MY CULTURAL LIFE
Ruth McGill, actress, singer/songwriter
Ruth McGill is an actress and singer-songwriter with the close harmony, multi-instrumental group, The Evertides along with Alma Kelliher and Ruth Smith. A singing and yoga teacher and mother to the sweetest boy, Charlie (11), Ruth can be seen in Let the Right One In, a teenage vampire love story, at the Abbey Theatre this winter.
TV: My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (right) hits me right in the epicentre of my funny bone. It is exactly the kind of show I’d love to be a part of. Fleabag was and still is still the most exceptional experience for me as TV series go. Both shows bravely go down deep into those aforementioned murky waters of the complex mind and expose the messiness of being a human in the world. When I’m watching TV shows with Charlie, Horrible Histories is our favourite. It cracks me up.
Music: Karine Polwart
Spotify feeds me with at least one new song every day and introduces me to artists that I might otherwise have never heard of. At the moment I’m all about the Scottish singer Karine Polwart and her stunningly beautiful new album A Pocket of Wind Resistance. And keeping to the Scottish theme, I have King Creosote & Julie Fowlis and their magical musical weaving ways whirring through my ears for good measure.
Movie: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Having an 11-year-old boy, I find that most of the movies I watch these days are ones that cater to his tastes. So I’ve been revisiting oldies but goodies like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (left), Ghostbusters and all the Star Wars films in preparation for the upcoming release of The Last Jedi. The excitement is brewing!
Design: justonebeautifulthing.carrd.co/
I consider these indomitable forces to be intrinsically linked. Design affords us with a language with which to communicate artful thought. I see/hear/witness art and design in every beautiful thing and experience I have encountered. I guess I am designed that way: To seek beauty in every small thing. In fact I created my own page in homage to this : https://justonebeautifulthing.carrd.co/
Author: Sally Rooney
I’m an audiobook lover usually but on a recent-ish holiday I read Sally Rooney’s (right) Conversations with Friends. It took me all of three days to read it (a record for me) and straight away I wanted to read more of her work. A superb book that shines a light on the complexities of desire, relationships, friendships and the murky waters of the mind. Meanwhile, back in the land of audiobook, I am delving back into Anam Cara by John O’Donohue. It’s such a beautiful balm for the heart, the mind and the soul and I never tire of listening to his wisdom.