So I probably just did the scariest thing I have ever done ever. I published a book. One that people can buy, and that has my name on it. It’s terrifying and wonderful and I kind of feel like an impostor.
Petticoats, Patriots, and Partition (take 1)
Tag Archives: writing
It’s my birthday!
My blogs have had a birthday! I almost missed the notification – but I turn two today…or one of them does. It is hard to believe, considering I didn’t even know I had two years of material in me. This one isn’t quite two yet, but since it is more regular, I’m celebrating it anyway. Earlier this year, I posted my ten favorite Irish posts from my first year of writing. Now I’m publishing a book, looking forward to spending a month in Ireland come March, and already forging ahead. I hope you’ll all join me on these adventures.
We’re all mad here
On this day in 1757, “St. Patrick’s Hospital for Imbeciles,” Ireland’s first mental hospital, was opened in Dublin. The name has changed throughout the years to the simpler St. Patrick’s Hospital – but when it opened it was a hospital designed to house the insane and afflicted. It was the final gift that Jonathan Swift (of Gulliver’s Travels fame) bestowed upon the world, and it was created at his request with money left for it in his will.
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Apologies and news
I apologize dear readers, it has been some time since I’ve posted here. It is not for lack of will – I get an immense amount of joy from this blog, but life has gotten in the way for a minute. Or rather, death has.
I’ve been hit with a double dose of tragedy over the last couple of weeks and it has taken a toll on my brain and my free time. I promise to return to my regularly scheduled program as soon as I’m able to stop and think for a minute. There’s a post or five brewing in my head I promise – and I look forward to getting them out soon.
In the meantime, I will tease you with a little news – there’s a book coming. It’s a silly little thing that I’m self-publishing but it brings me a lot of joy. It’s a trade paperback with about 150 pages and is full of some expanded and favorite posts, quirky facts, Irish travel gems, and more. It features a lot of women and some of the lesser known players in Irish History and has a wonderful title too – but it’s going to be about a month before I can get it finished and released. I just wanted you to know that I haven’t been completely idle in these trying times.
More history posts and current tidbits soon I promise.
Squeeze your loved ones a lot and keep them close.
Happy Birthday to Me!
This blog, Choosing the Green – Roghnú Glas is officially one year old today. My, how the time flies…
When I began this little project, the intention was to have a little place to put all of my Irish heroes, stories, news and photos in one place—and that is exactly what I’ve done—but I did not expect, support from other larger blogs, a Facebook page or any readers at all, for that matter. I just needed a proverbial tree to carve my love into and I didn’t really expect it to grow like it has over the last year. I am humbled by your interest, your comments and your support and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
The Wilde Lady Jane
Jane Francesca Elgee did a lot of things in her life. She rebelled against her Protestant, Unionist family and became a prolific poet and Nationalist writer. She stood up in court, outing herself as the criminal during a Sedition case to protect the people and the paper she worked for. She spoke at least five languages and translated in each. She threw weekly salons and was known as the most gracious host in all of Dublin. She was a devoted Suffragist and fought for equal rights for women. But what she is best known for is not her prose or her politics. She is best known for being the mother of her children—one in particular—whose works far surpassed those of his mother in a very short time. Indeed, Jane Francesca Elgee will forever be known as Lady Jane Wilde, the woman who gave birth to her son, Oscar.
Collision
Brilliant writer, Great rider, and extended family. Whiskeypants got the short end of the stick. Please click on the fundraiser link and help if you can…
Hello, Gentle Reader. Been a while since I blogged, and odds are you know why, but I’m gonna tell the story like you don’t, so you will just have to sit and listen with the rest of the kids.
On January 19th (that’s the day after my birthday, for those of you playing the Whiskeypants! Home Game™), I decided that I wanted a sandwich from Berkeley Bowl, where the sandwiches are sufficiently delicious that I was willing to brave one of the mid-level circles of Hell to get one. I picked up a few other things, hopped back on Clyde, my beloved motorcycle, and moseyed back home. I was enjoying the sunshine and the clear roads, taking it slowly because I hadn’t been out in a bit and wanted to enjoy it.
If you you have never ridden a motorcycle, you might not realize how hyperaware bikers tend to be of their surroundings. That’s not…
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Gratitude
Today marks over 100 posts in this wee little dream of a blog. It gives me great pleasure and I’m so happy to keep being inspired enough by my travels and my love of history to keep churning these entries out. I’m also humbled and grateful for those who read them, and who by doing so, keep me on my toes and learning. This blog has grown from a mere place for all my ramblings to a constant cycle of learning, reading, writing, and sharing and I can’t ever seem to find flowery enough words of appreciation for it.
A new look!
It’s time to strip the old away and make way for the new in 2015, so this blog has a whole new look. After a few readers gave me some input about the black background being harder to read, I opted to change it a little. Hopefully this makes things easier and brighter for everyone.
That goes for next year too. I think we all need easier and brighter happenings in 2015 – and I wish you all an even better year, full of excitement, learning, and joy. Thank you for making this new blog a constant source of merriment for me in its first year – and now on to the second!!
Athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh!
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,100 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 35 trips to carry that many people.
Choosing the Green 