an award-winning broadcast journalist, international media trainer and consultant, and writer
Well - I DID make it out last night - eventually! The Queen of Manhattan and I walked up the road, in our high heels, to a French bar with live jazz. It was amazing - wicker chairs, linen napkins, a guy playing the saxaphone, and a stiff, very stiff, g and t! The M15 bus … Continue reading Weekend wanderings 2
Today the world was supposed to end. So far it hasn't - although I AM a bit fed up... According to Christian radio broadcasters, the world was going to be consumed by earthquakes, which would start in New Zealand and work across the world - making May 21 Doomsday. Groups of believers have been handing out … Continue reading The end of the world
I have been spending a lot of time with the intern at work. She is a raven-haired statuesque twenty-something of Russian/Turkmen descent. We discovered over a dinner of sushi and cocktails the other night, that her father is from Vladikavkaz, in the Caucuses, the last place I taught when I was in Russia, and her mum … Continue reading East meets West
The story that is gripping New York at the moment is the arrest of the former director of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, on charges of sexual assault and rape. It's alleged he attacked a chamber maid at the high-class mid-town hotel where he was staying. He then left for Paris, but was arrested on board his … Continue reading DS-K OMG! IMF’d…..
An advert for dog food (organic of course) has just referred to "pet parents"...and apparently you can buy "dog strollers" (pushchairs) here...
Today is Vesak, or Buddha's birthday, an anniversary traditionally celebrated by Buddhists across the Asian world. And among the celebrations around the world were several events at the UN headquarters here in New York. So this evening saw me at the opening of an exhibition or Buddhist art in the foyer of the General Assembly … Continue reading Buddha’s birthday
I've been out on foot this weekend, wandering the length of Manhattan. The Queen of Manhattan was out with various of her 'casanovas', as she calls her series of male friends, all of whom have been rejected as potential 'lovers' - "I told him, daarling, forget it, itz not going to happen", but all who … Continue reading Weekend wanderings
Today I've been back on the renting websites looking for another place to stay again. I spent weeks before I was due to come over looking for accommodation before I found the Queen of Manhattan. But when Mutley comes to join me for a 10 day holiday I need to find another place for the … Continue reading Home from home
My Mum tells a hilarious story from when she and my Dad first came to America in the mid-sixties, before I was born. She went out to buy Dad some vests (you can tell it was the sixties), and to buy herself a pinafore type dress that you wore over a jumper, that was all … Continue reading Divided by a common language
It's been a very strange experience watching the elections in Northern Ireland from this side of the Atlantic. First of all it's been difficult to do so, as, for various reasons, when I'm not at work, it's tricky to get constant access to the internet (hard to believe in NYC I know, but true). But also … Continue reading You can take the girl out of Northern Ireland…