Washing my feet in the sink
The nephew came in with bare feet. He had been wearing no socks and a generous coating of dirt covered his toes. “Look at my feet!” ”You’ll need to wash them.” ”I have had a shower already.” ”Well, wash them in the sink.” ”How do you wash your feet in the sink?” “You stand on one leg and lift your … [continue reading …]
No longer Pope, but still refusing to face the truth
Perhaps it is a case of dementia, perhaps it is a case of a man who devoted his life to an institution being unable to cope with it crumbling away, perhaps it is just a matter of a bloody-minded old man who cannot accept he was wrong – but former-Pope Benedict is still telling lies. The BBC report on Benedict’s … [continue reading …]
Gardening delight
Voltaire’s classic novel Candide concludes with the words, “let us cultivate our garden.” There has been a discussion of what great fortune Candide has enjoyed, a noting of however bad things might have been at times, everything has turned out for the good. Candide accepts that he has met with extraordinary luck and has arrived at a point of great happiness … [continue reading …]
TELEGRAPHIC TRANSFER NOTICE ,
This was spammed by Google. It is very amateurish. Zenith Bank (UK) Ltd 39 Cornhill London EC3V 3ND United Kingdom tel: +44 70 8646 8527 Fax:+447043071539 Dear Esteemed Customer, TELEGRAPHIC TRANSFER NOTICE. We are hereby officially notify you concerning your fund Telegraphic Transfer through our bank, Zenith Bank (UK) Ltd United Kingdom, to your bank account, which has been officially … [continue reading …]
Leaving nonsense unchallenged
A photograph of The Limekiln Inn appeared on Instagram. It’s a pub outside of the village of Long Sutton. In my younger days it was known as “the rock,” now it’s more a restaurant than a pub. Its skittle alley has been absorbed into the main building, providing more space for diners. Such is the way of the licensed trade … [continue reading …]
Israel Folau shouldn’t have been sacked
Speaking in defence of equal rights for gay and lesbian people has often not been an easy endeavour. Participating in a BBC Northern Ireland radio programme in September 2011 in defence of a colleague’s right to have entered a civil partnership earlier that year brought hostile emails and letters. The fact that BBC had to telephone a cleric deep in … [continue reading …]
A realistic wish list
“Global issues” has been the geography topic for the term. Climate change, population growth, pollution and the use of plastics have been among the areas covered. The Millennium Development Goals were reviewed before we considered the Sustainable Development Goals that were adopted in 2015. The list of seventeen goals was dutifully written down by the students, with the odd supplementary … [continue reading …]
Learning the trade
Talking about the rise of the East Street Band to worldwide success, Bruce Springsteen tells of the years of hard work and anonymity the band went through. He talks about the concerts played in halls to audiences of fifty people or less and how such experiences shape a band, about failure being part of the path to the status the … [continue reading …]
Settling the account
This story was expanded from a piece of flash fiction. It was entered for this year’s RTÉ Francis McManus Short Story Competition. The evening classes at the college gave her the opportunity. It was a computing class that had taught her to use the Internet, something of which she had been frightened. It had been the stories in the papers … [continue reading …]