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This is what I’m up to right now.
Doing
- Still getting used to a new job with DIAS in Dublin.
- Continuing to work on a guitar album.
Learning
- Every day, for the past 800+ days, I study a little Irish. Gaeilge gach lá!
- In September of ‘22 I started learning the uilleann pipes, taking lessons here in Dublin at Na Píobairí Uilleann.
- I used to make electronic instruments and gizmos using stripboard and point to point wiring. I’m now starting to learn how to design PCBs with KiCad.
Listening
- Right now, I’m on a big The For Carnation kick. Aside from the brilliant self-titled, I’m going through another obsession phase with this stunning track released on a compilation back in 2016.
- The new LXV album, Angelic Driver, on the always good label Traced Objects, is really hitting the spot.
Reading
- I’m now well into part 1 of Tad Williams’ To Green Angel Tower.
- Thomas A. Clark’s The Threadbare Coat is perfect.
- I’m just about finished with The Isles: A History by Norman Davies. The first 1/2 was great–nice broad strokes history. Throughout I’ve appreciated Davies’ eagerness to deflate the English Ego and to address English myths and Anglocentrism head on (for instance, Davies insists on using the actual French names for post-Norman Invasion rulers such as “Jean” (King John) and “Guillaume” (William the Conquerer)). However, once reaching the 1600s or thereabouts, the book loses focus and struggles to find a narrative. I have also been dismayed that after including Ireland, Scotland, and Wales early on, they all but disappear in the post-Victoria sections. Smaller isles like Mann, Guernsey, and Jersey are almost never mentioned.
Playing
- My partner and I are settling into a routine of playing boardgames after supper about once per week. We’ve been enjoying Wingspan and Azul.