When I was 15 I was obsessed with making music. I bought a Tascam 4 track recorder, second hand drums, a guitar and bass and looped any friend I could find into the “band.”

Of course the second most important thing, after the music, was how cool the name and logo were, so most of the band members were as shocked as I was when Adam, never known to hold back opinions, seemed to disagree so aggressively to the idea of having a “symbol” for the band.

“We don’t need a symbol,” he fired into the discussion. …

A few years ago I was at Ocean Beach in San Francisco with some friends. As a cool breeze blew in and we watched the sunset from a graffiti covered concrete platform, the conversation took a reflective turn.

“What would you do if you didn’t have to worry about money?” a friend posed. In the minds of the well employed and mildly disenchanted of Silicon Valley, this wasn’t very unfamiliar territory. We went around the group, people ticking off the usual suspects like art and travel.

“I’d write about consciousness,” I said, gathering surprised, sideways glances. I surprised myself as…

In December 2015 I was in Dingle for the annual Other Voices festival with 8 Irish friends. We brushed shoulders with Glen Hansard, drank pints, sang with the locals in a pub well over stuffed at 30 people. It was my first outing in Ireland as the only American in a group, and I think it was the moment I fell in love with the way the Irish talk.

Taking a note from my time learning Spanish, I started a note in Google Keep, and every new phrase or usage got a line. The locals caught on quick and before…

87 (in some cases not-so-SFW) words in Irish English and my best American translations. Collected from friends and coworkers during a year-long visit to Dublin.

After — immediately following. I’m just after watching a movie.

All Biz — ready to go

Ah sure look it — well listen, this is how it is

Banger — a terrible car, barely functional car

Banter — see craic

Beure — good looking girl. She’s a pure beure.

Bogger — someone from the real deep country, where dem bogs at

Bold —bad, wild, naughty. Oh I had 5 pints last night. So bold.

Bombed…

Originally given 31 Jul 2016 @ The Solstice, Dublin, Ireland.

It’s only been a year since I arrived in Ireland, but as some of you may have noticed, something has happened to me. You might call it infatuation. You might call it going native. You might say I’m a header just after one too many yokes. But I’m going to call it love. Because like someone in love I can’t see the good from the bad anymore, and I’m not sure I want to.

I love addresses with no numbers, I love your man down the road sorting us out…