Things which have kept me sane here:
1 My iPod. Thank you especially Kathryn Tickell, June Tabor, Lucinda Williams, Randy Newman, Richard Thompson, Francis Cabrel, Damien Dempsey; musicians for every mood.
2 My guitar. Though have failed entirely to “get” Clapton’s “Signe”; and I know it’s simple. Can sing Martha Wainwright’s venomous “BMFA”, though whether I will do so in public is another story. Working on “Sweet Potato”.
3 DVDs – Bleak House, Murder One and Northern Exposure boxed sets, plus a few movies. If you’re coming out here, bring lots of DVDs.
4 MBC2 – the selection of movies isn’t too bad, even if the cuts are irritating. Also Third Rock from the Sun on MBC4; a lot funnier than I remember, but then we don’t have much choice here. And Questions pour un champion on TV5 Monde, despite the irritating Julien.
5 The gym – yes, I hated it at first but I have come to terms with the treadmill, even if half an hour is still the most I can endure. I actually prefer running round the apartment, which I do a couple of times a week, incorporating drills and setting world records for 20 sprints between the cooker in the kitchen and the balcony window in the bedroom (it takes about 1:48).
6 Books. Henning Mankell’s detective fiction, based in wet, dreary
Apologies for not keeping this blog up to date; the buttons I need don’t appear on my iBook. The “help” thingy says install Firefox, but that is not as easy as it sounds.
But I WILL be back – and yes, I am safely returned to Dublin for three weeks now and have almost forgotton Qatar, which, in case some of you haven’t guessed, is the strange little country in which I spent six surreal months.
While I don’t particualrly want to go back, it has alteered my view of Muslim countires and makes me realise how stupid and ignorant so much of what passes for informed comment in the Western press is. But will go into this more when I eventually get my blog back working.