• Plauderstunde- THE place to be on DeviantArt


• British Council


• Epic Fails


• Guide To Surviving A Horror Movie


• FanFiction of all kinds


• Lonely Planet


• short overview of different films

So the shortest day came, and the year died,
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive,
And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, reveling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us — Listen!!
All the long echoes sing the same delight,
This shortest day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, fest, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.
Welcome Yule!
(Susan Cooper, in "The Shortest Day")



Yule is the time of the winter solstice,the longest night of the year. At this time of year, the birth of a "Divine King" had been celebrated long before the rise of Christianity. The Sun King, a representative of male forces is reborn of the Godess, the darkness slowly recedes as we move towards summer's short nights and long days again. The light returns to us in the darkest of nights, and brings rays of hope and warmth with it.



Happy Yule!



I proudly present to you:
The entries so far for the "Combating Shame Contest" organised by #Mental-IllnessClub

1. By: !AlaeWings
2. By: ~LegendaryOuka-chan
3. By: ~Brinckmyster
4. By: *midnight-writer1031
5. By: ~NerdyAndLovinIt
6. By: ~no-soap-was-harmed
7. By: *Yukiolf
8. By: ~Jenevee
9. By: *give-me-my-art-plz
10. By: *JoiSaruGekkou
11. By: =Bam-Bam-2006
12. By: ~xoSeattle
13. By: ~pamelaski
14. By =Feline-icity
15. By ~ilovekakashi28
16. By =Domozzile
17. By ~Zomozombiequeen

I will be showcasing the entries as and when they are submitted. The contest is open for a good while yet, so get your submissions in while they're nice and fresh!

New submission deadline for the Proud no to be ashamed contest!

A new month, a new contest. The lovely people over on #Mental-IllnessClub are having a contest on the subject of "Combating Shame associated with Mental Illness"
(Guideline phrase: Proud to not be ashamed) , which will be running until the 20th of January 2010.
Rules:
Anyone can enter: member, watcher, lurker etc....
Only 1 entry per person
Can be either visual art or literature: photography, poetry, digital, abstract etc..
Send submission via a note to the club entitled contest entry with the link or thumb included
Mature entries are allowed
Contest entries will be accepted until January 20th 2010 @ 10:00 pm mountain time.
It can be embarrassing to admit to having any illness. Many people would consider it a personal weakness. There is a certain distinction between physical illness and mental illness. Yet they are also often very closely related. Though it appears that its easier to openly discuss physical illness over mental illness. This fact (as it’s proven that someone with a mental illness is less likely to get help and receive treatment for it than someone with a physical condition) has been plaguing me for years. Why don’t people want to talk about it? Why is it such a big deal to admit that you have a mental illness? Why do so many people even deny the existence of these illnesses? All questions I have asked myself a countless number of times. And they have a variety of answers. Many possible answers stemming from the stigma that surrounds mental health issues. I think it's important to find a balance in things.... Proud to not be ashamed is a phrase that represents something I believe in. Its not about bragging about having a mental illness...its not a joke. But that doesn’t mean that our illnesses and the misunderstandings surrounding them is anything to hide from or feel ashamed of. I’ve seen people leave comments like “why would anyone admit they have a mental illness?” or “why are you so proud to have a mental illness?” on deviations that are clearly about awareness or expression and have nothing to do with “bragging”. It seriously sickens me to read comments like those especially in that context. (#Mental-IllnessClub, 2009)

Stop suffering in silence.
Proud not to be ashamed.

Causes I support


Less serious stuff

• Plauderstunde- THE place to be on DeviantArt


• British Council


• Epic Fails


• Guide To Surviving A Horror Movie


• FanFiction of all kinds


• Lonely Planet


• short overview of different films

Ta-daaa! *drumroll* I proudly present to you:
The entries so far for the "Combating Shame Contest" organised by #Mental-IllnessClub

1. By: !AlaeWings
2. By: ~LegendaryOuka-chan
3. By: ~Brinckmyster
4. By: *midnight-writer1031
5. By: ~NerdyAndLovinIt
6. By: ~no-soap-was-harmed
7. By: ~Yukiolf
8. By: ~Jenevee
9. By: *give-me-my-art-plz
10. By: *JoiSaruGekkou
11. By: =Bam-Bam-2006
12. By: ~xoSeattle
13. By: ~pamelaski

I will be showcasing the entries as and when they are submitted. The contest is open for a good while yet, so get your submissions in while they're nice and fresh!

New submission deadline for the Proud no to be ashamed contest!

A new month, a new contest. The lovely people over on #Mental-IllnessClub are having a contest on the subject of "Combating Shame associated with Mental Illness"
(Guideline phrase: Proud to not be ashamed) , which will be running until the 20th of January 2010.
Rules:
Anyone can enter: member, watcher, lurker etc....
Only 1 entry per person
Can be either visual art or literature: photography, poetry, digital, abstract etc..
Send submission via a note to the club entitled contest entry with the link or thumb included
Mature entries are allowed
Contest entries will be accepted until January 20th 2010 @ 10:00 pm mountain time.
It can be embarrassing to admit to having any illness. Many people would consider it a personal weakness. There is a certain distinction between physical illness and mental illness. Yet they are also often very closely related. Though it appears that its easier to openly discuss physical illness over mental illness. This fact (as it’s proven that someone with a mental illness is less likely to get help and receive treatment for it than someone with a physical condition) has been plaguing me for years. Why don’t people want to talk about it? Why is it such a big deal to admit that you have a mental illness? Why do so many people even deny the existence of these illnesses? All questions I have asked myself a countless number of times. And they have a variety of answers. Many possible answers stemming from the stigma that surrounds mental health issues. I think it's important to find a balance in things.... Proud to not be ashamed is a phrase that represents something I believe in. Its not about bragging about having a mental illness...its not a joke. But that doesn’t mean that our illnesses and the misunderstandings surrounding them is anything to hide from or feel ashamed of. I’ve seen people leave comments like “why would anyone admit they have a mental illness?” or “why are you so proud to have a mental illness?” on deviations that are clearly about awareness or expression and have nothing to do with “bragging”. It seriously sickens me to read comments like those especially in that context. (#Mental-IllnessClub, 2009)

Stop suffering in silence.
Proud not to be ashamed.





Finally, the winners of =cristianbassa's MUSIQUE contest have been announced. Put your hands together for:

The Winner (judges' choice):


From a visit to his gallery:



A fantastic photographer from Portugal with some stunning b&w pictures in his gallery.



2nd prize (judges' choice) and winner (people's choice):


From a visit to her gallery:



This talented Romanian photographer calls some wonderfully dreamy shots her own. Well worth a visit!



3rd prize:


From a visit to his gallery:



A Spanish artist with a gallery stuffed full of goodies, great landscapes and street shots, as well as interesting travel pictures.



Well done everybody!

I'm sure the artists would appreciate a visit to their galleries, so if you have time, show them some DA luuurve!

Causes I support


Less serious stuff

As promised, a feature of all the entries for =cristianbassa's "MUSIQUE" contest. Rules etc can be found here: [link]

1. Faithless - Take The Long Way Home


2. Rolling Stones - Streets Of Love

3. The Doors - People Are Strange


4. Frank Sinatra - Strangers In The Night

5. Iggy Pop - The Passenger


6. Gary Jules - Mad World




7. Nick Cave - Red Right Hand

Only a couple of hours left!

Causes I support


Less serious stuff

13 November is To Write Love On Her Arms day. For those of you that don't know, "To Write Love On Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for those struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire, and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery." (source: TWLOHA official page [link])
As someone who is personally affected by some of those issues, I've been following this movement with interest. I'd like to do a little bit myself to promote awareness of MH issues, so I've been searching DA once more to put together a little feature.

You might find this article quite interesting as well: [link] and also those clubs: =Mental-IllnessClub #ItDoesNotHaveMe
Also, if you're interested in a bit of background reading about the TWLOHA movement, I can recommend this article: [link] One of my own, written a good while ago about coping with illness through art [link]






and a very special feature that just found its way into my inbox this morning: A very expressive and beautifully written poem about love and trust.

I, too, bear scars on my body as an expression of feelings too hard to put into words. Depression, self-harm and suicide are very real, not some "teenage fad" or a way to get into the limelight.
See the person, not the disorder!


On a slightly less serious note, is holding a music contest, details can be found here: [link] Have a look, it sounds fun! I'll be promoting the contest and featuring the entries in my journal.

Causes I support


Less serious stuff

is holding a music contest, details can be found here: [link] Have a look, it sounds fun! I'll be promoting the contest and featuring the entries in my journal.


I've just realised that Runrig will be touring again next year. Of course the dates in Germany will be especially interesting for me
That's the tour dates here: [link] Anyone want to join me at a gig or two?

I think a wee Scotland feature would be in order here :

The band:



The country



The music

Tir An Airm (Recovery, 1981, live recordig in Stirling, 1987): [link]
Cnoc Na Feille/ Siol Ghoraidh (footage from North Uist): [link]
Every River (live at Loch Ness): [link]

My own Runrig-inspired titles:



Causes I support


Less serious stuff