What is your happiest childhood memory? What makes it so special?
Wow, that's a difficult one. I have lots of happy childhood memories, of playing with my friends and with my parents, going to the amusement park and the zoo, and of course celebrations, like Christmas, and birthdays, but it's impossible to pick one particular memory over all others. I think, on the whole, the most beautiful memories, that I'll always treasure, are about feeling loved, feeling accepted, feeling that I was among friends. The reason for this is, I think, that I endured a lot of bullying at school. Exactly how much there was of it, I can't remember anymore, which is a kind of mercy. I do remember having the feeling, many times over, that these people, who I'm with now, they really like me, and they don't want to hurt me with words or actions. I felt, and still feel, the same way with animals. I love most animals, and they often like me in return. They never expect anything but kindness from anyone, and I think they don't go around feeling disappointment, or envy, or schadenfreude, or any of the nasty, uncomfortable feelings that humans have for each other.
Talking of that,
I think part of my nostalgia for times gone by, even times so close to the present as the 1980's. is based on the vague feeling that there was less of nastiness in popular culture back then. Of course movies, books, TV series and what have you have always portrayed nasty, and downright evil people. The difference is that we didn't have to regard them as heroes, because they were the bad guys. I like anti-heroes, people like Greg House of House M.D., or Alan Shore of Boston Legal, or even the movie version of Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List. The world isn't black and white, and it's interesting to read about, or to see, a person who isn't either a knight in shining armour or a beast in human form, but something inbetween. But anti-heroes are just the tip of the iceberg. There's a lot of nastiness going on around the internet, of course. Have you read the forum posts of some newspapers, for example? Even on message boards where you're required to post under your own name, there are comments that have to be seen to be believed. I don't think the people who wrote them would like to say the same things out loud, because the feedback would be immediate and painful. But it seems the confusion of nasty with humorous is spreading, and grown men and women, who ought to know better, talk and write in a style that reminds me of my bullies at school. It's becoming the cool thing, to be sarcastic, unforgiving of faults, arrogant and rude. I don't think I'm old enough to blame this feeling solely on my advanced years. The world is growing colder, society is harder for the down-and-outs, and there is less pity and humility, and simple kindess about, and I can't understand why. Times have been tough before, there have been more wars, more poor people, and less security. It's just not cool anymore, to be kind, to show compassion, or to think about others. And evidently, we think it's important to be cool.
I'm going to do something unusual tomorrow: I'm going to watch the opening of the Olympic Games with my parents. I just read in someone's blog about the Ravelympics, which is basically about challenging yourself to knit something out of your comfort zone, and to get it finished during the Olympics. I don't think I'll participate, because I don't have a TV at home, and so I can't watch any of the events (nor do I particularly want to, since I'm not a sports fan). I do have to think about something new to knit, though, because the vest isn't going to take much more of my time, once I get back to it. I left it at my parents and have been missing it a bit, but I'm looking forward to a joyful reunion tomorrow.
Talking of that,
I think part of my nostalgia for times gone by, even times so close to the present as the 1980's. is based on the vague feeling that there was less of nastiness in popular culture back then. Of course movies, books, TV series and what have you have always portrayed nasty, and downright evil people. The difference is that we didn't have to regard them as heroes, because they were the bad guys. I like anti-heroes, people like Greg House of House M.D., or Alan Shore of Boston Legal, or even the movie version of Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List. The world isn't black and white, and it's interesting to read about, or to see, a person who isn't either a knight in shining armour or a beast in human form, but something inbetween. But anti-heroes are just the tip of the iceberg. There's a lot of nastiness going on around the internet, of course. Have you read the forum posts of some newspapers, for example? Even on message boards where you're required to post under your own name, there are comments that have to be seen to be believed. I don't think the people who wrote them would like to say the same things out loud, because the feedback would be immediate and painful. But it seems the confusion of nasty with humorous is spreading, and grown men and women, who ought to know better, talk and write in a style that reminds me of my bullies at school. It's becoming the cool thing, to be sarcastic, unforgiving of faults, arrogant and rude. I don't think I'm old enough to blame this feeling solely on my advanced years. The world is growing colder, society is harder for the down-and-outs, and there is less pity and humility, and simple kindess about, and I can't understand why. Times have been tough before, there have been more wars, more poor people, and less security. It's just not cool anymore, to be kind, to show compassion, or to think about others. And evidently, we think it's important to be cool.
I'm going to do something unusual tomorrow: I'm going to watch the opening of the Olympic Games with my parents. I just read in someone's blog about the Ravelympics, which is basically about challenging yourself to knit something out of your comfort zone, and to get it finished during the Olympics. I don't think I'll participate, because I don't have a TV at home, and so I can't watch any of the events (nor do I particularly want to, since I'm not a sports fan). I do have to think about something new to knit, though, because the vest isn't going to take much more of my time, once I get back to it. I left it at my parents and have been missing it a bit, but I'm looking forward to a joyful reunion tomorrow.