Blogcoven

For someone who doesn’t like or want kids, I am surprisingly excited about the birth of my friends’ first child. Sarah is, apparently, adorable (confirmed by a source not related by blood — the opinions of parents are rarely credible). And I, after hearing the news at 3:00 am in a welcome phone call (during which I automatically converted the birth weight from kilos to pounds in my head, to my mild surprise), have been thinking about the kidlet ever since.

Which is a change from thinking about her mom, who has been on my mind since I got a text message yesterday morning saying the kidlet was on its way. Along with her dad, who has reportedly been very calm and capable through the ordeal. (”Ice in his veins” was one phrase used.)

I can’t be there, but I have a growing pile of wooly stuff for Sarah. And, now that I know she’s a she, I can go ahead and sew buttons on her Ugly Winter Warm Thing. With any luck, I’ll be able to head over and meet her by the time she reaches sentience. In the meantime, I think there’s a whole village waiting to raise this particular child, and she’s in pretty good hands with her parents. My handknits are there, and that’ll do for now.

I’ve been to Nigeria this past week - down in the Delta, in Port Harcourt. The word I’ve been using to describe it is “…Interesting.” Continued →

If a speech depends on nothing else, it depends on the crowd receiving it. The best thing about the speech I gave on Friday night was that I was facing not my usual crowd of stoney-faced academics, yearning for a coffee break, but a jubilant, recently-fed crowd with ready access to alcohol.

Perhaps I should serve cake at my viva voce.
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So I have my business visa and passport back - all done and dusted within about 36 hours all told. I went to the Nigerian Embassy at Leeson Park, waited around with my ticket watching the ticker until I got called in - maybe an hour after they opened. Continued →

We’re currently the only country in the EU that has to vote on the Lisbon Reform Treaty.

When it comes to the EU, Irish political debate goes from the stupid to the random. The yes side trot out the dire warnings about lost influence and lost opportunity. They tell us that Ireland will be so hated that the only food we will be able to import will be leftover Soviet-era sausages, still in rusty radioactive cans.

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