Beetroot, Potato, Carrot, Onion, Cucumber, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.
My eyes deteriorated in the past year to the point that I must wear glasses to read.
These days if I want to do simple things like read the labels on the backs of bottles in a store or read a menu I'm in quite a pickle without glasses.
Really in a pickle if the store assistant doesn't feel like reading the ingredients written in 1pt out - probably illiterate, maybe needs glasses too.
As for menus, I have to hold them at arm's length to read them - if the print is big enough.
Really makes me wonder how children with glasses learn anything in school at all!
Makes me wonder how nerds, you know all the smart guys and girls are supposed to wear glasses, I find it hard to believe now.
How do they concentrate?
Without glasses my temper reaches boiling point within a few minutes of sitting down at a computer.
Am I to spend the rest of my life looking for my glasses so I can sit down at the computer and work?
Go on say it. You don't know what you've got till it's gone. But what about things you never have?
I recently set eyes upon a grumpy old so-and-so who wrote me off years ago without so much as a second glance.
Never had a chance to discover a reason - what had I ever done to a person I had never even met? To be really honest I think this guy is really up himself. I believe he thinks that the world has never paid enough mind and respect for his talent and mere presence.
Well, I'm sure he's a great husband and father. I've seen it before.
Just because people treat you like crap doesn't mean that they treat other people that way - it's just that you aren't "one of them". I was young when I encountered him and I did not really understand basics of human nature.
I bounced up to him like a big old dog and introduced myself because I knew who he was and I wanted to talk to him.
He looked down his rather long nose and glared through crossed brows: "Who do you think you are?" I don't know why but you know I can still feel the way my heart sank.
Those were his first and almost last words to me.
I never approached him again. And he still has the same air today. Considering I was a journalist who was ready and willing to write about people like him it was not a great move - but then he probably thought he was in with the in "right" people who weren't ever interested in writing about him.
I never earned his respect.
He has always worn glasses.
Maybe he lives life at boiling point.
But I've seen him laugh - so I think it's something to more to do with a matter of judgement.
This event is a reference point in my view of life - he is an example of the kind of person I've never wanted to become. People think of themselves as understanding and fair-minded human beings because they are generous to others - I've always judged people on the way they behave towards people who aren't "one of their own".
That's too easy. But then for some people, even that is too hard.
These days if I want to do simple things like read the labels on the backs of bottles in a store or read a menu I'm in quite a pickle without glasses.
Really in a pickle if the store assistant doesn't feel like reading the ingredients written in 1pt out - probably illiterate, maybe needs glasses too.
As for menus, I have to hold them at arm's length to read them - if the print is big enough.
Really makes me wonder how children with glasses learn anything in school at all!
Makes me wonder how nerds, you know all the smart guys and girls are supposed to wear glasses, I find it hard to believe now.
How do they concentrate?
Without glasses my temper reaches boiling point within a few minutes of sitting down at a computer.
Am I to spend the rest of my life looking for my glasses so I can sit down at the computer and work?
Go on say it. You don't know what you've got till it's gone. But what about things you never have?
I recently set eyes upon a grumpy old so-and-so who wrote me off years ago without so much as a second glance.
Never had a chance to discover a reason - what had I ever done to a person I had never even met? To be really honest I think this guy is really up himself. I believe he thinks that the world has never paid enough mind and respect for his talent and mere presence.
Well, I'm sure he's a great husband and father. I've seen it before.
Just because people treat you like crap doesn't mean that they treat other people that way - it's just that you aren't "one of them". I was young when I encountered him and I did not really understand basics of human nature.
I bounced up to him like a big old dog and introduced myself because I knew who he was and I wanted to talk to him.
He looked down his rather long nose and glared through crossed brows: "Who do you think you are?" I don't know why but you know I can still feel the way my heart sank.
Those were his first and almost last words to me.
I never approached him again. And he still has the same air today. Considering I was a journalist who was ready and willing to write about people like him it was not a great move - but then he probably thought he was in with the in "right" people who weren't ever interested in writing about him.
I never earned his respect.
He has always worn glasses.
Maybe he lives life at boiling point.
But I've seen him laugh - so I think it's something to more to do with a matter of judgement.
This event is a reference point in my view of life - he is an example of the kind of person I've never wanted to become. People think of themselves as understanding and fair-minded human beings because they are generous to others - I've always judged people on the way they behave towards people who aren't "one of their own".
That's too easy. But then for some people, even that is too hard.
"Do I know you?
"I'm sure I've seen you."
This 20-something dark-eyed, curly-topped Latino lad has been to the George Clooney school of charm - he's not shy at all.
His personal space is obviously a little narrow because he's standing close - not quite face to face but close - and his gaze is unflinching.
This is a rare quality - an unflinching but relaxed and interested gaze.
"Don't worry I don't bite, not at work anyway," he coos making direct eye contact.
Irresistible - and he knows it. He's not even trying.
He's half South American-half Canadian but his parents met in Israel so you can't pick his accent.
He makes his job look easy as he throws a line out and reels customers in.
He doesn't smile those gaudy toothy grins that most sales people think are so attractive.
No. He raises his dark brow and his eyes sparkle as if he's really interested and then he acts as if we have already met.
And he makes you feel as though he's pleased to make - not a customer - but an acquaintance.
His art is seduction and he's a master.
He sold $2000 worth of product to a guy at Christmas. I thought I'd reward this bravura performance but then he spoilt it.
As I handed him my card he turned and said, "I like you so," as if the thought had just occurred, "I'm gonna do this for you."
As if I was something special. And off he goes reaching for another product - that's right he's doubling his bet.
Buy this as well and I'll throw in this ... neat. If you buy this .... I'll throw this in for free.
It reminded me a lot of social media actually - that's all I'm gonna say.
Blasphemy is my middle name - if I had one. Apparently, Edgar Allan Poe was not popular because he dared to challenge the optimism of his Age.
I'm not comparing myself to Poe - I'm just saying to question something is to assert your right to know the facts. I'm reading Tales of Mystery and Imagination, a book of Poe's short stories. Really quite interesting. But that's another blog. Did you know that the human being stopped evolving as a species 50,000 years ago.
(The Turning Point: Science, Society, and The Rising Culture, by Fritjof Capra)
The human brain (it's the same size!) and body basically are the same as the BC model - FACT!
Only the power of scientific knowledge and technological skills have evolved. That's a worry isn't it?
(I've held this theory since high school when ancient history was my passion.) What would Aristotle do with Twitter?
What would Socrates do with Facebook? He-he.
There's a thought.
Socrates, the Gadfly who was put to death for challenging the morals of his fellow Athenians. I've been thinking that the most amazing special moments in life are few.
There aren't that many and that's why we remember them, even when they are seemingly insignificant.
In real life there's data flying in all directions in a hundred variations and formats.
What's posted online is finite (contrary to belief) and filtered. Kinda = not the same.
But don't let someone else tell you what those moments are or should be or where they should be conducted!
Is it possible to be more than entertaining online?
Being entertaining is bloody hard after all. Ah well. One o'clock and all's well!
But wait! GIANT! There's a giant washed up on the shore of Liliput. The online reality is being written minute by minute.
We're all in a Jonathan Swift adventure.
New media is Gulliver and we're the little people.
Are you still here? The End.
I took the dog for a walk this morning and found this wild pheasant hiding from attacking peewees in the bush around a nearby house.
This poor bird has obviously lost its home to urban development because it's been wandering the district for weeks.
A few weeks ago, I heard it's wild calls in my back yard and saw it in a tree. Highly unusual.
I'm assuming it's the same bird because there can't be too many wild pheasants in the suburbs, let alone one suburb.
There's been a lot of bush that's been cleared over the past few years. It's affected residents (like me) who awake to the rumbling of Gateway traffic which sounds like a restless mechanical surf in the early morning quiet.
I think the wilderness used to act like a buffer but the new suburbs just act as echo caverns.
Pity people and organizations don't understand ecology. The school which is my backyard neighbour refused to trim the tops of its self-pruning trees because they want wildlife. But the noisy banana birds and the crows have killed all the finches and little birds.
And these bully birds which attack my dog refuse to allow the pheasant into their territory it seems.
I saw a koala go walking through only once. I haven't seen a blue tongue lizard for quite some time - perhaps because there are too many cats.
Lovely walk. Got a new coat of deisel soot on my lungs from our regular bus services. Remembered why I don't go walking now.
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I have the most bizarre experiences of coincidence.
I'll be driving along listening to the radio thinking thoughts and it happens.
An unspoken word from a sentence (TV: sentence) in my head is spoken over the radio.
Right. Sure. I'll bet you're dubious.
But the words are not ubiquitous they are words like silver or blocked.
Last week it happened three times. Tonight it's happened three times.
I downloaded this image of chicken buttons and fabric.
The TV blurted the word chicken at the very moment - the very same moment.
Now ... there it goes again ... I wrote the word "now" and the TV blurted "now"!
I'm sure it's happening to others because its such a common device in the movies - coincidence.
Perhaps this is the opposite of confabulation.
"It's the universe speaking" ... as one of Jim Carrey's crazy movie characters would blurt.
Perhaps you are better at confabulating plausible responses which you actually believe.
Currently, I'm ignoring it. Cluck-coo!
According to Project Gutenberg, the works of Edgar Allan Poe are not copyrighted in the country of his birth the United States of America.
So you can download the works of Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) for free.
His work contributed to the development of the sci-fi genre.
Alas, he was not beloved by his generation or generations to come, as Dr Spock or Captain Kirk creator Gene Roddenberry. The grim view of life in the works of this Gothic writer didn't fit with the ethos of his time:
"Poe, too, showed an alternative to the optimism and complacency and materialism of his age, a dream of beauty and primal unity which always contained the probability of terror and darkness. Few people at the time heeded him, but since his death, and particularly in the twentieth century, his voice has been widely heard and recognised, like the meaningful shape from the past so beloved of Gothic writers." _ John S Whitley, School of English and American Studies, University of Sussex (Introduction to Tales of Mystery and the Imagination) The reason I'm sharing this with you is because I read it and thought it interesting and relevant - feel free to disagree on any points.
When I read his stories I'm struck by his keen eye for human failings - they are after all as much a part of our nature as our virtues. But I understand why his work offended polite society.
I'm all for a polite society but I'd like to believe that it's possible to be polite, honest and forthright.
As long as we champion our right to freedom of speech, we should allow people to disagree.
Basically, if I disagree I'll unfollow you. Polite society does ostracization quite well normally.
And it seems the online community is hell bent on tailoring personal realities to fit narrow perspectives in an effort to maintain maximum stability and minimize discomfort and maximize sales. If it's so comfy and warm online, is offline reality too much for people to bear?
This mental disconnect may be causing the problems developing in our "real shared reality" where the society is no longer so polite.
So this great online questing for connection between mind, body and spirit and such may all be for nought in the end.
What if it creates "impatience", "rudeness", "bullying" and downright "mean-spiritedness" - maybe even "murder".
Where does the greatest benefit to humanity lie? To lie or not to lie - online or offline? And people think Hamlet is confusing. Someone said to me last week: "People used to provide good service without talking about it and now all they seem to do is talk about it but they fail to provide good service."
That's the problem!
I adore the sharing aspect of social media but it's only really good when its genuine - you recognize the "spark" when it's there even if its centuries old, even if it's thrown together in a pique of inspiration by a no one-in-particular, an individual with something to share for the sake of it. Poe opens his short story The Man of the Crowd with a quote: "This great evil, not to be able to be alone."
The protagonist in this short story follows a man through the city who is always in a crowd - he's lost, always lost even in a crowd.
It could be the first ever description of a social media fiend. People want to be individuals but they NEED to be part of the crowd. I use the word fiend for humour.
Real fiends relish fiend-dom so I doubt they'd be offended. I don't really want to hurt anyone's feelings.
But I know doctors and researchers are concerned about the effect this addiction or obsession is having on the development of the brain in young people - this need to be connected to multiple platforms, this need to be stimulated all the time.
Apparently, boys are boys until at least the age of 24 and often never grow up - so where this leaves them is anyone's guess. ;) I've started wondering about something else. I've started wondering about the need to be influential - the need to have power over other people's opinions without actually contributing anything to the conversation apart from RT. Most anyone is capable of communication but there's the great fear of "having nothing to contribute" or "saying the wrong thing" or "being vulnerable". Fiends often go on and on about the power of social media and how great it is for freedom of expression and sharing - but in the next breath they lay down the rules by Tweeting out lists about social media #failure.
For example they scorn someone who claims to be published when they are only self-published.
So to be cool you need to have a publishing deal with the "old media".
Edgar Allan Poe was paid only $9 for the work which made him a household name, The Raven.
He self-published a lot of work as the editor of various publications. So-called "writers" think that they will be able to make money from writing online - it's an interesting concept since writers and artists have always struggled to make a living off their craft - perhaps social media will change this eventually. I don't count self-help books.
They are not cultural heritage - most of them describe a process, or someone else's philosophies from a personal perspective.
Do they add value to cultural identity? Do they contribute to the development of new ideas? Are romance novels cultural heritage? (I'm expressing an opinion - it's just MY opinion and I'd be interested in your opinion) I'm probably wrong here because I haven't done any research but the writers making money online are well-established names, people who write great copy (as in advertorial), marketing & PR types, or they sell self-help advice - published by a publishing house or self-published.
I'm sure there are probably a few savvy writers making money. Perhaps Australian crime writer Gabriel Lord who is currently enthralling young readers with her series Conspiracy 365.
She's got teacher-librarians on her side. Now there's power!