Brooklyn worspace
Police5

Occupy Wall Street, Weds eve after midnight

On Wednesday sometime very early in the morning police evicted the Occupy Wall Street group from Zuccotti Park. At around 10.30pm that evening I happened to be in the area and stopped by. The tents were gone but lots of people were there and the atmosphere was charged. I  went home to get my camera, … Read more

Take a look at my other blog!

I’m going to be writing once or twice a week for Forbes Woman, about womany businessy stuff. My first post went up Friday. It’s about Rupert Murdoch and his immensely successful yet dysfunctional family. Are they good models for a family business? Are they?

Union Square, sometime btw. 1910 and 1915, via Flickr

Coming back and maybe coming home

Since I’ve returned to New York, I haven’t had time to post. This surprised me, but let me tell you why: New York is hard. I had thought that I’d return from my protracted stay in Dublin all relaxed and refreshed — which I did. But I had forgotten that New York likes to flay … Read more

IMG_2903

History for sale

One of the weird things you see when wandering about Dublin is the number of abandoned buildings. In some ways, this isn’t a surprise: Ireland is known for its ghost towns, unwanted hastily-built leftovers of the boom (the NYT has some excellent pics here). What’s pretty shocking, to me, though, are the old, listed buildings … Read more

Lough Scur

Summer in Ireland

It’s been a long, slow summer, so long and slow that I feel as though I’ve slipped from view (from a digital perspective, my inactivity means that I have). Earlier this year I debated intensely with myself whether to stay in New York or not, and I reached a compromise: I would stay one year … Read more

Grafitti that breathes Oprah's spirit

#8, #9 & #10: New York

Okay okay — I’ve been remiss. Writing this from Ireland now, I have my last three “best things” about New York: 8. We all know that the US is a crazy place and New York is no exception. On the one hand you have police reprimanding a woman for sporting a short skirt while cycling, … Read more

And you get sunsets like this

#7: The sun, the sun!

This may seem obvious, but the sun, and the gorgeously warm summers, are one of the best things about NYC — and, of course, other parts of the US. Basically, in the summer it is hot, and this makes New York utterly different from the country in which I grew up. Ireland is famous for … Read more

Zenon Taverna on 31st Street

#6: Astoria — it’s all Greek …

I was 17 when someone first used this phrase on me, sitting in the gym of our school along with four other girls, about to start the ancient Greek Leaving Certificate exam. The grey-haired moustachioed man who was supervising our endeavours sauntered up and made the joke — “It’s all Greek to me! Hahahaha.” But … Read more

The end of the world, as advertised on subways. Photo credit: Niall McKay

#5: There’s always somebody more paranoid than you

I crib this slightly from the Village Voice, but it’s true. As I write, we are eight hours and sixteen minutes into the Rapture — an international event (occurring at different times across the time zones) but one that has been heavily advertised in New York. Indeed, when I made my way out this evening, … Read more

#4: The goodness of Planned Parenthood

I won’t forget my first trip to Planned Parenthood in Brooklyn NYC. It was for a routine check-up. I was surprised to find that I had to get past a guard to get in, show him my bags, and walk through a bleeping airport security-style machine. I thought it had to be a joke, but … Read more

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.