Patrick James

1,250+ signatures!
A big thank you to all who signed. Last week, the signatures were sent by email to Pádraig Ó Ceidigh, owner of Foinse, Brian Cowen, Éamon Ó Cúiv and Foras na Gaeilge, followed by hard copies in the post. I decided to leave the petition open for another while, so that the aforementioned can see the 1,250+ signatures, as well as the continuous support coming in. Apparently, Pádraig Ó Ceidigh himself wanted to bring the paper to an end at the Friday meeting and that the money from Foras na Gaeilge wasn’t enough, even though they wanted to give him more. I still don’t know what’s going with Foinse’s future. It appears that help is coming from Údarás na Gaeilge, says Concubhar Ó Liatháin iGaeilge and according to TG4, (Thursday evening news) Youtube but it’s not clear yet. We will have to wait.

1,250+ síniú!

Go raibh mile maith agaibh as bhur sínithe. An tseachtain seo caite, seoladh ceithre ríomhphost leis na sínithe go dtí  úinéar Foinse, Pádraig Ó Ceidigh, Brian Cowen, Éamon Ó Cúiv agus Foras na Gaeilge, agus cópieanan crua ina dhiadh sa phost. Bheartaigh mé an t-iarratas a fhágáil oscailte ar fheadh tamaill eile, go dtí go mbeidh na daoine réamhráite ábalta iad a fheiceáil mar aon leis an tacaíocht leanúnach a bhfuil ag teacht isteach. De réir dealraimh ba é Pádraig Ó Ceidigh féin a bhí ag iarraidh an nuachtán a chur chun deireadh ag an crinniú dé hAoine agus nach raibh an t-airgead ó Fhoras na Gaeilge go leor, cé go raibh siad ag iarraidh níos mó a thabhairt dó. Mar sin, níl a fhios agam cad atá ar siúl fós maidir le todhchaí Foinse. Is amhlaidh go bhfuil cabhair ag teacht ó Údarás na Gaeilge, a deir Concubhar Ó Liatháin iGaeilge agus de réir a TG4 (nuacht trathnóna Déaradaoin)Youtube ach níl sé go soiléar fós. Caithfimidh fanacht.

We are still a little rough around the edges… And without any CSS work done… Patrick James Blog has moved and adopted the .ie domain address! Timing was a little bit lucky too, because it coincides with the release of WordPress 2.8. There are a couple of people I have to say thank you to for much needed help with a few bits and pieces lately, in particular, the folks at Eamonn Kavanagh and James Larkin over at Forbairt… Much appreciated guys!

First paragraph of a novel is the hardest to write… I had forgotten just how difficult… until last night that is, when I sat down and started to work on a new manuscript idea I have been turning over and over in my mind, like the muse in the tumble-dryer! I had also forgotten the pure exhilaration and sense of utter accomplishment to be found in writing a mere ten lines of work, that I can say I’m 110% satisfied with… and feel may  make a great opening hook for the storyline! Now it’s just a question of time!

When it comes to the Irish language there really are some insecure B.S. artists out there! I recently had the misfortune of having a conversation with an old-school Irish speaker – Correct grammar was all important and the occasional English word thrown in was a cardinal sin… the “proper use of Irish” or not-at-all approach was more important than the “every-day” speaking and growth of the Irish language. Pride coming before a fall. As many, the only hope of recovering my Irish language roots is through the occasional interjection of English words. I come from the school of thought that says: the purpose of language is to communicate… not to promote elitism at the cost of a culture.

Don’t get me wrong – I truly believe that proper grammar and all the trimmings of correct language usage are something to be aspired to – and those great in the technical application of a language should be respected and not feared… but respect is earned, not taken, especially, by putting down beginners who are striving to learn. Once you have acquired a high standard of usage of a language it’s easy to look down on those who are not quite to your standard, but that’s just insecurity dressed up as pomp! I want Irish to retake its place in our culture (it’s a unique, beautiful and expressive language) and I want to learn it, without the rebuke of those who are better in its usage than me! When I encounter fluent Irish speakers use the occasional English word as is the modern trend, I feel more at ease and inspired… old ideas get buried with the past and I really want to see the Irish language grow, not wither, because of stick-in-the-mud ideals – If people are passionate about using a language, they will naturally seek the correct grammar.

I had only one response for my elitist companion… I can find more people who fear speaking the language because of people with his idea of “Irish” – than he can fluent speakers. Sadly! Needless to say, there are those who will not change and if the Irish language fades, I hope it will not be because of my fear of people like that… I intend to continue my rediscovery of the Irish language… and little by little, get better at its proper usage – and who knows, one day…!

Upgrades are all fine in theory… until they go wrong at least! About a week ago I had the inspired idea to upgrade my WordPress installation and keep in mind I am not the most advanced person when it comes to computers (actually I’m very much a “self-learn” beginner), but I never could have anticipated the heartbreak! Whatever I did wrong (or maybe it was something else) the upgrade went through my blog like a lawnmower! The dashboard stopped working, widgets froze (which I later found out was a Java problem), tags got erased, as did photos… WordPress support didn’t seem to have any answers either and I was well and truly out of my league!

In my own computer naivety I decided the only thing to do was to start from scratch and reload WordPress and big “Whoops!”. That created its own blend of problems… namely dreaded “404 errors”, a term I never really understood prior to now but one which resulted in having to figure out “redirects! It’s all been a lot of unexpected work that’s meant having very little time to blog… and yet I can’t help but feel that this has been a good thing… To be honest, through all my mistakes and moments of getting disheartened, I’ve learned more in one week than in the four months prior in which I’ve been blogging.

I just hope anyone who visits my blog can bear with me while I figure out the few problems my blog is having with getting fully back on track!

Lá Nua, the Irish language newspaper is under threat of closure after having been published for more than twenty years. This would come as yet another loss to Irish heritage… It seems that in a time when the Irish are being asked to embrace an influx of different cultures into Ireland, we are slowly losing touch with our own. Below is a worthwhile link, to a petition to Foras na Gaeilge, the cross-border Irish language body, to support Lá Nua, the Irish language daily newspaper, to ensure its survival and to put a proper basis under the future development of the Irish language print journalism.

Tar i gcabhair ar Lá Nua/Support Lá Nua

Amazon’s Kindle is the latest and most promising attempt at introducing a widescale ebook reader. It has been tried before but so far it’s been an idea that never quite caught on, unlike its audio counterpart the MP3 player… but could this be the dawn of the ebook age? The idea has appeal: an e-reader lets you carry hundreds of books, search or jump to any spot in the text and scale up the type size when your eyes get tired. Alternatively, printed books are dirt cheap, never run out of power and survive drops, spills and being run over. And their file format will still be readable countless years from now! Sony already has its own version in the shops at present and it is selling quite well… literally! So what makes Amazon’s e-reader so promising… well, The Kindle store offers best-seller lists, Most Popular lists and a Search box. The catalog includes 90,000 books so far, including 101 of the 112 currently listed as New York Times best sellers… The pricing is another breakthrough: Kindle books generally cost less than half of what printed books cost (and much less than Sony’s e-books). It’s common sense; why should a digital file cost as much as a physical object, manufactured and shipped? Most Kindle hardcover books cost $10, including “I Am America (and So Can You”), “Deceptively Delicious” and “Freakonomics.” Their hardcover prices are $25 or $26. Older books cost $3 to $6. (Sources: www.nytimes.com) So the only question left is will it succeed?

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Today I have put up a Free eBook PDF Download version of one of my poetry books for anyone who might be interested. Ultraviolet Roses & Carbon is a compilation from various manuscripts and previously published books. If you’re interested in this eBook you can download it byclicking on the image. Of course, you will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader but there is a link there too, for the free download version of Adobe! Below are a couple of examples of the poems available in the book: Continue reading “eBook… Ultraviolet Roses & Carbon” »