From Bath to Cork with Baby Grace

My wife forbids me to blog about certain things…

(1) She strongly disapproves of me mentioning anything about her work. She said: “how do you know that the company won’t pick it up?”

Should this deter me?

Do I have the right to say what I want?

(2) Other people may object to me writing about them. Should I ask permission before naming them? Should I disguise their identity?

(3) Are ‘public’ figures fair game? Can I in easy conscience ignore their feelings? Is it OK to say Ivor is a turd? Do I owe it to them to send them a copy of what I have written about them?

(4) Is there such a thing as an ethical blog? A code of good practice? Is there any difference between blog publishing and newspaper publishing? If so, what are they?

Paige would have views on this. But is it ethical to name her in this respect? Do I owe her an apology?

(5) There are commonly accepted decent behaviours, aren’t there? Some writing is legal but reprehensible, isn’t it?

Where can I find the answers to these bothering concerns?

I was brought up on the Catechism. There were clear questions with definite answers and if you learned the answers off by heart, you were fit to become a soldier; you were confirmed.

Do I have to write the questions and the answers for myself? Am I responsible for whatever issues I identify and whatever decisions I make?

So long as they are mine, are they good enough?

Help!!! Who else is interested enough in this to dialogue on it?

I have a cousin in Australia.

Haven’t heard from him since I watched him read “The man from Snowy River”. That was in a kitchen in Ballyclough, Limerick, during summer 2005.

He read the verse like a wild rider rushing through plains of cattle, as if he were about to tumble from the saddle every moment of the gallop. He captured the spirit of Banjo Patterson wonderfully.

Then he crept back to Brisbane bereft of the Ashes.

Imagine the shock and the joy of finding him popping up with a comment on my blog…

If you go back to Death by Misadventure, you’ll find him. I hope he has more to say for himself.

I’m on a journey…

Left Cork on Friday evening on ferry to Swansea.

Drove to Bath where I filled the car with stuff we want in Cork. Coffee and cake with Paul Creswell, the guy who helped me move to Cork. A visit to the police. Drop in on Vodafone

Drive to Stratford upon Avon. Sit in the front row for Pericles (W Shakespeare) staring Ben O’Mahony. Pint of lager with the star and Natasha who also starred. Sleep in B&B. Treat the stars to breakfast. Hand over xmas gift of course fees and a book about WS>

More driving to Wakefield hotel & conference centre. Meet Gerry for the first time and 3 hours prep with him for the training course we run tomorrow. Blogging before bed @ 2308.

Think about the rest of the journey: Sheffield, Manchester, Colwyn Bay, Hollyhead, Dublin, Limerick… eventually to Cork.

England is big… with electricity pilons…

mature fields, motorway cafes and dry air.

I am blogging via Swisscom Eurospot high-speed internet access, right here, right now, in your room…

I am paying £7 for 2 hours and if I stop and log off, I lose the remaining minutes. Governments should provide free wireless connections in the budget, alongside childcare support. Obviously they go together.

The bed on the ferry, the bed in the B&B, the bed in the hotel…

I thought I’d given this up, this way of life. I thought I was going to be a stay-at-home-father?

But at least I get to earn some money and don’t have to ask for the bus fare.