bookmark_borderOffline

It’s been a funny old week here, I’ve posted more often than usual, and received some wonderfully thought provoking emails and comments which I will follow up at some point.

But not now; I’m unplugging.

See you Monday.

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bookmark_borderWhen I was just a little girl*

Prompted by the Continuing tips for a three year old offered by ScorpioGirl:

I’m not sure what age I was but I think (Mum can correct me) the pinnacle of my childhood career, in this area, was painting a radiator with nail polish. This was no ordinary radiator either, it was an old style one with a grill-like front (lots of tiny slots into which to push a small, nail polish sized, brush). If memory serves me right I used several bottles of nail polish (again Mum can correct here), and I was justifiably proud of my achievement.

Strangely though, I don’t remember what my punishment was… one to ask Mum at the weekend.

* It’s the line of song; Yes I’m getting a little worried about myself too.
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bookmark_borderWoman's prerogative *

OK, I DO care, especially when a good argument is put forward, namely:

“The BBC … by its very existence … serves to protect us from a level of commercial saturation that would destroy much of what we currently take for granted.”

So when you put it like that…

Click here to find out why

* No, I’m not a woman but a “Man’s prerogative ” doesn’t sound right.

bookmark_borderA few things

1. Just finished reading Eats, Shoots & Leaves. It’s smart, funny and reminds me that I really should pay more attention to my grammar on this ‘ere site.

2. I have received an email from Ron. He left some comments on yesterday’s post (Ikeaphobia) and has clarified a few things. Thanks for that Ron, I will respond to your email later today.

3. To the BBC; I know I should care about the resignations and worry about who will be appointed next but, frankly, I don’t (did you see that semicolon there, I’m a changed man I tell ya).

4. When trying to login to a well known online book store, check you are logging in to the UK site NOT the US site; Preferably before accusing the aforementioned online book store of being the “son of the whore of satan”.

5. All this punctuation is hard work. Remember you voted that grammar, spelling and punctuation were “Somewhat important. I do notice these things, and prefer them correct.”

6. When posting late at night re-read carefully before you post. Do not fall into the “I’ll just post this quickly” trap. I mean look at that top entry in the miniblog. Appalling. Clarification: This site will not be expanding into the US market, I’ll leave that to 1&1.

7. Write to Lynne Truss concerning the dot dot dot (ellipsis). I think it has a new, and very valid usage. Namely as a draw into a linked article, offering that the description of the linked article isn’t giving the full story – which obviously it isn’t – and adding some intrigue to the reader’s experience.

8. Find out if her novels share the same kind of wit and humour.

9. Fair Trade: I’m all for it, I look for it when I buy goods (and to be fair to Starbucks they are continually expanding their use of Fair Trade beans). Ultimately the reason I don’t drink at Costa is because I enjoy coffee. I do not enjoy Costa coffee. This makes me guilty of pandering to the highest dominator with concern only for myself and my likes. I give no or little thought to the purchases I make. I am one of billions. I’m not defending myself or my position, just stating a fact. I live in a comfortable ‘middle-class’ country with a typical attitude, I recycle a little (could do more), I conserve energy when I can (could try harder), and I am aware of my purchases (but will defer to my desires over the “right thing to do”). I could go on, and I will another time.

bookmark_borderWell *I* like it

Ikeaphobia and its discontents (via Anil Dash). Interesting article about why people complain about IKEA.

Globalisation is the cry, and in an ideal world I agree with a lot of the ideas set forth in No Logo (for example). Big corporations buying and selling everything, and forcing the little guy out of business etc etc. It IS a bad thing, independant shops can offer more than a retail chain, and ideally it would be a level playing field.

But I still sit at home in my Nike t-shirt, place my Adidas trainers on (one of) our IKEA coffee tables and sip my Starbucks. So that makes me an evil minion, right?

bookmark_borderFriendship

“That’s what friends are for…”

Sang the vultures in Jungle Book, but hey, what do they know?

It’s true though, friendship affords you all sorts of discretions, mistakes and assumptions. I’m not suggesting for a minute that friendships should be abused but let’s just say that they are fairly robust.

Most of the time.

So what to do when a friend does something you don’t agree with? Be there for them at all times, through thick and thin? Or is honesty the best policy? I don’t want to get into specifics here (although I’m pretty certain the people directly involved don’t read this) suffice to say that, in the immortal words of Han Solo: “I gotta bad feeling about this”.

Of course I guess I should get my own house in order, but I have the advantage of being a bloke, I don’t have to [insert stereotypical comment about women, phones, and length of time spent chatting about not a lot]. We just meet every six months or more and pick up where we left off. The odd email and phone call is enough (I think… guys? Am I right? Should I make more of an effort?)

Another part of friendship is evolution, adaptation. We all change, within ourselves, with the addition of partners, new jobs, new lifestyles etc etc. Aside from ‘that’ blip Louise and I had, we’ve been together for almost 10 years now so I’m hoping our friends are used to that by now… but then as we were all friends from the outset I guess it’s a little different (or is it?).

So maybe that’s the lesson I need to take from my own experience. Things change, we don’t necessarily agree with them but as a friend we support and listen and console and encourage, as and when required.

THAT’S what friends are for…

I think those vultures may have been on to something.