I'm not going to comment on the dissident republicans and their deranged shootings. Too much has been said already, to the point that tourists are starting to wonder if it's still safe to come here (well, of course it is). So I'm going to boil up some alphabet soup instead:Abstract art: I love it, the more abstract the better. I adore Miro, Klee, Rothko, Howard Hodgkin, Bridget Riley and Fiona Rae.
Acupuncture: Lots of people swear by it but I've never tried it. Maybe because I've never been in such pain that I'll try anything.
Affair: I've never had one, and that's the honest truth. No woman has ever been tempting enough for me to betray my partner.
Aerobics: I take a brisk walk most days. I mow the lawn and trim the hedges. I climb the Mourne Mountains in the summer. But I would be bored stiff at a gym or exercise class.
Akasha: A supposed etheric field in which past events are imprinted. I don't believe in it. I don't believe I'll be reincarnated as a beetle, either.
Ale: Can't stand the stuff. I like cider though. But a couple of glasses is enough, alcohol and I don't really see eye to eye.
Also-ran: The story of my life. Can't say I've ever been exceptional at anything, except smart-ass remarks on subjects I know nothing about.
Ambulance: Hope I never need one. I dread having to go into hospital, with all the medical cock-ups and infections I'd probably come out in a box.
Anorexia: I'm asked occasionally if I've ever suffered from it. Hey, I'm thin but not that thin. There's plenty of flesh on these here bones.
Apotropaic: Having the power to avert evil or bad luck. Perhaps I am, I haven't had too many disasters in my life, in fact I sometimes feel like an innocent abroad, never truly tested.
Autodidact: That's me all right, on a whole range of subjects. My formal education never got further than undergraduacy.
Coming soon: the letter after A. If you all behave yourselves and pay attention....
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Wednesday lunchtime: Jenny and I have just come back from the pro-peace rally outside Belfast City Hall. There were thousands of people there and it was extremely moving. I felt a lot of sadness around me, I guess there must have been many with painful personal memories of the Troubles, thankful that they were now over.
Interesting...
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to Q!
Interesting, Nick.
ReplyDeleteI'd add Albinoni's music, perhaps abalone the fish I liked in SF.
Just funnin' ya. I like the sound of those A words....
XO
WWW
Grannymar - Q? Why Q? You don't think I'll find enough words? Ha, that's what you think.
ReplyDeletewww - Albinoni's a new one on me. A Venetian Baroque composer, huh? I wonder if Jenny's familiar with him....
Interesting collection of As.
ReplyDeleteI'm an also-ran too. But it's good here in the pack. You get to meet nice people.
Liz - I think also-rans are more relaxed. We've accepted that we're not that hot and given up all the constant striving.
ReplyDeleteOh you're such a new age artsy fartsy snugglepot!
ReplyDeleteOoh, very interesting. But, you're not an also-ran! You're like da Vinci... good at lots of stuff.
ReplyDeleteBaino - Artsy fartsy maybe. New age? I'm a bit wary of all that new age, massage your karma, recentre your being stuff. After all, my being is perfectly centred as it is.
ReplyDeleteLA Liz - Good at lots of stuff? Okay, if you insist. I suppose there's quite a heap of useful knowledge I've picked up during my sixty two years on planet earth.
Hmm I'm sure I left a thrillingly brilliant comment here yesterday - nasty computer world ate it - anyways I had simply wanted to tell you that I too am an almost ran and that I think gyms are daft - the idea of people running on machines when they could be outside in the fresh air for free. I also find it extremely funny whne people drive to the gym to exercise :-)
ReplyDeleteConor - How disappointing that I missed a thrillingly brilliant comment - just the type I like. Indeed, driving to the gym and then exercising in some machine-filled artificial environment - how unreal is that?
ReplyDelete