An attempt to get back into writing, photography, blogging and web-design again after a break of six years; this will be a mixed bag of Complicated Thoughts, photos and Complete Nonsense… 
The zoo in Chester has a butterfly house. This led to a very excited Kate running around after butterflies. Macro shots are my very favourite thing. Please click to embiggen.
November 7, 2011
August 27, 2011
August 1, 2011
May 18, 2011
May 5, 2011
May 4, 2011
My bucket list
This is the (current!) list of things I want to do before I die… I’ve achieved quite a few things from my mental list in the last few years (get a tattoo, ride a camel, see the Grand Canyon) and so I wanted to commit to this one, for more of a real sense of the achievement. A lot of these do involve travel and animals and a combination of the two, but I’ve a few more in there too! I’m planning to add to this as things occur to me and cross off things that I’ve done. This is a blog in progress! Feel free to add your own lists in the comments – and/or speculation as to whether I’ve actually done anything that isn’t on the list that you think would otherwise be! 
1. Go on safari
2. Ride an elephant
3. Go to Egypt (Nile cruise)
4. Go to Turkey
5. Go to Chine and cuddle a panda
6. Swim with dolphins
7. Go to Jordan
8. Go to Israel
9. Do a road trip across America
10. Go to Costa Rica
11. Go on zip lining
12. Go paint balling
13. Be able to run 10k
14. Do a parachute jump/sky dive
15. Go zorbing
16. Have a cat
17. Go to the Olympics
18. Go camping
19. See the Northern Lights
20. Get a photograph published somewhere
21. Get an article published somewhere
22. Sleep in a rainforest
23. Go skinny dipping
24. Have and decorate my own house
25. Go on the Orient Express
26. Go on the Trans-Siberian Railway
27. Try skiing
28. Learn to sing
29. Learn to paint
30. Go on a cruise to Antarctica
31. Compete in an equestrian event
32. Go on a drag hunt
February 8, 2011
[Photos] Pro-Choice Campaign
These pictures were for a college project. I was reminded of them today when I saw a few tweets on the issue and wanted to share them. They’re not wholly applicable to the Irish situation, because although abortion is illegal, we have what is known as “the right to travel”, which means that information about how to go to the UK for a termination is (relatively) freely available. However, the money, time, ability and know-how to go to the UK is not available to all women and it would be very naive to imagine that backstreet abortions do not happen here.
So with that slightly random and disjointed introduction, here is my pro-choice poster campaign.
January 30, 2011
This is what is wrong with the Irish education system – and how to fix it.
I am a primary school teacher. I’m in my fourth year teaching full-time and I taught part-time for a year before that. Both my parents are secondary school teachers and so are two of my aunts. When I was younger, my best friends’ mother and father were also primary school teachers. I grew up immersed in teaching. I am qualified to talk about this. I know a lot more about teaching than the vast majority of commentators published in our newspapers and listened to on our radios. And now, I am going to address what people say is wrong with our education system, what is actually wrong with it and how to fix it; the myths and facts behind it all.
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Zoo Photowalk – November 7th 2010
Snow Leopard – 0.003 sec (1/400) f/5.0, 155 mm
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