groundhog Daze: The Roast Dinner Conundrum: how many scoops of mash does a monster make?
For the past week I have had the troubling sensation of feeling there is a hair in my mouth. Curled around my lip and into the cavernous vortex of my gob, a rogue follicle is rakishly entangling itself in my food until the moment of mastication when it detaches, like a lover who's just heard… Continue reading Groundhog Daze: Mary, Mary, surprisingly hairy, how does your moustache grow?
You know that Tame Impala song, "feels like we only go backwards"? Well, word on the deserted city streets is Tony Holohan has started a secret petition to make it our new anthem-elect until 2047 when all of this shite ends and we remember what it is to shake hands and walk up to a… Continue reading Groundhog Daze: Blah like Enda Kenny
18.10.20 I didn't go for the morning run I said I would. Instead. I turned over and waited for the cat, curled away from the crook of my knee-calf, to sense that I was awake and begin purring. He did and I rewarded his love with the stroke scratch tickle we can never truly know… Continue reading Almost as it was before
UPDATED, SEPTEMBER 16th: Following yesterday's announcement, I've attached a new letter to send to TDs and relevant ministers about the government's decision to take in a grand total of FOUR unaccompanied minors. FOUR. COpy and paste from below to show that IRELAND WELCOMES REFUGEES. Subject: Unacceptable Response to Lesvos Crisis - Ireland Must Welcome Refugees… Continue reading Further love letters to MEPs and TDs about deteriorating crisis on Lesvos/Calais
Earnest & Ethereal 