-3 min readen
No Subject
Hello how are you? I don’t know if I answered. Reason being is that I was not too sure who this was addressed to. The person in front me though was very sure almost ultra-assertive who she was talking...
Pascal Derrien
CEO Migraine Ireland
Dublin - Leinster
About me, originally from France I have been living in Ireland for more than 25 years. I am fascinated by people and their stories.
202 articles
Topics
Articles by Pascal
2023
2 articles
-1 min readen
WTF
What the fuck !!! I don’t write much lately and so what !! It’s just surrounded by a myriad of twats but my mind ain't got stuck Getting tired of the so-called etiquette, the how to do thing gurus and...
2021
8 articles
-2 min readen
Perfect Strangers
That article was originally started months ago and was shaping up with huge difficulty. Add a mix of laziness, musings and life’s obligations and you obtain one of those things you start and never fin...
-2 min readen
Everybody Wants To Rule The World
There are a lot of tensions in the world lately, amid Covid-19 there has always been room for polarized views, opinions or political issues. In my childhood it was cold war, before my generation it wa...
-4 min readen
Can I Call You John ?
For those who know me you know that while I have a very strong incline towards punk I also have very eclectic tastes when it comes to music and this from a very young age. In the mid to late eighties...
-3 min readen
A Wheelie Good Tuesday
I don’t know you but in my part of the world the residential bins are collected once a week. The general waste one week and the two other recycling bins every second Tuesday. As it happened I had prep...
-5 min readen
St Anger
2003 was a funny year for me. A professional venture I had heavily invested myself in emotionally ended up abruptly. The sudden and deep nature of the incident left me shocked and confused. The world...
-3 min readen
On The Subject Of ....
Unstable home, alcohol fuelled environment, nomadic schooling involving three schools per year. I did not learn really anything from my parents working shitty hours and late nights. Neither was I taug...
-3 min readen
The Best Friend You Have Never Met
If you have never met one, he or she could have elephant ears, a tapir nose and seven legs. Well that’s pretty unlikely but we have seen weirder things in the world. He or she wants the best for you....
-2 min readen
Say Cheese
Confucius apparently said (more or less) that nothing new happen to people in the world its just that the same things happen to new people It was while back and I am not even sure in which century or...
2020
4 articles
-2 min readen
Revolution.com
Coming across a lot of keyboard warriors lately. They have slogans. They have faith in what they say, they genuinely believe in what they do. They are positive they know what is good for me and you. T...
-3 min readen
Open The Gates
I quite like the symbolic of the door. Doorways, openings or gates have always had a great significance . Gateways offer transition, a point of change , sadness, melancholy, loss or even hope. As a ki...
-4 min readen
10:59
Henry Nicholas John Gunter was a German American or more discreetly referred to as being of strong and recent German heritage as they were saying in those days. Gunther was born in 1895 on the 6th of...
-2 min readen
Why With a Capital Y
Hi guys. Well it’s been a while I know. Roughly a year with no write ups, not a huge appetite, envy or even the slightest intent to publish an article either. I was busy doing other stuff but to be ho...
2019
16 articles
-3 min readen
That's Smart
The writing thingie came back to hunt me again the last few days but purposely I thought I (and most probably you too) would welcome a step away from the human psyche and its exploration. While I am n...
-3 min readen
When
When it appeared in the news I was shocked and unprepared. Needless to say I was not welcoming the dark trip back to memory lane. How many times one individual can be broken. Besides the sordid detail...
-4 min readen
Station H
Meet & Greet Quite a few people are waiting. All walks of life, ages or race. All have a different story. Some are apprehensive and worried while others seem to be relieved. Yet we are all here togeth...
-3 min readen
A Haunting Experience
It's pretty difficult to pretend to be a dolphin when you are stuck in a biological coffin. That one would almost make me laugh if it was not reminding me of some uber deformity. Without any ambiguity...
-5 min readen
Meet Me At The Church
''Meet me at the church'' she said. It took quite some persuasion from Angelica Katickz to persuade Jake Rolfo to agree to get married in the church. For starter he was not religious or even spiritual...
-4 min readen
3 Balloons
On this beautiful morning of June 2019, my son had planned to meet up with two other fellow hockey players at the North Kildare Sports Facility and asked me to give him a lift. It's really a cool plac...
-3 min readen
Turning Points
''a time at which a decisive change in a situation occurs'' The first time, it’s difficult to comprehend that there is perhaps something really meaningful beyond the end. Yet the anxiety still takes o...
-4 min readen
Gorillas Have Funerals Too
I was in the surgery's waiting room no later than last week when I picked randomly one of those overtired to be read magazines. I thought about it as a good move that would allow me to kill time and a...
-3 min readen
Two Miles Northwest of Reality City
Hey do you have a receipt? Come on, hop on the mystery train. I am going to take you for a trip at the brain A trip at the brain? Yeah I promise it's going to be insane. We are going to get hold of yo...
-4 min readen
The Silent Planet
In 2345 the reference to any type of Gods or divinity in the intergalactic vocabulary was prohibited. In 2347 all forms of religions were officially banned or dismantled. In 2349 all the religious ord...
-6 min readen
The Day I Splashed Coffee Over My Laptop - Part 1 & 2 -
Pretty dumb isn't it? Many people if not everybody know a hot beverage and electronics are a marriage in hell or a recipe for disaster to a lesser degree. So why would you purposely spill coffee onto...
-3 min readen
The Guy
The guy. I don’t know his name. While the man does not have a striking magnetism, his face is very familiar to me. His charisma is probably on the lower end of the spectrum. I guess he is just a bloke...
-4 min readen
The ''Look After Our Own'' Brigade
The Look After our Own Brigade. Who are they? Do they have a colourful language and a rather vicious behaviour? Do they tend to spit their venom instead of arguing sensibly? Do they repeat the same th...
-5 min readen
Is Capitalism Out Of Control? The Answer Is...
Funny times around us at the moment. Nobody is too sure who is behind the wheel and for those who claim to be, its pretty unclear if they actually know what they are meant to do!!! I am probably stati...
-4 min readen
The March Of The Trees
They were all on their way, the Cedar trees from Lebanon, the mountain pines from the Italian Alps or the giant Sequoias from Yosemite. From roots to needles , from wild leaves to elegant ramification...
-4 min readen
Is Motivation The Same Than Inspiration?
That's a deep question isn't it but deep down who really gives a fuck about it ? Actually I could not care less either so why am I asking the question then. I don't know really, I tell you what ! A fe...
2018
26 articles
-2 min readen
Excuse Me If I Am Not Sorry
It used to be only when my world was grey that I didn’t know what to say It used to be overly fractal until I realized it had become emotionally horizontal I used to say I wish I would never grow old...
-2 min readen
I Will Be Who I Was ( Blues Theme)
Oh Well Have we not already been here before !!! The you don't have to be old to be wise or the too old to die young. The dancing drunken lullabies, the aches and pains with so little gains The white...
-5 min readen
What's Cooking ?
It's Winter at the moment, I know that's not breaking news for most of us on the northern hemisphere. It means colder but also shorter days and longer nights. It also means my son's trainings have mig...
-4 min readen
A Whole Lot Of People
''A whole lot of people talking, Trying to make sense. Seems everybody's living on a barbed wire fence'' Rory Gallagher 1971. The title of this article is obviously coming from ''Whole lot of people''...
-7 min readen
Nothing But A Name
Seano has lived on Hokra457 all his life. Seano is the only human mechanic in the Raku Galaxy. He has been told to call it a day more than once, that he was a relic, that his whole business was more a...
-5 min readen
The Book Of Uncontrolled Decisions
Intro In a house so big its very easy to regret all the good things about life and its gig. I am getting quite a few flashbacks about my collection of cowboys and Indians. I remember they were always...
-3 min readen
Inside Out
My memory drawers are no longer in the right order but not any longer I think about it with terror I have separated with myself and I, around me they pretend that's everything is alright, they say tha...
-4 min readen
Tattoos & Storytelling
I am no expert in Tattooing nor am I going to give you a lecture on the topic either. It all started with Metallica's drummer Lars Ulrich and an interview he gave to a local TV in Atlanta. What trigge...
-5 min readen
Psstt...Or The Ballad Of Billy & The Kid
Billy Joel's first album with Columbia was Piano Man, released in 1973, I was four years old maybe or something like that. My first memory of him though would come much later with the release of the m...
-3 min readen
Quarter Past Ten
Not even quarter past ten and all the hopes of becoming a mother hen have been ditched alongside with the surgeon pen. They talk about over usage, I hear the word damage but I don't listen anymore so...
-5 min readen
Johnny Got His Gun
Johnny Got His Gun is a film made in 1971 based on a novel written in 1938 . They are both Anti war manifestos produced by Dalton Trumbo. On my last article ' 'Last Man Standing'' I have used a musica...
-7 min readen
Last Man Standing
Gavin is chased by an elite patrol from the Government of the #6 Area, a district situated north of Cape Town formally known as South Africa. Gavin has managed to escape his seven hunters for a while...
-6 min readen
These Days
Metz, France 1974 I am probably four, its my first school year and my parents told me it was a time I was madly in love with my teacher. We have settled here for a few months but I am well accustomed...
-3 min readen
Relation Cheap
Its not like as if we had met on line and then I started to call you mine I should have known you were not a love leader but more likely a sentimental spammer I should have noticed you were prone to b...
-4 min readen
The Melting Pot & The Mosaic
I have to give credit for the title of this article to somebody else. Father J. is his name. Yeah a priest :-). I know that would sound pretty odd to most of those who know the atheist in me. It's pre...
-3 min readen
Life Imitating Life
As I start this article I am quite unsure of where its going to take me to be very honest. I seem to have a bunch of thoughts that I know may need to be refined at some point but I also think they ref...
-4 min readen
Rock'n'Roll Kid
I have never really been ambitious. What I mean by this is that I don't really give much time or value that is to goals obsession. That said I have achieved quite a lot (at least by my standards and)...
-3 min readen
Try Honesty !
Who would have thought that the king of BS on my right would be subject to stage fright ? Who would have suspected the queen of intrigues to suffer from mild mental fatigue ? Absorb your fears in an i...
-5 min readen
Face To The Floor
I can't move and I can't crawl so this must definitely not be your usual brawl What If I could give the alert, my memory is not the target in fact it's very much alive and perfect, it's as sharp and r...
-5 min readen
Dawn On Wheels
It was the same ritual everyday and I was welcoming the monotonous procedure with a feeling made of excitement, routine and bliss. I perhaps cannot find the right words but what I can say is that it w...
-6 min readen
Captain Kit Kat & The Limoncello Theory
Captain Kit Kat, what an appropriate name for the most Italian feline in the hood. Our dear stray friend lives In Florence nowadays but when he was still a kitten he lived in Sorrento in the region al...
-4 min readen
Ignorance is No Excuse
The title of this article is loosely inspired by the title of an LP called Innocence is No Excuse from a Brit band called Saxon. I guess it is probably a pretty unknown outfit to most but well respect...
-6 min readen
Touching The Void: Le Chant Des Marais
I have moved quite a lot in my life, especially in the first part of it, clocking one to three schools per year on average and as many caravans, mobile homes, flats or apartments until the age of 16....
-2 min readen
On(e) For The Road
Life is sometimes very strange, that said it could be worse if it was orange thought Russell. If I had friends would they all pray? Maybe they would say that I suffer from an odd chemical deficiency o...
-4 min readen
Forget Me Not
This is a story about execution and execution is not a topic which is handled and spoken about lightly at End of Life HQ (E.O.L). In fact it's their raison d'etre if you see what I mean. But for conte...
-3 min readen
Random Changes 4 an Average Cow-Boy
I have realized relatively early in life that I was not and would probably never be a genius, it occurred to me very quickly that I was not the brightest of the bunch and that my name would probably n...
2017
44 articles
-2 min readen
It's a Bit Like When......
it's a bit like when...... It really feels like winter on a cold morning of December Causing mutual bother, two lovers avoid looking at each other If they were to take a moment to reflect, they would...
-4 min readen
225 Million and Counting
''I am a foreigner in a foreign land and no matter how long I stay here I will always be a foreigner but not necessarily an outsider'' Paul Walters Their names could be Ahmed, Maria, Chang or Maciek t...
-4 min readen
German Mornings
Its was a Monday morning In Ireland, school run was done and I had just been served my morning coffee by the friendly South African coffee shop owner when I overhead what I thought sounded like a Germ...
-4 min readen
Out Of My Head
The familiar message from the cabin crew outlining the descent protocol had just been rolled out by one of the senior flight attendants. All seat belts were fasten and most tablets were back in neutra...
-5 min readen
A Family Affair
1917 the 17th of October , it's 6 a.m. First Lieutenant Armel Truet from the French Infantry Corps is taking a sip of Cognac after a sleepless night. Armel will be leading a 50 men squad to the assaul...
-4 min readen
Armed & Dangerous
My parents named me Corentin, I don't know if it was a reference to a long gone king or to a founding saint who got Brittany's heart pounding. Anyway, I am Corentin G. Seven hundred and eighty. That's...
-2 min readen
Way Out
When I was a kid, I remember every village in France even the smallest one had a world war one and two monument. On their flanks a list of names that if you take time to read them would remind you tha...
-5 min readen
In Diversity We Trust
Months ago I wrote half an article that was meant to be bundled along side another half. Myself and another blogger had in mind to produce a long form post together. For various reasons it did not hap...
-5 min readen
Robbing Hood and the Grand Illusion
Years ago when I was still working for Microsoft I went to the famous forest of Sherwood in the UK with my team to a corporate retreat/ strategy/BS EMEA all Hands. I am not going to bore you with the...
-4 min readen
Proxy Music
I am reading a book called '' This Is a Call: The Life and Times of Dave Grohl '' by Paul Branningan. Paul is a rock journalist who met Grohl more than two decades ago. It is a pretty good read I must...
-4 min readen
Are they not the best ten motherf*cking ways to be explicitly at Peace or what ?
Are you tired of reading the same sh*t over and over again. Yeah you I am talking to you !! You probably know what I am talking about. I am damn sure you have come across all those dumb articles litte...
-6 min readen
Out There
In 2145 a decree ratified and supported by the Empowerment Planet Act stipulated that mankind should reintroduce with immediate effect the supervision of all robotic fleets and subsequent automated se...
-9 min readen
The Little Things (Me, My Diabetes and Me)
It's Been a While I like the number 7 for some reasons. Yet a concentrate of life challenges were sent my way precisely between the age of 7 and 17. 2017 started like any other year but it became soon...
-5 min readen
Terminal
Giuseppe a.k.a Pepito is a 13 year old boy from Firenze (Florence) and spends most of his summers at his cousin's house on the Tuscany coast. His cousin's home is located between Follonica and Pisa ne...
-2 min readen
No One Like You
''Scratch the surface serve a purpose scratch the surface don't waste my time '' These are the first verses from Scratch The Surface one of my favourite tune by SIck Of It All. I am not a loner but I...
-5 min readen
Skipping The Rope
We are gathering our stuff and doing a final check on the list of essential material that will allow us to conquer the Matterhorn. By We I mean my French guide Guy and myself. Following a short phone...
-4 min readen
Herbert The Coin
My name is Herbert and I am a 2 Euro coin. I was born in 2007 as part of the 2 series baby boom. I will have my tenth birthday sometime this year. I was originally born in Spain but my mum and dad are...
-2 min readen
Little Man
Of us, it is said that we are like twins Yet at the moment it seems that only one of us appear to have a thick skin Whatever is the trouble it's surely not about blowing the biggest bubble I agree it'...
-2 min readen
The Hunter & The Wonder Full Chase
Once upon a time there was a hunter who loved power He was a high flyer who loved nothing more than the illusion of grandeur He was paranoid about always giving a good first impression so he always dr...
-6 min readen
Flash Backs On An Ordinary Tuesday Morning
A few days ago on a sunny albeit windy Irish morning, I noticed that the sun was very high and the sky clear. If I am correct there was also a touch of humidity in the air that day, was it the weather...
-6 min readen
Eight Days A Week
After The Party What a heck of a party that was. It was morning, it was roughly around 6.30 and I was heading back into sobriety territory. I was sitting on the rooftop of a fancy duplex somewhere in...
-5 min readen
A New Business Study About Competition (By Me)
I don't know how I ended up thinking about writing a business post but you should consider yourself lucky, it could have been worse it could have been an article about content marketing. In front of a...
-2 min readen
All Time High
Wednesday 8th of July 2028 A great year by any means, une année peu ordinaire that's if you really dare Do you know what you will be doing on that day? I don't, and chances are you don't know either U...
-5 min readen
Calling All Stations !
Intro Urgent! Calling All Stations. This was the last message from Commodore Jackson, an SOS avatar sent in a hit and hope fashion on a fateful Thursday 23rd of May 2297. Aboard Science Super Kargo SS...
-3 min readen
When Writing Is Futile
This article started as one of my usual tormented urban poems but then I stopped…. I looked at the few words in front of me and I thought they were mostly crap. It did not work, there was no fluidity,...
-5 min readen
Captain J.P Drien: I Wrote You a Letter
Hello, Jake, Paschal Drien, my name is Pascal too (no H), I am your great grandfather the father of your grand-father, my son. What you hold in your hand is what we called a letter, no not the cover p...
-2 min readen
On The Mend
Come a point in life, when it’s no longer advisable to suffer from the bedroom blues, a point where you really need to be better at reading clues Come a point in life, when you really need to park you...
-6 min readen
Random Thoughts About Crab Meat & The Dimness Of Life
The following may not make much sense except for me but maybe you guys can help tidy up some random thoughts put together about a vague theme. I was thinking, funny how vague theme sounds phonetically...
-4 min readen
Unbelievable
I suppose I should let you know upfront that today’s topic probably belongs to the opinion/rant segment of what I am doing. So I guess with this in mind it would be fair to make you aware that the fol...
-2 min readen
Where Have You Been?
A three-dimensional asteroid is heading toward us, your bard says it is the deluge that is upon us Aboard await five legs computerized soldiers, your bard declares they are aliens in armour, he prompt...
-8 min readen
A Burning Obsession
The stuff I have produced lately has been a bit on the heavy side of things I must admit, so I kind of thought why not lightening up a bit today and talk about one of the most consuming obsession of m...
-5 min readen
The Knights of Young Hood
Most of us were boisterous 8-year-olds, some of us were 7 or 6 for the youngest and others 9 or 10. 1976 was the year of the draught and 1977 would be known as the year of the Great Battle of Touleno....
-2 min readen
Carry -5-1- Around
With a first name ending with an e, it sounded like something very Frenchie, it sounded pretty I could have bet that you would quickly become the teacher’s pet, but for some reasons I did not get, soo...
-5 min readen
Checking It Twice
William Heywood is a managing partner in a financial & consulting firm, he is 43. It’s 7.45 am, it’s Tuesday. Every Tuesday mornings he drops Eva 6 and Jax 8 at the afterschool, that’s the only mornin...
-2 min readen
The Conversation That Never Took Place
I wish I was not told to man up, I wish there was something else to deal with rather than this massive screw up I wish to have walked paths less confrontational, there are a lot of good things to say...
-4 min readen
Tomás, Me & The White Gown
Hello, apparently, I am wearing a transparent white gown Watching myself in a mirror I hope it is not too see thru I ponder to myself. It is not I can assure you, you look lovely, but you know what? I...
-1 min readen
Is it Writer or Righter ?
Is it the right to write or writing about rights which is important on Social Media? At first I was getting very excited about the topic you know, a life statement in its own right and all that ……but...
-5 min readen
Back From Living Under The Ice
My name is Jake Tallaght, myself and a few others are in a very difficult and precarious situation at the moment. It’s April 1916 and I can still not get over the fact that I have been a late addition...
-1 min readen
Ode To The Odd
I find myself floating in a torrent so asymmetrical flowing a force so unconventional That it is too powerfully distinctive in its deluge, too attractive to withdraw to a refuge A chute which is by an...
-4 min readen
Tri Martolod
Tri martolod, trois matelots, three sailors that’s what Mr Le Boulch’ our teacher explained to us the song is all about. I am in CE2 Cours Elementaire deuxieme annee in a small town called Lanester, o...
-2 min readen
The Party
I am going to be dressed up in a new suit even though I am not really looking forward to the party The theme is infinity, and I have picked a beautiful waistcoat from a label called eternity I think i...
-2 min readen
We Did Not Stop The Fire
We did not stop the fire As far as you are concerned the world is full of nice blokes, on that note allow me to choke We did not stop the fire You keep telling me you are a brave man and that you are...
-5 min readen
Come Out & Play
Nearly April already in this year 1987, my Walkman is playing one of my favourite compilation tape, Twisted Sister screams that’’ We are not gonna take it’’ , Motley Crue urges me to ‘ Shout at the De...
-3 min readen
Scratching The Surface
One life I'm gonna live it up, I'm takin' flight, I said I'll never get enough- Judas Priest – You’ve got another thing comin’- You remember I told you once about a school trip to the sea somewhere in...