The first real typhoon of the year was a damp squib. In fact, it wasn't really a typhoon at all, never having grown beyond a tropical storm. It crossed the Philippines and then started trekking up the South China Sea. I had a feeling that it would stay on a westward route, and I was right. I am no expert but this is how it usually happens. It came ashore just north of Hong Kong. Before it arrived, Hong Kong was deathly still and humid. Overnight, it rained, and the next day (when all signals had been lowered) there was a little wind and a few storms. But all in all, very disappointing.
I have a feeling that it's going to be a pretty disappointing year. I know that it's wrong to wish storms and typhooons on us, but I do like dramatic weather....
Sunday, 28 June 2009
Sunday, 14 June 2009
Social Networking
I came across this fabulous Venn diagram, and I couldn't agree more.
Social networking sites are the curse of modern life. It's all just banal, useless chatter. I remember the days when I would compose letters. Letter-writing was an art form, and one that I took very seriously. Now my emails are no longer than six or seven lines, and nobody goes deeper into the minutiae of life any more. I read somewhere that Facebook is infantilising adults and it's true - communication is reduced to childish, unimportant soundbites. Okay, rant over.
Link
Social networking sites are the curse of modern life. It's all just banal, useless chatter. I remember the days when I would compose letters. Letter-writing was an art form, and one that I took very seriously. Now my emails are no longer than six or seven lines, and nobody goes deeper into the minutiae of life any more. I read somewhere that Facebook is infantilising adults and it's true - communication is reduced to childish, unimportant soundbites. Okay, rant over.
Link
Thursday, 11 June 2009
The Nature of Friendship
I'm not very good at the whole friend thing. I think I have a vulnerable or needy aura, and so I tend to let people know more than they should at first meeting. I let them get to a certain point, and then I give them an almighty shove. That's what I did with my friend M. She came back from holiday to find that I had disappeared halfway around the world without telling her.
I want friends, I need friends.....but I am unable to maintain healthy relationships. Either the green-eyed monster rears its ugly head and makes me resentful and dishonest (Oh really, you're moving to Costa Rica? Yes, I've been there. It's too wet for me. But still, you'll enjoy it) or I just can't develop the friendship. It's as though everyone else has people they can call up and chat with on a whim. I have noone. And when it looks like I'm making a new friend, it suddenly becomes apparent to me that they have hundreds of other friends, and they are just being nice. They don't really want to spend any time with me.
How do you balance this? This desperation for people to talk to, to call up and chat with, and the fear of anyone getting too close? It's like a seesaw. You both get on, smiling shyly at each other, and then unpredictably, the balance shifts. More often than not, they are the one to fall off, and walk away.
I have more email friends, possibly because I find it easier to express myself in writing than in face-to-face contact. But I would never call them. There are people that I email on a regular basis that I haven't spoken to in decades. I'm not sure what I would say to them on the phone.
Then I go to the supermarket and make eye contact with someone - and think, she looks nice. Perhaps we could be friends. I am so busy craving new friends that I neglect the ones I already have.
I want friends, I need friends.....but I am unable to maintain healthy relationships. Either the green-eyed monster rears its ugly head and makes me resentful and dishonest (Oh really, you're moving to Costa Rica? Yes, I've been there. It's too wet for me. But still, you'll enjoy it) or I just can't develop the friendship. It's as though everyone else has people they can call up and chat with on a whim. I have noone. And when it looks like I'm making a new friend, it suddenly becomes apparent to me that they have hundreds of other friends, and they are just being nice. They don't really want to spend any time with me.
How do you balance this? This desperation for people to talk to, to call up and chat with, and the fear of anyone getting too close? It's like a seesaw. You both get on, smiling shyly at each other, and then unpredictably, the balance shifts. More often than not, they are the one to fall off, and walk away.
I have more email friends, possibly because I find it easier to express myself in writing than in face-to-face contact. But I would never call them. There are people that I email on a regular basis that I haven't spoken to in decades. I'm not sure what I would say to them on the phone.
Then I go to the supermarket and make eye contact with someone - and think, she looks nice. Perhaps we could be friends. I am so busy craving new friends that I neglect the ones I already have.
Daft overreaction
So, a lot of things are messed up at the moment. Schools have closed for two weeks due to the H1N1 flu. I'm not sure that I understand the logic behind this - surely it would be better for as many people as possible to catch it, and therefore have some immunity if it mutates into something more serious? A bit like 'chicken pox parties' which Mums would apparently hold in order to make sure their children caught chicken pox while they were still young and would recover quickly. And what about after the two weeks - do they really think that H1N1 flu is just going to shrug its shoulders and give up? Of course not. It's here to stay.
It means that there are a lot of things that I will not be able to get done before the end of term. We still have to come to school (in some cases, for longer than we would have had to if the children were here!) but without children, there are some things that just can't be done. I'm filling my time as well as I can, but I generally feel a bit cross and angry. There are things happening outside school that are contributing to that, but sitting here in this freezing staffroom, eating rubbish and watching the rain fall, is not helping.
It means that there are a lot of things that I will not be able to get done before the end of term. We still have to come to school (in some cases, for longer than we would have had to if the children were here!) but without children, there are some things that just can't be done. I'm filling my time as well as I can, but I generally feel a bit cross and angry. There are things happening outside school that are contributing to that, but sitting here in this freezing staffroom, eating rubbish and watching the rain fall, is not helping.
Wednesday, 3 June 2009
A smashing time
Well, today J lost it again and smashed the metre-rule on the table, which promptly shattered. As usual, the children sat in stunned silence for about five minutes. Then they started up again. They are irrepressible.
There seemed to be a lot of shouting going on today. The area outside the staffroom is the Shouting Zone, and it was in full swing at around lunchtime. If I had been shouted at like that when I was at school I would have been reduced to a quivering, snivelling wreck. But again, these kids are irrepressible.
There seemed to be a lot of shouting going on today. The area outside the staffroom is the Shouting Zone, and it was in full swing at around lunchtime. If I had been shouted at like that when I was at school I would have been reduced to a quivering, snivelling wreck. But again, these kids are irrepressible.
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