#MusicMonday - A lil bit of NornIron

This week's music recommendation comes all the way from the same lovely island as myself.

Derry-born Bridie Monds-Watson has a voice that you won't forget, and at the age of 18 it's clear that she has a long bright future ahead of her.

This song has been doing the rounds for a few years after she wrote it at just 14(!), but it's finally getting some recognition. Enjoy - and if you like it, get it on iTunes here.

Missed the previous #MusicMonday posts? > Click here to catch up <

Sunday Reads - #GrabAChair

Feels good to be back in ol' New York City again, albeit for 5 days. The weather is cold, the breakfasts are mighty fine and the subways are still controlled by the Rat King. 

I've been hanging out with friends & putting some things in order before I fly back to Europe this week, which will entail four more flights and thus, a lot more reading. 

And on that note, here is some additional material for your eyeballs' pleasure:

• ...on archiving the Internet (The New Yorker)
• ...on having a stroke at age 33 (Buzzfeed - this is an actual article, believe me)
• ...on fancy toast & so much more (PS Mag - an oldie but if you haven't read this article, stop everything and do it)
• ...on tipping and why it sucks (Esquire)
• ...on our brains & religion (Salon)

PICK OF THE WEEK: The Code: A declassified and unbelievable hostage rescue story (The Verge)

BONUS - some beautiful auditory sounds to accompany your reading, by Sea Oleena.

#ThrowbackThursday - Ranch Life in British Columbia

Ranch-runner Fiona connects with her horse

Stormy skies

Humming bird on the ranch balcony

#redwillowranch

A weekly treat - doughnuts from Tim Hortons! <3

#MusicMonday - Put Em Up

Last summer in Portland, we (the Alley Art krew) were hanging out at an impromptu Portugal. The Man gig. After a few drinks, I worked up the courage to go and talk to John Gourley, one of the members of PTM, about possibly showing up at our #alleyartPDX event the next day. 

He graciously listened and wrote down our details, explaining that he'd likely be on a flight to California the next day but he'd try and make it. His friend at the table introduced himself, Brandon, and said he was also a musician and would try to stop by and enjoy the artistic collaboration. I thanked both of them, and later in the night I bumped into Brandon again and we exchanged cards. 

The next day came and went without a visit from either gent (actually it was a rainy Sunday, and our least-attended event on the tour. Boo Portland, boo). We rolled out of town and headed towards Montana/Minnesota, listening to our roadtrip CDs. 

On one of those CDs was a little song called Weekend by Priory, a band from Portland. After we left Portland, I decided to look up Priory online and see what other songs they had, if they had an album etc... I found photos of the twosome and realised, "holy crap it's that guy Brandon from the bar in Portland!"

Brandon Rush, right, & Kyle Sears

Since then I've been following their rise with a performance on Jimmy Kimmel and an EP released last autumn. This song, Put Em Up, is from that EP and is currently on my list of favourite jams: 

Sunday Reads - #GrabAChair

It's Sunday, really? Already?!

Jeez that week flew by. Last week I was in Panama volun-working at a beach hostel and now I'm 850km north in Costa Rica. At a better beach but not working this time. Just a few more days until I begin the long trek home to Europe.

During the week, I continued to plough through a ton of old articles I saved to Pocket in 2013, and here are a couple more reads for you...

• ...on survival in the cold Atlantic Ocean (NY Times Magazine) [disclosure, this made me cry]
• ...on genes, and how our bodies change according to our social settings (PS Mag)
• ...on how Disney helped an autistic child communicate (NY Times)
• ...on life lessons for your 30's (MarkManson)
• ...on one day as an Uber driver (GQ)

Pick of the Week: How to stop caring what other people think (and listen to yourself instead) (Wait But Why)

Missed last week's post? Click here to catch up.

#ThrowbackThursday - Taroko Gorge, Taiwan

Despite no drivers licence, I rented a scooter close to Taroko & drove out solo one misty morning in November 2013

The park is huge, it's very easy to get lost in. Tiny houses & temples dot the landscape (Nov 2013)

Colour & Shapes (Nov 2013) 

I won't lie - I couldn't wait to get off these bridges! They were super weak & looked like they would break with a strong wind. I crossed them and sat for about an hour waiting until I had to go back. (Nov 2013)

Noisy powerful waves on the road out of Taroko Park (Nov 2013)

#MusicMonday - The Repeat Button

Some time around September 2000, my school organised a trip to Dublin to support the basketball team in a championship final. Students were packed onto buses, all ready to wave flags, chant chants and to support our team. I can't recall the outcome of the game itself but what I do remember is what I brought home from the music store that day...

I had brought some reading material with me on that bus ride - one of my first copies of Empire Magazine (forgive their ugly website). Empire is a pretty big monthly movie mag and it was with great fervour each month that I looked forward to the interviews, reviews and movie trivia geekiness. If you know me, you know that I love movies and Empire is the reason why. I read this magazine cover to cover every month, and until recently, I had a treasure trove of old editions in my wardrobe at home. One month, a question I emailed for a Pierce Brosnan Q&A was printed and he answered it! Anyway, I digress...

Great sub-headings, eh?

In that month's issue (cover above), there was a movie review for a new, strange musical featuring Björk - Dancer in the Dark. It had won the coveted Palm d'Or at the Cannes film festival, and Empire saw fit to give the soundtrack 4 stars. Lamenting the short length of the soundtrack, the author commented "there’s always that repeat button". That was enough for me - if some guy in England was listening to this soundtrack on repeat, I would too.




After the basketball game, we visited a shopping centre for a quick visit - McDonalds! HMV! Clothes! All the things that were missing in our little country town in the middle of Ireland. I made a beeline straight for the music store, checked in the soundtracks section and found it - the Dancer in the Dark soundtrack! (Side note: I also picked up the O Brother soundtrack, which Empire had given 5 bright red stars that month.)

On the bus home that day, I listened to Björk sing about her life as a blind single mother raising a child who was also going blind. Uplifting, right? Not quite... BUT my favourite song on the album is New World, which is an uplifting, cinematic, M83-esque masterpiece. Repeat button? Yes please.

This morning, some fifteen years later, as I lay on a hammock beside this tiny Panamanian beach which is my temporary home, fingers of sunlight flickering through the green canopy of the trees as waves lapped the shore, that song suddenly came back to me. The memory of the school excursion, of Empire, of pressing repeat.

And now you can listen to it too, preferably at sunrise...

Sunday Reads - #GrabAChair

Here's some articles I loved that I think you might like too. So switch off the tv, sit back in your sofa, prop your feet up and enjoy the written word...

• ...on consciousness and the 'Hard Problem' (The Guardian)
• ...on silence (Nautil.us)
• ...on naming products (NY Times)
• ...on white privilege (Roger Ebert.com)
• ...on the holographic future (Wired)

Pick of the Week: This Old Man (The New Yorker)

P.S. The above gif is dedicated to Denis #alltnoshade

9 Things That Are Happening in February

Did you know there are only 9 things happening next month? Well, not quite, but here's a list of things that are happening to me. They probably don't affect you but you're here now and you may as well keep reading.

1. Dirty Tirties

The earth keeps spinning, my crow's feet keep getting longer and if you cut me in half on February 15th and count my rings, they will total 30. Tirty. TIRTY RINGS! 

Age is just a number, you're only as old as you feel etc etc - in all honesty, I don't feel 30 and I don't think it changes anything. Should it? Should I settle down and stop being a nomad? Should I get a permanent job again? 

When I think about all that has happened in the last decade between 20-30, I'm kinda excited as to what the next decade will bring. Not just in the field of electronics (we didn't even have smartphones in 2005!), but I have absolutely no clue where I will be or what I will be doing when I turn 40. When I was 20, I definitely would not have imagined the path that took me here - on the cusp of 30, living at a beach hostel on the pacific coast of Panama. What path will lead me to 2025? I have no clue. Not even one raging clue.

Oh yeah, about that job thing...

2. Werk

Last year when I was heading to the US, I applied for and received a 2-year visa for the beautiful icy land of Canada aka America's Hat. I've kept this visa acceptance with me and it helped me get through some difficult immigration situations - "Officer, I'm making my way to Canada to activate this visa, see?" - in the US, Mexico & south America. The visa must be activated before May so it was always an option or a backup plan for me heading into 2015. 

But I still wanted to go back and live in Korea, to teach, to save, to eat all that damn delicious food. "But... but Canada has work too", I hear you cry. "And food! And maybe teaching jobs!" What to do?! 

My decision was made a few weeks ago when I got notified of a job position in Korea, starting at the end of February in my old county of Goseong. I dwelled for a few hours and then said yes, I filled out the forms, my brother helped me gather all the documents in Ireland and *fingers crossed* I will be on Korean soil on February 24th.

Am I excited? 

I'm hoping to save up enough money in Korea to pay for my teaching licence course in 2016, maybe in England or Wales. 

And Canada, I still have 5 more years to qualify for your working holiday visa. Wait for me, you sexy hat you.

3. More travel. MOAR!

My flight plans for February would give Al Gore a hernia. I've totalled it up and it comes out at just over 18,000 miles, or 75% of the earth's circumference. Mother nature is gon' keeeeell me! I'm sorry Gaia/Pachamama/Terra, you're just gonna have to grow more evergreens this year.

Country to country, my itinerary looks something like this: 
Costa Rica (5 days) - New York (4 days) - Stockholm (1 day) - Madrid (3 days) - Ireland (7 days) - London (3 days) - Singapore (2 days) - Korea!

Visiting all these countries in quick succession means I'll be able to see as many friends & family as possible before settling in the Land of the Morning Calm once more. Which brings me to...

4. Reuniting 

I've mapped out my flights so that I can see as many people as possible in February before starting in Korea. And, I get to be in Dublin to celebrate my birthday (I use the world celebrate loosely - I just wants drinks & chats with friends in a bar) and do just a little bit of dancing. Okay, a lot of dancing.

It's been a full pregnancy term since I left the Emerald Isle and I too, am pregnant. Pregnant with the thoughts of seeing my nearest and dearest, of sipping Lyons tea & scoffing Maltesers, of enjoying Sunday dinner at home, of watching movies at night by the fire. Ah yes, it will be grand. 

5. New York Baby

This will be my third time in the Big Apple in the last year, and you might think I'd be sick of it at this stage. Would you be wrong? 

NYC has an energy that extends beyond the island into the boroughs and doesn't leave you for a while after your visit. On this brief trip I'll be staying with Ireland's hottest export, D. Wizzle, in Hell's Kitchen & hopefully making some wandering walks throughout the Bushwick neighbourhood that Alley Art resided in last September. Plus: Falafel Boys, free comedy gigs from TheSkint.com, tracking down Maeve Higgins again, seeing the Canadian giant Adrianne and more.

What else is happening in February? 

6. Sloths

I'll be in Costa Rica for about 5 days at the start of February to visit Canadian Jesus in his jungle treehouse in Santa Teresa. Somewhere in or around these five days, I am hoping to meet a sloth. A real live sloth. Preferably not one with resting bitchy face. 

Sloths are pretty prevalent in Costa Rica and Panama and what better way to spend a day than hunting down these lazy, furry, long-armed freaks. If I succeed, I promise to dedicate a whole blog post to the magical experience. 

Okay, more ideas... Shit, I got nothing.

7. Fifty Shades of Crap

This movie is coming out on Valentine's Day. I haven't read the books, I saw the trailer and I'm making an educated guess in saying that this movie will suck golf balls through a garden hose. I predict horrific reviews like this one: "No matter what they're charging to get in, it's worth more to get out" [quote from an Armageddon (1998) review]. 

If it's actually a good movie and certified >80% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, I will eat my hat. The neon yellow one I've been wearing since last summer. Deal? 

8. The Superbowl!

Who cares about the game, it's all the bits in between that people actually watch it for, right? The commercials! The half-time show! The movie trailers!

It kicks off on February 1st, and Katy Perry is the half-time entertainment. She's the pinnacle of American entertainment in 2015 apparently. 

Bitch please.

9. House of Cards

The third season drops on Netflix on Feb. 27th, which is about the time that I'll be settling into my new apartment in cold Korea. What better way to spend the dark evenings than wrapped up in blankets on the warm floors binging hard on Frank Underwood and his shady dealings. 

Btw, in case you didn't know, Korean houses don't use traditional radiators but rather a snuggley underfloor heating system which means you can skip around your house barefoot even on the coldest of days.

#ThrowbackThursday - Rajasthan, India

Camel trekking in Jaisalmer, India (May 2013)

#SoBlessed, and he knows it (May 2013)

Looking (May 2013)

Goat-herder & fashion-statement-maker, Rajasthan (May 2013)

This cow just looks really high. Super high. Too many bhang lassis. (May 2013)

Desert trekking with the Korean Krew (May 2013)

Nguyen goes in search of another fashionable bag (May 2013)

#MusicMonday - The Guest

One of the biggest indie movies of last year was The Guest, a B-movie thriller which reminded me a little of Drive in some respects. Brooding leading man? Check.  Lots of violence? Check. Funky soundtrack? Check.

While the movie itself was a little disappointing IMO (vegetarians beware: the last half of the movie was mucho hammy), the soundtrack delivered. In buckets! 

You can go listen to the whole thing here on Grooveshark, or you can buy it on iTunes or Amazon or whatever. These are some of my favourite tracks...

#MusicMonday - Mossy Vibes

For my first #musicmonday (it's Tuesday? naaaah), I'm suggesting you treat your earlobes to some lesser known indie artists...

Firstly, Gilligan Moss. I discovered this guy on a friend's monthly playlist in 2013, with this beautiful track 'Hemlock' which I still listen to all the time:

He followed up that first song with the equally sumptuous 'Choreograph' :

And has become more widely known for his remix of 'Gooey' :

Secondly, Jilly.fm, a talented young lady from Idaho, and now living in Melbourne. Jilly DJ'd at our Alley Art event in Denver last June, and has released/featured in a couple of tracks since then. My favourite is 'Amber Noise':

More recommendations coming next week...

11 Reasons I Didn't Blog Last Year

Exactly a year ago I made my first post on this blog. I promised you updates from my life, stories from travelling in Asia, pictures and all that malarkey. And then I reneged on that promise. Big time. 

In honour of this anniversary of my broken promise, I've created a list of reasons why I didn't blog in 2014. Here we go...

1. I been dranking...

OK not really, I just wanted an excuse to write that. BUT, I did spend all of last summer in USA with my good friend who has more than a little thirst for craft beer. And luckily for her, the US is undergoing something of a craft beer revolution at the moment, so we got to sample such delights as chilli beer (hmmmm) and er.. anything with hops (gross).

Up until that point, my preference for beers ranged between Miller and Coors Light so it was quite enlightening and pushed my gut to new levels of bloatedness. 

As far as I know, this thirst for local beers has not been picked up in Ireland at the same speed (edit: apparently it's 'blossoming'). But we'll be grand, we have Jameson. And Baileys. And Guinness. 

2. I been reading...

2014 saw me return to my dusty old Kindle and blaze through a series of books. Game a' Trones, Tina Fey, Gone Girl, Mormon exposes... all were read with a veracious appetite which I was surprised I still have. I do admit that reading is not my favourite activity (hello internet), but I seem to return to the Kindle every time I hit the open road. 

Special mention must go to the wonderful app Pocket - I spend waaaaay more time reading online articles, think-pieces, interviews, and the occasional listicle. Pocket is an app that saves all the stories you want to read in one easy place (it strips out just the important text and pictures) so you can settle down on a quiet Sunday with your tablet/phone and read all the articles you were too busy to read during the week. 

Apparently I was in their top 5% of readers in 2014 (they emailed & told me, I don't make stats up *cough*Fox News*cough*); here are some of my favourite articles they recommended to me. 

3. I been werking (sort of)...

Last year, I had a whole smattering of different jobs: 

A. Being on the dole - Woohoo, that was fun while it lasted (not really).

B. Returning to my old job in Dublin - That WAS fun and it was great to be back in a professional environment with old friends again. 

C. ALLEY ART - This project, brain child of my fellow taco-loving friend Jen, grew legs this year and the two of us travelled the length and breadth of the US hosting pop-up art shows. It was IMMENSELY fun. Photographing strangers, dancing in the desert, ending up on Utah radio, reuniting with friends from Korea and a finale exhibition in hip n' happening Brooklyn. The work continues - more videos are being published on our YouTube page AND most importantly, the tour book will be announced soon our our Facebook page. 

D. Farm work - Volunteering at a California farm, sleeping outdoors in a tent under the stars, making a lot of great friends very quickly. Ah Cali, I love you. Also shout-out to Dana for allowing me help her on her Canadian farm for a couple of days in August. 


4. I been travelling....


I got a fresh new passport from the good ol' Irish government last January and have so far used it in: 

USA (10 year tourist visa, yeeooow!) - Canada - Mexico - Spain - UK - Panama - Colombia. I can't wait to see what stamps I can gather this year, and I have 10 years to completely fill it. Challenge accepted.

5. I been friending...


I spent almost five months in Ireland last year catching up with my old friends (and living with two great ones) before moving to the US for 6 months and meeting so many new people every week it made my head hurt. Not an easy task if you know how big my head is.

Meeting and getting to know new people is something that I still love - figuring out you have the same shared interests in humour, music, movies or life in general, gives me such a buzz. Sometimes I buzz so hard, I vibrate like a happy cat. Prrrr, prrrr.......

I think it was Judd Apatow who once said - "A stranger is a friend you haven't met yet" - and indeed that is true. Come at me, strangers!

6. I been watching....


2014 was the year us Nerneys finally got a shared Netflix account - House of Cards, Orange, 30 Rock repeats, Sherlock etc...

Not to mention all the other great shows from last year - True Detective, GoT season 4 (that head pop, ahhhh!) and many more. 

And MOVIES! So many great movies I can't even think straight - Her, Boyhood, Under the Skin, Frank, Guardians of the Galaxy, Skeleton Twins, Grand Budapest, The Babadook, Birdman, Interstellar... I have a hard drive FULL of movies waiting to be watched so you're not gonna see another blog post from me for a while. 

7. I been dancing...

Music, makes, the people, come together. Indeed it does. 

I listen to a lot of music and I went through about 4 pairs of earphones in the last twelve months. Most frequently listened to - Arcade Fire, Devendra Banhart, Xavier Rudd, The National, PRIORY, Hozier, Boy & Bear, Alt-J, Iggy Iz (haters gonna hate), London Grammar, Skrillex...

I'll try to make a regular habit of posting what's my jam each week as I've been discovering a lot of new songs recently. #musicmondays

8. I been snapping...


Pictures! Photos! Videos! 

Thanks to Alley Art, I had an excuse to be talking to strangers across America who looked interesting and asking for their photos. As anyone who's been to America can attest, it has its fair share of weirdos - have you seen the people who shop at Walmart?!

Moustache man in St. Louis

Sometimes, those photos were great. Sometimes, I got threatened by angry parents as I didn't realise said subjects were not over 18 (genuinely sorry scary Dad, please don't kill me!)

9. I been sleeping....

Hmmm... sleeping.... Is there anything better than dozing off into a coma at the end of each day? Heck, I've slept through parties, dinners, scenic car rides with. zero. regrets. 

Perhaps I have mono or a type of blood deficiency which means I tire easily. Perhaps I just like counting sheep. Who knows, who cares. I love sleep! And sheep!

In Utah last year, Jen & I slept in a tree for a week on a bed of parachute cord - going to sleep under the stars floating between branches was amazing, like something out of an Enid Blyton book (Faraway Tree, anyone?). 

The Tree Fort in Moab, Utah

In California, we slept in a tent for 5 weeks which was the longest I've ever camped for. In Dublin, I slept in my friends super comfortable spare room which had a wardrobe full of fancy dress costumes - obviously I tried on a new one each night (sorry, not sorry Paddy/Conor). 

10. I been editing...

A large part of my work with Alley Art was editing videos for the project and putting them up on our YouTube channel. Check out one of my favourites from Long Beach: 




Also, I have a whole database of personal travel videos which I am still editing through (yes I'm a slow editor, sorry Debbie). Last January I posted a video of our epic 2013 Strollers road-trip on the Pacific Coast Highway, and it got picked up by HuffingtonPost Travel. That was nice :) If you didn't see it, watch it now brah: 



11. I been eating...


Tacos. Tacos every day. So many tacos. Living in Mexico for a month in November, we had tacos readily available at any given moment for just 10 pesos (about $1). 

On the farm in Cali, we cooked dinners around a stove each night and cooked up delicious recipes - mac n' cheese with sriracha, mac n' cheese with sriracha and peanut butter, sriracha and hummus, sriracha and EVERYTHING! SRIRACHA FOREVER!!!