Author Archive for David

Why Wikipedia Sucks.

Well it just does, doesn’t it. All looks and sounds like a great idea in principle. All those volunteers working tirelessly to bring us all honest, well researched, unbiased and (heaven forbid) non-commercial information about any topic that you can imagine.

But in practice…

Don’t be a failed stumbler.

Hey I’m sh0rtbus56 and I’ve been around the block and stumbling before you were born, 2006 to be exact. So I’m gonna tell you how I roll and you newbies better listen up, cos if you do then one day you might just be someone on the net. Whoda thunk that a no hope loser called Kyle from Memphis, Tennessee could ever have reached these dizzy heights. Believe, live the dream my friends.

Michelle Obama - Feel the love

The world loves the Obamas and Michelle took that love to a new level with her emotional speech to an audience of female students at a girls secondary school in North London.

Daniel Hannan MEP tells it like it is.

If you haven’t already seen this speech from Daniel Hannan MEP then fix that now. Great to hear some straight talking. Daniel Hannan speaks for huge swathes of the UK. I’m no Tory, and the arguments may be a little simplistic, but you can’t argue that he sums up how much of the British public feel about the current situation. Grow some balls Gordon, your dead in the water you might as well go down fighting.

One more blessing.

We’ve had so many beautiful words of condolence. I don’t think I’ll be posting anymore blessing, I can’t take anymore and you probably can’t either. However this final blessing tore me up. So here it is.

A long over due letter to my therapist.

I used to go to therapy, group therapy. It was very helpful during two very difficult periods. My therapist was excellent. I’ve wanted to let her know how I’ve been getting on for some time. And to send some support to the members of the group who are there now.

This is my letter.

A blessing for Roxanne Carris

The Gaelic blessing below was given to us at our wedding by my best man. Six years later and our friend Patrick suggested the same blessing for Roxie to help her little soul safely to the other side. Separately I had chosen a piece of music for the funeral, Attendite, performed by the Libera Boys Choir. And the lyrics? Yes, the words from the same blessing…perfect.

Dr Seuss for Roxie

During G’s pregnancy I was reading Dr. Seuss stories to Roxie. Here’s an excerpt from his last story “Oh the Places You’ll Go” published in 1990. This was read by G’s sister at Roxie’s funeral.

Thoughts on grief from John O’Donohue

We were very moved by this blessing for grief. The moving and poignant words were read for us at the funeral of our baby, Roxanne. They were written by the Irish poet and philosopher John O’Donohue and come from his book of blessings called Benedictus.

Gordon Brown’s words of condolence to David Cameron

Of course we are not alone in our grief and we share our sadness with David Cameron who lost his six year old son yesterday and with Gordon Brown who also lost his daughter back in 2001 just a few days after she was born.

Letter to the head of our community.

Dear G*****,

Thank you for agreeing to help us with the funeral of our baby girl, Roxanne. We understand it is a lot to ask and we are very grateful and honored for your assistance.

Please do not think we are asking you to be a minister or priest, we understand completely that this is unusual for you, we ask only that you can offer some words on behalf of yourself and all the other residents of P******.

My poor baby girl is dead.

I’ve spent the last year and a half on a journey of what I hoped would be self improvement. I gave up the booze, I’ve tried to be a good husband, I’ve learnt to control many of my fears and I’ve prepared myself for being a father. This blog was all part of the process.

Having the discipline to write, just write without too much judgement, without trying to prove anything, to just put it out there and keep putting it out there.

Getting it right as a first time father.

I’m no daddy blogger but I think I can be forgiven a few posts on upcoming fatherhood.

With only a few weeks to go thoughts turn to the birth. How will I cope? Male friends have been pretty hopeless on the subject of pregnancy, childbirth and fatherhood in general. “You’re never going to sleep again” does not count as practical information.

Here’s a list of things to do and ways to be for a first time father during childbirth. I will follow my own advice and in a few weeks I can report back on my success or lack thereof.

Soundtrack for a first time mum.

So we’re three weeks and counting til our first baby and my dear wife, control freak that she is, has prepared well. She already has three separate play lists of music for her stay at the hospital. This is good as I will now have something constructive to be in charge of during the car journey and labor. Of course I will no doubt get that wrong too, but hey, that’s what “being the man” is all about during pregnancy.

Goody, Johnson and Cyrus - Fear and Loathing continued

Less than a week ago I published a post discussing why there seemed to be an increase in “celebrities in trouble” stories at the moment. I wasn’t a 100% convinced by my own theory at the time, but  her we are, not more than a week later, and we now have three more public figures getting a kicking for, lets face it, pretty much fuck all.