The Frail Art of Writing

I'm beginning to remember the many writers who chose
literature because ill health kept them indoors.

The cold, which has now reached mythic proportions in
my head, has sent me off seeking entertainment on blogs
far and wide. Much more of this and writing will
become my métier again.

Today is International Women's Day and is to be
celebrated by all. Having voted for
Gingerpixel recently in the Blog Awards,
I finally dropped by to give encouragement.


Many people take negative attitudes to women very seriously,
which is correct.

I have learned to ignore them, as there is no point
in getting worked up about ideas that one does not share.

So I wrote:

A lot of daft ideas about what women are and what they are good at used to be taken as general perception in the workplace.

It's called prejudice and is very silly.
It has also led to many women setting up their
own businesses and working happily with
colleagues of both gender.

Well done on such a good piece for
International Women's Day.

It is not always a handicap to be in
an industry where women are rare.
It could offer many opportunities.

Gardeners never look a gift horse in the mouth."

The Year of The Widget

It looks as if my recent interest in
Widgets is shared by very many bloggers
and geeks.

The design quality of the buttons being
developed for downloading to Desktop
and Blog Interface is improving daily.

Let's keep an eye on these handy hold-alls.

The Chattering Goes On

I've just been chatting with Podge. His interest in hearing about a visit
to Western Austalia got me remembering all the lovely times we had there
in Spring (Aussie Time) 2005.

We started out in Perth and drove along the coast and finally, having ziz-zagged a bit, got to see Albany.

You might like the site leading from the Title Bar here.
It has a very beautiful map.


I particularly liked Margaret River. They were having extended Winter weather in 2005, which everybody commented on. The forests were spectacular in the rain.

We were away for almost two months, so getting the whole thing down on paper might take some time.

It's worth persisting with Bobby's Reflections, especially if you like Wild Orchids. I was astonished at the number of people with very expensive photography equipment who follow the WA Orchid Trail every year. My camera was not suited to close-ups at the time, but the temptation is to go there again.

I know Victoria better than WA, and really enjoyed a visit to Squeaky Beach. The importance of maintaining the fragile soils of Australia is particularly interesting, as I've always had an amateur's interest in Soil Science, without getting into all the details.

Irish Blog Awards Are Very Popular

Clouds Get In My Eyes

Cloud Tags are invaluable.
They help sift through information quickly, efficiently.

A simple way of finding other like-minded sites.

Butterflies in The Flower Garden

I love butterflies and encourage them in my garden
by planting nectar-rich flowers.

Studying photos of butterflies on flowers on the Web
is a very scientific way of deciding what to grow.

Nettles encourage butterflies to come to the garden,
so it's not always useful to weed them out.

A Bit Slow Off The Mark Here

A Flickr account is a must if a photographer would like to keep
up to date with fashionable themes and how to present work to
the World outside our own little space.

Finally worked out how to link this blog to Flickr, where the system
imports material across the Net. Very mysterious.

From now on uploading back and forth should be speedy
and enjoyable.

The people running Flickr are happy to chat and
offer advice on how to get the most enjoyment
from their site.

Thank You For Posting a Comment

My security systems are now so Byzantine that I am unable
to release the kind greeting from Caramaena into the system.

It's lovely when somebody drops by to say "hello".
Thank you for enquiring about my state of health.
Yes, my cold is improving. The ability of such a tiny virus
to be such a nuisance is impressive.

Your not-lot-to-say-lately Title Bar caught my attention.

Ditto here. Have totally lost my voice...

Proust, Habit and A Cold in the Head

The temptation to stay indoors and read Proust has been given
full validation today.

A head cold, worthy of the attention of
the great hypochondriac himself, is all I needed
to take a break from gardening and to get involved
in thinking about Sainte-Beuve, literary criticism
and the deep inner "self" that is the mythic creation
of so many modern writers.

Does "le moi profond" actually exist?
Is everybody, as Proust thought, capable
of writing great works of literature by
getting in contact with "le moi créateur"?

Sitting here, drinking Carragheen green tea laced
with honey. Memories may rise from the cup,
as they did for Proust.

Proust et Les Autres

There is something in the Irish Climate
that makes reading Proust easy.
The temptation to take to the bed
while wind and rain beat against the windows
is strong.

Proust gives the bedroom
a certain seriousness.
One could consider starting
a major literary opus there.

And his sense of humour brightens up
Dull March Days.

Phases of the Moon

Last night's Lunar Eclipse
reminds many of us to look upwards
more often.

Everybody is comparing their experiences
today. There was an astonishing
few minutes
when the moon turned red.

One can only imagine the effect
that this sort of event
must have had on our forefathers.
Science is a great help in explaining
such unusual phenomena.

Anybody who has good lunar links is
welcome to post here.

I Finally Got to See Twenty Major

and lived to tell the tale.

Last night was a Red Moon Event. Returning through Merrion Square after
The Irish Blog Awards Ceremony, the Earth was casting its shadow on the
Moon and we shared a moment looking upwards
with two ladies walking a dog.

The perfect ending to a very lively night.

The Irish Blog Awards Ceremony,
held at The Alexander Hotel,
just near The Ginger Man Pub,
was one of the most
enjoyable gigs this year.

Rick O'Shea, MC and presenter of the awards, was also
in the running for an prize in
Best Contribution to the Irish Bloggersphere
- Sponsored by FirstPartners.net

Being partisan, I had voted for Blather.net,
which was in the running for
Best Arts and Culture Blog
- Sponsored by Poetry Ireland.

The Winners Link is on
Photographe à Dublin.

Too tired and emotional to type
it all out here again.

And, BTW, Twenty Major
is a handsome lad.
He is now the Top Blogger in Ireland.

Well done!