Hey Everyone,
Just a quick post to say I’ve made a few updates on the Passion For Poker poker blog recently about where things are going right now. Also I’ve created a new blog post from The Hole Inside Everyone called Ageism Works Both Ways about an experience I had yesterday out in the city to do with disability prejudice.
Anyway that’s all for now,
Take Care Folks!
Niamh
http://www.niamhbrown.com http://www.niamhstudios.com
Hey Everyone,
I had a week off from work recently and towards the very end of it I started a new blog for poker to collect my experiences and provide useful tools for those with a Passion for Poker! I realised this was a great way to combine my writing and IT skills in a fun new direction. As you may know I’ve playing about 18 months and run a game with friends at work so this was the next extension of it.
You can find the new blog by clicking here, or it is now listed on the main Niamh Brown Central site on the menu.
Peace, Niamh
…if you do you might be interested in my latest For The Hole Inside Everyone blog post: Why Fatigue Is An Isolating Force. Even if you don’t have Fibromyalgia or ME you may still want to read it, as we all get overworked from time to time and many of us have social anxiety disorders. It’s also in relation to how fatigue can keep us apart, how much effort relationships can be and why some of us opt to be hermits instead.
Anyway if your interested please check it out here: Why Fatigue Is An Isolating Force
Peace, Niamh xxx
Hi Everyone!
I realise it been a while since I said anything here but as I said in my last post the Danish class routine really did take up all my spare time and energy. I finished my first module ‘part’ on Wednesday the 24th and got my exam results. I got 88% with a 70% threshold to pass! I’m well please with myself, especially after I was forced to miss two classes due to ill health and became almost convinced I was too far behind.
I’m on my only paid weeks vacation now and I’m resting all I can. (Denmark have this retroactive central holiday scheme where you have to be in the system for a year before you can collect holiday pay, but my employers also give you an extra week’s paid holiday too)
I got my feedback from my entry into the ‘Writers of the Future’ competition. I didn’t win a place unfortunately, basically it didn’t fit the target demographic/style (something I should have researched more anyway) plus they said the science fiction element has to be obvious in the first page or two of the story and with this one it was very much in the background, used in a technological manner. The story itself was about a disease gone to an extreme in the future, but the way it was done I could see their point. So that’s fair enough. It is a story that does straddle the boundaries of SF but it’s definitely fiction.
I think a part of me has realised this month that although I’ve definitely got the writers bug and will probably write all my life, I don’t think it something I can replace my IT career with any time soon. I suspect it will always be a second and not a primary activity, but in a way that good for the writing. This mentality has taken the pressure off me a bit and it’s been nice to have a break from it for a little while. I’ve decided I’ll probably stick to writing things I find interesting and spend less of my precious time doing commercial pieces, but I’ll see how it goes. I’m really planning to write when I’m enthusiastic about something instead of forcing my style and tone into work that would fit a career move.
As for poker I’ve started playing with a few friend at work for fun. So far I haven’t got heads up but last time I burst on the bubble and played much better than before. It really is a different game than playing on the internet but it is fun and you can pick up and give away information much easier.
Also the last two weekends I played the Scandinavian freeroll’s online and last week came in 10th place (out of 600-700 players) and last night I came in 2nd out of 635 players!!!! This won me a total of $14 for no investment. This really has given me a boost and shown me that I am capable of being a good poker player.
Anyway that’s all the news I have right now. I hope you are also having a nice summer wherever you are.
Take care, Niamh xxx
Hi Everyone,
I haven’t been active recently as I’ve been in a low energy state for a couple of weeks. I also began my Danish classes and I’ve been to two already. I can say a few things like Hvor kommer du fra? (Where do you come from) and Jeg hedder Niamh (My name is Niamh) and count to 20.
My ankles finally gave in again this week. I’m thinking about getting some insoles to support the arches of my feet as they are really flat now and I can’t help thinking this is pulling on my leg muscles in other ways. I’ve been thankfully off work the end of this week due to public holidays so I’m at least getting a chance to rest up. The extra journey from work to the my classroom and back again isn’t long but it’s enough that going twice this week set it off again.
It’s weird being 30 but thinking about the world as if I’m collecting my pension. Every act I do has to be thought through carefully in order to workout if I can do it and how. Just today I had to go to the shop as there was nothing in the house, I had to rest my ankles enough before hand so they could cope with being on my feet long enough to go round a store. It’s the same round the house, sit down do a bit of house work, sit down do a bit more.
It’s not that I can’t accept it, god knows I’ve had long enough to get used to the idea, but only 5 years ago I didn’t need a cane and now I use it every day and often indoors. It makes me wonder how my legs will be in another 5 or 10 years. Last year we even talked about a wheelchair once when I couldn’t cope walking round one of the billions of Ikeas here.
Anyway I don’t want to let this run on as whatever happens is completely out of my control, but it’s been floating around my head so of course it comes out in my writing. However I suspect that for the next 6-7 weeks or so my writing output will be close to nothing as, if this week is anything to go by, I will need to transfer that time and energy into my class. So if the website is a bit low on activity that is why.
Anyway I hope you enjoy your weekend,
Peace, Niamh xxx
Hi Everyone,
It was my 30th yesterday, rather weird crossing that threshold but there you go. I’ve got a 3 day weekend ahead of me so no doubt I’ll have things to post by the end of it. The short story is going well, over 7 thousand words and about 28 formatted pages thus far. The beginning needs a re-write but it shouldn’t be too much work.
I like the way that the short story has helped to form the bigger plot stories in my books. It nice when you have a thought that helps both works at the same time. Very satisfying 
Anyway the weather here hasn’t been great this week, but considering the spring I’ve had so far I much prefer the Danish climate. I went out and got my haircut yesterday and although it’s much tidier, I realised just how much I miss a hairdresser that is almost psychic in understanding how you want your hair done. I’m sure the language barrier didn’t help, but it was just as much my fault for not getting it cut a bit shorter when I could have.
I shall be starting my classes soon for Danish, I’ve got the source materials now so it’s starting to become real that I’ve integrated over here. I suspect the first year will be the toughest, but once we get past the start up costs of being new to the system, things should take off much faster than they would have back home.
Anyway, I’m babbling hope you have a good weekend,
Peace, Niamh xxx
Hi Guys,
About 3:30pm this afternoon I interrupted the office with a fist pump as I saw my article at Helium.com had not only gone up from the 2nd place I earned on my 2nd day since posting, but had broken through to 1st place and another article had entered the mix! 1st of 33 at Helium is like a big Gold Star. I had to quickly explain myself, but it felt good.
Well, sometimes you just gotta brag…heheh
If you haven’t seen it already you can check it out here: TV show reviews: Battlestar Galactica
Peace, Niamh xxx
Hi Again,
It’s spring time and I feel that it’s not just the trees and the flowers that have started anew but also myself. I have just written about it my blog For The Hole Inside Everyone in a post called: Swimming Against The Current.
It’s about a transition I’ve gone through where I’ve started letting go and being more present and how this has brought a greater sense of peace in my life. I felt compelled to write about it so that it might help others.
Anyway, that’s all I have to say for now except to say I might be starting my Danish lessons next month.
Peace, Niamh xxx
Hi Everyone,
Just a quick post to say I recently finished watching Battlestar Galactica Series 4 and I’ve done a review of my impressions. As you may notice I really enjoyed the story and I cried tons on the final episode. I couldn’t stop thinking about it so I decided to sit down and write a review, my first post on Helium for a while. Since I posted it this lunchtime its jumped from 9th of 32 articles to 3rd of 32.
To see my review and details of the show you can click here: TV Show Reviews: Battlestar Galactica
Well I’m off to enjoy the rest of this insanely good weather over here in Denmark and to write some more on a new For The Hole Inside Everyone blog post and my latest short story, which I’ll post about once I’m done.
Enjoy the weekend 
Niamh, xxx
Hey Everyone,
Just an update today really. I’m at the tail end of a string of health issues. I had a throat infection/flu thing for a week had gone back to work for two days and then got food poisoning. It’s been nice having time off at home but being this ill has certainly taken the fun out of it. I’ve never had food poisoning before and that first 12 hours I’ve never been in so much pain. Not only were the stomach cramps awful but the fibro was triggered and my nerves became over sensitised, which meant I was hyper-sensitive to pain, touch, light, temperature etc. Then the fatigue went chronic for a few days and although it’s calmed down a lot, its still in the background, hitting me every now and then.
I got my acknowledgements from my science fiction short story submission (in the 2nd quarter) and should be put through my initial round of judging soon. I thought I wasn’t going to make the deadline as I missed the PO hours on the Saturday after I posted here that I was ready to send it off. Luckily I managed to get it in the mail before I was sick again, otherwise I would have missed the deadline for sure.
I’m also working on a new short story that is actually tied into the world in the second of my science fiction books. It’s going well and I may try to sell it or keep it for the next quarter of the competition, depending on how long it takes me to get it ready. I would like to get it into print, as it would help me get my name out there but it would also start to build the world I’m using in the books. Although this will be told from an angle/time that won’t be directly called upon in the books, it is part of the story and the history for sure.
And as for poker I just came out of the daily Scandinavian Freeroll and came 39th of 1059 entrants. That’s the highest I’ve made it and only 13 places away from the money seats. If I had kept my head a little at the end I might well have made it to the money before I blinded out.
Anyway that’s all I’ve got, hope the world is treating you well and if not you can bare it until it does.
Peace, Niamh xxx
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