This is the result – an 80 page lined notebook with a Dublin theme available to buy online.

I’ve shown it to a couple of people and they love it! I have to admit I love it too.

I used 2 of the photos from the last post, along with 11 others to help inspire you as you scribble. The Samual Beckett Bridge appears proudly on the front and back covers. Place names are added to the image facing pages.

Dublin Notebook by blogofgoodcheer.com | Make Your Own Book

If you can’t see the preview please click here and it should appear!

My plan is to use these notebooks as gifts for family, friends and fellow Dubs living at home and overseas.

They’re also great for those visiting Dublin or anybody who has fond memories of the Fair City.

I hope you like it, let me know what you think.

I’m using Blurb to handle ordering, payment and shipping. To give you an idea of waiting time I ordered a couple of notebooks from Blurb and they arrived (shipped US to Dublin) in just over a week.

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A Dublin Notebook – For All Your Capital Thoughts!

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We’d planned to get up at 7am and head off for a walk around Howth Head. Either we misheard the forecast, or Met Éireann got it wrong, either way the sunshine we expected before the inevitable showers was nowhere to be seen.

Plan B kicked in.

We stayed in bed with a cup of tea and some homemade cherry scones and we both got as intimate as we could with Sebastian Barry.

Outside the wind and the rain belted against our bedroom window. Inside I was in Chicago with Lilly Dunne and P was in Belgium with Willie Dunne – we were keeping it in the family.

We’ve both read The Secret Scripture, also by Barry and really enjoyed it, so after hearing glowing reports of A Long, Long Way and On Canaan’s Side we both ended up reading something by the same author at the same time.

I’ve no idea what was happening for Willie Dunne in Belgium but while I was savouring a cherry scone (did I mention they were homemade and scrummy) Lilly and Joe Kinderman had started their married life together.

I’m really enjoying On Canaan’s Side. It’s at times dreamlike but yet grim. I’m trying to read it as slowly as I possibly can. The temptation is to sit down and devour it but by taking it easy, tasting it bit by bit, the joy of reading this excellent book is lasting.

The sky outside started to turn blue, grey and blue again. The walk couldn’t be put off so at 9am we abandoned the Dunne family and went for a much shortened one hour walk along the seafront skirting Sutton, Bayside, Kilbarrack and Raheny.

Perhaps it wasn’t as energetic as we originally planned. We didn’t go all around Howth. But then P had been to Belgium and I’d visited Chicago.

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In Bed with Sebastian Barry

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We’ve come a long way since 1455 when Johannes Gutenberg invented a metal movable type printing press.

We’ve certainly come a long way since the Phoenicians developed an alphabet, since the Sumerians developed cuneiform writing and since the Egyptians developed hieroglyphs.

And although it’s a wonderful example of engineering we’ve come a long way since C. Latham Sholes produced the first commercially successful typewriter in 1867, and that was more than 150 years after an Englishman Henry Mill in 1714 took out a patent for a machine that appeared to be capable of typing.

But here I am, typing away, making mistakes, making corrections, modifying on the fly, adjusting as I go – a modern miracle.

The font I’m using right now (not necessarily the font you’ll see on your screen when you read this post) is Calibri.

Calibri was designed by Luc de Groot and in 2007 it became the font of choice for Microsoft. Not only is it the default for Microsoft Word, but it is also the default for Outlook, PowerPoint and Excel.

According to Simon Garfield in his book Just My Type: A Book About Fonts, Calibri is a rounded, pliable sans serif font with great visual impact.

In becoming Microsoft’s default font in its MS Office applications it has ousted a couple of long standing favourites, Times New Roman and Arial.

I was given Just My Type as a present and after it sat in a drawer for almost four months I finally took it out and gave it a go. I have nerd-like qualities but reading about a fonts, typefaces and typography didn’t seem like a winner to me.

But Garfield has written a wonderful book. He tells stories about the people who created the letter styles we have become so familiar with. He explains how Helvetica and Comic Sans took over the world. He explains why Barack Obama chose Gotham for his campaign. And, although he didn’t know it at the time, he has influenced my font selection.

I had a quick look at the reviews of the book on Amazon and most are positive. I think if you are keen on the detail of font design then this may not be the book for you. Although you do pick up typography terms it is really the story of font development, the problems they were being used to solve and the people who devoted time and skill to their creation, that are most important to Garfield.

Eric Gill (Gill Sans), Oswald Bruce Cooper (Cooper Black) Matthew Carter (Verdana, Georgia), Edward Johnston (Johnston Sans) and Max Miedinger (Helvetica) are the early heroes of the book. But there are many more and Garfield tells their story and explains how they influenced the information we see every day in newspapers, posters and on our computers.

If typefaces are your thing, and you want to ensure you are using fonts that nobody gets fired for using, head over to SquidSpot you can pick up a Periodic Table of Typefaces. The top five are

1. Helvetica
2. Futura
3. Bodoni
4. Univers
5. Akzidenz Grotesk

Not being a font spotter I was only aware of Helvetica and Futura before reading Just My Type.

As I read the book (I’m not quite finished yet) I couldn’t leave this site’s font selection unaltered. After a bit of trial and many errors I’ve changed my default font from font-family: tahoma, arial, sans-serif to font-family: Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, sans-serif, which I think suits Blog Of Good Cheer much better.

I hope you agree.

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The Fonts of All Knowledge

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Giles is mainly complementary to his fellow professionals, even those that were considered hard men of the game. But his goodwill doesn’t extend to all managers and I’m not sure if it even comes close to any director of a club. But football, with its art and guile when played at its best, is clearly his passion.

I loved reading about the Leeds team of the 60s and 70s. The obvious camaraderie and professionalism that these players had is impressive. During that period no team in English football challenged for so many trophies as Leeds United. They didn’t win them all, and yes on occasion they were robbed of a few, but after each and every disappointment they picked themselves up and went at it again.

During this period Giles formed one of the most significant midfield partnerships in English football. Playing alongside the late Billy Bremner, captain of Leeds United and Scotland, they regularly dominated matches with their skill and sometimes their robust play!

There were many sections of the book I loved reading, but two really stand out. The chapter that deals with the 1970 FA Cup Final against Chelsea and the one entitled The Englishman and The Irishman which covers the period when Brian Clough took over from Don Revie as Leeds manager.

I liked the description of the battle between Leeds and Chelsea. I’ve seen clips of the match many times and each time I hope the result will change. Of course it never will. David Webb, the Chelsea player that was turned inside out by a wonderful Eddie Gray performance in their first meeting, scored the winning goal for Chelsea in the reply. Gray, although on the field, was unable to contribute much to the game after being done by a late tackle by “Chopper” Harris early in the game.

The entire book is great, but the standout chapter covers Brian Clough’s attempt to take over from Don Revie. I’ve read The Damned Utd by David Peace and I really liked it. I liked it so much that it is up there among my five favourite football books. It also covers the 44 days when Clough was manager of Leeds. The fact that many of the scenes described in the book are works of fiction does not make it a bad book. You just have to read it and accept that the characters portrayed were not anything close to how The Damned Utd depicts them.

Giles tries to set the record straight as he remembers it. In doing so he makes it clear that although the Leeds players and Clough couldn’t find common ground, he believes the cowardice of the board of directors, a group of people far removed from true football men, were the real culprits. If Giles account is accurate I’d have to agree with him.

In his biography Giles says of Clough “I think Brian Clough was a genius, what he did at Notts Forest and what he did at Derby was great. But it was the wrong time with the wrong people when he came to Leeds United.” And in Clough’s autobiography he said “Giles could grab hold of a match, tuck it in his back pocket, and carry it around with him. He didn’t need to find space, it was as if space found him.” A bit of respect between football men.

I’ve never really played football. Sure I’ve knocked the ball around the park, played street games as a kid and 5-a-side until I found I kept turning on a dodgy ankle every time I chased a ball. There’s no real way I can understand the life of a professional footballer as it was in Giles playing days and certainly not as it is now.

But John Giles: A Football Man gives a great insight into a time when rules were bent but the game was more honest.

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It’ll Be Hard to Find a Better Football Biography Than This

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Sonnet 29 by William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616)

When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possess’d,
Desiring this man’s art and that man’s scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven’s gate;
For thy sweet love remember’d such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

In this wonderful work by Shakespeare a man in disgrace, despair and envious of his peers is lifted out of his depression by someone he holds dear. If ever there was a reason to express gratitude and say “thank you” I think Shakespeare certainly nailed it. He did it with a poem, and in writing the poem he felt renewed and adamant that he wouldn’t consider swapping his world for that of a king. Truly magical stuff.

Gratitude is good for you. Believe it or not scientific studies support the conclusion that you feel better if you recognise reasons to be grateful.

I’ve posted on this subject before in Eight Steps Toward a More Satisfying Life and You want to be a nicer person? Then stop being a jerk!

In Eight Steps Toward a More Satisfying Life you’ll find these tips

• Count your blessings. One way to do this is with a “gratitude journal” in which you write down 3 to 5 things for which you are currently thankful – from the mundane (your peonies are in bloom) to the magnificent (a child’s first steps). Do this once a week, say, on Sunday night. Keep it fresh by varying your entries as much as possible.
• Thank a mentor. If there’s someone whom you owe a debt of gratitude for guiding you at one of life’s crossroads, don’t wait to express your appreciation – in detail and, if possible, in person.

In You want to be a nicer person? Then stop being a jerk! you’ll find the following suggestion

• When someone makes a helpful suggestion, don’t remind them that you already knew that. Thank them and say nothing.

So where am I going with this?

Today I was given a wonderful present, The Thank You Book.

From The Thank You Project website:

“The Thank You Book” is modelled on the popular gratitude journals in the US. It provides an opportunity for individuals to capture their reflections and thoughts or simply things they feel grateful for. The book includes inspiring messages of thanks from celebrities and the general public. No one is mentioning material things. It is full of thanks for relationships, health, family, pets, mountain walks and other wonderful things! The journal is edited by Roisin Ingle and Marie Murray the psychologist has a short piece about the art of practising gratitude and how it can benefit us in everyday life.

Scientific research has shown that people who express their gratitude daily are 25% happier and significantly healthier than those who don’t—and doing so takes as little as a minute a day! So the Irish Hospice Foundation hopes to get the whole country saying Thank You for all that is good in their lives.

The Thank You Book is available in book shops across Ireland and it can be bought online or directly from the Irish Hospice Foundation.

That’s where I found Shakespeare’s sonnet.

I think the book is fabulous and I’m very grateful for receiving it.

Actually I’m thrilled to bits!

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Gratitude is Good for You – Go Thank Someone Today

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I like holding a book in my hands. I prefer turning the pages to using a mouse. If I could I’d hoard books, only discarding the ones that I felt had absolutely no merit. But to do that I’d need a much bigger house and probably some reinforced floors.

I think Arnold Lobel (1933 – 1987) said it best with this little rhyme

Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I’ll have a long beard by the time I read them.

I’m not a fast reader. I know people who can sit down a plough through a book in no time at all. I can’t do that. Honestly I don’t really want to. If I’m lucky enough to be reading something that is engrossing, well written, and “unputdownable” – I want that feeling to last a long time.

Although I like to finish all books I start, I’ve become more ruthless with my application of the 50 page rule. If a book, no matter how highly regarded by friends or critics, hasn’t grabbed my attention within the first 50 pages, I’m likely to drop it. It’s still a big dilemma for me though. Considering most books are on average 200 to 350 pages long, that means I’m making a call after reading 15% to 25% and the remaining 75% could be wonderful.

Lately I’ve been on a roll and haven’t had to apply the rule too much as I’ve been hooked well before I reached the fiftieth page.

Here is a list of five books that I’ve read over the last couple of months. I’ve added some brief thoughts but you can get more detailed reviews online. I’ve enjoyed them all, but a couple stand out and one is definitely on the borderline.

And to finish off, a few quotes on books and reading:

The man who doesn’t read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them. ~ Mark Twain (1835 – 1910)

I think it is good that books still exist, but they do make me sleepy. ~ Frank Zappa (1940 – 1993)

I cannot live without books. ~ Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826)

From the moment I picked up your book until I laid it down, I was convulsed with laughter. Someday I intend reading it. ~ Groucho Marx (1890 – 1977)

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Five Books, Some Quotes and a Few Opinions

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Anto Howard attempts to answer these questions in Slow Dublin (Slow Guides), a book that is for people who “love the buzz and richness of the city, but don’t want to get bogged down in the madness of it all”.

Let’s take a look at the sound of Dublin. The sounds you hear in any city are dependent on the time of year and Dublin is no different. We’re currently in September and according to Anto the typical September sounds in the capital are “the wild, chattering and atonal outpouring…when pent-up kids spill out of every primary school door”, the variety of accents brought by annual pilgrimage to Croke Park for the All-Ireland finals and the sound of fallow deer bucks rutting in the Phoenix Park.

So how does Dublin smell? Well in September Anto lists the smell of brine after last dips in the still warm sea, pipes and cigars at race meetings and damp woody smells of fungi growing at the base of trees in Dublin’s parks and woodlands.

I was given Slow Dublin (Slow Guides) as a present and although I’ve not read it all it has already helped to open my mind to sights and sounds I didn’t realise existed or to which I’d become acclimatised through over exposure.

Last week I was travelling from the city centre to Terenure on a 15A bus. As it turned to head up to Rathmines I realised I had a clear view of the Dublin Mountains. Not the tallest “mountains” in the world, but seeing them on a clear day is a treat that “reminds us that the world consists of more than concrete, glass and income tax”.

Later, in Terenure, I realised was I was near St Joseph’s Church. Inside is an artistic treat that I’d never before given any consideration. Again at the prompting of Anto I popped in and had a look at the stained glass of The Crucifixion and Adoration of the Cross by Harry Clarke (1889 – 1931). Harry Clarke’s work pops up all over the city and this is a fine example.

Although the book is full of interesting things to see and do around Dublin it isn’t a guide book tourists, it is more a guide book for the soul. It is a key that will open many doors to help those who spend time in Dublin enjoy the city even more.

The chapters (with titles like see, hear, smell, taste, touch) try to help you sense and feel the pulse of the city while protecting you from its obvious hustle and bustle. It’s a helping hand for people who want to live more and fret less.

Treat yourself to a copy and it should help you experience a gentler, calmer side to life in Dublin.

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Embrace a Gentler Side of Dublin

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Based on the football I’ve seen so far I would like Spain to win. To my eyes they have played the most exciting and most consistently attractive football of all of the teams competing.

But I’m really an interested neutral. If the Dutch play well and win I won’t be disappointed. The fact that they have lost two World Cup finals before in 1974 and 1978 must drive them to go one better then the teams of Johan Cruyff (1974), Arie Hann, Ruud Krol, Johan Neeskens and Johnny Rep.

I got my prediction very, very wrong when I thought that North Korea would give Portugal a stiff test. But I do think this final could go either way. Spain may be playing the better football but Holland are a team that seem unpleasantly difficult to beat.

Usually for a sporting event as significant as a World Cup Final I would place a bet with a friend on the outcome. This time I’ve deliberately stayed firmly on the fence.

Back in 1995 South Africa hosted a very different World Cup – the Rugby World Cup. I was so convinced that the All Blacks were going to win I had a bet with a good friend who foolishly thought South Africa had a chance. I felt nothing but confidence as I could see no possibility that New Zealand, and the towering Jonah Lomu, could be stopped. South Africa would need a miracle.

After the match, and after the miracle, I handed over the grand prize of IR£2. Not a lot to lose on a bet, but G has had bragging rights ever since!

I was reminded of all of this when I read Invictus: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation by John Carlin. It’s a book set around the build-up to that World Cup final.

Rugby does play a part, and the relationship between Nelson Mandela and the Springbok’s captain Francois Pienaar is explored, but the book is more about Nelson Mandela’s vision and ability to win over opponents to his way of thinking.

The book covers a very difficult time for South Africa. It seemed permanently on the brink of civil war. Mandela had been elected President on the foot of the ANC winning a majority of the vote in the first multi-racial elections. But although he and the ANC held office, the country was split. The old ruling white party did not want to give up power and those whites who may have had sympathy for the plight of those oppressed during apartheid feared retribution from the new government.

The book, goes into the various factions that existed and probably still exist in South Africa. But what it does best is give an insight into Nelson Mandela, a man who realised that in order to stabilise a volatile country, he needed to reach out to the hearts of those who feared him most.

The film starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon is entertaining, but it gives far more time to the rugby element than Carlin does in his book. Carlin paints a portrait of Mandela and how from as early as 1985 he set out to gain the trust of the white government. He started this process of reconciliation by talking to those that imprisoned him when he was 21 years into a life sentence for conspiracy to overthrow the existing regime. The book takes us on a journey that introduces us to various characters, some sympathetic, but many fervently opposed to sharing power with the ANC.

Mandela used rugby as a focal point to bring whites who loved the sport with passion, and blacks who despised it as a symbol of their hated oppressor, to a point where they all desired a much coveted symbolic goal – victory in the 1995 Rugby World Cup Final.

As I said earlier I lost a bet on that match, but in 1999 I had an opportunity to win my money back and regain bragging rights when Manchester United played Bayern Munich in the Champions League Final. Although I was less convinced than I was with the All Blacks in 1995, I placed my money on Bayern, and G, being a Man U fan was quite happy to pick the Red Devils.

It all went well for 90 minutes and then disaster in the form of Sheringham and Solskjær struck. Two goals in extra time and once again I was on the losing side.

There are some people you should never bet against!

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South Africa’s Other World Cup

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Why am I reading it? It was recommended by a source I respect and it’s part of a process of self-discovery and self-improvement I started a few months ago. During this process I’ve read several books and as usual they ranged from the useless (in my opinion) to the excellent (again in my opinion).

What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How successful people become even more successful is one of the excellent ones.

I’m not going to give a full book review; you can easily find one online. What I will do is give you an excerpt from one of the early sections entitled Shifting into Neutral. It was while reading this relatively short but most impactful section that I realised this book was for me.

Much of the book is targeted at helping executives and senior managers recognise that the habits that brought them success may in fact be holding them back from achieving greatness.

But this book is not only for executives. I think the fundamental principles of the book are so sound that they would benefit people in all walks of life, and would assist relationships in many forms, with loved-ones, with friends and with colleagues.

The chapters on Apologising, Listening and Thanking were my personal favourites.

The following except is reproduced with the kind permission of Marshall Goldsmith.

We have to stop couching all our behavior in terms of positive or negative. Not all behavior is good or bad. Some of it is simply neutral. Neither good nor bad.

For example, let’s say you’re not regarded as a nice person. You wan’t to change that perception. You decide, “I need to be nicer.”

What do you do?

For many people, that’s a daunting assignment, requiring a long list of positive actions. You have to start complimenting people, saying “please” and “thank you,” listening to people more patiently, treating them with a verbal respect, etc., etc., etc. In effect, you have to convert all of the negative things you do at work into positive actions. That’s asking a lot of most people, requiring a complete personality makeover that is closer to religious conversion than on-the-job improvement. In my experience very few if any people can institute that many positive changes in their interpersonal actions all at once. They can handle one at a time. But a half dozen or more changes? I don’t think so.

Fortunately, there’s a simpler way to achieve the goal of “being nicer.” All you have to do is “stop being a jerk.” It doesn’t require much. You don’t have to think of new ways to be nicer to people. You don’t have to design daily tasks to make over your personality. You don’t have to remember to say nice things and hand out compliments and tell the little white lies that lubricate the gears of the workplace. All you have to do is . . . nothing.

When someone offers a less-than-brilliant idea in a meeting, don’t criticize it. Say nothing.

When someone challenges one of your decisions, don’t argue with them or make excuses. Quietly consider it and say nothing.

When someone makes a helpful suggestion, don’t remind them that you already knew that. Thank them and say nothing.

This is not a semantic game. The beauty of knowing what to stop – of achieving this state of inspired neutrality – is that it is so easy to do.

Given the choice between becoming a nicer person and ceasing to be a jerk, which do you think is easier to do? The former requires a concerted series of positive acts of commission. The latter is nothing more than an act of omission.

Think of it in terms of a box. Being a nicer person requires you to fill up the box with all the small positive acts you perform every day to establish the new you. It takes a long time to fill up the box, and even longer for people to pay attention and notice that your box is full.

On the other hand, ceasing to be a jerk does not require learning new behavior. You don’t have to fill up the box with all your positive achievements; you simply have to leave it empty of any negatives.

Keep that in mind as you go through the list of interpersonal issues in this section and determine if any apply to you. Correcting the behavior, you’ll discover, does not require polished skills, elaborate training, arduous practice, or supernatural creativity. All that’s required is the faint imagination to stop doing what you’ve done in the past – in effect, to do nothing at all.

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You want to be a nicer person? Then stop being a jerk!

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So far I’ve come away feeling glad that I saw the following contests:

• Brazil V Korea DPR (North Korea)
• Argentina V Korea Republic (South Korea)
• Slovenia V USA
• Cameroon V Denmark
• Brazil V Ivory Coast

Brazil may not be the flamboyant team of old but they do seem to have a good balance between defence and attack.

Of today’s three matches the one I really want to see is Portugal V Korea DPR; I think Portugal might find this one a tough game to win. Brazil found it hard to break down the North Korean defence and I don’t think the Portuguese are capable of the same moments of magic we saw from Maicon, Robinho and Elano.

But we’ll see. Football after all is a funny old game.

Although this isn’t directly related to the World Cup itself I started thinking about the football books I’ve read and which, if any, I’d read again if I got the opportunity.

I’ve read quite a few, and I tend to prefer the books that live more in the graft and grime of the sport than those that tell of the greatness of players.

Here are my five favourites and the reasons why I liked then.

My Father and Other Working Class Football Heroes

Gary Imlach describes a time when football internationals and FA Cup heroes worked as fitters, plumbers and painters during the off season. In so doing he reconnects with football and more importantly his father’s memory and gives us an insight into a time when professional footballers’ salaries weren’t so far removed from their fans.

The Damned Utd

This book by David Peace may be a fictional account of the unlikely marriage of Leeds United and Brian Clough back in 1974 but it is a wonderful read all the same. This period is very painful for many Leeds fans of a certain age as it marked the decline of an aging but ruthlessly skilful team built by Don Revie. Leeds have had more damaging years since then and one wonderful season in 1991-1992 when they won the 1st Division title (last season before Premiership), but they’ve never come close to the success they had from 1968 to 1974.

The Miracle of Castel di Sangro

Joe McGinniss tells us the story of Castel di Sangro, newly promoted to Italian Serie B, and their attempts to survive their first season. This is football in Italy and with it comes plenty of excitement, emotion and corruption.

Forza Italia: The Fall and Rise of Italian Football

Paddy Agnew pulls from his experiences in journalism to put together a book that tackles the good and the bad of Italian football. When I read this book in 2006 it was called Forza Italia: A Journey in Search of Italy and Its Football. It was just before the World Cup of that year. Italian football was suffering. A match fixing scandal had touched several of the big clubs including Juventus, Lazio, Fiorentina and AC Milan. The 2006 World Cup was coming and how could Italy possibly win. The book was republished in 2007 with the title Forza Italia: The Fall and Rise of Italian Football. Guess what happened!

Full Time: The Secret Life of Tony Cascarino

Paul Kimmage and Tony Cascarino have written a shockingly honest book about football. You don’t get exposed to many of Cascarino’s successes, instead he lets you in to the day to day drudgery of a professional footballer and makes at least one unexpected confession.

If you haven’t read these books and you’re not in to reading about the minute details of how a great footballer scored one of his many great goals then you might want to give them a go. If you’ve read them already, please let me how you rate them.

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My Five Favourite Football Books

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