Friday 11 December 2015

Don't ever stop playing


I'm fed up with conflict. I seem to be upsetting everyone these days, except for the people I see face to face. It must be an interpretation problem.

The young lot in my life are really nice, and actually seem to appreciate  - even encourage - my disgusting sense of humour. Maybe it's just the novelty of seeing someone older than their parents who hasn't yet lost his schoolboy traits.

The last misunderstanding was to do with the Father Jack avatar I use, and a couple of people started to talk to me in the Father Jack style, with lots of 'fecking' thrown in (I cannot understand why 'feck' is generally acceptable in Ireland - maybe Mise can help), so I responded with 'feck off' (even my spell-checker thinks this word should be spelt differently) to all of them, and some of them took it personally. I never explain jokes, so I didn't put them at ease.

The older I get, the more I love small children, and many of my young friends have them. Unbelievably to me, each one is a real cutie. One in particular - a 4 year-old boy - has inexplicably expressed his love for me since he could first talk, and asks his mother if they can go to the pub just to say hello to me. Luckily, his mum likes a drink, so his wish is usually granted. He used to think that I lived in the pub, and nobody saw any reason to tell him otherwise.

There is one 29 year old woman who I see there almost every day since she returned from university, and I first met her in the same pub when she was a baby. Her father was an alcoholic. She is still a cutie and I think her father may still be functioning on booze.

Last night I was wondering why I like children so much more than I used to, and came to the conclusion that it is because they arrive without baggage.

Then I remember the last line of Christopher Robin, when he breaks the news to Pooh about having to leave and go to school, at the end of a warm Summer in the country which seemed as if it would go on forever.

58 comments:

  1. m fed up with conflict. I seem to be upsetting everyone these days, except for the people I see face to face. It must be an interpretation problem.

    No its the fact you are sometimes a bad tempered unthinking twat!
    Xx

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    1. My explanatory theory of this dichotomy is that people speak with a different voice (their blogging voice or Facebook voice) than their real life voice. The anonymity or virtual distance provides a safe buffer from the consequences of more disinhibited interactions. A parallel is road rage where perfectly reasonable individuals can rant and rage from the protection of their vehicle in a way they would not in face to face interactions.

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    2. Philip - you can fuck off for a start, hi-jacking other people's comments before giving me any opportunity to call the fucking twat a fucking twat back.

      Why am I surrounded by complete fucking twats?

      EVERY FUCKING TWAT IS ON MY FUCKING BACK AND I REFUSE TO TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR IT WHATSOEVER!

      Right. Now I am going to cook the fucking dinner.

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    3. And you - you fucking twat John - learn to spell or use punctuation before coming over here and call me a fucking twat, you fucking twat.


      FUCK OFF.

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    4. “Well, I've got an idea," said Rabbit, "and here it is. We take Tigger for a long explore, somewhere where he's never been, and we lose him there, and next morning we find him again, and--mark my words--he'll be a different Tigger altogether."
      "Why?" said Pooh.
      "Because he'll be a Humble Tigger. Because he'll be a Sad Tigger, a Melancholy Tigger, a Small and Sorry Tigger, an Oh-Rabbit-I-am-glad-to-see-you Tigger. That's why."
      "Will he be glad to see me and Piglet, too?"
      "Of course."
      "That's good," said Pooh.
      "I should hate him to go on being Sad," said Piglet doubtfully.
      "Tiggers never go on being Sad," explained Rabbit.”
      ― A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner

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    5. Thanks for that. I think I fall more into the Eyore category though.

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    6. I just went back and read the scene where Christopher Robin tells Pooh he won't be able to go on doing nothing anymore. So sad. And like everything else these days it reminds me that my children are all grown up. My son even appears on his fiancées' family Christmas card this year. I am losing him.

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    7. The Thanksgiving-to-New Year's corridor is a difficult one to navigate.

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    8. The Thanksgiving-to-New Year's corridor is a difficult one to navigate.

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    9. The Thanksgiving-to-New Year's corridor is a difficult one to navigate.

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    10. Looks like there are a lot of diversions down it.

      That bit of the last Pooh book was chosen by our ex Prime Minister, John Major, for a poetry reading. I found myself beginning to like him.

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  2. I seem to have always gravitated toward children. So pure and naive. I experience the joy with them that I only find with animals. I used to think I was just an animal person, but children made me change that thought.

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  3. Don't feel too bad, I still love your blog and your comments on mine. It hasn't exactly been a bed of roses this week for me either.xx

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    1. I'll respond to your kind comment after dinner, Rachel.

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    2. It's been a bloody long dinner.

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    3. I fell asleep as soon as I finished it.

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  4. I think he missed the x at the end of my sentence
    Hey ho

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  5. Calm down everybody. Sit down by the fire all of you with a good book.
    Glad to hear you are a Pooh fan (in the nicest sense of the word Tom.

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    1. Oh no, how could I rant at you, dear Weave? You have taken the fake wind out of my sails! I like your Pooh joke too. It made me laugh out loud. X

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    2. Talking of good books - Jack@ has sent me a WONDERFUL one, BEAUTIFULLY wrapped and addressed. I am going to do a special feature on it tomorrow. Thank you, Jack@! XXX

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    3. Ask and ye shall receive but don't ask for Crockett and Jones shoes !!
      I thought that you needed cheering up ......
      MERRY CHRISTMAS TOM. XXXX

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  6. 'Feck' is used by fake gurriers, is neither humorous nor effective, and is not acceptable, but I am a curmudgeon. I denounce many things but I like you.

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    1. Thank you for all of that Mise, including the information.

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    2. I am still trying to find out what a genuine gurrier is, let alone a fake one. More help needed.

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  7. I dont know if I am right, but i think i am, it looks like many of you have the "before the holiday sadness",still i feel envy and wish we have Christmas here.Knowing myself, i would be sad too, but it's worth it.

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    1. Yael, its just British banter
      Its a strange phenomenon xx

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    2. We pretend we don't like the people that we do like, for fear of being accused of sentimentalism, and most people are very polite to people that they actually hate, for similar reasons. It can be summed up with, 'don't make a fuss'.

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    3. It's one of the problems of blogging with blog "friends" scattered around the globe; there's an awful lot of people who do not understand British humour (I am not meaning you Yael).

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    4. There's an awful lot of Brits who don't understand it as well.

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  8. Yes i know, but i can identify small sadness when i meet it, believe me.

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    1. If you think we are sad pre Christmas, then just have a look at us post Christmas.

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    2. I wonder if it is true that the domestic murder rate is highest at Christmas?

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  9. I notice that no-one is interested in the subject of your post. Maybe we should all do as Rachel did, and post blank pages.

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    1. The less I write the more comments I seem to get, peaking with the blank page. There must be something I should pick up on from that.............

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    2. This post has generated more comments than most others. I think everyone loves a good playground fight.

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  10. Feck is not acceptable...either use fuck or shut the fuck up.

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  11. I notice this morning that I have lost a follower. I put this down to yet another person who is lacking in the sense of humour department. There's plenty of them around, and I still refuse to explain it to them.

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  12. I too have just lost a follower (hate that word though - prefer reader) and it does make you feel a bit curious about why. As for the C word - I love Christmas.

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  13. I too have just lost a follower (hate that word though - prefer reader) and it does make you feel a bit curious about why. As for the C word - I love Christmas.

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