dangerous book, dangerouser writing

I'm reading a very dangerous book in the car - don't remember the name of it, but it's a book about Samuel Pepys' Diary, and it is so very dangerous - because it is only inches from making me fall asleep at the wheel. I've been reduced to listening to the radio in order to stay alive, until I can get back to the library for a changeover. The only interesting thing the book had to say was this: Samuel wrote the diary in order to experience life's events 3 times - once while they actually occured, the second time while writing it, and the third time reading back over it. Presumably he never reread back over it, therefore getting unlimited use of his life, no - just the 3 times. Anyways I guess that's partly what blogs and writing in general are about.

In other news - The Shoestring Collective was on last night. A brilliant, diverse evening of thought provoking art and entertainment. One highlight for me was Kevin Barry's genius reading of one of his short stories from "there are little kingdoms", I'm still giggling today over some of the lines and the way he said them. But he does make me want to quit the writing - like what's the point if there are people as good as him out there - and he's only young, dammit.

Then there's more discouragement in the shape of the brilliant (and also young, dammit) Colm Keegan's "A Night Time Crackle", a story that puts goosepimples on your neck in print, and packs a powerful punch delivered as a short play by the talented Shea Brennan. It's a story that could carry on - only Colm can decide where it goes to next - but I think everyone in the audience would agree on the crackling effect created by the electric words. And to end this demonstration on how not to write a great review about two great writers, I think I shall finish by saying, "goodnight goodnight" - to borrow a phrase from Pat Kenny, a very intelligent man (I'm told) - though that's possibly not the most intelligent thing he ever said - at a guess.