Finty's World

High Tech, High Art, and Tongue-Filled Cheeks...

What do you get if you mix form, elegance and art with a brilliant team led by an inspiring woman whose love of technology is matched only by her sense of humour? Right! You get a typewriter that sends emails! You really gotta see this...

The Zen of Picking Blackberries

Ok, so it's not been a great summer for blackberries. Far from it. It's been shite, truth be known. The promise of the bramble-flowered back roads last June faded fast in the September rain. But in the field beside us, the bushes did, finally, yield enough 'blackahs' not just for blackberry crumbles, but for jam as well. And while filling my bucket with juicy ripeness, I discovered the Zen of picking blackberries...

"Go on dog! Go on dog!"

For the last few weeks I've alternated between recovering the use of my knees, learning Adobe Lightroom 3, hangin' out with my brother and sister-in-law home from the States, spending not enough time with the lovely S, developing a patio garden idea for and with my folks, and of course, playing ball and frisbee with the one, the only, Jessie the Wonderdog...

Life without my laptop

It should be an opportunity for calm, for a Zen-like tranquility to assert itself amidst the rambunctiousness of life. Instead I'm a gibbering wreck. My nails are chewed to the quick, my knuckles are a new form of percussion. I thought I'd be fine, that I could go cold turkey for a while and I'd not bat an eyelid. Instead I'm adrift in a fog of insomnia, my routines scuppered, my nerves more finely shredded than a Heston Blumenthal coleslaw. Oh jaysis, I miss my MacBook Pro...

Life's a bit mad really and no mistake...

It's been a mad few weeks. In many ways I've discovered new corners of Limbo. I spent nearly 4 hours in the Day Ward in St Vincents being drip-fed Ketamine, I've had weird blood test results, no news re my sleep apnea tests, new medication levels that have me zonked like a zombie, and just when I thought Life was getting just a bit too mad, a courier arrives at the door with a totally unexpected delivery...

Happy Christmas!

It's the 23rd today, and Christmas is absolutely, definitely in the air. Trees are up, decorations are adorning, christmas lights are on all over town, carol singers are giving various versions of Silent Night (sometimes even in the same key), and somewhere north of here Santy is feeding Rudolph and the team as their pre-flight checks count down to the big day. Ah yes, Christmas is coming, and I love it...

Star Trek Rules Once Again...

Oh... My... God... What a way to spend 2 hours of your life! Honest t'God folks, believe the hype, believe the reviews, believe what yer pals are saying. Even if you've said you'd never ever watch anything with the words Trek and Star in the title, go. Seriously, go. It really is that good...

Happiness is...

Here's a doodle I did as I was learnin' about the pen and brush tools in Adobe Illustrator a year or so ago. It made me smile when I found it earlier on this evening cos it's just so damn silly! But it got me searchin' and I found other photos that I'd taken and put into the blog folder on me desktop - photos that have all made me smile for one reason or another...

Brilliant New Simpsons

In honour of St Patrick's Day a new Simpsons episode premiered on Sky 1 tonight a week at least before fans in the US get to see it on de telly. In The Name of the Grandfather featured Homer and Grandpa buying a pub in Ireland that has no customers... 

Things t'make y'go MMMMMmmmmmyeehaw!

Doldrum periods do come to an end, they do. You just have to be patient. But when you're in one of them it really helps to have something to look forward to. Something such as, for example, a spankin' new MacBook Pro. Oooh yeah...