Picturing 2009

In mid-September I set myself the goal of uploading 1000 photos to my flickr page before the end of 2009. I only really started applying myself to this task in mid-October, so with about 10 weeks to go I still had over 900 photos to locate and upload, and in some cases to take. Today I uploaded the 1000th photo, which was also the 2400th photo on my flickr account. Some are private, some are public, some are of graffiti, some of travels, some of events, sometimes 100 from one location, sometimes three.

I also thought I'd take a tour through some photographic moments of 2009. Clicking on any of the photos below will take you to its photo page on flickr, from where you can look through the set of associated photos from that event or journey. I recommend going to the start of the set and viewing them in that order - it'll be most coherent, as groups of photos have not necessarily been uploaded in the order they were taken.

The year started with standing on the National Mall in Washington D.C. in January with about a million other people watching Obama being inaugurated as the first black President of the United States of America.



Quite a moment in history. I didn't have great expectations then, and his first year in office has turned out a little worse even than I'd hoped, but the fact that the POTUS is not white is important in itself.

There were some major protests about the handling of the recession and the economic crisis, like this street march in Dublin in February:



as well as some trips around the country, such as this one to Belfast:


And the Paddy's Day Skyfest fireworks over Waterford in March were amazing, watched from the banks of the river:



The photos from April's trip to Finland have yet to be uploaded, but there was also a visit to the cheese room at La Fromagerie in London – a high point in a cheese-loving year:



The beach at Camber Sands in England and some much-too-far-away shots of a jaw-dropping performance by Cirque du Soleil also featured in April.

May provided many photo opportunities in Mozambique, about 350 of them in fact, which you can wade through to find the one I'm probably happiest with, taken with a cheap underwater camera at 10-12 metres down in the Bazaruto Archipelago:



A manta ray, floating above me. Later I had a dream come true when I got to scuba dive with turtles, but no photographs of that exist. But there are some of South Africa, mainly its impressive and inspiring constitutional court.

Lots more photos of a trip to Tuscany in June and July 2009, where there were numerous steep alleys in walled medieval towns, like Cortona:



This Italian trip also resulted in dozens of pictures of the Palio horse race in Siena in July:



and many of the art and architecture of Florence, locations from Life Is Beautiful in Arezzo and inevitably, the leaning tower of Pisa. Another visit to Europe featured 8 countries in 12 days – France, Monaco, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Germany and England.

Back in Dublin August gave me my first ever visit to the Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin:



as well as an occupation by workers in Thomas Cook on Grafton Street in Dublin, protesting against the terms of its closure.

September witnessed projections onto the Front Gate of Trinity College Dublin for Culture Night, as well as many other free cultural events around the city:



October featured a visit to the always stunning Vico Road and White Rock beach in Killiney, as well as a first visit to Larch Hill forest in Rathfarnham:



There were many other photos taken of a swim at the Forty Foot (which also included the 1000th 2009 photo uploaded), trees in Stephen's Green, and of Ranelagh Multidenominational School as part of Open House Dublin.

November began with another major protest by unions critiquing the Irish government's handling of the economic crisis. Clearly the cuts in education are already having damaging results:



The new Luas extension to The Point opened in December, while I haven't yet put up photos of the new Samuel Beckett Bridge. But no photographic tour of 2009 would be complete without a picture of holiday cheese, of course:



Here's to a beautiful, interesting and delicious 2010.

Happy World AIDS Day

It is World AIDS Day today, December 1st, a day dedicated to raising awareness about HIV and AIDS, commemorating those who have died because of AIDS, and celebrating life, with and without HIV. Here in Dublin I didn't manage to make it to the annual Michael Kelly lecture for World AIDS Day, or to any other events, of which there were sadly quite few. There were particularly no parties or celebrations, or none that I heard of, which is a pity as I think today is a day to celebrate life. I usually wish people "Happy World AIDS Day" which often provokes a startled or bemused look in response, but to me this really is a day to celebrate life, and the struggle to live it, with illness and healing, death and joy, pain and care and everything else that is part of that struggle.

I did manage to wear a couple of AIDS ribbons throughout the day, and was heartened to go to a meeting where at least 3 other people were all wearing one, none of whom work specifically on the pandemic. I also gave three people ribbons, two of whom immediately put theirs on, and the other asked what it meant, so in some small way at least I felt that I helped raise awareness.

The theme for 2009, determined by the World AIDS Campaign, is Universal Access and Human Rights, perhaps particularly suitable as we're still in the 60th anniversary year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was signed on December 10th 1948. This is also day 7 of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, a long-running international campaign which begins every year on 25th November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and ends on December 10th, International Human Rights Day.

While such days of international awareness-raising can have limited uses, at least they can stimulate action on these topics and provide a focus for campaigning. I'd hope that someday there will no longer be any need for World AIDS Day, that the disease will have been cured, there will be no more new infections, and all those living with HIV will have the treatment they need to live full and long lives. Until that day, I'll keep wearing the red ribbon.

it was twenty years ago today

The Berlin Wall was brought down. 9th November 1989. What a powerful time it was to have lived through. I remember that as being the moment I came to political consciousness. It was the end of something terrible and the start of something powerful, the start of anything seeming possible. I feel like my generation can never be entirely cynical, entirely pessimistic, because we were old enough to grasp something of the Cold War and its pain, but we also saw it collapse in front of us, and we were young enough not to remain stuck in the bleak, divided past. That was an important day. I'm glad I lived through it, and am here twenty years later to reflect on it, and be re-energised by the memory that a different world was possible, and still is.

Daintree in Open House Dublin

Today The Daintree Building was participating in Open House Dublin, presented by the Irish Architecture Foundation. I'd agreed with the architects, Solearth, that I'd allow people into our apartment as part of the tour to give them a perspective on the community aspect and what it's actually like to live in such an ecologically green building.

A Solearth staff member did the main part of the tour, first bringing the group up to the solar terrace, giving a short talk about the construction and external finishes, then into their offices on the first floor to talk further about the construction process, energy systems and internal finishes. That included looking at what they called the 'truth wall' which is a cutaway wall showing all the layers of construction and insulation, including thick grey sheep's wool. After going along with the group for that I then took people into my apartment, gave a short talk in the living room and said a little more on the balcony, from where people could see the solar panels and the layout of the courtyard, including the recycling and composting shed.

I did three tours, about 75 people in all, including about 30 on the first tour. I'd agreed to just do the first hour of the three hours of the open house afternoon, kind of as a bonus to those who came early, but ended up doing two hours as each tour took about 30 minutes, and frankly I was enjoying it. It was actually great fun. It was good to hear even more from Solearth about the technical aspects of the building and the learning process of developing it. For example, that they'd decided not to do the underfloor heating throughout the building due to cost and not as I'd thought partially to do with floor depth and use of space. Also that the external wood covering is Donegal cedar and that the main beams in the offices are glue laminate, one of the few places where that is used.

It was interesting if slightly odd to show large groups of strangers into the apartment, but also really encouraging, feeling like I live somewhere that is actually of interest to the public from an ecological perspective. It's motivating to feel that where I live can possibly be a bit of an inspiration or simply provide an example of a more ecological way of building and living in Dublin. That seemed to be the case from the questions and interest that the tour groups showed, including asking about heat transfer systems, whether there was a selection process to live here, or asking how it worked on a community level. Many of them also went out of their way to thank me for opening up my home and to say how nice the apartment was. And one I think would definitely have moved in if she could!

One visitor asked about accessibility, something on which I'd also recently questioned the architects, as unfortunately we don't have a lift. Apparently the size of the building means that full accessibility was not legally required, while obviously desirable, though I can imagine cost was another factor. The building is 'ambulatory accessible' which means there are landings on the stairs about every 1.6m rise in height. I talked about the extremely low running costs for electricity, how water heating is provided by the solar panels and space heating by the ground source heat pumps, and how hese but these costs are included in the management fee, a fee which is actually the same as other similarly sized apartments elsewhere in the cit that don't include heat and hot water. In general I mentioned the high ceilings, well insulated walls, natural paint finishes and energy-efficient induction hob, the latter being something that didn't come as standard.. In two of the tours people asked whether the apartment was more expensive – I estimated it was 10-20% more expensive than a similar, non-eco flat, but it's hard to really know, given its location and high specifications.

After I'd finished my participation, I called into the cafe for a brownie and bumped into an ex work colleague who'd come for the Open House. I was relieved that he hadn't been on any of the tours I'd given – somehow it feels less exposing to open your home to total strangers than to people you vaguely know but wouldn't invite over in the usual run of things. I'm sure people took photos in the flat while I was on the balcony talking about the solar panels, and after one of the tours the bedroom door was ajar, despite being supposedly off-limits, but hey, it was all pretty tidy anyway and people's curiosity is limitless. It was quite liberating to simply open up my home, and feel proud of how it's built, how we've chosen to decorate it and what's in it, and affirming in return to have people openly admire a painting, a chair or the overall style of the place. Which one interior design and architecture student described as “eclectic”...

Some questions and conversations with visitors also reminded me that what we're doing here, the place that I live, is different and innovative, and perhaps most importantly for me, it means living in line with my values. It's feels positive to live in a place that was specifically designed to be ecological, to minimise the energy used in construction, to create note solely low energy usage solutions but to do so using low embodied-energy materials instead of high-tech, high embodied-energy options. It's an innovative, unique building in Ireland, and I think a valuable example of a mixed use urban development that is a good place to live, work or eat out, and in the process that creates a very positive but in no way intrusive community atmosphere.

It made me remember that it's not everyone that lives somewhere that's featured in Open House Dublin, in a place that can actually be of interest beyond those who live or work here, and it's easy for me to forget that and fail to recognise that choosing to live here is something different, and perhaps more positive, than living in a typical apartment or house in Dublin. The Daintree Building has always seemed to me to be a living demonstration of some great things that can be done in an urban location, rather than the rural settings or large one-off houses that are more commonly the focus of ecological design. Seeing people's obvious interest, hearing people use the words 'oasis' and 'beautiful', and having people ask questions to inform their own house projects or plans, all helped me to feel even more positive about a place I love to live.

More information:
Irish Architecture Foundation Open House Dublin
Construct Ireland magazine article about The Daintree Building
Notes about the timber frame on the building

and another thing

I didn't write about or post photos of the launch of the Dublin Bikes scheme, which they entirely should have called Dubbikes. This is despite bothering to go down there at the time it was launching on Grantham Street, taking lots of photos, getting some inside info on projected losses from someone working there, and taking video of the first person to hire a bike cycling away from the bike station. Maybe somewhere down the road I'll write it up.

the things I said and didn't say

It's the first of October and I haven't written any of the blog posts I thought of writing. I haven't written about the Bubble exhibition at the Science Gallery and the lecture on food foams I went to there. I haven't posted any of my pictures of either. I haven't written about “Arthur's Day” or Culture Night or the differences between them. I haven't written about finally capitulating to the inevitable and going to IKEA and then much less inevitably but with some satisfaction going to B&Q and the many and significant differences between those two big box stores. I didn't label the pictures from a recent trip to Kerry so that they'd be comprehensible to anyone bar myself, though at least I did post them. I continued not to post any pictures of graffiti, even though I've taken many, in a number of different countries and indeed continents. I didn't comment on the fact that Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate bars are now made with fair trade cocoa (I assume, it could be fair trade sugar as well), which is A Good Thing. I didn't write about the phone opinion poll I took part in. And I didn't write about a number of fair trade developments, and didn't post the pictures I took of the related chocolate poster. I haven't written about Lisbon, the vote on which is tomorrow, and I haven't written about NAMA or moving banks in an effort to become more ethical or at least support the only remaining worker/account-holder owned building society in the country, EBS. I didn't write about the on-going enormous scale of suicide in Ireland, prompted by the suicide of Irish boxer Darren Sutherland in London, or how one might hope that his tragic death could instead help wake Irish society up to dealing properly with suicide, which it seems almost everyone in the country is touched by at some point. At home, I didn't write about the tomatoes I harvested from our courtyard, or post the photos I took of them, or mention the upcoming participation of our building in Open House Dublin. I didn't complete and post the piece I half-wrote two months or so ago about consumer rights, and while I was at it I didn't write about PRSI contributions, not getting money back for eye-tests and glasses, or the inscrutable, and apparently deeply inefficient, idiosyncrasies of entitlements to such social insurance-based 'benefits' in this country. I didn't write about any of this, or about coming back, probably the most important thing to happen, to me, in the past three years. So you'll just have to imagine it all, and what I might have said about those topics, unless I ever do get around to writing any of them. Because though I haven't written much, here I am, and I'm very happy to be here.

09/09/09

Following hot on the heels of (or next in sequence to) the last post, today is the ninth day of the ninth month of the ninth year of this decade, century and indeed millennium, at least according to the Common Era calendar. No major celebrations took place round here, but 090909 day was certainly acknowledged, even if I managed to sleep through 09:09:09a.m. this morning. One friend suggested having an emergency services party, and inviting the cops, ambulance and fire brigade, a reference I didn't get until the zeroes were removed to produce 999, while one other friend zeroed in on the moment with a text at the appointed minute. In Tanzania I think sevens day (seventh of July) and eights day (eighth of August) are both national holidays every year - more of that kind of mathematical appreciation I say. Now we'll have to starting counting down to 10:10:10a.m. on the 10/10/10 next year.

12:34:56 7/8/09

Today there was a particular confluence of date and time that occurs once a century - 34 minutes and 56 seconds past noon on the seventh of August, 2009. Or to put it another way, 12:34:56 7/8/09. If you wanted to make the sequence read even more sequentially you'd leave out the zero on the oh-nine as well as the 20. Not sure it's quite a good as the same time and date in 1990, but I'm all for creating my own festivals and this was a good time to do it. So had a few people over to look at a clock for a single second and eat lots of cheese. Evidence above. A most pleasant afternoon.