Pop goes the Corker

What follows herewith is a letter I just received from Eoghan Ryan, a telecommunications manager, who lives in Cork, Ireland. He has known Amanda Strasberg for several years. She asked him to peruse our Strasberg Post and comment upon it. Surprisingly, it was his first encounter with a Blog. Whereas I had intended to use his foto to illustrate this Post of his letter to me, unfortunately none was forthcoming. However, Amanda e-mailed me the above jaunty drawing. The Irish traveling cap and the Shamrock projects my image of the lad ~

12/21/2004
Hello Dom.

I visited your Blog this afternoon on the recommendation of your grandniece Amanda. This was my first experience with a Blog, and I felt compelled to drop you a line and congratulate you on a fascinating read. I must confess to having spent the last hour reading your postings, to the detriment of my job this afternoon.

I work in the telecommunications industry, but ironically, I am often dismayed with people's inability to use the wonderful communications tools we have at our disposal, for anything other than convenience and profit. I am impressed not only with your content, but that you seem to be inspiring others to contribute. It strikes me that you have lived a remarkable and productive life and that even in retirement you are contributing beyond the norm.

I asked permission of Amanda to send you this mail and I think she was concerned that I may challenge some of your political commentary. However I have assured her that in fact, my intention was quite the opposite, as I am of the opinion that commentary and discourse in this day and age are every bit as valuable as the opinions, beliefs and culture which we represent as individuals. Amanda asked me to mention that I am not a local boy but from the other side of the pond, the wonderful (slight exaggeration) City of Cork on the South Coast of Ireland. Discourse, writing and journals have long been a part of Irish culture but as a country growing on the economic landscape we are in danger of losing some of our strengths as true communicators. Perhaps, I should champion the cause of the Blog over here?

Good luck and kind regards, Eoghan Ryan.

PS. If you should have any feedback as to the whereabouts of the famed beauty Helen. I would appreciate a heads-up, as I am still searching for my Helen and it is beginning to feel like a journey of Odysseus proportions.

To understand this allusion that Eoghan makes to Helen (Helen of Troy), I invite the reader to retrieve the embedded Post, "Leda and the Swan" To do so, please go to Archives and click on the month November. Then scroll down to 11/13/2004.

12/22/2004
Hi Dom,

I'm afraid Amanda is right, I don't have any pictures on my PC, but I'm delighted that you think my letter worthy of posting. I'm hoping that this kick starts me into writing a bit more frequently. I had dinner with some friends last night and I spent some time introducing them to the Blog idea. It seems that I'm not the only one who was ignorant of its existence. I have no doubt that, as is the case with most trends and technologies, it will migrate across the Atlantic very soon.

As for Helen/Amanda, well only time will tell!

Talk soon, Eoghan