Ragtag Giggagon

Thousands of women and men will this year be running the VHI Flora Women Mini Marathon to raise money for various charities.    Dubliner Edna, a published poet and journalist who works in the banking sector and originally hails from Tanzania, will be running for the Amani Orphanage in her home country. Edna is the acting chairperson of the Tanzanian Society in Ireland. Edna Lyatuu Hogan HOW YOU CAN TAKE PART If you are considering taking part in the event as a runner, jogger, or a walker we'd love you to join our team on Bank Holiday Monday, 5th June and raise money for the orphanage centre. Register for the mini marathon itself here . HOW YOU CAN DONATE Handing your donation to any volunteer on the day of the mini marathon and - if you like - you can fill in your name in the donation form  OR Transfer your donation directly to Amani children’s Home account below: You can donate via Paypal or into the children's home bank account: Amani Children’s Home CRDB Bank Acc...

To any Christians I know well (or those raised Christian) who say Happy Easter to me, I'm usually: "Did you hear that? Can you smell it?" But if a Hindu, Buddhist or Muslim bids me a "Happy Easter" I'm like: "GUESS! WHO'S...! OUTTA THE TOMB??? PRAISE THE VERY LORD! EAT AND DRINK THAT GUY - AND PRAISE YOU FOR SAYING IT!!! HAVE AN EGG - WAIT! HAVE A DOZEN! EACH ONE REPRE- Hang on - this one? This one represents Simon Peter The Rock Johnson! This one? This one here is Matthew Levi's Jeans...THANK! YOU! BLESS US ONE AND ALL!!!"

Like many of the finest scribes, such as continental Irishmen Beckett and Joyce, Bianca Bowers is an exile. A poet and author originally from South Africa, now living in Australia, she often writes about rootlessness and place, and searches for a definition – or redefines the idea of – “home” in a variety of ways. Pressed Flowers is a collection of poems she has retired. Think of them as a Greatest Hits album of the songs she no longer performs. Much of this work has been previously published and, given that many poetry publishers and contests demand first-publication rights, it’s easy to see how such a collection could come about. What is not so easy to understand is that Bianca Bowers is now giving away this inspiring work for free. All you have to do is to subscribe to her web presence. Bowers’ poems frequently have a power, whether through the force of the language to which she’s clearly entitled given her eloquence, through a compulsion to claim the aforementioned space, or to art...

Quirks and tics, motivations and fears (can be said to) dictate a character's behaviour. But how often do you remind a reader of these personality traits? I'd argue it ought to be quality rather than quantity, and that referencing a tic or habit a number of times is painting-by-numbers if it doesn't seem natural. So less of the constant sighs of impatience of someone with a low attention span. (Of course, if it’s done successfully, you will fake the organic nature of a character trait.) The Skywalkers’ shared failing is impatience. Anakin’s too keen to become a Jedi Master, and Luke takes off to rescue Han and Leia before he’s completed his training, and what happens? He loses his hand, and loses his Han. Then, after being traumatised through his amputation and ungodly provenance, he has to build his own new lightsaber out of the cheque he received from his very bad Jedi healthcare plan. (Not really.) Impatience is a major failing of the Skywalkers that feeds into the plo...