Its An Tostal Parade Time !!!

May 30th, 2010 .

Yes its true, you can hardly believe it, but JUNE is here and that means that in this town of Drumshanbo, its An Tostal Time.

For those not in the know, An Tostal is an Irish phrase meaning

“Parade , Pageant and Display.”

The event was dreamed up in the 60 or 70′s by the then goverment at the time to bring a bit of life into rural Ireland- anything to get the tourist dollar. The hills and valleys each had their own celebration for whatever passing trade there was.

There was very little passing trade. Eventually the whole country forgot about An Tostal

EXCEPT -DRUMSHANBO up here in County Leitrim.

Every year, we have a parade, sing a few songs, have a masquerade ball and a Culchie Olympics ( culchie is the rural equal of a red neck but much funnier and sweeter)

Well I can tell you that we’re working up a fine sweat so we are, getting our parade finished. This year our theme is

“The Magical Moving Zoo”

And we have hundreds of magical butterflies and hundreds of magical fish  (of all shapes and sizes) and we have big bats and little bats, and a dragon, and an elephant, a lion, a rhino , giraffe and a flying pig and Sea horses and other stuff  i can’t tell you about.

It’l be lovely. Say you’ll come.

Thanks for clicking in.

Always

eileen

images-2

Living from the Heart

May 24th, 2010 .

Fill me with your energy and grace, your intelligence and love

sun-fulldiskmulticolor-orig_fullThe  symmetry is perfect.

The glorious energetics of the male and the solid pulsating of the female, both meet in the heart and produces a flower of life.

Towards this end, which is a beginning, the past of the billions of years of this planet’s existence is shown and made simple. The journey returns us to the point of creation, to the void and then the clap, the big bang , the contraction of all into one and it’s force launches a particular thread of energy as this galaxy.

Our planet.This time. Now.

The line from whence it came is still attached- it knows its way back to the point of creation.

So do we all .

Thats a real good thing.flower-of-life

Special thanks to John Graham for the Sacred Play

“Living from the Heart”

thank you to the fellow workshop participants.

on this  11th day- A Day of Reflection and Introspection.

I can do little else but ..

say, rock and swing

“I will the Divine Will be done through me” (3x)

Thank you for clinking in

Always, eileen

Wait… let me find a geometric shape to show this beauty……..

May the Heart of Earth sustain me

Water of Love flow through me

Fires of Life empower me

And the Winds of Heaven bear me Home

christa-5

May we always be….

May 16th, 2010 .

Evening,

High passions shook our inner state of mind.

We have a strange desire and know no words to hear the attempt nor seek harm

yet willingly ground ourselves on the distance shore.

img_1776 (Top of a building Dublin…)

So , I haven’t exactly been flooded with requests for free jobs and offering of work. I can only assume that no one has read the entry . Thats fine… can’t say I don’t try. Could say that I don’t try hard enough… fair enough.

The An Tostal parade is coming along nicely  but my cable for my camera is faulty and I have not been able to upload some picture but you can imagine the great work the children of the 4th class is doing. And the 2nd class were hard at it decorating the fish,,,, they are very sweet.

More on it all later. Thank you for clicking in

always

eileen

What Goes Around… Comes Around

May 13th, 2010 .
img_1768(Winter morning sun in the neighborhood-not my car)
You know, I wake up and sometimes I think-
“What do I have to offer?”
Really- what can I give  or share or
do.. for crying out loud- I dunno-
nothing … what do I have that
‘works’.
Beats me…
Some days, other days I think
…Tons… Hoards of stuff…. Whoa where do I begin???
I AM the Helen Ready song ( there’s ageism for ye)
Others days, its like….I have
buried my soul , my heart and
the grain of sand otherwise known
as my sense of humor in a worm
worn tiny flat pack box and pitched
it into the bog…
There’s an old saying, “Givers Get.”
I encourage you
to look inside yourself each day and search for something
you know, or something you can do to help someone else,
each and every day.  What goes around comes around
www.thelaunchcoach.com

Its good advice. And with hand on my heart, I have of late, been given some great gifts.

Please see the previous blog note…

With that in mind its time to give.

.

Anything You Want From

Eileen

O’Toole

( limited time offer)limited-time-offer-images

From now until the end of May put in your request for me to do something for you.

Write you a song.

Clean out your shed

Teach your local community group a puppetry class

Help you to de-clutter your home

Have a sing song in your kitchen or favorite pub

Do a drama class with shut-ins

Paint a fence

Steal a car

( no no no nothing illegal)

Or just about anything else you can think of.

(within the boundaries of decency)

I’ll even perform songs with my

ukulele and tell poems at your

(gulp) children’s birthday party

(BUT ONLY ONCE )

Book me now. Set a date anytime between now and September 2010


Please remember that I live in Ireland

and the Celtic Tiger ain’t what to use to be

Its a little lamb now so I can’t be jumping in my plane to your seaside resort in Cannes

( could jump into YOUR plane though )

I’d just like to take a few pictures of our activity and thank you on these pages.

.

Did I mention that this is FREE?

No Payment Neccessary

Get me while you can

time-offer-sign

Thank you.

This idea was brought about through Dave at  www.thelaunchcoach.com.

I’ve subscribe to him at assist me thinking about what this blog means to me and to you . And to understand where I can go with this new media  thang…

cheers my dears for clicking in

all the best

always ,

eileen



The Darling Buds of May

May 12th, 2010 .

cherry-treesAnd here we are, the second week in this month of May and lo, but lots is busting out all around us.

Firstly I’d like to draw your attention to a woman who shares some profound insight to the stars and their meaning . I have borrow quotations from her website in the past and listed it as one of all-time round favorite site in 2009

http://priyakale.com/homepicPriya’s site is called Cosmic Diaries .

Please visit it. 

reach-for-the-stars-images

What else?

I must tell you about a small project that was completed a few weeks ago. Since February my Friday night between 6:20 and 8pm have been spent with 18 girls ages 5 to 10 in Mohill at the Canon Donahue Hall practicing acting. We concluded our 10 week program with a version of ..

The Musicians of Brementown

the-musicans-of-bremen-town-imagesby The Brothers Grimm

The weeks of work was a pleasure. I think all of those girls showed me a new twist to old exercises  and sometimes gave me deep down belly laughs.

brementown-imagesThey were all absolute darlings.

I wish them the best of holidays ever.

AS well there was some serious completion taking place in the

Brothers of Charity corner up in Roscommon where two young men have finished they’re FEATAC Level One Drama program and are waiting results. John O’ Hara and Conor Devine  experienced theatre and drama for the first time and did extraordinarily well.

john-and-conor-examine-commedia-arte-maskbravo to you boys

Other events and goings on in and about auld Drumshanbo include the organization of the 2nd annual Written Word Weekend

written-word-weekend-imagesYup yup yup, we’re real pleased with this year’s line so far and we’re not finished with it yet!

 Some of the highlights in the Saturday night Cabaret with none other than The Poetry Chicks

pamandabbyOh we are so pleased………………..http://www.myspace.com/poetrychicks

What else?? I got a nod from the local arts council . I was awarded a bursary to the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Monaghan

tryone-guthrie-centre

oh yeah

the-house

Here’s a taste of the piece I’ve been working on. The working title is…..

Lucy Massacre, is it hot enough for you?

“Hey, out of curiosity, Lucy what’s
your last name?”

  “Massacre.”
She started walking briskly, or as briskly one could in almost 100-degrees
Fahrenheit. She finally looked at him with a tilt of the dubious in her eyes.

“You really believe in love at first sight?”

 “Your
last name is Massacre?” He marveled, slightly stunned but keeping pace.

            “Yeah
it’s Irish. What’s your last name?

            “De Vries.”

            “Stephen De Vries, Dutch?” He
nodded. She snapped her fingers.

             “Got it in one.”

            “You’re
a champ.” He winked at her.

            “Thank
you.” She leaned into him, putting her hand on his shoulder. The touch, like
cold heat melting. They stopped walking and turned towards each other.

            They
stood a kiss away.

            Then
the light shimmered strangely. They heard the sound of a pop. It broke into
their gaze and they looked around. They had walked out a back road where the
flat, unused farmland was dry and barren; beside a water tank on the outskirts
of town, where lived a family of unremarkable beings. This family was this way
because they fit completely into the landscape of cylinder and metal. Theirs
was a grey house, blanched rooftop, colour-less windows and door. Faded curtain
nettings hung limply. The skeleton of a long dead tree stood to the side of the
front yard that was not cluttered with toys. No clothes line, no dog. No
doghouse. No garbage cans small plastic bags of food and paper scraps. No car.
No truck. There was a bicycle but it looked like it hadn’t moved in long, long
time. The ground was dry. The evening was thick in its heat, yet smoke rose
from the chimney. There was the smell of defeat. There was an ancient water
tank behind the house. It was three stories high. And a sound that was almost
frightening, the sound of dripping water. Drip. Drip. Drip.

            “I’ve
seen the people who live here,” Lucy said in low tones. He nodded his head.

            “Tall
thin man and a whisper of woman, there’s a son too. I’m not sure, wonder who they are? Do you know?”

            Stephen
inhaled loudly. “This is Queenie Barber’s homestead.”

            “Queenie
Barber,” she repeated, savoring the words. “Well there’s a name for   you.”

            “Yes
indeed. Use to be fine place too, a thriving farm. Use to be. She and her son Everett and his wife and kid live here
now. I think Queenie is still alive. She was  friend
of my wife’s mother and I’m sure Flo would have told me if she died.” Stephen
replied with flat certainty.

            She
immediately looked down his arm at his ring finger and saw that there was no
ring. Then a cramp twisted her gut and she clutched her stomach bending
slightly with a moan.

            “You
okay?”

Concern was in his voice. The pain in gut was familiar, though it wasn’t
a sick bodily pain; it was a tension in her solar plexuses, a twisting deep
inside, a psychic ache. Though this felt more like a stab.

            “Got
to get out of here. It’s very heavy. Thick atmosphere.” She winced.

            “Heavy?
What do you mean? Do you think its’ going to rain?”

            She
tried walking briskly back the way they came. Suddenly there was a gunshot.
That stopped her.

            “Oh
god.” She turned, started a slow jog back to the house.

            “Hey
wait, where are you going?” He called as she passed him.

            “To
the house. That was a gun shot.”

            “So?”

            She
stopped short and looked at him in amazement.

            “I
only mean, so what.” He walked towards her. “Someone shot a gun, could be hunting rabbit.”

            “Could
be shooting family members.”

            “You
don’t know that.”

            “Neither
do you.”

            He
stood close in front of her, as they stood before. A kiss away.

            “You’re
not from around these parts are you?”

            His
voice was unexciting, bordering on tedium.

The shimmering light bounced off the
grey steel water tank moving around him like a mirage. In an instant he was
nothing to her. She stared at him and slowly shook her head. She was definitely
not from these parts. She didn’t know these people. They could be shooting rabbit.
She sighed inside herself. ‘
Tough guy, bookish redneck, dink.
she thought, rubbing her hand back and forth across her midriff. Then there was
the sound of another shot. They were both startled and looked at the grey
house. The front door swung open. A young teenage boy with drooping long hair
holding the side of his body came out. He looked up and down the dusty road.

            “Hey” He called softly to the two and slumped against the dry door. Lucy and Stephen
watched the teenage fall slowly like a dancer. He crumpled beautifully.

She
heard the sound of dripping water, three distinct drops. 

hot-imagesThanks Leitrim Arts Council

( you crazy guys)

Okay lastly but certainly not least….

the AnTostal Parade 2010

Yessirreeebob

 You must come out Sundjay June Bank Holioday weekend at 6pm to Drumshanbo and see

The Magical Moving Zoo

zoo-mageszebra-mages The Fourth class, Mr Kane’s class, is hard at work creating the images the whole school will use …

magic-catswe certainly hope that everyone will come out

to this year’s parade 

magicalIts going to be a cool one.

Right so , thats it from me for the moment.

No I didn’t go to New York but I did have an hour long conversation with someone from there so it was just like being in the city. And yes………………….

things are great. And scary

and worthwhile

 And I hope that they are for you as well.

Thank you for clicking on .

And thank you to those who have been leaving comments… my goodness, thats kind of you 

 All the very best

 always , eileen


A word from Rilke

April 27th, 2010 .

“If your everyday life seems poor, don’t blame it; blame yourself; admit to yourself that you are not enough of a poet to call forth its riches; because for the creator there is not poverty and no poor, indifferent place.” — Rilkesaints-by-the-radiatorsThanks for clinking on today. This quote was bright back to light by Priya Kale. Thank you Priya.

All the best to you

always

eileen

Beginning of a week. The end of a month.

April 26th, 2010 .

img_2040What do we do together?   And why do we need to do it?

top-of-the-spotI am.

I am a solitary person by choice. Yet I need to interact least I spend all the day  alone-which I partially prefer to do.

I force myself to participate.

Stir out of my comfort zone and leap into a  public environment.

I must interact, for if I don’t then who do I serve?

What is the purpose for this life but if not to be with you?

Even though I am afraid of you.

Because,with you, I might  lose what I have come to know as Me.

You might change me. Reshape my thoughts. Unhinge an opinion.

Alter my muse.

Quietly now… she is thinking and not thinking. She is being on the page. img_2037Cooking something……………………..beginning to light a fire to feed………..

img_2034 .. perhaps just looking into a mirror and waiting

For she no longer recognizes what she looks like.

She sees older family members, lost tribes, antique hairpins and old tin spinning tops.

April is ending. There is a full moon on Wednesday that brings much to ahead. The planets are aligning in an unusual fashion.

And we now see the colours of the Earth rise up before our senses for spring has truly sprung.

Thank you for clinking in

all the very best to you

always

eileen

Kandinsky on painting

April 24th, 2010 .

“Painting is an art. And art is a power that should be aimed at developing the soul. If art does not do this job, the abyss that separates us from God is left without a bridge.

The artist owes his talent to God and has to settle this debt. To do this, he has to work hard, know that he is free in his art but not in his commitment to life. Everything he feels and thinks is part of the raw material with which to improve the spiritual atmosphere around him.

Beauty, whether in art or in a woman, cannot be empty; it has to be at the service of humankind and the world.”

From Paul Coelho’s    blog  http://paulocoelhoblog.com/

Service with such love. A reminder of  the trail that I gently make in this country, in the landscape, at this time of our awakening.

I write

I build a bridge

I sing

I build a bridge

I teach little children, old men, women with no language

and I build my bridge

to my soul.

close-up-of-the-curtains1

putting-the-trees-in-place

close-up-of-the-trees-scenery

I believe in this cardboard box

close-up-of-the-castle-scenerythank you for clicking in

Hope your bridge is well……

always

eileen

When the sun talks…….

April 24th, 2010 .

img_2489

A True Account of Talking to the Sun at Fire Island

Frank O’ Hara

The Sun woke me this morning loud

and clear, saying ‘Hey! I’ve been

trying to wake you up for fifteen

minutes. Don’t be so rude, you are

only the second poet I’ve ever chosen

to speak to personally

so why

aren’t you more attentive? If I could

burn you through the window I would

to wake you up. I can’t hang around

here all day.’

‘Sorry, Sun, I stayed

up late last night talking to Hal.’

‘When I woke up Mayakovsky he was

a lot more prompt’ the Sun said

petulantly. ‘Most people are up

already waiting to see if I’m going

to put in an appearance.’

I tried

to apologise ‘I missed you yesterday.’

‘That’s better’ he said. ‘I didn’t

know you’d come out.’ ‘You may be

wondering why I’ve come so close?’

‘Yes’ I said beginning to feel hot

wondering if maybe he wasn’t burning me

anyway.

‘Frankly I wanted to tell you

I like your poetry. I see a lot

on my rounds and you’re okay. You may

not be the greatest thing on earth, but

you’re different. Now, I’ve heard some

say you’re crazy, they being excessively

calm themselves to my mind, and other

crazy poets think that you’re a boring

reactionary. Not me.

Just keep on

like I do and pay no attention. You’ll

find that people will always complain

about the atmosphere, either too hot

or too cold too bright or too dark, days

too short or too long.

If you don’t appear

at all one day they think you’re lazy

or dead. Just keep right on, I like it.

And don’t worry about your lineage

poetic or natural. The Sun shines on

the jungle, you know, on the tundra

the sea, the ghetto. Wherever you were

I knew it and saw you moving. I was waiting

for you to get to work.

And now that you

are making your own days, so to speak,

even if no one reads you but me

you won’t be depressed. Not

everyone can look up, even at me. It

hurts their eyes.’

‘Oh Sun, I’m so grateful to you!’

‘Thanks and remember I’m watching. It’s

easier for me to speak to you out

here. I don’t have to slide down

between buildings to get your ear.

I know you love Manhattan, but

you ought to look up more often.

And

always embrace things, people earth

sky stars, as I do, freely and with

the appropriate sense of space. That

is your inclination, known in the heavens

and you should follow it to hell, if

necessary, which I doubt.

Maybe we’ll

speak again in Africa, of which I too

am specially fond. Go back to sleep now

Frank, and I may leave a tiny poem

in that brain of yours as a farewell.’

‘Sun, don’t go!’ I was awake

at last. ‘No, go I must, they’re calling

me.’

‘Who are they?’

Rising he said ‘Some

day you’ll know. They’re calling to you

too.’ Darkly he rose, and then I slept.

( Thanks to Ananda Caffery for posting this  through the Pig Executives )

and thank you for clicking on

always,

eileen

Celebrate you say!!!

April 22nd, 2010 .

celebrate what you have

accomplished even,

if you are the only one who knows

how special the moment is

deep-in-chat1Like.. being a witness as old wounds

heal and sighs are heard with tickles

under the chin

Celebrate…eye-and-dogas real beauty takes the lime light,

without a word

celebrate………..img_2493

the journey

the road

whatever the path

img_2011celebrate

for your own sake

I’ll be finishing an 11 week program with 2 great lads John O’Mara and Conor  Devine. They have been completing a course called FEATAC Drama Level 1 . In this module they have to experience what a  drama is about, the various devices of a theatre journey and they have to participate as an audience member. Neither of them have ever been to  a studio theatre performance, both might watch a bit of TV or the odd DVD but they won’t be theatre goers if you know what I mean.

They  have been a pleasure to be with. Thank you lads and here’s to you .conor-and-blue-puppet-in-the-big-theatre