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?!
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?).
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!!!
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!!!
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