I’m visiting friends in NYC, and as I walked through Central Park today I had the very strange experience of hearing someone speaking with an Irish accent and immediately feeling more at home. Clearly my brain has no actual idea where I live.

I’ve been back in the US for three weeks and am now seriously craving a toastie and a pint. I think this means I’ve officially made Ireland my home.

Anyone I know going to #aarsbl25? I’m a first-year, midlife PhD student and already feeling a bit overwhelmed by the schedule. Would love to find a conference buddy or two!

I’m flying back to the US next week for several weeks. Things I’m looking forward to, in no particular order: American-size washing machines Tacos Garbage disposals Tacos La Croix Tacos A bathtub (there are bathtubs in 🇮🇪, I just don’t have one) Snow Tacos

“The times are urgent; let us slow down.” - Báyò Akomolafe

As someone who’s back in an academic setting for the first time since 2007, can I just say that reference management software is AMAZING?

Someone on this train has a donkey braying as their ringtone. I’ll grant you, it’s not as bad as nails on a chalkboard or styrofoam rubbing against styrofoam. But it might be close.

I took the train from Dublin to Belfast today, and I got more done in those 2 hours than I have all week. I’m starting to think maybe I should just start riding trains randomly around the country to see if I could actually get somewhere on this dissertation.

For those who say the protesters yesterday were extremists who hate America and capitalism, I give you my parents—including my dad, a veteran and a banker. #NoKings

Well, I continued my habit of seeking out incredibly depressing art for “fun” — but @abbeytheatre.bsky.social’s production of “The Boy” was absolutely worth it. One day, two plays, and many stellar performances — especially Eileen Walsh and Frank Blake. Highly recommend.

“There are many forms of patriotism—and telling the truth is one of them.” - Anderson Cooper, on @colbertlateshow.bsky.social

One of these things is not like the others… The Trump family has made $3.4 billion since he has been in office. Meanwhile, the Irish presidential candidate from one of the largest parties has just withdrawn from the race because 15 years ago a tenant overpaid him €3300 and he never paid it back.

I’ve got a birthday coming up next week. I’m turning I-just-bought-a-nightlight-for-the-hall-to-the-bathroom-but-I-still-don’t-need-readers years old.

Can vouch for both Emily (the mom) and Michelle (the organizer). If you’ve got even a few dollars to contribute, it would be a great help!

It was awfully nice of Northern Virginia to be all rainy when I flew in this evening, just to make me feel at home…

Well, looks like I’m at least doing something right…

Let’s play a little game called “Guess what day Erin sprained her ankle”… To be followed by a one-question quiz: “True/False: Having walked farther today than she has all week, Erin is spending her Friday night at home with her ankle elevated.”

I’m serious. In Ireland, you can have a gun—for hunting or target shooting or “killing pests or for the humane killing of animals.” You have to have a license for that gun, which requires training and safe storage. And somehow Ireland remains a democracy. And kids don’t get shot in school.

A lot of kids here in Dublin started back to school today. I’m sure their parents were worried about any number of things the kids might experience at school. I’m also sure that their kids getting shot was not one of them. America, it doesn’t have to be this way.

Ireland — where even sprained ankles come with lovely views. Glen Beach cliff walk, you haven’t seen the last of me…

“The behemoths opposite are all dusty-windowed multi-occupancy nightmares, full of art students, old people with a hundred cats, and bewildered Nigerians.” Evidently housing in Europe hasn’t changed much in 50 years. 😂 (quote from “Light Perpetual,” Francis Spufford)

Watching Slow Horses is an exercise in walking the tightrope between marveling at Gary Oldman’s acting and feeling an overwhelming urge to have someone tie him in a chair and wash his hair.

“In the wake of World War II there had been a lot of heart-searching about the failure of ordinary church members to stand up to Nazism and to defend the Jews from persecution and the eventual Holocaust. They concluded that church members had not been equipped for their witness in the social…

9 pm, August 2nd: As I sit outside, it’s twilightish — which seems early after the long, long days of early summer. A few leaves on the birch tree in the back garden are turning yellow. The rhythm of the seasons is so different here. My soul and my body don’t quite know what to make of it yet.

Patty Griffin followed by REM?!? The soundtrack for S4E8 of The Bear is killing me in the best possible way.

Signs you’re acclimating to life in Ireland: Me: “Gosh, it seems to be getting dark early.” Also me: checks clock as it’s dusky on a cloudy evening. 9:59 pm.

This morning I sit in Sarajevo, reading a book about the early days of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and seeing headlines about the assassination & attempted assassination of American legislators and the president’s unconstitutional use of the military to put down protests.

I’ve been in Italy the last few days for a conference. The first day, when I saw a car driving on the right (as opposed to the left) side of the street, I had a moment of panic — “They’re driving on the wrong side of the road!!!” I guess Ireland really is becoming home.

10:25 pm. May 31.

Nothing like wandering into a used bookstore in Dublin and finding an old copy of one of the novels from the American south that you wrote your undergraduate thesis on 25 years ago…

“The police could not solve these crimes because they themselves were the culprits… Such crimes were not aberrations, the work of so-called ‘bad apples’, as defenders in the apartheid government later called them. They were an integral part of apartheid’s tenacious efforts…

I’m an American studying in Ireland. Tomorrow is my appointment to get my student residence permit. I am doing what people from here and all over the world can no longer do in my own country. These are sad and scary days.

In the last 2 days I’ve seen missing-persons reports abt 2 young Latino teens from my county back in VA. One was literally last seen on my block. Thankfully, one has been located; the other is still missing. I hate that my first thought was to wonder if they’d been kidnapped by our own government.

Can someone who follows the House more closely than I do help me understand why Schweikert and Garbarino did not vote on this bill?

Got excited there for a second thinking I could spell ‘apophatic’… #YouMightBeATheologyNerd

Is it not common knowledge that AI has a horrific environmental cost? I see so many people I respect—who genuinely seek to live morally & who care about the vulnerable—talk about using AI in ways that are somewhere between fun & useful but definitely not necessary. I can’t make it make sense.

I’m sure this is why Trump wants the new Qatari Air Force One… so he can fly the Afghan refugees in Qatar to the US, right? Right???? (Source: www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...)

It was a bank holiday today and the weather was spectacular and the tide was out so evidently I went walking in/on Dublin Bay?

I’d have to agree that if, 1500 years ago, you wanted to crown a High King of Ireland, this wouldn’t be a bad place to do it. #HillOfTara

“Can you just reprogram yourself and see us as humans, as women? A little bit of mercy. Care a little bit about your fellow human, about your fellow citizen, fellow resident.” The fact that we’re all fellow humans is exactly what authoritarian governments want us to forget.

Because beauty and joy are part of the resistance. Dollymount Strand, Bull Island, Dublin Bay

Pope Francis, humble to the end, dies not on Easter Sunday (when surely the risen Lord deserves the headlines), but on Easter Monday. Well done, good and faithful servant. Rest in peace and rise in glory.

This is my first Holy Week living in Ireland. (Also my first Holy Week in 8 yrs not being a parish priest.) For Good Friday, I joined an ecumenical procession-of-the-cross service. Within walking distance of me, there’s a Roman Catholic church and a Church of Ireland (read: Anglican) church. 1/7

It’s not very often that I wave the Harvard flag, but I’m proud of my alma mater today.

“Self-examination is not a pastime of those who navigate society easily. It’s obvious to see why. If everything bends to your will, then why would you ever need to question the structures that allow you to ‘be’ so smoothly….

I was supposed to go look at an apartment tomorrow. This evening, I found a website that analyzes crime statistics for any given address/area. I’m thinking… maybe not so much for this one?

If you’re looking for a way to clear your sinuses from the lingering congestion of a cold, may I suggest putting Maille dijon—generously—on both slices of bread for your ham and cheese sandwich? Follow me for other inadvertent health tips.

It’s true. (Photo by a friend of mine)