Category Archives: Thoughts

Thoughts

Wish you were here

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At the risk of having very much over-sold Cerys Matthews’ gig the other night (and in turn her new album) I feel a duty to write a quick post that will outline part of the reason why her gig was so moving for me the other night.

The 21st of June – the longest day of the year – holds some bad memories for me. In short, while en route to a family funeral on June 21st 2007 I answered a call from my dad where he told me that his cousin whom I was very close to has passed away. A bad day, thankfully I haven’t seen the like of since and hopefully will never see again.

I’m not sure if it was the unexpectedness of her passing or the fact that there were two hugely emotional losses so close together that I feel I haven’t yet gotten over her death.

Sitting in the National Library on Monday night as Cerys sang the opening bars of Spancil Hill with her acoustic guitar I was transported directly back to sitting in her beautiful cottage in Clare around Christmas. She would organise a gathering of the family circles to sing songs, read poems and tell stories. No televisions, no phones, just people enjoying each other’s company and talents. It was magic.

The same week I find myself wishing hard she was still around for a chat, a cup of tea and a slice of her honest opinion.

Isn’t it amazing the impact people can have on you?

Wherever you are AnnaMay, I hope the sun is shining on you. Wish you were here.

Thoughts

Reading week

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specsBorrowing the term from college days when most students would have a week free of lectures to do assigned reading I’m declaring this my own ‘reading week’ of sorts.

I was a serious bookworm up until about Leaving Cert time hit and the whole experience almost completely put me off reading. I struggled in college to read what I needed to read – at least half of those were software manuals and the other sociology and communications books.

Since leaving college I have a trail of half-read books in boxes and on shelves that have moved house with me a handful of times and I’m now determined to get my reading mojo back. Part of the reason why I’m doing so this week is because I finally sorted myself out with some badly needed new specs which should make the task a bit easier!

On the list for completion are Futuretainment and Don’t Make Me Think. Once they’re ticked off I’m getting stuck into A Book About Innocent. Should keep me out of trouble for a while :)

Thoughts

Jack L – ten years on

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So I’m going up to Vicar St later to hear Jack L belt out some tunes with the backing of a band and a gospel choir. It should be mega.

I also just realised this morning that it’s 10 years to the date since the first Jack L gig I went to.

Before you brand me a nut/stalker/psycho fan (well, not the bad sort) I remember by association with another event. It was for my best buddy’s 15th birthday celebration. Shame I haven’t a similar excuse for the 40-odd other times I went to hear him crooning after that :)

I’m reeling a little at the thought of it being so long since that occasion. It’s significant in so many strange ways, like the fact that it’s responsible for me getting into the business of designing and building websites (my first was a fan community website), made me fall in love with live music and allowed me to meet some brilliant people some of whom I still call friends today. He introduced me to the music of Jacques Brel, Sinatra, Jeff Buckley and made me feel a little less ridiculous about getting up and singing in public, something I got plenty of slagging for while still in school.

It’s been a good ten. Where does the time go?!

Yeah yeah, still a bit of a fangirl I'm afraid
Thoughts

iPad – first impressions & thoughts

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To be honest, I’m struggling to fall in love with it. I have an iPhone since Xmas 2008 and I love it to bits. I’ve since bought my first MacBook Pro and the love affair in terms of design and user experience continues to grow.

This however, I find difficult to get my head around. Maybe it will change when I eventually see one ‘in the flesh’ but from pictures and videos it looks a bit awkward and as someone said on Morning Ireland today like you had taken a rolling pin to an iPhone.

Aside from the lack of love at first sight, I am excited by the way it will probably change how we interact with the web and with each other. No, scratch that, it will change all that.

Here’s what I think…

  • It’s going to affect many industries and what they offer:
    • Telecoms: optional 3G but no voice support means new opportunities for mobile operators and good times for Skype
    • Web design and development: another new set of screen dimensions with full multi-touch and still no Flash support means HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript will be doing the tricks for now
    • Gaming: a large portable screen with compass and GPS – delicious opportunities for interactive immersive gaming
    • Advertising: no Flash support so traditional interactive banner ads won’t be appearing on an iPad near you – time to cook up the alternatives and embrace the new format
    • TV: if you haven’t been doing so already you’re going to need to start outputting your video clips using H.264 compression
    • Publishing: iBookstore is to books as iTunes is to songs – e-books are on the up
  • Those who decided to learn Objective C and got into iPhone/iPod app development will be delighted and continue to be hot property
  • It’s another foot in the grave for bulky sluggish netbooks

Now, when do I get to play with one?

Thoughts

Hello. I am Steph and I am socially inept.

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Myself and some lovely bloggers I'm glad to have met :)
Myself and some lovely bloggers I'm glad to have met :)

Sitting on the train to Graiguenamanagh last Friday evening a memory sparked and has haunted me since.

Picture this: an ordinary college girl happily embracing a course in multimedia in DCU who has lived away from home since the day after her Leaving Cert, very independent and city smart. Her timetable in the latter half of second year means her classes finish at 2pm on Wednesday afternoon. Nice! Four days of the week and time is her own. Week 1 goes by. Week 2 passes, a bit boring but we’ll have project work soon.

Week 3, Wednesday afternoon, I’m at home in my little box room facing another four-day weekend. That’s when I believe I had my first and only panic attack. I couldn’t breathe, I was hysterical. I couldn’t face the thought of another weekend pretty much by myself. Alone. Invisible to the world.

I packed a bag and quickly headed for the train station jumping on the next train home. And that’s what I did for pretty much every week for the rest of that semester. Went home, took up some part-time work for 2 days, had a day off and returned on Sunday night. It got to the stage where I started recognising others who were doing a similar or part of the same commute.

It’s a part of me that drives me nuts, that I detest. Thankfully I have improved somewhat but I still have a long way to go. I’ve got plenty of theories on why I am so and why I find it so terrifying and challenging to meet and make new friends but I also have realised that social networking has been and is fantastic for people like me.

I get annoyed when I hear people bashing social media by calling it a ‘haven for misfits and the socially awkward’ (and so on) – so what?! We’re no more awkward or odd than some of the regulars in the bar I used to work in who used to pop in for a few drinks purely for the social aspect it offered.

I’ve met and made some great friends and acquaintances through Twitter and blogging and the conversations and events that are generated by or through them. And I hope that continues into the future. Why has it been easier this way? I’m not sure if it’s the sense of anonymity, the casual and passing nature of communication online or even the ability to discover common ground and establish some kind of relationship prior to meeting? Or the feeling of being constantly ‘connected’? Or all of the above.

Whatever it is it suits this misfit.