Archive for the ‘personal’ Category

Self Harm - John was in the Business Post today

Sunday, January 29th, 2006

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my site using a feedreader or email. Thanks for visiting - Damien.

Self harm is a blog by John which helps to explain what self-harm is and why people cut themselves and inflict other forms of harm on themselves. I’ve been reading the blog a while now and it’s educated me quite a lot about this issue. I didn’t nominate many blogs for the blogawards but I did nominate this blog in the Best Personal Blog category. This blog deserves a bigger audience in my opinion and it was great to see Markham write a piece in the Sunday Business Post about it and have John interviewed in it too. To quote a small piece from it:

John cuts himself. It feels like the sting of sunburn and a release of pressure. When his feelings get confused and his thoughts are clouded, he seeks solace in pain. The pain focuses him, it’s a pure sensation, a reminder that he can feel; that he has emotions and everything is alright again. It’s like hitting a reset button.

Refreshed, John patches the cut with a plaster, rolls down his sleeve and goes to sleep.

It is blogs like John’s that add quality to the blogosphere in my view. The tag line for the blog is “You are not alone” and thanks to John hopefully more people will indeed realise that there are others who they can talk to about this and there to help them remedy the situation. Well done John and well done Markham for writing such a piece and bringing it to wider attention.

Internet is for Porn - How I love thee Google Video

Tuesday, January 24th, 2006

Internet is for Porn - What a great song!

Roe Vs Wade is 33 years old today

Monday, January 23rd, 2006

From my limited knowledge of judicial history I know how important Roe v Wade was and how it started a new era of freedom for people around the world. It in effect struck down anti-abortion laws in the US citing a woman has a right to privacy and to do what she wants with her own body. Of late though this is being seriously eroded.

Roe v Wade inspired the McGee case in Ireland which deemed unconstitutional the ban on the sale of constraceptives and it in turn sparked the long and unending abortion arguments in Ireland. Mary Robinson was the Barrister for Mrs McGee and later was part of a pro-choice group that campaigned for legislation change on abortion.

Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese later campaigned with David Norris to remove the ban on homosexuality which was denied by the Supreme Court which amongst other things cited that it was a public health concern and so his privacy and what he did in his own home was less important than curbing homosexuals and their health risk. This was of course at the time when people were dropping like flies (or so it seemed) with AIDS. (1983-1984). Norris eventually went to the Eurpean Court of Human Rights and won (1998) but it took until 1993 before the ban on homosexuality was removed.

Now tomorrow comes a much leaked report, the conclusions of which seemed to have been decided on before a consultation process was even finished. The report is about changing the constitution to recognize more rights for children and a better more inclusive definition of what a family is. Right now a family is a married man and woman and who have or could have kids. Anything else is not a family and therefore does not have the same rights. The definition of a family will not change say the leak ks and that was made clear months ago but it seems to deflect from this rigged result they are making it a Gay Marriage issue.

It is true that if they changed the definition it may have provided for same-sex marriage but that was with one suggested definition but it would mean that umarried fathers would have rights to their kids, it would mean kids with two mummies would have parents who are equal guardians of their future, it would have meant unmarried couples would be treated better in the eyes of the law. Instead the family definition remains unchanged and the issue is turned into an emotive issue about gay marriage. Ugly spin tactics to hide the pre-Roe attitude that still exists amongst some in Ireland. There’s more coverage by Suzy and Potato. I’d be very interested in Fiona’s take on it.

New York in November

Monday, January 16th, 2006

So I’ve volunteered to go with my family to New York in November. So dear readers, please suggest cheap but comfortable places to stay in the Metropolis. There are 5 adults and one 13 year old going.

Please also recommend some good places to visit. By places I mean places for weird food and crazy bars. While the family shops myself and a cousin will be going a bit crazy, I hope.

This cold/virus thing going around

Sunday, January 15th, 2006

Anyone else experience this motherfucker of a virus? It started on New Year’s day and I still have it. Chest infection and cold thing and a really nasty and annoying cough. Out sick from work most of last week and have no energy to do anything. It took me about 2 hours to answer that meme from Suzy. Antibiotics run out tomorrow and really have been no help. Woke this morning from fevered dreams and pains all over. Muh. 2006 better improve!

Meme Quartet

Sunday, January 15th, 2006

Suzy tagged me with the four meme.

Four jobs you’ve had in your life:

Worked in a pound shop when I was 15/16.
Hospital porter.
Tech support monkey.
Technical writer.

Four movies you could watch over and over:

Amelie
Terminator 2
The Godfather
Old Boy

Four places you’ve lived:
Knocknaheeny
The Cork countryside :)
Drumcondra
Ballintemple, Cork.

Four TV shows you love to watch:

The West Wing
Battlestar Galactica (the new version)
Deadwood
Doctor Who

Four places you’ve been on vacation:
Russia
Virginia
Iceland
Andorra

Four websites you visit daily:
Visit 130 sites via Bloglines
Boards.
Internet Movie Database.
Amazon.

Four of your favorite foods:

Rare bloody steak
Sushi
Most fish
Chips and curry from Lennox’s, Bandon Road

Four places you’d rather be:
Iceland
Sitting on some craggy rocks, breathing in the sea air rolling in from Galway Bay and just taking in the magnificent views as the sun in the evening starts to fade and you can still feel the warmth on your face and the sunburn starting to tighten the skin on your shoulders. All senses at work yet feeling so relaxed.
Cork. Think of the Tommy Tiernan joke about Cork people. Sure it’s not Cork, like.
Sitting on a stairs.

Four people to annoy with another annoying meme.
United Irelander
Elana
Gerry
The yank.

Morning becomes Eclectic Video Podcasts

Tuesday, January 10th, 2006

Via MacWorld: Good news for music gourmands, Morning Becomes Eclectic is now going to do video podcasts. If you don’t know what MBE is, think of it as Pet Sounds but during the Ray D’Arcy slot and they do podcasts already. How great would it be to hear such good music while at work or college and now see videos too? The audio podcasts would interest me more but it is good to see that already 2006 may become the year of the video podcast. Bell X1 did a great show a few months back on it. That’s how I found them.

My neighbourhood getting all tarted up.

Thursday, January 5th, 2006

Found on boards.ie are these pics of a new development near Pairc Ui Caoimh. Very nice. The NMRC is moving near my place. Great idea.

Development near Pairc Ui Caoimh

Development near Pairc Ui Caoimh

Dublining

Thursday, January 5th, 2006

I’m off to Dublin and Maynooth in the morning. Am around Dublin on Fri, Sat and Sun. If anyone is around give me a shout if you want to go for a drink or two. I’m going to see Mogwai play on Saturday evening, anyone else going to them?

I won’t be checking mail til at least Fri evening, I should think, so if you need to contact me have your people talk to Sinéad’s people who will ask Sinéad to supply my number.

Anyone know of a place in Dublin that does cocktails after lunch? Yes, I’m starting early.

Goodbye Nape Piercing

Thursday, December 29th, 2005

About 13 months ago I got a nape piercing. After constant fighting with it, my body won and I decided to take it out. With overworking myself and always being run down, the piercing was getting infected every few days. It got really bad the past two weeks as you can see:
Infected piercing

So, tonight I unscrewed a ball and pulled it out from under my skin. This is what the bar looks like:

Nape bar

I guess I should really just stick to tattoos. At least they don’t get infected.