…things one thinks about at one in the morning after a couple of glasses of wine…
Something the people who have met me in person know that most of you cannot is that I have a slight English accent. I acquired it from my parents, even though I was born and raised in Canada. I used to say I was born with an accent – I was teased relentlessly as a child for it. Most of it has disappeared but…
I was talking to myself at one this morning after a couple of glasses of wine (did I mention that?) and I said to myself, I wonder if I think in Canadian or English? And then I got to thinking.
What accent do we think in? Do we think how we speak? Or is there a language of thought?
In the immortal word of Bill and Ted on their excellent adventure, Whoa!!
I’m not sure what I was hoping for when I made “beef” the word of the week in my prompt. Was I looking for recipes? Perhaps. A bunch of rants on what people had complaints or “beefs” about? Maybe. A throwing up of hands from the vegetarians who follow me? Diatribes from people who can’t seem to put on weight? That might be fun. I actually wanted to wait until I had my own post written before I read anyone else’s, so that’s what I’ve done.
I rarely air my own “beefs” in public. Or even in private for that matter. When people or situations (but mostly people) get on my nerves I normally first try to determine why they’re getting on my nerves. Is it just me? Is there a reason behind it? It’s not until I’m pretty sure they (the people or the situations) are really out to get me that I’ll go off on my own little rant.
There are words that get my goat. And phrases too. Most of the phrases are made up of bad grammar, but words like “portion,” OH OH and when someone describes a certain aspect of a problem as a “piece” it really pisses me off. Inside. Because I don’t actually say anything.
I suppose it’s possible that I just have a problem with words that start with a “p.” Whatever. I just have to keep reminding myself, in the words of the great Bart Simpson, “Don’t have a cow!” Or a beef.
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Anyone who would like to try it out, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a ping back, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.
As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a ping back from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.
Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”
The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:
This is my excuse for not getting anything done today: I had all my hotel bookings set for my trip to Japan – had some fantastic places to stay. I’m not sure why I didn’t think of this when I booked them (or in particular, the one I had booked for the nights of the concerts), but I thought I’d check the directions today to see how I’d get from the concert venue back “home.” I planned to do it on foot so I stayed fairly close, just like I did last time. After all, the trip will be made alone in the dark. With that in mind… hahaha… here are my directions from Google:
ＮＨＫホール
Japan, 〒150-0041 東京都渋谷区 神南２丁目２−１
Head northeast
400 m
Take the crosswalk
24 m
Take the crosswalk
100 m
Take the crosswalk
66 m
Take the crosswalk
110 m
Take the crosswalk
47 m
Turn right
55 m
Slight right
18 m
Cross the road
33 m
Cross the road
40 m
Cross the road
18 m
Take the crosswalk
12 m
Cross the road
19 m
Cross the road
40 m
Cross the road
47 m
Turn left
22 m
Take the crosswalk
130 m
Cross the road
55 m
Take the crosswalk
120 m
Cross the road
52 m
Take the crosswalk
33 m
Take the crosswalk
100 m
Cross the road
25 m
Cross the road
38 m
Cross the road
110 m
Take the crosswalk
50 m
Cross the road
68 m
Take the crosswalk
38 m
Take the crosswalk
36 m
Turn right
110 m
Take the crosswalk
63 m
4 Chome-5-9 Aobadai
It’s THAT EASY!!! I shit you not, that’s all I get for directions. Because as I explained in this post, there is no such thing as a street name in Tokyo. Needless to say, I canceled that booking and made another one closer to the train station, from whence I can get a bus. Or at the very least, since it’s the closest station to the venue, someone has to know how to get there. In fact, I’ll follow the crowd. It’s in Shibuya, arguably the busiest part of the city.
So this is where I’m staying now – a gorgeous hotel three minutes’ walk from the famous Shibuya intersection, for a measly $140 Cdn. per night, breakfast included. Can’t beat that.
Not too bad an excuse for getting nothing done today, eh?
I find it incredibly hard to sit still. Especially when I’m trying to write. If I’m not getting up to get something I’m playing a mindless game on the computer because my brain just can’t handle, most of the time, the intense thought processes it has to go through to get what’s on it, on the screen. I need time to fully picture what I’m going to write before I write it. Once I have that picture I can go – and sometimes, yes, I’ll look up from the screen and realize it’s gotten dark outside without my noticing. Or, “Oh, look at that. I missed dinner time. No wonder I’m hungry.” This is, of course, only when I’m alone. Which is the best time for me to get anything done anyway.
I have a hard time sitting still but I wish my weight reflected that. Normally when I think of someone who’s always on the go I think of a person who is as skinny as a rail. Not me. Which proves that there’s no such thing as a stereotype where busyness is concerned. Then again, usually when I write and I have to distract myself, I end up in the kitchen…
The word “still” bugs me sometimes. At my most stressful times I’m usually saying “I still have to do this,” or “I still have to do that.” There’s always something I still have to do. I never get to the end of the damned “to do” list. That could have something to do with why I’m not sure my manuscript will ever be finished. There’s always a point I want to change or something I want to fix. Perfection must be achieved! Which I know sucks, but I don’t want to be criticized for something I could have fixed but didn’t.
Maybe instead of making my own wine (at the wine store) I’ll eventually end up with my own still in the basement. It may be the cure for all my stress. And hey, I can just pass out down there. That’ll keep me still.
There are different types of believers in this world. Those who are religious (or not) are usually the first to come to mind. Some believe devoutly in one political party over another, others are positive there are aliens hovering, just waiting for the right time to be taken to our leader (which may or may not have something to do with the example before). But none of these have anything to do with my ponderings, nor my question to you.
This morning, while I was preparing my son’s tube-feeding, I started thinking about the difference between people who believe in superstitions versus those who swear things that happen which are related to one another are mere coincidence. And then I thought about Murphy’s Law. You know, the one that goes something like, “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.” I then started to wonder if there’s any correlation between the pessimistic old Irishman and the half full/half empty glass.
Keeping in mind the fact that I was thinking all this at 5:30am, I’m sure you’ll bear with me through my semi-conclusions to this riot of contemplation. Right? Okay. Here we go.
If a person believes in Mr. Murphy’s doom and gloom prophesy, he (using male pronoun for no other reason than ease) is more likely to be superstitious. Why? Because it’s his only defense against a probable negative outcome. It follows then (or at least it did in the wee hours of this morning), that superstitious people are glass half-empty people. So, Murphy = superstition = pessimist.
Alternatively, if a person does not believe the infamous Mr. Murphy had a leg to stand on, then she (see above pronoun explanation) is more likely to believe that relatable happenings are coincidence. Why? Because why not. This happens, that happens, chances are if we do it right in the first place then it’ll be okay. You see where I’m going next… she is the glass half-full person. The coincidence believer. No Murphy = coincidence = optimist.
All cut and dry, right? It is until I take into account that I believe in some superstitions and most of the time our dear old Murphy AND I’m an optimistic glass half-full type. What to do with this confusing information… Hmm… Oh I know! Ask my wonderful friends in WordPress land! Where do you fit in to all of this gobbledigook?
To make it easier, I’ve created a poll.
Please answer it as best you can.
Further to the poll, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Am I way out to lunch? (Or breakfast, as the case may be.) Should I keep my 5:30am thoughts to myself? Let me know. And don’t forget to vote! This is science, people!
Do you ever experience something when you’re alone that’s so incredible, you just have to share it with someone else? It happened to me the other day, kind of. I was strolling along the waterfront trail when came across an elderly man who was sitting on a bench facing the water. He turned to me and I smiled and he said to me, “Do you want to see something?”
I said, “Sure,” and walked over to where he was sitting.
He pointed at a heron, standing close by on the rocky shore. “They don’t normally let you get this close,” he said to me. “Isn’t he beautiful?”
I agreed and then I respectfully oohed and aahed; I hadn’t the heart to tell him I’d been even closer to one of the huge, majestic birds just a few days before. When I walked away I felt good that I had been the one to share his wonderful discovery with him.
Last night, as I was driving down the main laneway in a parking lot, an entire family stepped out in front of me. I stopped rather close to them by necessity and the woman yelled at me through my open window, “We’ve got kids here, you could wait your turn!” I hmphed and drove away. When I got home, my adult son told me I should have retorted, “I’ve got a car here, you could wait yours!”
From now on I’m not leaving home without my 21 year old son. I’m sure he’ll be pleased with that arrangement.
Anyone who would like to try it out, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a ping back, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.
As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a ping back from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.
Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”
The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:
Living is really only part of what we do on this planet, isn’t it? When you think that most things (and if you ask some, they’ll say all things) we do affects something or someone else, our “living” goes beyond just existence. Our attitude has a lot to do with how we affect other people … and other things. Are things any less important than people? It depends. The rock you kick down the street because your bored and you’re walking (have you ever kicked a rock all the way home from school or a friend’s house? I used to do it all the time as a kid) may not seem like much of a big deal. But if you get mad and kick it and it breaks a window, your attitude has affected a person, not just a thing. Unless the window is attached to an abandoned house, in which case it probably won’t matter to anyone. But what if you kicked every stone out of someone’s gravel driveway? Okay, I’m pushing it here, aren’t I?
So I’m making up a new word. We don’t just “live,” we “attitude.” Like it or not, my new word is “attituding” as in “Stop attituding!” Feel free to use it any time. My treat.
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