I love this vintage advertisement for the treatment of a condition known as ' Housewife headache' so it just had to become part of my Sick Selfie series. It seems that all these these years I thought my permanent headache and fatigue was as a result of a neurological condition when really it was just caused by  'boredom and emotional fatigue'. Who knew? The advert  goes on to say.....'making beds, getting meals, acting as family chauffeur, tiresome work day after...

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Sick Selfies @ Centred  After a year of trial, error and some epic fail, fail better scenarios, not to mention a prolonged bats in the belfry intermission, I finally got some Sick Selfies images onto bone china plates for Ceramic Ireland's Exhibition which opened in Dublin last week. Couldn't have done it without the support of my unpaid P.A. Joe and the lovely Tina from Ceramic Ireland who shared her knowledge of digital printing for ceramics and encouraged me every step of the...

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The head is under fire from all angles today... peace process talks appear to have broken down. Am thinking of digging a tunnel to get behind enemy lines but don't have the energy, interest or tools required.... maybe tomorrow... internal and external weather conditions permitting... or not, as the case might be.

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Stretch your legs, partake of some refreshments and talk amongst yourselves till I get back.  

I should warn you though, I may be some time.

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Earlier this year I was too sick to attend the Sick Festival in Brighton and last month I was too anxious to attend the Anxiety Festival in London. Whatever next.... Too tired to go to the Chronic Fatigue Festival, too sad to go to the Depression Festival or too sore to go to the Pain Festival. This is a sad state of affairs indeed and I decided to address it by sending an email to the Anxiety Festival asking if they were planning to live stream any of their events so that people with anxiety...

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Stella young is a comedian and journalist who happens to go about her day in a wheelchair - a fact that she doesn't, she'd like to make clear, automatically turn her into a noble inspiration to all humanity.  In this talk Young breaks down societys habit of turning disabled people into 'inspiration porn. (Text from ted talk home page).

There is nothing I can add to this as the video says it all....except have a look see and be inspired to be uninspiring!

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Bats in the belfry  Meaning: 1580s, "pertaining to bats" from bats, slang sense "nuts, crazy" is attested from 1903, from the expression (to have) bats in (ones) belfry, also meaning "not right in the head" (1901) This time last year we had a huge colony of bats in our attic. The 'bat man' from the wildlife trust said it was probably a nursery for baby bats for miles around and we should be honoured that they choose our attic as their summer...

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As a child I was afraid of the dark. The bedroom I shared with my sister was awash with monsters and murderers  of all description. They mainly resided under the bed but there were also quite a few squeezed into the roomy corner wardrobe as well as behind the curtains. The presence of my sister helped not a wit. We each managed our night terrors alone. She kept fear and insomnia at bay by sneaking the dog into her bed while I slept with my head under the covers barely able to breath. I was...

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I was delighted to find out last week that this piece was accepted for Creative futures Tight Modern travelling exhibition which I heard about through DAO.   It's a self portrait I made in 2012 on a hospital appointment letter. It got a new lease of life recently as a piece of wearable misery art when I made a badge out of it. I really like the idea of someone I don't know wearing a piece of my misery... would that it might lighten the...

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Some days there is no right side of the bed.....

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Living with a neurological disorder that involves head pain there are many times when I don't feel quit right. Sometimes it's from pain and the general sense of brain disorder that goes with the territory and sometimes it's from the depression that is also part of the package. 'She/he is not half right' is a popular Irish saying to describe someone who has mental health issues but there are others that work equally well like 'Bad with the nerves' or 'Not all...

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Holy wells specialising in the curing of specific diseases can be found all over Ireland. Such illness are often reflected in the names given to the wells: Tobar na sul (the eye well); Tobar na plaighe (the well of the plague); Tobar na ngealt (the well of the insane) to name but a few.  Last weekend I took the waters at St Mullins well in County Carlow which is said to have the cure of both the headache and the plague. I left a sick selfie on the virgin as a offering. I can declare a...

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Intermissions due to illness are a regular part of life for many people living with a disability and/or chronic illness. With me these pauses between acts can last a day, a week and sometimes months depending on the severity of the setback or flare up. This makes long term planning and committing to deadlines a challenge to say the least. Nowadays when I make plans I try to factor in the probability that there will be periods, short or long, when I will be temporarily out of service....

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Like most people with chronic illness I get asked 'how are you today?'...  a lot. On many days the truthful answer would be 'I feel shit, thanks for asking', but I mostly settle on one of the many euphemisms I have collected over the years. These range from the very Irish and clearly untrue 'ah sure I'm grand' to the more English stiff upper lip 'mustn't grumble' taking in 'not quite up to the mark' 'a little peaky' and 'can't...

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I used to be a smiley person but years of chronic pain and its sidekicks depression and fatigue have taking its toll on my smile reflex. I find it quite an effort to smile at times so I borrowed this smile from a magazine, took a photo of myself with my ipad and so my 'sick selfie' series was born. I was delighted when this image won an award in the Irish Times photography competition in November 2013...

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