Our “rough tough creme puff” from NY, who was going to give us “balls right now” is gone! Even she had to admit that her teams product was Pants!

Yes last week the teams had the branding and marketing challenge, oh and there were hot branding irons in the fire by the time the final three were in the boardroom. Kim sensing her time was up and Lorraine was after sticking the knife in, turned to her Brutus with a venomous look claiming “I have always championed you”, and while Philip drawled “That’s so romantic” Sir Allen gave her a one way ticket back to the big apple.

She did as many a losing apprentice and hoist her self by her own petard, claiming that this was the challenge she was here for, she took leadership of team Ignite. However, that was about as far as she took it as the team never really got going at all.

The Challenge

The challenge was to create a brand and market an new type of childrens breakfast cereal, containing one character.

Settling on the character of Pants Man, at Philips pouting behest, Kim attempted to keep the squabbling toddlers Lorraine and Philip in their respective highchairs and left the quiet kids Howard, Mona and Noorul to fend for themselves. All this babysitting meant that time was tight and in the end they didnt oversee the design of the box, but they got a bot that fit with the theme, oh yes folks, it was indeed pants!
I’d like to tell you the overarching theme of the presentation and the product itself, but it seems there wasn’t one. Mona would have you believe that the whole idea of “Wake up call” is

“Put your pants on the right way.” Not like a superhero, ‘cos he’s the only one allowed to get away with it. So basically when you eat our cereal you won’t dress up like pants man ‘cos you’re not pants man, only pants man gets away with his pants over his clothes.

Ok Mona, but ….. what’s that got to do with cereal?
The Box, only having print on the front, with no text regarding content or, well anything, was just a seamfree reminder of how Pantsman didn’t fit the brief.

On the other team, Kate heading up Empire,  set sail for success with the Parrot Pirate, Captain Squawk.  It was by no means plain sailing for Kaptain Kate as she had as shipmates Jabbering James, Dastardly Debra and Ben the Braindead and Yasmina O’Sharpface to pull into line. James had some of this weeks total clangers with “does that look parroty to you” regarding the designers excellent illustration and feeling like he had X marks the spot he came out with ‘I didn’t want something that looked like it was poisonous on the front of the box.’ to explain his concept of crossed spoons over a bowl instead of the traditional pirate skull and cross-bones.

Of course the whole thing could have sank as Kate discovered her child star had a nut allergy. However all was ok when it was explained that there was to be no eating of the cereal, phew! Ben the Braindead even managed to keep his trap shut, I guess he knew to lay low lest he be made walk the plank.

While Treasure Flakes was by no means a market slayer, it was obvious that Kate wanted everything shipshape and was taking no prisoners as the team fell into line behind her.  Even with the presentation delivered by the note reading Icemaiden Debra, the Marketing company warmed to the more cohesive plan and called it that Empire did indeed mark the spot.

You’re Fired!

Sir Allen gave the boot to Kim with the line “You remind me of final scene from wizard of oz, you look impressive but behind the curtains there’s nothing there”

I cant say I agree with him, but Kim made the fatal decision of dragging Philip and Lorraine into the boardroom, perhaps she, like I, forgot there was actually anyone else on her team, but there she hit the self destruct as Philip and Lorraine are the last two I’d try and take down with me.

Quotes of the week

Actor Kid “I’ve got a nut allergy”
Kim “I’m not a creative … I manage creativity!”
Philip “So natural you feel like you are naked”
Philip “Dance in your pants till you get in the mood”
James “Does that look parroty enough”
James “I feel like a monkey learning to use tools.”
Nick on Philip – “He thinks he’s Bono”

After Show with Adrian Chiles

A quick note on this weeks after show hosted by Adrian Chiles, Comedian Jenny Eclair from Grumpy Old Women was a panelist and came up with a brand name that probably could have usef PantsMan

Farty Breakfast Cereal… blow your mates away with fart pants cereal

She also got a laugh by telling us she once did an poster ad for Electrolux vacum cleaners with the tagline;

Nothing Sucks like an Electrolux.

It seems that Lorraine is the new Love to Hate figure, being likened to a Dementor in Harry Potter, she sucks the life out of everyone…. well she certainly sucks something as you’ll read in a moment.

Gossip and Innuendo

The Romance is Revealed!

We all heard that love was in the air in the penthouse this year, and while it was looking like Majid and Philip shared a special something, it turns out that Philips real desires lay elsewhere. Philip and Kate are the loved up duo! And as everyone’s favourite red top The Sun reports, out in the real world Philip has gone to meet Kates mum! Ooo-er!

Apprentice star Philip Taylor has met his show squeeze Kate Walsh’s mum – and even she thinks he’s cocky. Loudmouth Phil, who has been dating Midlander Kate for months,  took the plunge and went to meet Sue Walsh at her home in Cannock last Sunday. But despite being on his best behaviour behaviour, the arrogant Durham estate agent, 29, didn’t exactly charm the pants off his prospective mother-in-law.

Well slap me down with a feather, Philip is just as much of a gobby twat in real life…. shock!

Sex Sells

Lorraine gets jiggy with Pantsman

Ben was right, sex does sell, and in this case another red top The News of the World,  has been selling papers to beat the band on the Lorraine Swinger Sex Scandle. Oh yes the greasy bespeckled one (I had such high hopes for her  – but alas) is a swinger no less.

Of course it didn’t happen in her native Mullingar, no by god it did not. Nor did it happen on the seedy streets of London town, no sireee….. it all swung into action in the sex clubs of Amsterdam (I have yet to find these sex clubs, there are shows but clubs?… anyway that’s another story) The tabloid reports how,

The dowdy businesswoman told how watching six naked men and women writhing in a sexual frenzy in Amsterdam’s infamous red light district changed her life forever.

It seems she even tried to “recruit” Debra and her boyfriend for a foursome, sheesh with all that hair grease on the sharp edges on Debra’s face that’s an accident waiting to happen right there! Thankfully Debra declined, and now I am spared the horrific nightmares.

And a fellow Apprentice contestant told us: “She goes on and on about what her and her bloke get up to at swingers’ clubs and in their home. Apparently he likes to watch her in action with other men. She says he’s a sex addict.”

Anyhow all this has shed new light on Lorraine, who obviously has bigger things on her mind than merely washing her lanky hair or buying a decent pair of glasses.

So tune in this week (9pm GMT) on BBC 1 to find out who Sir Alan tells

There’s a taxi driver outside already typing your address in his sat nav

Its time for Margaret to avert her eyes as I give you the crowning jewel’s that were last weeks advertising spots

Don’t forget to join us this week at the Apprentice Live Blog.

Check back here for more details as we get them!

As I mentioned last week, all the national holidays come in a big glut from now till June 1st after which we have ne’re a long weekend in sight till Christmas.

It all kicks off with the Queens day festival, 30th April, marking the birthday of the Queen Beatrix (well actually her mothers birthday, but as QB’s birthday is in January, the pragmatic choice was to leave things in March)

Anyhow, there is Koninginnenacht, the Queens Night, the evening of the 29th, mostly celebrated in The Hague, but also celebrated wherever there is alcohol. Once work finishes the bars open and all hell breaks loose. The next day is Queens Day, Koninginnedag. Amsterdam is awash with Orange, and stalls appear everywhere, selling anything from a broken teapot to a donut, from a dress mannequin to a dental mirror and everything in between. Needles to say with5 days left people are already laying claim to the “best” plots on pavements and the like, marking their turf by writing BEZET in some manner on the ground

Next week my Mum is coming to visit for the festivities, but I do promise to post a round up of it all here.

In honour of this National Day our cocktail this week includes 4 essential Dutch ingredients, no not Hash, Cheese, Tulips and Arrogance…..

Something from BOLS, Genever (Dutch Gin) Orange Colour and the word Dutch!

Comfortable Young Dutch

• ½ shot BOLS Genever (young)
• 1½ shots  Southern Comfort
• ½ shots  Freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 shots Freshly squeezed orange juice

Add all ingredients to an iced shaker.
Shake and strain into an ice filled old fashioned glass.

Liquored Up? now lets get Linkered Up!

All this recession talk would have you believe nothing is happening in the shops these days, but I think thats Bull!

And so do Panti, Rick, Redmum, Ian, the Guardian and even CNN

RTE 9 0′clock news

Click here to view the embedded video.

Full CCTV Video

Click here to view the embedded video.

Last night I got a wonderful invite from @kittynel to go for a cruise through the canals on her new boat!

It was gezellig hoor!

Twitter News

We all know Oprah joined Twitter recently, but not to be outdone on the emerald isle, our own fair female shlebs piled onto the social networking train…. Twink, Lorraine Keane, Grainne Seoige, Bláthnaid NíChofaigh, Amanda Brunker and Glenda Gilson all joined very recently and are trying to figure out what the hell is going on!

Speaking, or tweeting about whats hot, Friday saw #doylejoke day. On prompt of @lecraic’s jibe about tweetbombing @darraghdoyle for his “bad” jokes, AJ offered a limited edition Helvetica Moleskine notebook to the best “worst” joke tweeted by 5.30

My last top twitter tale, is this  – Development of a method of tweeting using brain activity

That’s right, no keyboards, just a red cap fitted with electrodes that monitor brain activity, hooked up to a computer flashing letters on a screen. Wilson sent the messages by concentrating on the letters he wanted to “type,” then focusing on the word “twit” at the bottom of the screen to post the message.

The development could be a lifeline for people with “locked-in syndrome” — whose brains function normally but who cannot speak or move because of injury or disease.

Blogger News

Some bloggers need YOUR HELP

The ladies of Gaelick what to know

What the velvet hearts on the tree trunks along East Wall are for?

Panti would like your help resurrecting a lovely turn of phrase

“To Beat the Band”

The Culchies are up in arms, about the possibility of a musical based on the life of Jade Goody with songs such as “DOH! Whats a Dear” and Lottie’s suggestion of Don’t Cry For Me East Anglia? Suggestions on a postcard to the Beeb, where we are sure it will be their new 12 part search for a star.

Other thing happening in the blogosphere, Lilly Collison has moved blog home, she’s now a WP blogger!
Check out her new WWW place of residence www.lilycollison.com

My 2nd appearance on Desked – My Home desk  —>

Biff Sniff has some pretty cool tshirts to mark the demise of the global market economy – click on the image to get your shirt!

Wantsies and Other Stuff

Every Elf has wantsies – and coming up to my birthday…. here are a few of my pointlessly favourite things:

Singing Gizmo from Gremlins – you have to watch the video

Click here to view the embedded video.

Zip up headphones
Mine are always in a mass of knots! They even have a volume control on the zipper!

Noma Bar’s May 2009 Limited Edition Cover for Esquire

and finally: I leave you with two natural wonders:

Northern Lights (as I know they are @fontfiddler‘s favourtie thing ever)

Click here to view the embedded video.

and
Scenes from the zoo

According to the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), over 600 million visitors pass through the gates of over 1,300 zoological parks, reserves and aquariums worldwide every year. Springtime brings many new animals to these parks as well, as newborns. Collected here are some photographs from zoos and aquariums around the world from the past couple of months. Don’t forget that 2009 has been designated as the “year of the gorilla” by the United Nations. (37 photos total)

She wasn’t the hottest at the aul counting, but she goes away, not exactly smelling of Roses, but Sandalwood!
Confusing the price of Ceder and Sandal wood scents up, the team ended up spending £700 on scents alone, oh noes!!
Never fear, she got a promotion on returning to her old job, and is entering the blogosphere with a blog about her new shop “A Few of My Favorite Things” – will link as soon as I get one!
Check out this interview for more!

I have to say I was gutted that they lost, even though with the ceder wood/sandal wood mix up it was obvious they would lose.
Their product was lovely and really well presented and was something that people would buy, the other product, honey soap, was a total mess.
It was funny to see them film in Lush HQ, one of my favorite chains in the world.

So we have another week with Ben of “I got a scholarship to Sandhurst y’know” fame  – this boy really bugs the hell out of me. Especially since he boasts about something he never did anything with, so you got a scholarship, but you didn’t go!
While my disdain of  Ben grows, James admitted beginning to warm, nay beginning to love Ben, perhaps this is the start of the long feted romance in this season??
My favorite moments from last weeks ep:

James’ fear of the little crabs on the rocks as they went to find seaweed for the soap, he was dancing around like a prima ballerina! Wuss!

And Narools team accosting people coming out of the tube station to buy their squidgy honey soap, all the while wearing what looked like BioHazzard suits – uh-hu, and people will stop to talk to you wearing that??

Quotes of the Week  -

James on Kim

“She’s as dumb as a doorknob”

And Paula on Debra

“Shes like Sydney Harbor Bridge. Just when she finished putting on cream she has to start again”

“Debra’s 6ft 7 with her mouth open”

So on to this weeks fun! Its a Cereal Affair, and just to to whet your

Apprentice Appetite

The Mirror’s Headline -
Candidates viciously turn on each other over breakfast cereal character task

The Telegraphs Column by Margaret Mountford -

Philip, it turns out, has an obsession with pants– even when he’s talking about breakfast cereal….. [but its]… Poor Noorul, all dressed up in Ignite’s superhero costume, ends up sitting on a table in the garage of a suburban house waiting for the filming of their commercial to start – with his little matchstick legs swinging disconsolately underneath. Perhaps he thought the whole thing was a bit pants.

Yes we will be live blogging it (see below) in conjunction with Culch.ie

Come back just before 9pm (GMT) and have your say who is a Cereal Killer and who’s just Toast!!

So, with the many April Fool’s jokes this week, I thought I’d give you a bit of a fun cocktail:

Drinky: Black Magic

When served it’s off white in color due to the pineapple juice but as it settles down the color of dark rum appears. Wait until the second or third cocktail and then introduce this, its fun watching peoples reactions as their drink changes colour.

Ingredients:

* 150ml Pineapple juice
* 30ml dark rum
* Dash of orange squash
* Dash of lemon juice
* 10ml grenadine syrup
* 30ml Peter Herring cherry liqueur

Method:

1. Blend all the ingredients with three cubes of ice
2. Pour this in a cocktail glass and serve

————

Linky’s:

Have to have: Ninja Throwing star magnets

Will stop the Madonna Linkage but, I have no idea how to process how this makes me feel

This will be stuck beside my door from now on!

Possibly the cutest way of celebrating a growing new arrival: Belly Series

New things for my bike, new things for your bike?

Monkeyeletric Bike Lights

And something I got this weekend, once I’ve tried it I’ll let you know how (if) it works:   a coffee holder for your bike

Cup-to-go from Tazzina Cafe on Browersgracht

Can imagine Xbox will be on the list for one of these some magical day soon

And the loveliest ad I have ever seen (yes I know its evil Coca-Cola advertising)
Made my uterus cry, from my eye sockets!

#alanshair tried to take Alan by suprise

From this weeks BTW metup in Dublin (more to come perhaps in other cities)

Alan Costello posts his favorite images Set One & Set Two

Over at the Kitchn they have some seriously good tv snacks *drool*

1. DIY Microwave Potato Chips – Make your own potato chips! So easy, and you control how thin and crispy they are.

2. Bacon-Wrapped Potato Bites with Spicy Sour Cream Dipping Sauce – Wow! The mother of all sports-party appetizers. Deeeliciioussss……

3. Kale Chips – Keep it really light with these surprisingly addictive and tasty kale chips. Try with some vinegar and olive oil, or some pepper and sea salt. Delicious!

So the Obama’s give the Queen an iPod, but Michelle got a little more personal

Check out the video of the 8sec protocol shocker

Hug me Queeny!

Sinead Cochrane gave us a peek at her research on Irish Blogging and not to be outdone by one so young,

A University of Melbourne study published suggests that workers that use Facebook and Twitter during the workday are more productive.

The University of Melbourne study showed that people who use the Internet for personal reasons at work are about 9 percent more productive that those who do not.

Another study, shows that having sisters make for better mental health in families?
*shakes head* Come round my house and I’ll show you how wrong that is!

Speaking of families, Sweden allows Same-Sex Marriage
And Iowa also upholds Same-Sex Marriage rights lawyer for the plaintiff’s Dennis Jonson said:

Go get married, live happily ever after, live the American dream

Adam & Eve

And finally:

The Register reports, that a German website has been given till the 6th April to pull their site or face legal action.

File Sharing? Piracy? Porn?

No! Playmobil!!
Playmobil are not happy with Klicky-bible’s depiction of scenes from the Bible using thier figures.

Wasn’t really up for much more beyond that, late night last night, at a Drag Party at Keith & Ronan’s glitter-ball bedecked apartment.

Came home and decided that tea and a bubblegum movie were the order of the day.

“Because I said so” was sitting forlorn and unloved for a few months now, time to try that one I thought, looks like it wont take any mental processing, perfect for today.

With the tagline of

“She’s just your normal, overprotective, overbearing, over-the-top mother.”

perhaps this was a movie for last Sunday, but nevertheless I stuck with it. I love Diane Keaton and have a small crush on Piper Perabo which explains why I have this movie in the first place. Have to say “stuck with it” is really all one could do, it wasn’t the greatest movie ever made, it was annoying and cliched in many parts, but still something about the mother character played by Diane Keaton kept me involved.

The story struck a chord with me, a woman who has devoted her life to raising 3 daughters with their father out of the picture, just wants the best for them and determined to ensure they didn’t make the mistakes she felt she did. My mom all but raised us on her own, and while she’s nowhere near as overprotective or involved in our lives as Ms Keaton’s character was in her daughters, the sentiment remains. She had to do everything for us and built her life around us, its something I am very aware of, and when I left for college I was more upset for her, than excited for me.

It is so hard, when you are there on your own, not to make your kids the center of the world and inevitably they grow up and leave you, as they are supposed to do, but I can imagine it is hard to let them make their own mistakes.

This quote made me laugh, while crying, and it resonated with me, even as I thought of my nephew, whose raising I have been really involved in..

I want you girls to understand something about motherhood, ok?
It is the most impossible love, you tell me, when it ends, when it stops?
All I know is, its absolutely fine for me to teach you how to walk and talk, and then you grow up and you head off in the wrong direction toward a cliff, and I’m supposed to stand there and wave and say good-luck?

You watch this small person grow, and it depends on you for everything, its hard to give that up. Its hard to look at him now and not see the tiny thing on a hospital bed the morning we brought him home. Even though he’s six and nearly as tall as me, and asking all manner of bizzare questions, its all I can do not to think of the little bundle I would hold in my arms all afternoon as he slept.

My mum was trying to have a second child (me) for 6 years, I cant imagine how bitter sweet it is to watch that person you tried so hard to create, grow up and away from you. In truth, as anyone who knows me will tell you, I’m never very far away from her, well emotionally anyway. And while other people may be delighted to get as far from their parents as soon as possible, I’m happy that she is the first person I think of telling when something happens.

I wouldn’t be the person I am today without her, and I’m pretty sure there is more than 50% of her in who I am, which is great as she is amazing and because of that I love who I have become.

We don’t always agree, and I’m sure I have made many decisions in my life she wished I hadn’t, but she allowed me to make them and I knew that if I needed her she would be there. Which is the best feeling in the world and gave me the confidence, in a way, to make those mistakes and learn from them.  So she’s not a “helicopter mom” as Ms Keaton’s character, but her love and support of us is unquestionable.

So there you go, an outpouring of motherly love, a week late, but then again who says you have to wait until Mothers Day to write about how great your mother is?

I leave you with the only other good thing about the movie, the soundtrack, and in particular this song by The Weepies

Click here to view the embedded video.

I forgot to get tickets!

I have been following James Yuill via Twitter and his blog on his tour around Europe with PBJ.

And today when I realised that he was in Amsterdam playing the Melkweg, I freaked and went straight to Melkweg site … that lovely word greeted me

Uitverkocht – Sold Out

Gigs are cheap enough here , as you see €14 for two class acts, but they sell out fast, even on a School night!
And even more so if you feck off to Ireland for a week and forget to get your ticket! Doh!

So I sent a tweet or two but to no avail…
I even hung around at the venue, but it was such a horrid night that there were no tickets to be had

I came home, made tea…. had a purple snack bar, my band aid to the worst of emotional “owies” and tried to think of things other than the fact that I was missing the gig. I was briefly cheered to find that a few of my mates are fans too. Then Twitter broke again, and I had to find something else to do.

I settled with my Barry’s and Cadburys to lick my wounds and watch TV, United States of Tara, to be exact.

But James’s yearning folktronica beats kept calling me out…

I had thought this post might be something else, but now its…

A big James Yuil love-in!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Check out his Blog Here

And his Main Site below (click image)

Make sure you BUY his CD HERE or iTunes

Just a final thing, I first heard about James from the very cool and wonderful smelling Barrie Willliams on his Blog, Hearcanal

Pop over and see what gems Barrie will uncover for you.

*Ps the blog title is a lyric of a song Left Handed Girl from James’s new Album “Turning Down Water for Air”

It was a real pleasure to cycle to work this morning, and I promised myself that I will take a morning/day off and do my route to work with a camera soon. There are so many cool shots to be had in the morning bike rush, if I can get my hands on a decent camera I know I’ll make some of the photo-bloggers mouths water.

All topped of with plenty of stops along the way… I especially want to go back here for breakfast on that day!

(Of course this day off can be scheduled with anyone’s visit, just pick a weekday morning and bring nerves of corrugated iron, if not steel, and we will have a blast)

So imagine my delight when the sun was still shining at 5.30pm, I took this as a sign I was not to work late and quickly donned my very glamorous cycling gear (Trackie bottoms and a sweatshirt) and hit the streets to cycle home. It wasn’t as much fun as this morning, obviously people we no longer “sunshine happy” after a day at the office, and the good will and smiling of the morning commute had petered out.

All strains petered away as I cornered onto my street and heard the first Westerkerk Evening Carillon of 2009!

I haven’t heard it since October, at which point I did video it with the aim of sharing it here, but like many blog posts at the time it gathered dust.

So now I’d like to share this magical thing with you. It might be the memories of the notes flowing across the summer warmed canal that makes it so special to me but still I’d like to share.

To me it rings out in such a way that if you sit and listen you can imagine living here in another time, I think of all the historical figures that would have listened to its melodies, Anne Frank and Rembrandt van Rijn as examples.

Of course this is where the “beauty” of single glazed wood frame windows come into their own, it plays throughout my 3rd floor apartment, as if only for me

The Westerkerk stands pretty much at the top of my street (if you don’t count the Prinsengracht separating the two) and as I got off my bike and chained it up was beaming listening to the tune. I looked down toward the the end of the street and noted I wasn’t the only person enjoying it. Many of the patrons of one of the local bars, Cafe Chris were out with their beertjes listening too.

I quickly went upstairs and tried to capture it on my rubbish camera phone, so forgive the orientation of the video, and the sub par picture, but the sound really does work! Had to take it several times as it picked up every conversation had on the street.

Carillon Westerkerk from Elfinamsterdam on Vimeo.

And here is an inside view of what is going on when a carillon is played

And last but not least, a little clip of Tulips from Amsterdam, taken from the top of the Westertoren when it was being repaired in 2007.

I want to climb the tower soon, its 85 metres high  and was completed in 1638. In fact the local bar I mentioned earlier played a part in its construction, and was reputed not only to be the local bar of Rembrandt, who stopped there for a tipple or many on rout from his studio, but it was also used as the payroll office of the workers building the tower.

There is a unique gents restroom in the premises which I am happy to show you when we go for a beertje sometime!

See you there, hopefully the bells will be chiming!

I LOVE this video… its playing in a loop on my iTouch and in my head.
Wil-i-am – Yes we can

I have been allowing myself the luxury to go back over some of my favorite Obama speeches, without the fear of the “Hope reality check” being cashed. In so doing I have realized what I see of myself in Obama, and it is the reflection of your best self in someone that attracts you to them.

I find parts of myself in his ideals and theory’s. Like Obama I was raised in what would be termed a broken home, my mother could not give me money or status, but like Barack’s family gave him, she gave me love, education and hope; the hope that I would be able to make my life better.
His speech in Wisconsin in February, held the main ideal I was given from my mother in terms of self belief, of course she didn’t use words like this (these are Obamas words), but none the less this was her sentiment.

Nothing will happen unless you begin to hope, and by hope I mean imagining, fighting for and working for what did not seem possible in the first place. Things wont change if we wait for some other person, or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

This sense that I would have to make it for myself, that I should study and work and get a good job, because I was the only thing that would pay my bills, and give myself the life my mother never had the chance to have.

I remember very clearly the talk she had with me, after a parent teacher meeting when I was about 12, telling me in her own words that I had to do this, not for her or the teachers or my friends, but because I was the person that could change my life. No one was going to drag me along, I had to get up and do this. And if I didn’t want it for myself, if I couldn’t dream of it for myself and work for it for myself, then no one could help me.

Its partly that drive, to give myself as many opportunities as I can handle that landed me here.
I knew that my industry was looking weak in Ireland and that I wasn’t likely to get a good job in the sector by sitting around. And when I had almost begun to lose hope in finding anything, this appeared concrete, but it meant a risk and several losses and way more permutations than my brain could reason out.

So I hoped for the best, and thought if I work at it I can make it happen.

There are many days ………… and then I think, Yes I Can.

So in the words of the man least likely to become president elect of the USA, be the change you want to see in the world. Its only when you dare to hope that you can make something good happen.

—-
There will be a catch up post soon and a New York post, with photos (my girlfriends photos that is)

Elf