3. Learn a new skill. Imagine sense of accomplishment and power of mastering a new skill. Like mesquite cooking. Like whittling. Like pterodactyl breeding. Oh well, two out of three. And if you learn that skill in a classroom setting, full of other energized new-skill-masterers, you get bonus of seeing that positive face of world, complete with smiles and busy dentists.

4. Study history. Bad things happen. Good things happen. That's history. Today will one day be history that somebody reads about. So don't sweat it. (Editor's note: If nobody is left to read about it, scratch this tip.)

5. Volunteer. One of scariest things about world today is not just that it seems to be going downhill, but that we feel powerless to stop it. Worse still, politicians and diplomats are in charge. But we CAN take control and send world uphill right in our own neighborhood. We can help local animal shelter. We can work at food bank. (That's my personal favorite, and NO you do NOT get free samples.) We can help little old ladies across street. We can make a difference right in our own communities where politicians and diplomats won't interrupt.

Sorry about those five tips. If you wish to ignore them and return to regularly-scheduled misery-wallowing, please go ahead. After all, in wartime nobody really wants to be happy, do they?

Prior to joining forces with his brother William, and his pal Kevin, Tom worked for ten years in cross-community art projects in city as a means for getting two communities to understand one another. He was a pioneer in field. Tom says: "Our society has done incalculable harm to our natural pride and sense of self-worth. Christianity addresses this." Tom has completed many murals in city that depicted life, as it existed a long time ago. He called these `heritage murals'. They were made for schools, hospitals and community centers.

Tom is a fine singer and musician and has produced Wellspring's one and only CD, a compilation of well-known Irish gigs and a few original numbers from Wellspring's composers.

WILLIAM Tom's older brother William Kelly also worked in England. First he went to Queens University after a formal education at St.Columbs College. St.Columbs incidentally boasts no less than TWO Nobel Prize winners - Seamus Heaney and John Hume. Renowned playwright Brian Friel was also educated there.

William decided to leave uni and went to Carlisle, England, to work as a Post Office counter clerk, which lasted a year. His intention was to `grow up'. "Happily, I failed," he says.

Teaming up with his brother Tom and Kevin to form The Bogside Artists was a natural progression. William likes to read and paint and has little time left for anything else. He is married and spends his time between Australia and Ireland. _________________________________________________________ _

3. ON THE GRAPEVINE

Sad days for some in Derry. The old stalwarts who were in regular receipt of funding from Derry City council have been axed this year. The purse strings are tightening. We, of course, have never received a penny and it seems that this time around, our "chances are very slim" according to one official. We are shocked, of course. __________________________________________________________

4. OUR DIARY

Recently we have organized our group along more professional lines with a management committee and everything. That means, when we apply for funding, we might conceivably be taken seriously. In meantime, we concern ourselves with our next murals. The first of these will begin at end of May. There will be three more in toto, and you can follow our progress with all three. You can be sure that this section of our newsletter will gradually take pre-eminence over all others. _________________________________________________________

So now you know all about us! Our intention is to complete remaining three murals for Bogside. It will be an open-air gallery, unique of its kind. Our Newsletters, of which this is first, will keep you informed of our progress; and in "Diary" section especially, you will read about bizarre and wonderful events that unfold, as we go about making our murals......because what actually happens to The Bogside Artists, on a day to day basis, is a helluva lot funnier than anything we could make up. Also, we will be able to post photos taken in situ on our Newsletter so that you can get a real intimation of what it is like to work as a muralist in Derry! On that promising note, I bid you adieu and wish you, on behalf of Tom, Kevin and myself, a very happy day. _________________________________________________________

5. USEFUL WEBSITES

www.derrycity.gov.uk, Spartan in contact info.

www.derrycityfc.com, Derry's soccer site, all you ever

wanted to know about Derry's football squad but were afraid to ask. Up to minute.

www.geographia.com/northern-ireland/ukider00.htm, useful links to all things Northern Irish.

http://www.donegalnews.com, has that little village life content. BIG things happen in Donegal, mostly to fish.

http://www.irishroots.net/Derry.htm, for those seeking their biological origins all over Ireland. Derry's genealogy center is based in Heritage Building where The Bogside Artists have exhibited.

http://www.cityofderryairport.com, simple and to point giving visitor what he needs to know and well presented with good flicks. Flights to Dublin, London, Glasgow, Manchester, Majorca etc.

http://www.derryvisitor.com, good plug for town. I should say "city"; but Derry will never be a "city" as such, we hope! To Derry "wans", it'll always be a town. _________________________________________________________