Denis Spillane

Aldi understand capitalism very well. Here I am flicking through their weekly SpecialBuys and am seriously tempted to buy their advertised Stable Rug. Only €29.99. Yet I don't own a horse.

3rd year to place a remembrance ribbon on the Cork Rotary Tree of Remembrance. Christmas and memory are very much intertwined, reflecting on times past. Grief persists, its shape changed, but ever present. #CorkRotary #Grief #Christmas

First Christmas to place a ribbon, for my mother, on the Cork Rotary Tree of Remembrance. Moments of grief are unplanned, unpredictable, and unexpected. #CorkRotary #Grief #Christmas

There’s people applying to be President like they’ve just seen it advertised as a Fás scheme on the notice board in SuperValu.

@VivienM72 Thank you, Vivien!

@spillaneda Oh wow. Bonnes vacances.

Today's morning walk. #lindos

@einwod Correct. A beautiful place to live!

@spillaneda Enjoy. I live on Rhodes, what hotel is this? Lindos village?

Out of office on. Day 1 of 14 in beautiful Rhodes. #vacation

@Geokypan Thank you! Faultless hotel and setting, Brenda.

New household member* *Overlord (though kitten sized!) #CatsofTwittter

I was explaining to my Ukrainian colleague the phrase ‘There’s no such thing as a free lunch’. She told me the equivalent in Ukrainian is ‘The only free cheese is in the mousetrap’ - which is so much better

....evening light...

Class from Carlos Alcaraz, as always ❤️

COMEBACK COMPLETE. TITLE DEFENSE COMPLETE. #RolandGarros

@SkepticalHusky You too, Graham!

@spillaneda Bed calls…nice speaking with you Denis, hope you’re well x

'In France, seduction is a form of politeness and means no more than any other courtesy.' Edmund White 'Inside a Pearl - My Years In Paris'

@SkepticalHusky Agreed. Similar memories here - definitely an awakening.

@spillaneda I was 19 and in a book shop in Winchester when I saw A Boy’s Own Story on a shelf. I just instinctively picked it up a bought it. Reading it was something of an awakening for me. It’s still one of the best novels I’ve ever read.

@SkepticalHusky Nor I, until this evening, that is. Yes, a wonderful writer.

@spillaneda I hadn’t realised he’d died…a great writer full stop.

@SkepticalHusky Indeed, Graham!! 😉

@spillaneda Roll on politeness 😁

Genuinely saddened to hear of Edmund White's death. 'A Boy's Own Story' (1982) helped many navigate their own story in adolescence. A groundbreaking author and a gay icon who leaves behind a cherished legacy. #EdmundWhite

"Nobody talked like him; nobody was so erudite, so funny, so vulgar, so endearing; nobody had seen as much, lived as much, known as many people; nobody was so dear." I wrote about the great Edmund White. Free post; no paywall. Link in profile.

RIP Edmund White, whose novels, memoirs and non-fiction changed and enhanced American literature. A great writer and a gay icon, he was the opposite of everything Trumpian: brave, funny, inspiring and deeply committed to books and love. A true artist with an amazing legacy

He had a very high voice, which sounded especially strange in a Latin country where most men spoke with 'une voix des couilles' Edmund White