“I laid my heart open to the benign indifference of the universe”. To feel the incongruity of the book’s situation, you have to feel what Mersault seems to refuse to: empathy. With a reader’s empathy you follow his thought and actions with a sense of understanding, and allow yourself to be as confused and blinded…
Up and down, so it goes. repeat something often enough, it becomes a mantra. The good with the bad. i wrote a song about acknowledging in a time of loss that good things can happen. The cold winter earth harbours the bursting buds of Spring. Listen:: [audio:http://donalkelly.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/wonderfulThings.mp3|titles=Wonderful Things] Recorded simply in one take with Audacity,…
Is the need for people to be secure not undermined by their right to buy guns? It is happening again. Another unhinged slaying of innocents. Another school, another young man unleashing a shocking expression of hate and anger. A scarily familiar news story emerging in its horrible details that resolve from vague guesses to real…
A short short story about two small brats and one big hill. Serena and Andrew were 7 and 8 years old, respectively, when they climbed the mountain. It took them a full day to get to the top and when they made it they sat down and cried and cried. In the beginning, they both…
At my desk I always tried to have a few black pens, a pencil, ruler, eraser. In between or after getting through some book corrections before the kids arrived I created doodled away at some exercises, mostly to focus myself on what I wanted to cover and what students of some class should/could know. Each…
The trees are in their autumn beauty , (Check) The woodland paths are dry, (Check) Under the October twilight the water Mirrors a still sky; (check) Upon the brimming water among the stones Are nine-and-fifty swans. (No swans- so close!) Coole Park is still beautiful, even without the swans. This photo is a stitch of three…
(An amateur’s ode to winter training in the lull before it should start) To help kick-start the winter training period after the 2012 racing season, the Galway Bay cycling club organized to have one of the top Irish cyclists of his generation, David O’ Loughlin from Cong, Mayo, to go through some of the nutrition…
LISTEN!: [audio:http://donalkelly.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/GoodTogether.mp3|titles=Good Together] Another day, another song. This time I returned to Audacity, downloaded the latest version along with the package of plugins and the decoders (to export mp3s). I used Fruityloops to create a basic rhythm track after I had played around with the song structure. I wanted to have a feel of change…
Rainy Day in Renvyle Rain sweeps across the wide open, Clouds rolling in from the west, Tears from the sky set in motion Blown by a wind that won’t rest. Ceaseless the changes chase over, The shelterless landscape at speed. Soft underfoot grows the clover. Soft as a heart full of need. It’s hard to…
Rain tumbles down. From the swift clouds that scrape over the maamturks it pours onto the boggy land below. The wipers of the aging Peugeot van snicksnack across the windscreen as I drive the winding road north from Oughterard. With no radio reception, I try a CD but the speakers are tinny and irritating. Visibility…
July 15th, 08:00, Busan, Korea. Torrential morning. Last morning. Feels like no plane could get up out of this rain. But bags to pack and a bike to box, already hot and sticky and late. Time for a haircut? Up first for breakfast, and then a couple of hours of folding, loosening, taping, stressing, and…
It feels colder than the reports, the promises of July burdened by skies of rain and mist. The summer has dragged I’m told, a few spits of kind soft green weather between the canopies of grey. Still, the beauty is there, if under a soggy morning’s breath you choose to step onto the earth. Hopes…
Rain is hammering down outside, striking its damp intricate melody on the cacophony of roofs and streets. How could it be rainy season again? Where did the year go? The shapeless sprawl of Busan took a long time to imprint its layout, and deliver me from following scribbled notes of subway stations and getting off…
The long span, a slice of sky stretched from border to border, time ticked by a bird’s wing on the wind. Morning shuffling from door to door, knocking quietly with soft insistent knuckles, on the heads of the dream-enclosed. Spring has been chewing for a while, and finally it is getting to grips with the…
The scale of information on the Internet is exploding. But can it be harnessed to deliver quality education, and can this make it to the concrete classroom? If one teacher can give 91 million lessons… then yes it Khan. If it can be known, then it’s probably on Wikipedia. If it can be shown, it’s…
Justin is sleepy. His head droops over his desk as I begin to run through the new vocabulary. Behind him Sean has yet to take out a book, bag still on his shoulders and cheeky nonplussed smile on his face. Alice and Holly are already interested and repeat the words loudly. it’s five fifty-five on…
I shouldn’t have watched three episodes. One was enough. I should have gone to bed then. Now it’s after one. Too awake, but need to sleep. Wednesday tomorrow, only midweek. If I sleep late I wake late and I’ll be in a late cycle again. Brush teeth, wash face. Mouthwash empty, must buy some more.…
Before the Match It is 12:30. Three hours ahead in New Zealand it is 3:30, and counting down inexorably to a historical kick-off. Two celtic teams stand at the entrance to a sacred arena: a place in the rugby world cup semi-finals. Not since 1991 when Scotland beat Samoa was there such an opportunity. Scotland…
Tilted Hindered by passing breezes Not trying to cause a fuss of course Just Sneezes Rhythm upset I’ll get there yet Not trying to make a scene you know Just Woolgathering Mossrolling Dustgrowing Oldening Closefoldening I’m not trying to upset anyone right now I’m just endlessly circling prey that won’t die For in the vulturesphere…
Finally started to use FruityLoops to work a bit more than vocals and acoustic into a track. Hard to keep it sounding smooth, but it does make for a far more complete sound. Here goes nothing. This is the result of a long day and then some, hopefully it has something of worth in it…