TED: Ideas Worth Spreading

by Dani Mc Mahon

Some of you may have heard of TED talks before. I first heard of them through Grey's Anatomy, doctor's went to TED talks every year as it was the place to be for new ideas and a healthy dose of inspiration.

TED is basically a non-profit organisation and they are on a mission. They want to spread ideas and get the world thinking and they are doing so in quite the genius way. Each TED talk is usually somewhere between five and twenty minutes long. The variety of themes and sub categories are endless leaving you open to discovering things you would have never imagined in your wildest dreams.

Recently, my wife started her Post-Graduate diploma and part of one of her assignments was to watch a TED talk on the theme of creativity. We watched the video together (link below) and I was hooked. We followed it up with four or five more talks and I have been watching more and more ever since.

Sometimes sitting down to listen to academics, scientists, theorists, writers, artist, etc. talk about their fields of expertise or their ideas can feel like a chore. In today's fast-paced environment we are used to doing things in the shortest time possible and on the go. The only time we actually make an effort to sit down for a prolonged period of time is to catch up on your favourite TV shows, to watch a movie or read a book. By the time we reach this point in the day we are exhausted and just want to wind down. Our brains are entering sleep mode after a busy day.

The beauty of TED talks makes itself very apparent when you realise that the shortness of the talks and their accessibility mean that they do not interfere with your wind down time. In fact, if you download the app to your smart phone you can even have access to the talks whilst on the go. That's right, you can make use of your daily commute to work or college by listening to some of these inspiring talks, you might even feel all the better for it!

In recent times I found myself drifting further and further out of touch with topics which used to interest me due to lack of time and general laziness but in recent weeks I have reawakened my interests through a series of TED talks.
If you have some free time this weekend or during the week check out these TED talks and let yourself explore.
You never know what you might find!

Let us know what you think, our contact information is available through our 'Contact Us' tab :)

Do schools kill creativity? :https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity

My stroke of insight: https://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight

Your elusive creative genius: https://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius

Why some of us don't have one true calling: https://www.ted.com/talks/emilie_wapnick_why_some_of_us_don_t_have_one_true_calling

Fifty shades of gay: https://www.ted.com/talks/io_tillett_wright_fifty_shades_of_gay

Meet the dazzling flying machines of the future: https://www.ted.com/talks/raffaello_d_andrea_meet_the_dazzling_flying_machines_of_the_future

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

by Dani Mc Mahon

I am not a huge fan of the St. Patrick's day and the festivities which it entails but the idea of celebrating our little country is a nice one.
Since I was a child I always found the day to be messy and too much fuss and the whole having to dress in green thing always drove me insane! This St. Patrick's day I am relaxing at home, listening to all of the fanfare outside as people celebrate, drink and be merry.
Being Irish is something unique, an identity which I think brings us all closer, no matter where we find ourselves in the world. Wherever you may be you are sure to find somebody who has at least a drop of Irish blood and they are always willing to welcome you.
The emerald isle has its drawbacks, sure, but on a day like today with the sun shining and clear blue skies as far as the eye can see it is definitely a day to celebrate our Irish heritage and feel proud!

I found this really nice post on Buzzed earlier and thought it was perfect for sharing on the day that is in it  :)

Beautiful Irish Language Words Everyone Needs

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy Birthday, Gran!!

by Dani Mc Mahon

Today, one of my very best friends in the whole world turns eighty. You read me right, eighty. This spacial lady is not only one of my best friends but also my confidant, my inspiration, my advisor, my support, my companion in so many of life’s adventures and my Gran. 

I met my Gran when she was 53 and we hit it off immediately. She took care of me while both my parents worked and played such a huge role in making me the person that I am today. A strong, fiercely independent woman my Gran has the hugest heart in the universe but can also be a force to be reckoned with! If you need good solid advice on anything from a fashion choice to politics to finances my Gran is the lady to go to! She has a mind that would challenge even the smartest of people out there and memory to match!

Most of my fondest childhood memories centre around my darling Gran. She showed immense levels of patience taking me to school every morning as I loaded my numerous imaginary friends into the car, making her say their names as they boarded her small hatch back. She spent hours sitting with me drawing stick figures to represent every person that I knew. She sat on the door step of her house and cut a pear into the slices, taking out the middle section which was ‘yucky’ and then piling the pear slices back up on top of each other so my pear looked like hers again. We took trips to the library on Friday afternoons and she opened my first savings account teaching me all about money and how to manage it. She made me the best scrambled eggs and waffles and always let me have two biscuits when ever I asked. 

Gran and I spent every possible second together that we could and I can safely say I am privileged to call her my best friend. During the summer months we would hop on our bicycles and go for a cycle in our rural area. We would stop each time for a few minutes to visit a beautiful horse in a field we passed and make up possible names that we thought might suit it. 

Every August we sat down together to watch the famous Irish contest ‘The Rose of Tralee’ making a ‘tick’ or an ‘x’ beside the pictures and profile of the girls which appeared in the television guide. We tried our best to guess which ‘Rose’ would win and celebrated when we guessed correctly. These stories are just a few which come from a huge catalogue of memories, ones that Gran and I remember so vividly and often speak about.

Her witty sense of humour has never been wasted on me she makes me laugh every single time I speak to her. Although time has slowed her down and restricted some of her activities when I sit with her and we chat about everything under the sun she is just the same Gran to me that she always has been. She will probably kill me for even writing this piece, she is not one for fuss! But I don’t care. The world needs to know what an incredible Gran I have! Not many girls get the opportunity to have a best friend who is really a friend for life, somebody who is a soul mate, completely loyal, a true love in many respects and wicked smart to boot. I am one of the lucky few and I just had to share this special lady with you.

Happy birthday Gran!  I know you will pretend to dislike every minute of the fuss but inside you will be loving it! Always yours, Nange <3

Gilmore Girls are Go!

by Dani Mc Mahon

Darling people of the blogosphere, I have been shamefully quiet here for the last number of weeks. I can only blame a an all consuming addition to The Gilmore Girls. That is right ladies and gents I have been watching this TV show for the past three weeks non-stop and as I type I am preparing to sit down and take in the very last episode of the final season. I also finished up at my old job and started a new one which has been filling in the gaps between episode...I jest!

I remember watching the first three seasons of The Gilmore Girls when I was younger. It was actually aired on Irish television for a time and then it seemed to fall off the radar, something which happens quite a lot here. I never followed up with it after those three seasons, I was too young to be fully committed to the show and its characters and I didn't have access to a computer and much less to the internet. Recently, I saw a snippet of an episode and decided to catch myself up. The week I made this decision I also heard rumours of Netflix being in talks to release more episode of the hit show so I knew it was a solid idea.

I started from the very beginning, as I have heard it is an excellent please to start (shocking 'Sound of Music' play on words I know!) I was originally watching it by myself and then my lovely wife joined in too. Like me, she had seen the first couple of seasons and wanted to know how it had all turned out and so started watching it with me. The past two weeks have literally consisted of nothing other than work and The Gilmore Girls.

Today we are finishing the seventh season and I can feel the withdrawal symptoms coming on even now. What will I do with all of the free time once it is over? I suppose I could get back to living my normal life, blogging, reading and exercising have all been reducing drastically in importance over the past number of weeks so I am looking forward to getting back to all of those things but how will we survive without our daily dose of Stars Hollow?
Stay tuned and I will keep you posted!