How postsecret is no longer a secret

IT'S funny how big blogs have come, just think how many thousands/millions there are, or will be soon. In the last number of weeks alone, I have read loads of different articles about how blogs are a threat to journalism, how they are the new way to campaign, etc, etc. Through my own scrolling, I have encountered political diaries, art for sale, diaries of break-ups, proud mums, crazy lunatics, celebrity blogs and much, much more.

One of the Sunday newspapers here in Ireland, the Sunday Tribune, even scrolls through Irish political/ish blogs in a regular article discussing their content. But can you imagine my surprise when I opened up the Evening Herald on the way home from work this evening to see a site I put a link to on my site featured in a full-page article – postsecret.

The article, see below, spoke of a secret shared being a secret doubled and well reading the article it appears the reporter doesn’t really get the site. In fact I think she just missed the point really but sure all publicity is good publicity – there’s bound of be loads of hits now from the article alone and if you have seen the site you’ll know that’s a good thing.

I love checking out this site, I love seeing how creative people are with their secrets, whether amusing or heartbreaking. I regularly laugh heartily at what people say, such as the person whose secret involves going to great lengths to poo in solitude – know that feeling! To the people who have held on for years to dark absorbing secrets and maybe the first time they have told anyone is through an often beautiful handcrafted delicate piece of art.

Looking through all the different people’s secrets, you can’t help but admire the creativity in them, from the not-so-perfect ones to the extraordinarily beautiful ones to the messy and to the simple ones.

one of the lighter secrets on postsecret

For whatever reason there are terrible hard and black secrets that some people have entrusted to the site. There are countless numbers of other people who have been unable to deal with this issues in their own lives and that’s a hard thing. Maybe there is a kind of catharsis in this, in the anonymity of the site and in finally releasing the burden of whatever has dragged the person down, except for the person who like to poo in peace, they just have to go at home, sorry about that.

So now before I sign off, I am going to have a glass of wine to toast postsecret for being what it is, for me for drawing the attention of the Evening Herald to the site – ok ok it had nothing to do with me!!! (damn). But a glass of wine is still in order. Have a good evening and check out postsecret before it becomes one of the worst-kept secrets on the net, and wouldn’t that be a good thing too.

Don't talk to me about U2 concerts....

EACH day that passes brings us closer and closer to the U2 concerts scheduled to take place as part of the summer music fest in Dublin.



I have to say my last experience of U2 has completely left me traumatised, so much so, that I almost stick two fingers in my ears whilst loudly singing ‘la la la la la la la la la’.



'la la la la la la la la la'

I have been lucky and seen them in concert on a number of occasions but the whole experience of living in Dublin when they are playing kinda translates to the haves and have-nots of tickets. So when you are in the have-not category – you feel that you are missing out on a very significant concert, which is sure to go down in the musical archives of time.

So back to why I can’t even think about a U2 concert without breaking out in hives follows my experience a couple of years back.

U2 announced they were to play Slane, which is a big music festival day at Slane Castle held most years, however the tickets sold out in a flash.


Obviously someone who managed to keep a hold of their ticket

Then sometime later, it was announced that some tickets were available on the internet so I get on, managed to overcome the incredibly busy internet, managed to order four tickets (knowing I could easily rustle up three other interested bodies) and sat back feeling smug, lucky and delighted with myself.

Some days later the tickets arrived in a row of six, four were tickets, one was my address and the other was my invoice. Fantastic, and up they went on my shelf beside my passport and other things that I need to keep an eye on.

Every now and again, I would take them down, and try to give my friend her two for herself and her partner but she kept going ‘no, leave them and I will get them again’. Now that started to piss me off, I wanted rid of them, I only wanted to be responsible for my own. But she insisted and this went on for weeks.

Until one day, she was in my flat showing me a book she was making for someone which had lots of draft pages, etc, etc. In other words an armful of stuff to be thrown out. Before she left, I put my foot down, took the tickets from the shelf where I was keeping them, ripped off two tickets and insisted she take them.

So the day loomed closer and closer, until it finally arrived. Off we went, with our picnics, some drinks and full of ‘wayyyy haaaayyyy’. Until we arrived near Slane that is….

My friend said: “Where’s those tickets?”
Me: “Aye yer funny – I only have me own!”
My friend: “No seriously, where’s the tickets?”
Me: “AYE yer funny, I have mine!”… This went on for a bit… a bit too long.

I wont bore you anymore with that, just to say again that this went on for a while, with each of us thinking the other was pulling the other’s leg.

Eventually I went ‘I DON’T have yours, I have mine’. The long and the short was, she didn’t have her two. All of a sudden, people were quizzing me as to where the tickets were and I began to doubt myself and what I KNEW happened. Anyway we drove all the way back to Dublin, while she searched her flat and I searched mine (we live beside each other).

All of a sudden, everyone was up in my flat helping me, including the friend ticketlosing offender. This started to really piss me off BIGTIME. Everyone had abandoned looking in the tickerlosers flat and were helping me, this could only mean that the blame was falling on me. This is despite me constantly saying, ‘I kept them here, here is the invoice and they are not here, as I said they wouldn’t be, because I handed them to (friend) at my flat door, I can see myself doing it now’. Besides which, while I had the tickets I kept them in the one long chain to keep them safe, and did not rip them off until I insisted my friend take hers. Why would I rip off two valuable tickets doing this and separate them.

Anyway bear in mind, there were still two tickets and because I was somehow entangled with the ticketloser I decided to be big and insist the other two go. However the ticketloser threw a mini wobblie because one of the others was her partner and told him if he was to go he could feck off.

I couldn’t believe this and insisted they went. In the end they drove about for an hour before coming back with two intact U2 tickets for Slane.

The end of the tale, is that I didn’t lose the tickets, and I no longer even have the unused tickets which would be worth money.

To this day, we still do not really talk about it other than to say that we are both still traumatised. So while she thinks it was me that lost the tickets, it was not. IN fact they all think it was me. I have often wondered if the others ever turned up and she could not face me to tell me so. While it might sound ridiculous, it was such a horrible day, where the blame completely wrongly fell on me, I do hope that they turned up in her flat and she felt guilt like never before as well as having the knowledge that I was telling the truth the whole time and no one, no one, would listen to me, they only listened to her – the ticketloser.

The moral of the story is, stick to your guns when you know something to be true, despite the bullying? (for want of a better word) and other people’s opinions to the contrary.

So while this year’s concert takes place, I will be hiding. (I going to hide now cos I’m depressed again after telling that tale of woe).

A sad day

It’s a very sad day today in county Meath with the funerals of Claire McCluskey (18), Deirdre Scanlon (17), Lisa Callan (15) and Sinéad Ledwidge (15) following the horrific bus crash which happened on Monday afternoon. The funeral of Aimee McCabe (15) will take place tomorrow.

This is such a tragic week, not only for the communities in the townlands of Beauparc, Rosnaree and Yellow Furze in Navan but for all of us. Like many others, I have found it very hard and emotional watching the news reports on the tragedy. It is hard as a parent not to think about the devastation that losing your own child would bring and times like this we lament the loss of five promising young lives.

A minute’s silence was observed at midday today as a mark of respect and books of condolence have been opened at bus stations around the country and on the Diocese of Meath website, if you would like to send your messages go to http://www.dioceseofmeath.ie/.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam

THE LIST - or things that really get my goat #1

· Men sprawling out with wide-open legs next to and on me on a bus, utterly vile.

· Half-filled cups of take-away coffee, did I ask for small, fill it up.

· People shouting on their mobile phones on the bus, wise up! Do I look interested in your conversation – ehm no!

· People letting their kids run riot on the bus (I spent too much time on public transport).

· Sandwiches which are packed with fillings that require dismantling before eating.

· Txt/sms messages from advertisers, how dare phone companies use my mobile number for marketing, I signed ‘no’ to using my address for marketing purposes so the same follows for my phone.

· People jumping ahead of me in Qs, can you see me waiting????

· The video machine turning itself off 10 minutes before the end of recording a programme. I’d prefer to miss the first 10 rather than last 10 minutes.

· Marketing/advertising/someone selling something phoning me at home, tell you what I won’t phone you at home during Coronation Street so you don’t phone me.

· People who will not move up the bus and instead stand near the front door like some kind of selfish muppet. As a result, people are left standing at bus stops.

· Motorists who do not indicate when making a turn because, well I haven’t a clue why! It defies logic.

· People looking for me to sign up to charitable donations when my arms and hand are full of shopping – not a good idea, choose your victim well.

· The Americanisation of the English language, fine if you are American but if you are an Irish teenager, it is so, like, WHATEVER!

· People eating noisily, particularly on buses beside me, I LOATHE noisy eating and by the way close yer mouth too – I don’t really want to see, at all.

· Men scratching themselves intimately on the bus, PLEASE NOOOOOO.

· The clipping of fingernails on the bus (really I have seen this at least three times – which is three times too many).

The feckin crazy frog, who is crazy enough to spend money on this shit!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chocolate calculator...

1.First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to have chocolate. (more than once but less than 10.

2. Multiply this number by 2 (Just to be bold).

3. Add 5. (for Sunday)

4. Multiply it by 50 (I'll wait while you get the calculator).

5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1755.... If you haven't, add 1754.

6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.

You should have a three digit number.

The first digit of this was your original number (i.e., how many times you want to have chocolate each week).

The next two numbers are… your age!

THIS IS THE ONLY YEAR (2005) IT WILL EVER WORK, SO SPREAD IT AROUND WHILE IT LASTS.

(from http://sixfaces.blogspot.com/2005/05/ur-age-by-chocolate-math.html)

Schoolchildren's safety compromised by money

NEAR the end of the working day yesterday, a dreadful and devastating news story began to break. It emerged that a school bus overturned while swerving to avoid a two-car collision with the devastating and sad loss of five young lives.

We can only imagine the grief suffered by the five young girls’ families, their friends, schools and communities. All five are believed to be aged between 13 and 16 and all came from the same school despite there being students from three schools on the bus.

Many media commentators have been remarking how news of the crash is every parent’s nightmare and I don’t think that even goes far enough to describe the horror of the crash. It happened at a time when the young people should have been looking forward to an evening with their families and friends, or studying for forthcoming exams and instead, their families are preparing for what will probably be one of the hardest days of their lives, their daughter’s funeral. It breaks your heart.

I was in tears watching the news last night listening to the girl’s devastated neighbours. They come from communities where everyone knows everyone, where everyone would have watched the girls grow from babies to young women and now they have to prepare to mourn the loss of five young lives. My thoughts are with them as are the thoughts of the country and beyond.

The crash does raise some questions and while it feels in bad taste to be shouting about them now, they must be addressed without delay. This includes the issue of seatbelts, there were none on the schoolbus, as well as the wider question of safety on our roads. A report in one of the papers today said the bottom line concerns money

Excerpt from article in Irish Independent, May 24, 2005
“THE Government is refusing to make seat belts on all school buses compulsory and to scrap the controversial 'three children for every two seats' arrangement because of the massive costs involved, the Irish Independent has learned.
An unpublished report warns that the sudden abolition of the three-for-two regulation would create an urgent need for additional vehicles.
More than 40,000 adult seats would be required which would mean an extra 880 large vehicles would be needed - at a cost of €57m.”

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1401749&issue_id=12516
Link to full story, requires registration but is a free news website

It is an absolute disgrace that the safety of our children comes down to money. It is also worth bearing in mind, if this is indeed true and it wouldn’t surprise me at all, that this is the same Government who this time last year, scrapped electronic voting which no one wanted, after spending €50+m. This is the same Government which spent approx €15m on a full grant for the already fabulously rich horsey set at Punchestown. This is also the Government that continues to allow our primary school children to share their dilapidated schools with rats and will not fork out the money to bring our schools up to a safe standard.

Let the Government tell that to the families who could be comforting their child in hospital as opposed to burying them if seat belts were fitted on the bus. The money is there, but the political will isn’t.

Shame on them.

sunshine after the rain

AFTER a mediocre week, I took off over the weekend with pals from a former work place to Limerick. So I packed the overnight bag, sorted out the young wan, put on my sunglasses and headed off to get a lift.

Somewhere over Laois, the weather turned... Really turned. But apparently it rains all the time in Limerick and it didn't disappoint, it rained a lot. Despite the miserable weather, the evening out was good and Limerick is a beautiful city with great nightlife.

You get used to not having the weather in Ireland, if it's great, great, if not so what, enjoy yourself anyway. Sometimes there's a lot of benefits to be gained by the rain.

Donegal is a stunning county in Ireland, with the most amazing and beautiful beaches which would rival any anywhere else. If we had guaranteed good weather, Donegal and other places like it could become a package holiday destination. For now they feel like well-kept secrets. And sure who needs the weather....





Uh oh – storm ahead



Getting closer and bigger



Rain ahead



Rain overhead



Nearly over



At least the swans are happy



Sunshine after the rain

thank god its Friday

COS its Friday, just a little something to make you laugh, or insulted....





Just having one of those weeks where the young wan is acting up BIGTIME and we are not even in the full throes of teenagedom and where the man in my life is also acting up... *sigh* maybe the weekend will be nicer. Have a good one everyone :)

Stick to your kebabs… *updated*

Headlines from today's Mirror tabloid on the following row. Read on below for more...




SUCH a furore in our national parliament, the Dail, today! But to explain it properly, I need to fill you in with some background details. The sorry tale begins a few weeks ago when it transpired that a construction company, GAMA, hit the headlines after being accused of exploiting its immigrant workers from Turkey.

It has emerged that GAMA was paying its workers as little as €2 an hour, working 11 to 12 hours a day, forcing them to live on-site in horrendous conditions with only two Sundays off in a month. This caused an absolute scandal as you all can imagine and the Turkish/GAMA workers’ plight was championed by many people including a TD (member of Irish Parliament) called Joe Higgins.


Worker pictured at a recent demonstration against their exploitation

So backgrounds details covered, today in the Dail was something else! Deputy Joe Higgins was speaking about another issue concerning Dublin airport when a junior Government minister in the Department of Foreign Affairs told him to “stick to the kebabs” – no doubt in reference to Deputy Higgin’s work with the GAMA construction workers.

Where do I begin!!!! I haven’t a clue but needless to say I find the arrogance of Minister (YES he’s a MINISTER) Lenihan staggering. And I say arrogance because we know there is inherent racism in us all and it is something that we need to strive to wipe out, but to utter this in the national parliament goes beyond the beyond.


Lovely!!!! Lenihan

As you can imagine, this caused an uproar and no doubt Lenihan was instructed to go back and apologise, which he did, big deal. The fact is at the time of the comment, the camera in the Dail swung from Higgins to a laughing Lenihan who was no doubt delighted with his little quip… Compare this with the swift apology which followed, he looked no more apologetic than my big toe, which is oddly defiant....

What delightful representatives we have and these are the people whom we are entrusting direction on anti-racism campaigns. In fact the Minister for Education, Mary Hanafin, just yesterday launched a guide for cultural diversity for teachers, she should think about amending it for her party colleagues. It would appear they are in a dire and desperate need of it.

If you feel anyway strongly about this, feel free to email Deputy Lenihan and tell him so go to http://www.conorlenihan.net/ or email conor.lenihan@oireachtas.ie.

You can check out more on this at http://www.breakingnews.ie/2005/05/18/story203096.html

Father's rights, do we have it all wrong?

EVERYNOW and again a story hits the papers, or batman scales Buckingham Palace to highlight fathers rights. There are websites, groups, all manners of vehicles for a campaign which I have to say I think is more anti women, than pro-father, quite aggressive and very little, if any of it, centres around the child and it’s needs.




This is a complex issue and definitely should not be centred on the term ‘fathers rights’. For me, this highlights just how much we are getting this debate wrong. We know that the best place for a child is generally with its mother – research backs this up. However that’s not to say that fathers are not important, of course they are a vital part of a child’s life and must be, where possible, as involved as possible. BUT this debate must centre on children’s right, not fathers and not mothers.

I suppose my loathing for this debate, or lack of it, stems from my own dealings with my child’s father, a situation that is unfortunately mirrored everywhere. We spilt when our child was a baby and continued on in an uneasy relationship until our child was four when all hell broke loss. In that time he had married and paid no to little (I wont say little to none as that is just not how it was, regular payments only started for four months in total when our child was four years old) maintenance. Despite only paying £15 a week for four months when the child (sorry I don’t wish to identify anyone here) was four, my ex’s wife started to resent this miserable payment and we had the mother of all arguments. My parting shot was ‘I will not be contacting you about seeing our child, you want to see them, you have to make all the arrangements’.

You see up until that point, I organised everything regarding his ‘fatherhood’. I carried him in everyway. I would have the child make pictures and send them to him, I would phone and see did he want to see the child, I would travel the 100 miles and leave the child with him and travel back home AND then travel back to pick them up again. For my trouble I would receive a bag of soiled washing which would sit until the next weekend when I would be able to visit the launderette. So many clothes were ruined at that time because him and his wife would not wash the child’s clothes despite having a house and washing machine and it would be left to me to do despite my full time college course and my shite flat with no laundry facilities. And do you think I could afford to lose another top, trousers because they were lazy feckers????

Anyway this all (and much more besides) led up to a massive buildup of resentment and when things hit the fan, they hit big time and I decided that the role of father could not longer be upheld and maintained by me. Guess what happened, eight years on and he hasn’t seen his child. It was always important to me that he be in our child’s life.

I grew up living with my dad, we saw our mum all the time but they used us children as a weapon against each other and it has been one of my golden rules that I would never do that. If you had told me 10 years ago, this is where we would find ourselves, I do not think I would have believed you.

So when I read about the plight of fathers (the campaign), I find it hard to be sympathetic, which I DO know is wrong, I know fathers and their children who have suffered so much because of a bitter mother. However I know far more (lots, lots more) women who have been left high and dry by their former partners. Left to raise a child on their own, left to find money to raise the child, left to explain those dreadful ‘when can I see daddy’ questions (they are sooo hard), women and children just left.

I sometimes seriously worry about the moral lessons we are teaching our children, particularly our boys. We only have to look at the children whose fathers do not stay in touch, whose fathers do not make time for them and whose fathers are no where to be seen.

We need to teach all our children responsibility and duty, which is seriously lacking in many, many young men and unfortunately it is the responsible fathers who bear the brunt of this irresponsible behaviour. Are we teaching our boys that it is okay to sew your wild oats; it is okay to impregnate women and not be responsible for that child. These lessons are coming from somewhere and I believe this is a vital part of the debate which has so far been sadly lacking.

But the debate on fathers rights needs to take a different slant altogether, we should not even be talking about fathers or mothers rights; it has to be about children’s rights.

Surely that encompasses everything that is important about this debate, not about one ex being wildly bitter over another, which seems to me to be at the centre of most of the father’s rights arguments. Lets make it about our children and their well being. So back to the title, Father's rights - do we have it all wrong? You better believe it.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3652502.stm
Batman and Buckingham Palace, fathers rights story on BBC news

bloody wasps

I HAVE lived in my flat for many, many years and each summer I am besieged by flies (yeuck) and wasps (the flying stinging kind) because my living room is one the first floor under a beautiful tree. However the tree attracts all manners of flying insects, which come in through my window, particularly wasps. I HATE wasps.



"there must be some way outta here..."

Then to top it all, a neighbour build a large extension a couple of years ago and following an invasion of wasps last year, I discovered a wasps nest in their extension’s guttering, right outside my bedroom window and within two-feet of my bed. Unfortunately the neighbours have moved and the place is being rented now by people who have little English and I just do not fancy the idea of knocking on the door and trying to explain the wasps nest. I’d probably have to bring them into my flat, into my bedroom and show them. My bedroom is a mess… So it isn’t really an option. I’ll just have to spend the summer with the windows closed…



"let me out..."

We got our doggy a year ago and she has managed to caught some and I am petrified she will get stung in the mouth. Last night I caught her sniffing around my table and when I looked there was a wasp, bold as brass, strutting about. So I scooped it into a glass where it still is – that’ll teach it.



"I'm watching you...."

the smoking ban is a bollox2 even nature is against us

IT would appear that even the birds are against us tortured and much put upon smokers in Ireland. Not content with kicking us our in the cold, rain, wind and storm, it would now appear that outside doesn't work either. Check out the story above which was featured in the Irish Independent today, May 11, where a bird has made its nest in the wall ashtray which many pubs are displaying now following the smoking ban.

But sure doesn't it warm the cockles of your heart to see all the hardened smokers soften at the sight of a little birdie!!!!

Jennifer Wilbanks - criminal or not?

FROM surfing around looking at everyone’s blogs, I came upon two sites talking about Jennifer Wilbanks and her disappearing act before her wedding. This was something that didn’t make it across the Atlantic and seems to have hit a newsnerve States side. So I looked up some of the news coverage and was astounded by how it seems to have caught the imagination of the American public.

However, looking at this on the blogs, I have been amazed at the passionate response from people to the case, either supporting or condeming runaway Jennifer. And I have found myself wondering, police searches aside and the upset of her families and friends who thought something dreadful had happened to her, is what happened worth the furore surrounding it?

People do mad and dreadful things to each other. People dump lovers over text messages, emails, phonecalls, some don’t even bother with those options even. People badmouth someone whom they previously loved and adored and people have been left at the altar in front of family and friends by a former partner.

I just think Jennifer panicked, it wasn’t nice for her fiance (to say the least) or her family, particularly when they thought something dreadful had happened to her. But I think it would be disgraceful if she was sent to jail for this, that would be shameful. Lets hope she gets some help, chills out, marrys her man (if its right for both of them), that his and her family forgive her and we resume trying to catch real criminals.

Jennifer Wilibanks, criminal? I think not, foolish, overwraught maybe, criminal definitely not.

Below is Jenifer Wilibank’s full statement issued May 5th statement issued Thursday by runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks, and read by her father's pastor, the Rev. Thomas Smiley:

At this time, I cannot explain fully what happened to me last week. I had a host of compelling issues which seemed out of control -- issues for which I was unable to address or confine. Please, may I assure you that my running away had nothing to do with "cold feet," nor was it ever about leaving John. Those who know me know how excited I've been, and how excited I was about the spectacular wedding we planned, and how I could not wait to be Mrs. John Mason.

In my mind, it was never about the timing, however unfortunate. I was simply running from myself and from certain fears controlling my life.

Each day I am understanding more about who I am and the issues that influenced me to respond inappropriately. Therefore, I have started professional treatment voluntarily.

I am truly sorry for the troubles I caused, and I offer my deep and sincere apology. I ask for John's forgiveness and that of his family. I also ask for forgiveness of my family, our friends, our respective churches, our communities, and any others I may have offended unintentionally.

I am deeply grateful and appreciative to everyone who responded on my behalf. I thank you for every expression of support and effort. Your sacrifices of time and personal inconvenience touched me deeply, and I hope your spirit of care is not lessened.

I understand that many people wanted to hear from me personally today, and I wanted to be here. However, I look forward to days ahead when I am strong enough to speak for myself.

As John said on countless occasions recently, may we follow the teaching of Scripture, in being kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving, just as God in Christ forgives us. Thank you.




Bride to be!!!!?

*update* pope appeared on my gown

I just updated the 'pope appeared on my gown' entry with a scan of the newspaper article, well some of it anyway. Its worth an incredulous look!!

* there is life out there after all

EXCELLENT!!! after my last pleading post, I have received lots of messages from people which has been wonderful (thank you all). Since joining blogexplosion which I might add is a bloody great site, I have seen so many blogs as well as receiving lots and lots of traffic. Up to now every change of my site counter was me hitting the site to see if anyone had hit the site. It had gotten very lonely, but no longer... Jaysus I am a complete saddo, ah well never mind. I am sure there is a blog out there that can help me.

*sigh* no one likes my site....

I HAVE just joined up to Blogexplosion.com, a site which can increase the amount of traffic to your site. So I am thinking ‘this is fantastic’ and lo and behold the increase has been pretty much immediate, only thing is… no one seems at all interested in my blog at all. They pop in and pop out again… So I’ll have to come up with some ingenious and illegal ideas to try to tempt people to stay… Anyone for naked pix of George Bush??? Try this for starters…

lonely bridge

Photography has always been a passion of mine, for as long as I can remember. And I have been fortunate enough to be able to indulge myself. With the advent, availability and ever-decreasing price of digital cameras it has never been easy. I have tried to post pictures on the net before, without much luck, flickr.com is a great site and very easy to use.

This picture was taken on O'Connell Bridge on Monday, April 25th, at about 8.30am. O'Connell Street and O'Connell Bridge are packed-busy with pedestrians in the morning. As I travelled to work on the bus that morning, I noticed a break in the normal pedestrian traffic flow and saw a solitary man hunched up sitting on the bridge, looking lonely and isolated. It was very striking and I managed to capture it in one shot, before my bus moved on.