Miscellany

 

A photo I took the other day of a spot near my podiatrist's office. Sometimes I catch sight of the ferry here which goes back and forth to Bell Island. I was entranced by the skyscape meeting the seascape.

Bell Island Ferry.

An unusual personality test which hit me square in the noggin last week. Normally I avoid such "tests" but this one was irresistible. I recommend.

You are a Mad Scientist

POSITIVE AFFECT: 36
NEGATIVE AFFECT: 20

You’re a Mad Scientist! This means that you have high positive and negative affect, or, put another way, you tend to feel both positive and negative emotions deeply. Everything is awesome or everything is terrible, depending on your mood.

This leads to a cascade of good qualities: Mad Scientists usually are highly extroverted, passionate about their interests, deeply curious, and relentless seekers. We often see this profile in CEOs, entrepreneurs, consultants, and all types of adventure-seekers who travel for their jobs. But this affect profile does come with costs.

In other events, I was startled to get a call from a random woman I met in a grocery story a week or so ago, and had about an hour's conversation with. To make a long story short, she tracked me down and called me and asked if I could meet her for coffee. Which I did. Three and half hours later we realized we have known each other forever. Our lives were linked in so many ways as were uncountable. This is highly unusual at any age but in our elder years completely astonishing. And yes, we are meeting again. I hadn't realized with so many of my friends gone to stardust that I desperately needed something like this. 

And my heart is with our dear darling blogger friend Sue who has undergone so much in the last few months. I view her as a very dear friend and we have exchanged daily emails for years. The void of her absence now leaves a gigantic hole in my life and I'm sure in all of her readers' lives also.  She is one of a kind.

Blog Buddies

I am gratified in being alive when the interwebz came into being. This amazing technology introduced me to others around the world I'd never have met in real life.

Subsequently, I met some and the F2F friendships always confirmed the virtual connection. When I had my small B&B around the bay, several came to visit me and it was joyful meeting them.

When I brought my play to Ireland, others showed up from great distances with overnight stays in the town.

When I mentioned I'd like some simple yoga practise for my continuing mobility/physical issues, an email fell into my box with great diagrams.

I've received cards and bookmarks and tea towels and scarves and knitting patterns and letters and books and even old fashioned hairpins which touch my heart.

I've sent out wee bits and pieces as well.

I grieve when bloggers die. And miss their writing. The loss is real.

I feel validated in all the complexities of my life when I post from the heart here. It is a rarity to be condemned and belittled (though it does happen). Those who attack, I suspect, haven't looked inside their own hearts and thrown the windows open to alleviate the darkness within.

So a big thank you to you all out there.

Today and every day.

Mansplaining

It's hard to surprise this old blogger. But sometimes I can be shocked. Particularly by a male blogger who considers himself a feminist.I won't use names here but suffice to say that I've been following and commenting on his blog for a very long time. And he on mine.

Naturally, over the years, we have accrued readers in common who regularly comment. Some commentators are fairly detailed in comments on my blog and on others. A trait that charms me. Imagine readers taking the time to evaluate carefully and comment and offer well thought out, often opposing opinions. Some take exception to that. I watch a lot of this unfold on others' blogs but rarely on mine. A battle of insults ensues, often ad hominem attacks which I have always deemed unfair unless the writer writes from a lofty privileged platform and not from personal experience - i.e. monolithically condemning great swathes of the population for having the effrontery to be fat or alcoholic or consuming mindlessly, take your pick.

I truly don't write to have an army of sycophants worshipping at the altar of my deathless prose. I write from experience and often receive personal emails from readers looking for help with addiction or grief or loneliness or depression or even knitting. Many I meet in the flesh, many are supportive - for instance when Grandgirl was in India, a long time blogger friend offered to look out for her.

But the email I received the other day took my breath away in its condescending mansplaining. I was told, in no uncertain terms, not to "encourage" a female blogger whose comments were "upsetting" him. To stop "taking her side". And please note I have rarely, if ever, commented on a comment on anyone else's blog. And certainly not on his.

I'll let that sink in for a minute there.

Note that my opinion and regard for this blogger was completely shoved aside in his subjective consideration. He just needed to set me straight as to how he "felt" and how her "accusations" and "put downs" were going on a long time. That was all that was important.

Well, heat and kitchen come to mind. Seriously.

I will also note that the blogger he refers to has never, ever, upset me in any way.

In fact she has been incredibly supportive through grief and depression.

I guess I should take my ladybrain and scurry back to the kitchen and forget this blogging business and leave it to the Big Boyz who know what's best for bloggers like me, you think?

Blog Friends

Over the years I've made a few good friends through this blog. It's extraordinary this world of the internetz and webz isn't it?

I've exchanged personal emails, offered and been given support and meeting some in the flesh too has only affirmed the on-line friendships. In every single case. Remarkable that, yeah?

Yesterday, in the mail, I received a gift of handmade soaps from a good blog friend in the USA. No further identity will I provide to maintain her privacy.

Beautiful soaps. Something I wouldn't normally buy as they would be a bit out of the old league, price wise.

I'm thinkin' I must knit her some Newfoundland dishcloths.

Thank you lovely lady!

Ask Me, I'm Irish

Q. Did Blogger do a belly flop over the last few days?
A. Yes, it did.
Q. What did you do about it?
A. Checked other blogs on Blogger Flop and confirmed, yes, I wasn't the only one marooned out in the ether without a paddle or a post or...
Q. Excuse me, you digress.
A. Sorry, I'm Irish. We're tremendously excellent at monologues.
Q. Did you lose posts?
A. Yes, I did, but they're now back up again I see, along with the esteemed comments from my loyal readers.
Q. Are you keeping your blog on Blogger Flop?
A. Well for now, yes. They were awfully honest about where they were at with their crash and what they were doing to fix it and on promising to retrieve the missing last posts (as in Reveille, get it?)
Q. Oh you do bloody go on.
A. I know. That's why I have a blog.

Gregarious Loner

I caught this self-description by a commenter on Friko's blog the other day and I thought: that's me.

This wonderful world of blogging gathers us kindred spirits from around the globe and pulls us all together in virtual conversations and we click with each other, no matter the age, no matter the gender. And blog meets, (though I have an affinity for the term Blog Meats, ha-ha, get it?) where one meets another blogger in the flesh so to speak, prove just as interesting as the virtual connection and are even more enhanced by the fresh non-blogged information exchanged.

Maybe the virtual circle of friends I connect with fairly regularly are all gregarious loners whether in partnered relationships or not.

I love my solitude, cherish it, defend it, embrace it.

And I'm one of the most gregarious people you'll ever meet!

And on that note, I am so looking forward to my Blog Meat with Conor. Soon. Yes, he of the recent trip around the world fame. And when I do, ye all can be assured I will shut up and be quiet.

Blog Buddies

It is extraordinary, this Brave New World.

I use the word 'Brave' deliberately here.

The blogs I read are mainly personal, though I do have a salt and pepper flavouring thrown in there with some political, climate-change, linguistic, feminist and knitting blogs.

I've developed close friendships with some, to the point where we email privately on more sensitive matters and/or on recovery from addictions.

So whether this is a good thing or a bad thing is up for speculation.

I have ongoing chats with someone who has some serious mental challenges. She's a brilliant artist, writer and extraordinarily brave considering her personal history which has been plagued with murder, death of a child and serious abandonment issues.

And today she emails me she is horrifically depressed and can't see hope and then deletes her blog.

I have no phone number for her, I don't speak the language of her country to alert the police or have any contact info for relatives or acquaintances.

I feel so totally helpless (and useless).

***UPDATE***

My friend has moved back to an old blog after deleting her new so fingers crossed, healing thoughts go her way and she has called a crisis line who must be monitoring the situation.

From Scones to Scrotums

Sometimes I have to giggle as I cruise around my favourite bloggers in the morning.

Diverse they surely are. And I imagine all of us are truly unique in the selections we read. Here’s a little sample of some of mine.

Today I can read about Wicklow trekking and grumpy old men.

And colourful birds in back yards.

And a once a week post from one of my faves, James Howard Kunstler and this week he’s into:

General Motors is reduced to lunch meat on industrial-capital's All-You-Can-Eat buffet spread.

I just love that man’s turn of phrase.

Here’s another sample:

Now, their incomes have stopped coming in altogether and they are sinking into swamp of entropy already occupied by the tattoo-for-lunch-bunch. Of course, this has plenty of dire sociopolitical implications

.

And I should pay attention to my horoscope while I'm drooling around the favourite spots for it cautions:

Monday, May 25
Don't forget to focus some attention on your most important goals and priorities today. You could be so distracted by what's going on with everyone else around you that you forget to tend to your own needs right now. Just be sure that some people don't try to take advantage of your generous spirit today.

And yeah, you're dying, admit it: I know you are.

Here’s Scones

And here’s Scrotums