I'm sometimes accused, by occasional female visitors, of having some 'manic' habits. Well, may be so... maybe I do have one or two. One does develop some of these when living alone. Not that I make any excuses and I certainly would not have it any other way. They are MY habits... live with them (or not...). After all, we all have them.
Here's one of my 'old chestnuts'... using ashtrays for what they were intended!
Ashtrays are for ash
Ashtrays are for ash
they’re not for other trash
They’re not for chewing gum wrappers
Or for cellophane flappers
One’s tobacco packaging
Should strictly be for banishing
In the proper bin for trash
A tea bag's not for ashtrays
forming quagmires with the ash
tea bags should be banished
In the proper bin for trash
An olive pit may find
It’s flexibly forgiven,
if one is so inclined
But rules are rules
And not just for fools
Ashtrays are for ash
oh and cigarette butts
and ne'er for other trash!
Update Sunday 10th October 2010
Following some comments on my Facebook post on 'Ashtrays are for ash'... I was errr... moved to write this 'follow up' poem on the subject.
I wish she didn’t smoke
I wish she didn’t smoke it would be better for her health I wish she didn’t smoke it would be better for her wealth
But ashtrays are for ash I’ve said but I wish I wasn’t so brash She put her gash and cellophane wrapper in my ash trash I wish I wasn’t so brash My tongue at times can lash I wish I was less of a snapper
She’s of a sensitive disposition and my reaction upset her condition she takes unkindly to admonition and I wish she didn’t smoke
I wish she didn’t smoke it would have held my tongue it was really just a joke
I wish she hadn’t smoked I might have revoked those feelings of hurt invoked
I wish she hadn’t smoked I may have been able to keep those other feelings now cloaked that still run e'er so deep!
I so enjoyed writing my little poem on Colonel Slade the other day that I thought I would have a go at another one.
'Anais Anais' recalls a recurring argument, about Cacharel's famous scent, which I had many years ago with a proverbial 'old flame'... a lovely smelling one at that... as this was her favourite perfume... and, to this day, remains one of mine too! :)
Anais Anais
One day, tenderness will move the world, she said, it’s a slogan for Anais Anais Mispronouncing the name, again she twirled She insisted it’s neigh… it’s neigh… it’s neigh
It’s named after Anna’is Nin, I repeated a feminist writer from French gay Paris which is why the Gallic name is needed and it’s nay Anais Anais !
A little read of Anaïs Nin on Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, may enlighten the more curious and interested reader.
Finally, again the curious reader may also be interested and like to read this discussion, How do you pronounce "Anais" at Answerbag.com, which I offer with a certain triumphal glee! ^_^
To celebrate it... I thought I would have a go at writing a poem... something I've strangely never tried before... but here goes.
I dedicate my poem to Colonel Slade. If you have ever seen the film Scent of a Woman... you'll know who that is. If you haven't seen the film, I highly recommend it... it's a wonderful film, a study of a blind man who's impossible to get along with... but nevertheless a man who is a great human being... and lover of women. A man I can strongly relate to for... oh so many reasons. A man whose morals, values and strength of character one could only wish to live up to! :)
Remembering Colonel Slade
She was pottering around the kitchen, as the late evening sun streamed in. I watched her closely over my glasses, assimilating unconcern. my failing sight caught glances a smile exchanged now and then.
Looking back... I remember Colonel Slade Looking back... I too still smell her still sense the texture of her hair still sense the softness of her lips the warmth of her breath as it wafted across mine.
Looking back is an illusion, when sight has gone, but the senses still retain, the scent of a woman, the essence of her.
"Are you listenin' to me, son? I'm givin' ya pearls!" Yes... I remember you Colonel Slade She gave me pearls too and hers will never fade!
I hope you liked it! As always... I welcome any comments... but please remember one thing... the first rule of poetry is... there ain't NO rules!! That's my disclaimer anyway!! lol ^_^
Aah... the joys of Facebook! I see today some more alarmist 'stuff and nonsense' being bandied about... people running around clucking like chickens without heads... about the latest concerns involving Facebook.
Apparently, Uploads from iPhones using the Facebook app will "push all your contacts onto Facebook's servers - where they'll be matched against any and everyone". The article asks... "Worried at all?"
Well, frankly NO!! So... what's the problem??? I always give my friends my phone numbers... don't you??? I am quite happy for my friends, on Facebook or anywhere else for that matter, to have my phone numbers... they might want to call me!!
So, what's the problem?? To my mind, if anyone insists on having twats on their Facebook contacts.... who might abuse this privilege... ask yourself... WHY do you have them???
My Privacy settings are set to "ONLY Friends". No one else can see my phone numbers. It really isn't a problem... if you manage your account on Facebook with a little bit of common sense... something which seems not as common as the phrase implies... it should not be a problem!!
Many people I see, posting on Facebook and elsewhere today,. are all worrying about whether their phone numbers are showing inappropriately... and yet many are the same people who do not worry at ALL... about the way email addresses are shared by everyone when forwarding email 'funnies'!!! I see people forwarding my personal email to everyone all the time... forwarded on to all sorts of strangers... and people we do not know... without ANY controls... then we wonder why we receive SPAM or nasty malware!! This, in my opinion... is a far bigger threat... and a bit of an old chestnut of mine. I blogged about this some time ago. You can read that article here if you're interested: And we wonder why we receive so much SPAM and Junk mail - Blind carbon copy... for Christ's sakes!
Those of you lucky people who receive MY emails know I delete ALL emails and forward on BCC... no one else sees who I have sent the email to... ONLY the recipient!! Simples!!
Going back to Facebook... some simple guidelines will avoid most problems. First and foremost... be careful who YOU ADD!! Set your Privacy settings properly... and you will NOT have to worry about a stranger phoning you up!! Then again... a heavy breather down the line might give you a laugh... might even get you excited... one way or other!! lol Hmmm.... I wonder who MY next phone call is going to be from??? heh heh
It's been a while since I have had the urge to write up my blog but today a story that's all over the news prompts me to do so!
This is the story of the Cat, the middle aged woman and the wheeliebin. I saw this story develop yesterday and go 'viral', as they say these days, within hours of it coming to my attention on Facebook when one of my friends posted a link to it yesterday morning. Within hours, it was all over the place.
By lunchtime even SKY News were mentioning the story... and last night, most TV and radio media news outlets were carrying it. Here's a video from ITN news that shows what all the hullabaloo is about:
I am pretty sure the first reaction most of us have when seeing this video is one of shock and anger at the wickedness we see on the CCTV footage. I think it's understandable to be angry at the woman. It's also shocking to see a seemingly normal middle aged lady act in this way... to act so cruelly... to show such lack of compassion for a "living breathing creature", as the cat owner herself described it this morning on a phone in on BBC Radio 5 Live.
The thing is... and what prompts me to write today... is that there seems to me to be a lot of lack of compassion ALL around this story!
For starters, and for the sake of those of you who may think I am making some sort of apology for this woman's action... the woman of course, shows NO compassion at all for 'a living breathing creature'... and clearly that is very wrong!
But people's reactions to her action also seem to me to be very lacking in any compassion. I can understand people being angry... but some comments I've heard and read are quite vitriolic... even violent! One friend, who shall remain nameless, told me... and I quote:
"I'd kill that Bitch... I would hunt her down trust me! Why would someone want to do that???? I'd shove her in the bin and hide the bin and fix the lid so she couldn't get out! Oh she'd suffer... trust me!"
This made me laugh... and in this instance I know this particular lady could not hurt a fly... she's too nice (though she may think she's a bitch lol) but it does exemplify the very strong comments being made by many people today.
The other side of the coin are the people who are actually congratulating the woman for wanting to get rid of 'another effing cat'! I've seen some horrible comments made by people who actually think all cats are vermin and should be cruelly eliminated... in all sorts of uncolourful ways! Certainly not much compassion there!! Personally, I think these people are a bit sick. I cannot understand why or how it is that a sane, balanced human being can have such feelings towards a cat... or any 'living, breathing creature' for that matter!
But coming back to the yet unidentified middle aged woman... I can't help feeling a certain compassion for her today. Many I know, will be happy at the suffering this woman must be going through right now. Imagine... She must surely have seen herself on the news by now... so must her family have done! They must already be aware and will possibly have confronted her about it... they are in fear, wondering what to do.. wondering what is going to happen to her? She may be some guy's wife (God help him! lol), a mother, a daughter, a sister??
My point is, while what this woman did to the cat is clearly very wrong... I think we should have compassion for her. What makes a person do such a thing? Cruelty, yes... but why? To my mind... this woman has a problem... she's not 'right in the head' as we might say... bloody mental others might say! Either way, treating her with our anger... I don't think shows much compassion. I know she didn't show much compassion for the cat... but surely if that is wrong, so is not showing another human being some compassion!
I hope they identify this woman soon and that she gets the help she needs. A person who has such little compassion for another 'living, breathing creature' clearly needs help and our compassion... not our anger and punishment... in my humble view! :)
I'm sometimes accused, by occasional female visitors, of having some 'manic' habits. Well, may be so... maybe I do have one or two. One does develop some of these when living alone. Not that I make any excuses and I certainly would not have it any other way. They are MY habits... live with them (or not...). After all, we all have them.
