Ryan Meade

So much so that I almost didn't notice the misspelling of "thou".

Email subject from POLITICO newsletter which reads, "Wherefore art thou, Romeo?"

This comma causes me almost physical pain.

@politico.eu @politico.com

This question always causes bedlam - needs to be qualified as "places named on a Dublin Bus route". I think that leaves Rialto, Marino, Dodsboro, Portobello, Pimlico.

Instagram screenshot of some nonsense about what the "Do not disturb" sign signals in a luxury hotel.

Encountering a new form of weird content which purports to teach you the "right" way to stay in luxury hotels, based on recondite insider information which is clearly both made up and irrelevant.

Neglected the alt text, apologies

bsky.app/profile/rdis...

I like that Google Maps has decided to go with "Imbolc (Observed)" as the name of Ireland's new February public holiday.

I'm a fan of some of these places for food (posted this from the Fumbally!) but would generally avoid the coffee. Haven't tried Legit or Flower & Bean.

Cover of "The — Dublin Coffee Guide". Don't ask me why the — is there.

List of trendy Dublin coffee shops

List of trendy Dublin coffee shops

List of trendy Dublin coffee shops

I'm so hilariously out of step with today's coffee culture. I don't think I'd risk a coffee in any one of these places. Let me know if I'm missing anything.

More Edward Said and his lovely Irish accent

www.instagram.com/reel/DSLoRAo...

Episode 11 is the peak of Twin Peaks The Return.

Saw a screening of Mulholland Dr at the Lighthouse cinema this week and I literally can't stop thinking about it. It's not like anything else but also it's better than anything else.

This photo is from mid-February. Imagine thinking that spring is still a month away.

This is the foreign policy version of “Why does Ross, the largest friend, not simply eat the other five?”

Guy who has only seen Andor, reading this obituary: Getting a lot of "Andor" vibes from this.

We don’t dance on the grave of NFTs enough. I had a year where I was repeatedly told by bozos I was going to be irrelevant and extinct for not embracing them, I should be allowed a victory lap.

I did think he'd keep up the "standing up for women" charade for longer though.

Tortured by the thought that my nemesis on LinkedIn puzzles doesn't even know she's my nemesis, as she always does them earlier than me. LinkedIn puzzlers will understand.

Book cover: The Real Charlotte by Sommerville and Ross

That's it! Not too many books as usual. I'm currently working on The Real Charlotte by Sommerville and Ross. Lots of housecat action for some reason in 19th century Limerick.

(The book also came with this signed print from the man himself thanks to @goshcomics.bsky.social)

Mick McMahon page from Sláine: Sky Chariots

Mick McMahon page from Sláine: Sky Chariots

I mean COME ON

Book cover: Sláine definitive edition volume 1

8. Maybe saving the best for last, this collection of mind-altering early Sláine strips from @2000ad.bsky.social Some of the Mick McMahon strips are quite possibly the best comic pages ever rendered.

Book cover: Fatale by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips

7. In comics, I loved this chunk of Lovecraftian pulp from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips.

(As an aside I also saw a production of Macbeth this year and Macbeth's "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" speech SLAPS)

Book cover: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

6. This was apparently a big hit: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin.

I thought it was fine. Again should have been right up my street but reminded me of Ready Player One with the density of nerd culture nostalgia service.

Book cover: Mapmatics by Paulina Rowinska.

5. I read some other non-fiction including Mapmatics by Paulina Rowinska. This has some excellent chapters on the maths behind maps but some of the later chapters stretch the concept pretty thin.

Book cover: Robert Tressell's The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists graphic novel adaptation by Scarlett & Sophie Rickard

4. A much more satisfying leftie read was the graphic novel version of Robert Tressell's The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Scarlett & Sophie Rickard. Not a classic in comics terms but a strong adaptation.

Book cover: Hotel Lux by Maurice J Casey

3. I'm afraid I couldn't get along at all with Hotel Lux by Maurice J Casey. Should have been right up my alley but I was driven mad by the author inserting himself into the story and constantly trailing what an amazing story he had uncovered without actually telling it.

Book cover: To Be a Machine by Mark O'Connell

2. I caught up with To Be a Machine by @oconnellmark.bsky.social. Excellent stuff although I feel the techno eccentrics he unearthed for this have since been eclipsed somewhat by more public figures in recent years.

Book cover: Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

Reviving my annual book thread: some of the books I read in 2025.

1. Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. Good insubstantial fun. I coincidentally visited Monterey this year, Cannery Row is now just a strip of tourist shops.