nBlog

My Friend Andee brought up a very valuable question in her (fabulous) Blog:

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

She asks THE question:

It brings up this question: In a day and age with no Little Yellow Birds and no Expectations of behavior, do I continue to try and instill these old-fashioned values in my kids, or do I throw in the towel and give them a fighting chance amongst peers who have no respect for others, much less, themselves?

And this brings me to a topic that is eating at me since some time now (since it happened, actually). Here is the story [rant on]:

I have the same problem. Here is our personal conundrum:

We have 5 sets of direct neighbors (as we are in the middle of a settling). One family has one kid, Mark, who is 4. The other family has two kids. Their smallest, Alice, 5, plays with Mark. Their older boy, Peter, 8, plays, well, not with many kids, it seems. (Btw, I changed the names. They’re not their real names).

I cannot say I initially disliked them. They are very different than we are, rather uptight and closed. But I remained friendly and did all the necessary neighbor stuff: Invited them to garden parties, wrote them Christmas cards, gave them an Easter basket and so on (although none of this was ever reciprocated, but these are things I do not measure, so I don’t care).

The kids are EXTREMELY well behaved. As far as mute counts as well behaved. You seldom hear them talk at all, and surely not in the presence of adults. But. I am continuously finding out they are… mean. Just evil. I mean it. (more…)

Word: debuted
Form: Villanelle

Debuted

They said it would not hurt, but they were lying.
I wonder if they thought it to be true.
But what I had of trust in me is dying.

I wonder if they heard my silent crying.
I wonder if they ever had a clue
They said it would not hurt, but they were lying.

To all my questions they just kept replying:
You know, my dear, the problem is just you.
And what I had of love in me is dying.

My eyes don’t cry no more, forever drying,
I wish my heart to follow, it is overdue.
They said it would not hurt, but they were lying.

I wish I could just stop to breathe, I’m sighing.
It seems my world and theirs are all askew.
And what I had of hope in me is dying.

Oh, if I had the strength to be defying!
Oh, if I just could say “You were not true!”
They said it would not hurt, but they were lying.
And what I had of ME in me is dying.

—

Thanks nikneven for suggesting the Villanelle. This one’s for you.

Tomorrow’s word: section

So here was Erik (our MasterGnu) again, and he wanted to know my opinion about a rather heated debate.

Is Tinky Winky, the purple teletubby, indeed day?

My answer is: I sure hope so.

The discussion goes back to 1997, where CNN first reported that Tinky Winky might be gay. He is purple. He wears a triangle (gay pride symbol). He speaks with a male voice. He has a red handbag.

Well, Erik has a red handbag himself, and it not gay, so why should Tinky Winky be? It’s quite simple: Because he should be! (more…)

No, this is not about roosters crowing. It’s koos’ question:

Q: What do you consider a successful (or good) day?

I have pondered this far too long now, and procrastinated the question over and over again. I tried to go back to these “perfect days” in my memory and find a pattern. And really, there is none.

So I can just tell ingredients which seem to be good for a good day. Talking to people I love is included. Not just the usual every day chatter, but a real talk.

Art always makes a day good. Creating art is even better. Good weather, good sex or other good things are surely helpful. But they’re not IT.

You know what? I’ll tell you two of my fondest memories to make you understand what I mean. (more…)

The lovely Eurydice chose to ask “Let’s pretend” questions. Nice idea. Kooskoodiroo had one, too. Thanks to both.

Q by Eury: Let’s say you and your mate are having problems since a while and you have decided to leave him. But then, he gets into an accident and becomes an invalid. Would you still leave?

This is a tough question for obvious reasons. I had to really think about it. My first reaction was yes, my second no. And the third and final is yes again. Yes I would. (more…)

Boy, this one took me. Thanks for your patience, readers.

The fabulous Worthians MasterGnu and Karmalilly went for it. They chose to go for Top Five Lists. Nice one, gnuukums and lillylove, so here goes.

Gnu: I would like to know the top 5 things in the world that are the most annoying to you (and no stuff about people starving and that kind) – If you think Miss South Carolina could say the same thing as you, don’t say it

How dare you imply that Miss South Carolina and I would find the same things annoying? Actually, Miss South Carolina ranks pretty high on this list. Well, kind of. Here goes:

#5 Bad use of grammar, spelling and language in general.

Yes, well. Some people hate me for it. Some love me for it. I am adamant, I am ANAL about correct grammar, spelling and phrasing. I know it is horribly arrogant and smart-aleck, but it IS stronger than me. It makes for slapstick situations. I corrected profs, business partners and cops. I’d even correct my fiancé in the situation of proposing to me if he/she should use the incorrect form of subjunctive in his speech … fortunately, my hubby did it right back then. Otherwise, I would not be married. (more…)

Question #3 by V1c: Do you have a philosphy on history and how it is used? I believe you have experiences (in real time) living in more than one country, no? How does history and the use of history vary from country to country and what are the positive and/or negative aspects of such fluid histories? Is there actually one true history or does it change because people’s perceptions of events are so amazingly different even if all in the same room when something happens?

Heh. Lovely, V1c. This has been one of my favorite topics of conversation for quite a while when I was still studying (history, btw.)

Yes, I do have a philosophy on history. And that is that all history repeats itself. Although we might grow and develop, we tend to make the same mistakes over and over. It was one of the reasons why I studied history at all. I believe that is we know history, and follow the events around us, we will to a certain degree be able to predict what will happen.

I found this to be true.

Being able to predict this isn’t going to help anyone, but I only found that out much later. At the time, I thought knowledge was power, and knowledge would enable me to change the world. Heh. (more…)

Question #2 by V1c: The theory of Pangaea – do you buy it?

Hah. Lovely question, actually. For those who are not familiar with the theory of Pangaea, check it out here: Theory of Pangaea. It basically says that, 250 million years ago, there weren’t many continents, but one huge super continent which later broke into the continents we know.

Look at that, doesn’t that look fab?

(more…)

The lovely V1c again, and she shot three questions at me. Those questions are concerning math, philosophy, science, geography and history. I hate you, V1c. No, not really.

As all three of them call for a rather longish answer, I will answer all of them in a separate entry (and each will be a day of its own). The first one is day eight, and it’s a really tough one for me.
Question #1 by V1c: Do you believe in the fundamental basis of mathematics or was it something concocted to keep men busy and feeling superior as they play with little made-up numbers? Is it just another way to provide fake proof to theories that continue the subjugation of people or is there some real basis to it? Is it a pure science, from God, a divine entity, natural, or another creation of man?

This is a tough one because I used to hate math when I was in school. But even then, when I was honest with myself, I admit that I rather hated it because it was a family tradition to hate it. (more…)

Q by meowza: “How did Maggie (from the Simpsons) celebrate 18 (give or take) christmases?”

Well. There could be many possible answers, some of them even easy. Maggie could just have come kind of deep-routed Peter-Pan-Syndrome, not wanting to grow up. She could be stuck in a time warp, or she could just be the illogical offspring of a TV series starring yellow cartoon characters.

But no. I do not think the solution is that easy. (more…)