I know often that toiletries as a birthday or Christmas present can often be greeted with less than an enthusiastic response, however for my birthday I was actually given some pretty nice toiletries. One set were from Liz Earle and the other set was from Dunhill. I have to admit to being rather partial to a bit of elegance and ‘fuss’ as far as the presentation of toiletries go! I dunno! I guess there is something to feeling a little pampered by the whole presentation of goodies!
I don’t really go in for labels and brand names just because of their label or name, but my toiletries are growing! I just buy stuff I like regardless of who made it. That said Dunhill is quite a brand name!
I have had a most productive day and am liking the sunshine, despite the intolerable humidity levels. Fortunately, I have a dehumidifier and air conditioner which certainly helps. I try only to use it when absolutely necessary, but there is no doubt over the past few days it’s been necessary!
I have to admit I think I may have been a bit quick to judge Twitter. I’m enjoying using the service, but I’m reserving my judgement for the time being. Due to the way internet services these days are able to communicate with other services, it makes services such as Twitter very versatile.
We’ll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men,
Why shouldn’t the plural of pan be called pen?
If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn’t the plural of booth be called beeth?
Then one may be that, and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!
Let’s face it – English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;
Neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren’t invented in England.
We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes,
We find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square,
And a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
And why is it that writers write but fingers don’t fing,
Grocers don’t groce and hammers don’t ham?
Doesn’t it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend.
If you have a bunch of odds and ends and
Get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
If teachers taught, why didn’t preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English
Should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.
In what other language do people recite at a play and play
at a Recital?
We ship by truck but send cargo by ship.
We have noses that run and feet that smell.
We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway.
And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,
While a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language
In which your house can burn up as it burns down,
In which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in
which an alarm goes off by going on.
And in closing, if Father is Pop, how come Mother’s not Mop?
Sometimes in life there are those moments in which you either rise to the occasion or fail. When one fails it is a time for learning, but then one succeeds it is a cause for personal, modest observation.
Today has been a pretty hot and humid day. Although it’s always nice to see the sun, I wish it weren’t as humid as it has been of late. However, my hayfever seems more under control thanks to Beconase! Long may that last!
I went out for lunch today with an ex-colleague. Despite the humidity, it was a nice lunch and it was good catching up. I have to admit I was rather surprised I managed to get back into my work as soon as I got back, but I did. I have had a particularly productive day at work, which is pleasing.
I ‘tweeted‘ about this yesterday. This is what musical arrangements should be all about. It’s quite a interesting piece and shows what is possible in arrangement. You can search YouTube for other such arrangements!
Last night whilst watching television I stumbled across Supernanny whilst channel flicking and have to admit in being quite shocked at how out of control not only the kids on the show were, but also their parents.
OK I know it’s a television show and no doubt the producers etc are looking for parents who are unable to effectively raise their children or children who have no boundaries, but some of the behaviour seen in these shows it unbelievable, especially when you consider some of these children are just 3 or 4 years old.
Of course watching these shows it is very easy to judge other families and fail to achieve effective child-rearing yourself. I think what appears to be apparent from these shows is that there is a deficiency of common sense and an abundance of giving in to the child’s every craving.
To be honest, I was quite amazed at how some parents just accepted their children kicking, punching and biting them. I suppose the first thought was I’d just never have dared do that to my parents (or even considered it as something even to do), which having just canvassed some of my friends, it seems as though I’m not alone in that thought. I have to be honest I’m really shocked that it could come to that. The second thought was how has it been allowed to continue?!
I think it would be easy to say that it’s a problem with modern-day life, without substantiating it. That said, I do think there is some visible sign that it is a problem which affects today’s society. I think what appears to be apparent is that parents have more than just their family on their mind, whether with work or other commitments or activities. There seems to be a considerable lack of family routine and even communal communication. As a society we’ve become quite interested in the individual with less consideration for the community whether in a ‘local’ setting such as the family or in a ‘global’ setting such as our local community.
There seems to be a trend where parents want to be their child’s friend rather than their parent. I have never really understood this if I’m honest. I’m not saying a parent shouldn’t be close to their children but at least whilst raising your child you have to be the parent first (and parenting isn’t just about being strict or mean). Parenting is creating a positive learning environment and allowing children to explore and develop within appropriate boundaries. It seems to me that some parents are just afraid to say no and don’t want to upset their child. The irony is that because they are not setting boundaries it will actually make it harder for the child to fit into social situations. We are all constrained by boundaries. I suppose my major peeve is not following through. That is to say you set a boundary, the child oversteps the mark, a warning is given (i.e. please don’t do that again etc .. or some form of repremand) but the child does it again and the parent then doesn’t follow through with the repremand. All that says is to the child, it doesn’t matter what my parents say if I continue to do it nothing will come of it. That is not to say that sometimes you shouldn’t make allowances but fundementally parents should follow through.
I think also because of the increased amount of technology available for individuals today the focus, if we’re not careful, can shift away from family life to individual life. That’s not to say that children and indeed parents should not use technology, just to be aware that some attention should be given to family life as a group. For example, actually eating together at a table. Personally, I think it’s quite nice to have the television off so we can just talk. I think talking as a family is becoming a less common activity. Helping your child with their homework, involving them with aspects of the house or shopping. You as the parent are their principle teacher. They crave knowledge from you and even though they don’t know it they crave boundaries from you also. Sure, they’ll rebell against your boundaries, but that is just to test where the boundaries are.
I am sure I’ll be criticised for the following comment, but I do find it rather remarkable how some parents can ship their babies (of as little as three months) off to day-care. I appreciate that for a very small minority that financially that is the only way it can work. However, I struggle to find any benefit that can ever come of it. I think that perhaps one of the most damaging concepts was the ‘have-it-all’ concept because life is about compromise. You can’t have everything, those who try end up ‘doing-it-all’ rather than ‘having’ everything. It seems to me if you spread yourself so thinly you cannot qualitatively deliver to all the things you have spread yourself over.
We have been blessed with exceptional weather this week, although in parts it’s been a somewhat humid! Yesterday, as part of the continuing birthday celebrations, I had lunch along the riverside. The sun was hot but we were suitably shaded by a canopy. It was not our venue of choice but since when we arrived at the restuarant we’d intended to frequent, we found it was closed due to flooding! However, the riverside venue was actually very pleasent and probably better than our original venue. I took a couple of pictures of the river.
In the evening, we (different people) went to an Indian. It was pretty nice, apart from the fact the service was a little slow and they actually have me the wrong meat in the dish I’d ordered! Had the service not been slow I would have sent it back but because I was hungry, I accepted their error! It was a nice meal, despite the fact that it was hard to hear people across the table because the noise in the restaurant was pretty loud!
I am trying out Twitter despite my previous posts on it! I am seeing how it goes. It’s interesting seeing how people use it. It’s not as bad as I had first thought, although there are one or two people who use it in the way which I criticised! However, I am going to trial it and see how it goes. I think the fact that I have a blackberry will help, because before it would have been more difficult to make updates. Let’s watch this space. You’ll also notice that I’ve got a little Twitter update box on this blog so you can see my latest ‘tweets’.
I watched the Mock the Week DVD today and very much loved it! I would recommend if you like MTW, to get the DVD!
Today marks ten years as an adult! That’s right I turned 28 today. My 28th birthday has come in some ways at an apt time and probably for many reasons which I won’t go into here. Ten whole years as an adult! Looking back to my 18th birthday, I remember wondering what my adult life would have in-store for me. I also had an exam on my 18th birthday which was just typical. I cannot remember what I did that evening. I remember going to the pub the night after, purely because I was now an adult and that I was legally entitled to buy alcohol! Those rite of passage moments.
I could never have predicted the way these ten years would have turned out. Someone recently asked me if I could change back time, would I? My answer would have to be no, because these things have happened and they have impacted on where I am now and the person that I am. Sure it would be nice to change parts of my past, but equally I know that each of the bad times has contributed to who and what I am, just as the good times have as well.
Towards the weekend I fixed my bookcase which needed repairing. In doing so I had to unload the shelves of books which I have acquired over the years, and indeed the ones people have lent me which I am yet to read. Interestingly I stumbled across a book which was given to me for my 20th birthday. It is one of my all time favourite books; The Best a Man Can Get by John O’Farrell. It’s quite considerable how much one can accumulate over time and how, some things relevant decreases over time! I have been quite radical with the ‘declutter’ and have now got a pile of stuff ready to sell on ebay!
There are one or two books which I bought over the last ten years which I actually haven’t got around to reading. One of which was Friends til the end – The one with all ten years. I decided to at least make a start on it since I didn’t want it to be ten years since that book was written! Friends has had quite an impact on television and the viewers. The writing was especially good because not only did they do ‘funny’ they did serious and ‘gut-wrenchingly’ difficult. They were exploring problems which people have in their own lives, but they did it in a way which so many television programs fail to achieve. I think Friends became popular because people saw them as friends and because you relax around friends. When Friends first came out I was 13, ~ten years younger than the actors on the show. Despite this, it still carried quite a bit of relevance and naturally the comedy appeals to many age ranges. What is strange to think now, which occured to me on Sunday, is that we are now living what they have lived. That is, we are now in our 20s living that part of our lives in our own ways.
I wonder what the next ten years will hold?
Following the death of Tomoji Tanabe aged 113 of Japan, Henry Allingham who is the UK’s oldest man becomes the world’s oldest man. I blogged about him when he became a teenager for the second time only weeks ago.
His life has spanned three centuries and six monarchs! He also has five grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, 14 great-great grandchildren and one great-great-great grandchild.
Read more about this at the BBC by clicking here.
I am monumentally tired today having been up for what feels like and is in fact something like 24 hours maybe longer! I am rather hoping a quiet and peaceful night ensues this posting.
I have to admit I have no idea what I’m going to write about in this post but for some unbeknown reason I feel like writing. Actually, it’s not quite unbeknown. I have been looking over some old emails and read some comments a then aquaintence had made about this blog! It was kind of by accident she had stumbled upon the site but none-the-less interesting in the posts which were picked out and commented on.
I have to admit the blog tends to be ramblings about all kinds of different things and even though I know it’s public and people actually read it, I never write with other people in mind, which may sound stupid! Obviously I am aware enough not to write overly personal and sensitive stuff. After all it is a public blog and I am quite a private person. I wrote some time back about whether you could really have a private life and yet blog.
I have had the opportunity recently to write some handwritten letters. I love handwriting letters. They are so much more than emails or texts. Don’t get me wrong it’s lovely to hear from people, but a hand-written letter is so much more personal and I am a keen lover of the fountain pen! I used to write a lot of letters as a teenager. I absolutely loved writing, despite finding English hard. I would write to almost everyone. The unfortunate thing is not that many people are into writing letters. I did have a few friends would would write back, in fountain pen over many pages!
During a stage in my later teenage life I unfortunately lost quite a few of the handwritten letters I had been sent. I didn’t think I’d miss them as much as I do now. Reading back over the handwritten letters now it quite something. More so than emails – I can’t say that there is more in a handwritten letter than an email other than an email is easier to compose and edit.
I’m rambling a bit now! Sorry for that! Anyhoo .. suppose I ought to think about going to bed!