One tiny little thing I do to help prevent needless waste is to carry a food storage container (i.e., Tupperware) in my purse. That why went I can’t finish my meal, I don’t have to ask for a disposable take-home box.
Think how many plastic or styrofoam containers a person uses in a year… those containers will stick around in the landfill for centuries.
This method is painless and guilt-free.
So, why not stow a small container in your bag right now?
The one in my purse has a reusable shopping bag inside (the black one shown is a slingsax by Envirosax, I found my first one here in Dublin in March 2010). That keeps things in my purse as compact as possible.
I just emailed the current Fulbrighters in Ireland to see if they want to join me at the Cobblestone Pub in Smithfield (Dublin 7) on Tuesday, October 30. I also posted this to the Fulbright Ireland alumni page on LinkedIn to see if any of them want to come along… had such a ball with them Friday. (More about that later.)
Tom says one of his brothers (Alfie, a piper) will be playing that night between 7 and 10 pm. Alfie’s daughter and two sons will be playing as well. It’s possible that Neillidh (mentioned in the blog) might also play. They’re all related to me in some way, and this is a chance for me to get to meet them and enjoy their melodies. Perhaps you’d enjoy being part of the fun?
This is an informal event, to be held in the front bar. There’s no admission cost… just the cost of your own drinks. Perhaps I’ll see you there?
I’m so glad to have Facebook so I can stay connected with family, friends, colleagues, and past students. Several of the students I coached in a Disney design competition work as Disney Imagineers today. Nikk and Nicole Smith crafted this fine image of the Obama family (and yes, they had the blessing of Pixar).
The Obamas as Incredibles, copyright Nikkolas and Nicole Smith.
Carlton Copeland, who travelled to Italy with me last May, posted a reflection shot of his own last week, and acknowledged my contribution. 🙂
Carlton’s caption on Facebook for this shot was: “An addiction taught by @shannonchance — with Shannon Massie Chance.”
2012 Irish Fulbrighters visiting Trim Castle. (All orientation photos by Dave Chance.)
Fulbright Ireland welcomed us to to the country with Irish warmth and hospitality.
Although I haven’t sorted through my own photos from the September 6-7, 2012 orientation that Fulbright Ireland hosted, Dave edited his long ago. Some of them are here for you to see.
Hamming it up on top of Trim Castle, with Joanne Davidson, my guardian angel.
During the orientation, we spent a day visiting the Hill of Tara and Trim Castle. We also had a day of informational sessions including sessions on culture and language.
The Fulbright Commission in Ireland is very family-friendly. You’ll see we all have family member with us. For instance, Dave (my husband) and Heather (my sister) came along for the Friday festivities.
I’ll also take this opportunity to introduce you to Joanne Davidson–one of my guardian angles from the Irish Fulbright Commission. Colleen Dube, another angel and the Head of Fulbright Ireland, is pictured in the photo gallery (walking with Jonathan Kennedy, who you’ve seen playing elbow pipes at the Cobblestone Pub).
Fulbrighters: if you want to download high-resolution copies of these and other images that Dave took, please email me and I’ll give you access to the Dropbox folder where we keep them.
Hamming it up on top of Trim Castle, with Joanne Davidson, my guardian angel.
Today’s an interesting and fairly typical day… morning yoga, transcribing, fairly successful bike ride/commute, book discussion with Gavin, lunch meeting with engineering lecturers, introductions with administrative leaders in engineering.
We are preparing for a seminar that all of us will present to the College faculty in a couple of weeks. Evidentially, some things Gavin and I discussed with the Dean (while we were in Greece) interested him enough to prompt a seminar.
Later today, I’ll head to an event on “stories” at Notre Dame’s O’Connell House. For now, reading in the office.
Here’s a photo of some of the engineers I met with (Dave, Ted, and Gavin). We took lunch in the staff cafeteria in the top floor of “Kevin Street” (i.e., the DIT building located on Kevin Street).
Kilkenny Castle’s lawn was full of crafts people last weekend. They demonstrated traditional building methods for visitors to see. I’ve included photos of a man operating a pole lathe and one of a man who thatches roofs.
When visiting County Kilkenny, Dave and I got to visit castles built in a couple of different styles. We did this with the help of the Office of Public Works (OPW) branch located in the industrial park outside Kilkenny.
Just before we arrived at Burnchurch Castle, Dave had set me up for free iMessaging (iPhone texting) to his sister-in-law, Lucy. When she texted me a video of the kids chanting “Hi, Aunt Shannon!”, it finally dawned on me that I could easily share moving images with my friends and family back home.
As Dave and I explored the castle, I sent video clips back to the States and got immediate reactions from my beloved ones.
Both the castle and the family pow-wow were amazing.
“Many tower houses have an abundance of mural chambers and passages hidden away within their walls, though few have the number and complexity of those found in the early 16th-century castle of the Burncourt FitzGeralds,” explains Ireland’s Eye. “This well-preserved tower house, occupied until 1817, has four storeys beneath a vault with the principal chamber above, lying just below a gabled roof.”
Ireland’s Eye continues, “Apart from its mullioned windows, this chamber is noteworthy for its finely carved chimney-piece; it has a tall, round chimney, while the roof’s gable walls have been extended so that both ends of the tower are carried up an extra stage to provide high battlemented fighting platforms.”
“A great hall was formerly attached to the tower’s outside wall, but this has now vanished, as has most of the bawn. A curved outside staircase still provides access to the three upper floors of this little tower.”
“There is precious little material available about this pretty well preserved Irish tower. It was built sometime in the fifteenth century by the FitzGeralds of Burnchurch in County Kilkenny. It is known for being one of several Irish towers with the slightly narrower sides of the castle extending up an additional floor, creating in essense a pair of tower wide turrets.”
“This furnishes a natural gable at both ends of the roof as well as an additional defensive level of battlements. There are numerous narrow rooms in the walls, including a ‘secret room’ on the fourth floor. The rounded chimney may be a later improvement [that on the model is square], and the fireplace in the 5th floor Hall sports a ‘joggle voussoir arch’, whatever that is.”
“The castle originally had a bawn with a 41 foot tall tower at one corner. Though the old drawing, date unknown, shows remnants of buildings, only the round tower [see both below] appears to be standing in pictures I found on the internet and in a library book. Burnchurch was apparently last occupied in 1817, but it can be explored.”
At the end of the day, Dave and I celebrated with a trip to Kyteler’s Pub (establish 1324). Dave tortured Lucy (who was visiting his Mom at the time) by texting her this catchy little video.
I’m posting a few photos my husband Dave Chance took the night Amanda Bernhard and her husband Jonathan Kennedy played at the Cobblestone Pub. We’d met them at the Fulbright Orientation weekend, and invited them to stay over at our place so they’d have the chance to visit the Pub.
Both Jonathan and Amanda play uilleann pipes. Amanda also plays fiddle.
Amanda is the Irish language Fulbright to Ireland this year. They are both studying Irish–at the Master’s degree level–at the a university in Galway. Amanda has been blogging about their adventures. You might want to visit her site to learn about on the other coast of Ireland, where many people still speak Irish day to day.
Jonathan is shown here playing uilleann pipes. Amanda plays the uilleann pipes as well as the fiddle. (Copyright Dave Chance Photography, 2012.)
Amanda Bernhard playing fiddle at the Cobblestone Pub. (Copyright Dave Chance Photography, 2012.)
Amanda Bernhard and Jonathan Kennedy playing at the Cobblestone in September 2012. (Copyright Dave Chance Photography, 2012.)
Ireland by Chance 