My favourite spinner of words was Oscar Wilde (Shakespeare invented them when he couldn't find one to fit. I like that too!)
Some quotes from Oscar:
America had often been discovered before Columbus, but it had always been hushed up.
America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between.
Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.
I think that God in creating Man somewhat overestimated his ability.
If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.
18 Jan 2011
Words
Events in Arizona have caused waves of reaction, possibly the most interesting and potentially useful being the recognition on a wide scale that words have power, can hurt, and the way they are strung together can carry great influence s the people who speak them are responsible for the results of what comes out of their mouths. Political hyperbole has reached such a fever pitch in the US that finally people are being forced to realise the likely results of telling their followers to take arms, regroup and reload, bring bigger weapons to bear, be warriors for the cause.
The president they have now is a thinker; he is quieter, better read, better educated, more intelligent, more in control of his own oratory and hopefully that too is sign that the American people are fed up with being led by ignorant puppets wearing cowboy hats. Hopefully it means that rootin’ tootin’ gunslinging Christians like Sarah Palin won’t have a chance at the White House whereas once upon a time she would have been a shoo-in, a George Dubya in skirts.
So much for self-righteousness. My week brought me two opportunities to experience just how difficult it is to keep an open mind and hold back from tack-spitting judgement. Not that I was roused to fever pitch by the 2 friends I lunched with but both in their ways provoked thoughts on subjects that I felt I had justifiable opinions about and the right to express those opinions.
Tuesday I lunched with J. We have children of a similar age so the conversation opens with an exchange of news from the family front. We agree that they may be in their thirties but we are just as anxious about them as when they were three and wish we could still pick them up and cuddle them to make everything better. It helps to talk to another mother like this and I hope J felt as warmed as I did by this part of the meeting. Then we moved on to books and films. We shared a liking for Buffy the Vampire Slayer but I couldn’t follow her into an equal enjoyment of the ‘Twilight’ series. Not that it’s a problem. What is a potential rock in the water is J’s pleasure to see the, to me inexplicable, insistence on celibacy before marriage. I’ve never seen the point of that and I’m constantly amazed at the growing following amongst the young. I’m also amazed by the assumption that it’s a ‘Christian’ virtue. Since when? Probably like most Biblical laws it arose from the social mores of the time. A father would get a better deal for a virgin daughter and no man likes his wife making a cuckold of him. Simple. Probably women liked the idea that men should remain faithful too - more security for them. It’s all very practical in context, and given the frailty of our human egos. I’m sure papers have been written on it but it looks pretty basic stuff to me. Times have changed. Saving oneself often leads to disappointment, but of course that can’t be admitted!
Second encounter to follow.
The president they have now is a thinker; he is quieter, better read, better educated, more intelligent, more in control of his own oratory and hopefully that too is sign that the American people are fed up with being led by ignorant puppets wearing cowboy hats. Hopefully it means that rootin’ tootin’ gunslinging Christians like Sarah Palin won’t have a chance at the White House whereas once upon a time she would have been a shoo-in, a George Dubya in skirts.
So much for self-righteousness. My week brought me two opportunities to experience just how difficult it is to keep an open mind and hold back from tack-spitting judgement. Not that I was roused to fever pitch by the 2 friends I lunched with but both in their ways provoked thoughts on subjects that I felt I had justifiable opinions about and the right to express those opinions.
Tuesday I lunched with J. We have children of a similar age so the conversation opens with an exchange of news from the family front. We agree that they may be in their thirties but we are just as anxious about them as when they were three and wish we could still pick them up and cuddle them to make everything better. It helps to talk to another mother like this and I hope J felt as warmed as I did by this part of the meeting. Then we moved on to books and films. We shared a liking for Buffy the Vampire Slayer but I couldn’t follow her into an equal enjoyment of the ‘Twilight’ series. Not that it’s a problem. What is a potential rock in the water is J’s pleasure to see the, to me inexplicable, insistence on celibacy before marriage. I’ve never seen the point of that and I’m constantly amazed at the growing following amongst the young. I’m also amazed by the assumption that it’s a ‘Christian’ virtue. Since when? Probably like most Biblical laws it arose from the social mores of the time. A father would get a better deal for a virgin daughter and no man likes his wife making a cuckold of him. Simple. Probably women liked the idea that men should remain faithful too - more security for them. It’s all very practical in context, and given the frailty of our human egos. I’m sure papers have been written on it but it looks pretty basic stuff to me. Times have changed. Saving oneself often leads to disappointment, but of course that can’t be admitted!
Second encounter to follow.
15 Jan 2011
Linked in to everywhere.
Playing around with the iPad during the day is fun but limits me to exploring the internet because there's no word processing possibility, as far as I can tell. I chase up information then when I get bored with that I look up people I've lost contact with over the decades. Often I don't find them but yesterday I had two successes. Firstly I located the address of a cousin I haven't seen for 50 years. Shall I write? Probably not as I'm bad enough at writing to people already in my life, but the temptation is there because he may give me some clues about my father's family. I have huge gaps in my knowledge of my Welsh ancestry that I would like to fill.
Then I found someone who has left me with a rather bigger dilemma. A friend lost contact - broke contact - with his son some years ago. They had a row I think. I liked the young man, (my teenage daughters were rather taken with him as he is very handsome, like my friend) and I felt sad about the situation, which of course is nothing whatsoever to do with me but I always feel it's a tragedy when parents and children lose each other in that way. There must - in my head anyway - be pain and regret alongside the stubborness and bitterness. Maybe it's being an only child myself. Anyway, now I have the opportunity to change things, if it needs changing, because the son is on Facebook, large as life, in teeny tiny speedos that look like a posing pouch , standing in some blue water under a blue sky. I've have made no contact as yet but the dilemma is: do I assume my friend has also seen that his son is contactable or do I shut up?
Then I found someone who has left me with a rather bigger dilemma. A friend lost contact - broke contact - with his son some years ago. They had a row I think. I liked the young man, (my teenage daughters were rather taken with him as he is very handsome, like my friend) and I felt sad about the situation, which of course is nothing whatsoever to do with me but I always feel it's a tragedy when parents and children lose each other in that way. There must - in my head anyway - be pain and regret alongside the stubborness and bitterness. Maybe it's being an only child myself. Anyway, now I have the opportunity to change things, if it needs changing, because the son is on Facebook, large as life, in teeny tiny speedos that look like a posing pouch , standing in some blue water under a blue sky. I've have made no contact as yet but the dilemma is: do I assume my friend has also seen that his son is contactable or do I shut up?
Cock-a-doodle
Plinth-works coming soon to Trafalgar Square. For me the cockerel gets the big vote. It'll give the pigeons something to think about.
14 Jan 2011
Calendars
Every year it takes me a month or two to find a calendar I can bond with. I like to choose a different artist or school each time. Last year it was Art Deco posters. I then have trouble parting with the prints but can find nothing stisfactory to do with them. It's a dilemma.
I also get this welcome present from the daughter of a friend in the USA. Each page must take her an age to assemble because almost every month contains a surprise envelope with cards she has designed herself, or inspirational mottoes and sayings. I have a book of sayings her mother collected while she was alive and I've added to it myself from time to time.
the electric chair.
In an attempt to make the staff more comfortable (me) boss-lady has bought this addition to the chair I sit in for 5 hours daily. The red lights that look like eyes are tough little nubbles that rotate whilst rising up and down the back giving the seated one a 'Shiatsu' massage. It even heats up while it's doing this. The massage is quite efficiently deep and painful so can only be endured for a couple of circuits. It does help to keep me awake..The chair I got from Barry many years ago - if you are reading this Barry I wonder if you remember it? They made things to last in the old days!
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