A meme to change the world ...

First off ... Happy birthday Dad! 59 today ... wow.

My parents brought us up to have opinions about Stuff. It was a Very Good Thing.

I was recently chatting to Ms Melancholy about the way our hearts sink around people who just don't take an interest in the world. Working in the meedya, you come across an alarming number of people who don't really have any politics - not to say that they are central, moderate or balanced - but that they haven't ever really engaged with the discussions. Of course, you can find people who think that the way the world operates isn't really their problem in every walk of life (probably even politics!) but the combination of apathy and influence really bothers me.

I understand the value of a rigorous opposition ... I would rather someone held a view in opposition to mine than simply shrugged and turned to the sports / fashion pages. (In my world you need to reverse those gender stereotypes by the way - so that would be a female / male response ... ).

So. What to do?

Well, Ms M and I also had an interesting discussion about the mixed feelings that emerge when your underground passion becomes part of the mainstream world, as happened last summer to blogging.

Combining the two ideas in a reckless fashion I have decided that the electoral vote should be promoted to the status of a privilege rather than a right. In order to protect the system from political corruption, people will be selected and excluded on the basis of behaviours (not simply ideas) entirely without political basis. And I believe that bloggers are just the right people to make up the rules because if there is one thing we have in abundance, it's opinions!

So - here is my 'Rules for a new democratic process' meme. Please copy the existing text between the lines, and simply add your own, non-political criteria for the exclusion of people from the electoral roll. If you could include a link back to here, or post in the comments, then I will be able to track the progress of our strategic development and forward it to Gordon Brown / The United Nations forthwith.

Thank you.

----------------------------------------------------

Dear Gordon Brown,

We propose that the current apathetic attitude towards electoral responsibility could be resolved by the removal of a number of citizens from the electoral roll. We believe that this will create a sense of pride in being eligible to vote, just like back in the days when women had to throw themselves under horses in order to prove that they truly wanted to engage in the process. Whilst this practice was clearly effective, we believe the recent cuts in NHS A&E provision have created a climate in which it would be unviable to encourage people to go to such lengths to win their vote.

Instead, we propose that the following non-political behaviours be used as rules for the exclusion of people from the electoral roll. These rules have been gathered via a democratic consultation process that didn't cost any money, involve the hiring of large numbers of consultants, or require painting a special design on a double decker bus.

Many thanks for your time and attention,

Assorted Bloggers (as below)


For the purposes of the trimming of the electoral roll, the following behaviours should be grounds for exclusion:

1. Purchasing a 'Britney Spears on Pan Pipes' CD (or equivalent). - http://dailystraying.blogspot.com

Add your rule and your blog signature here ...

----------------------------------------------------

What I need ...

... is a bloody good meme!

I have been wanting to post this week, partly just to shuffle the last stuff down the page, but I have worked (no kidding) 62 hours in the last 4 days. 40 in 48 in the first couple of days. Luckily I love my work, and I still get such a thrill out of loading the software I've built onto my Nokia N73 and playing with it on my phone.

But yeah, creative juices? I've been thoroughly squeezed.

Still, there are people in life who you can rely on to get you outta this kind of jam - I simply shone a giant "M" into the sky and there he was: Maht of The Moon Topples.

He told me he'd been following on from lovely goodthomas, who was feeling kinda needy in a non-specific vague way ... and without a therapist to hand, decided to turn to the font-of-all-knowledge (Google) to assist in his quest.

So, he ran a google search on "Goodthomas needs", and came up with some quite stunning observations. Maht found it to be similarly soul searching, and so it was a little trepidation that I carefully typed ("Stray needs" -home) into my google search bar.

The intensity I felt was not misplaced. Unhinged perhaps, but entirely justified. My results are below, followed by links to Maht and GoodThomas's quest results, and I tag Caroline, Ms Melancholy, Badger, Dr But Why? and Ms Pants to dare run their own search. Believe me, it's better therapy than six weeks of CBT. I shall be further dissecting my own needs later today. One of them made me cry (though that could be the lack of sleep).

Good luck. Don't be afraid, Google knows your darkest secrets and loves you just the same.

Stray needs:

Stray needs loving home

Stray needs help by 7/29

Stray needs money to continue

Stray needs to pick up some steam

Stray needs straw but I have hay not straw

Stray needs rescuing and money is no object

Stray needs to see a vet ASAP

Stray needs someone to take care of him.

Stray needs to possess a soulful spark

Stray needs all the TLC she can get

Stray needs to compile small real-mode programs

Stray needs roof over head, well-stocked bar.

Stray needs to see this. she has a thing for hampsters.

Stray needs to be screened for leukemia and FIV

Stray needs to get her butt in gear

Stray needs lots of love, patience and time

Stray needs the light to hit it just right to be visible

Stray needs to post!

Stray needs languages

Stray needs a fan club

...

Goodthomas needs ...
The Moon Topples needs ...

Thin King Bloggers II

Ok, so this whole Thinking Blogger meme thingy is just another chain letter ... and it generates traffic for the originator and John Baker is a bit miffed about it (thanks to Aunty Caroline for the link).

But ... the thing is - I've paid a lot more in hard cash to feel as warm and fuzzy as I did writing my post and choosing my nominations last night. And I genuinely do feel that my attitude to the world today is all the better for it (thanks Ms. M, you truly are a great psychotherapist for prescribing it) and I have been reminded of just how much I appreciate the people who share themselves in blogland in such generous ways. Plus I had the added and truly therapeutic realisation that Blogging about the detail has made me more present in my life without having to attend a yoga class, chant or read any self-improvement books (which are surely just a distraction from being present in your life).

So, don't go spoiling my buzz please John. Ta.

Thin King Bloggers

Ms Melancholy not only tagged me with the 'Thinking Blogger' meme, she nicked all the best puns as well.

Apparently it's the brain child of Ilker Yolgas and we don't just get to pat ourselves on the back (or head, in my case - hazard of being under five feet tall) we get a sticker for our blogs and everything. The full list of rules and regs are here.

So, Ms Melancholy says my blog made her think. Think what? is a question she politely declined to answer. Possibly something about how she should really be getting on with the redecorating, and that it's amazing what mindless devotion a good-looking dog will show to a midget with a packet of bacon.

The thing about this blogging thing (I'm being serious now, please take your seats) is that you all make me think. Both the blogs I read, and the potential unknown reader, interact with my psychic space in ways I would never have imagined. I blog in my head. I comment in my head. I suspect that Ms. M may offer me some sort of treatment for this, but I probably can't afford it. I notice things around me because of what I am reading, and because I want to have things to write about. Tiny weeny interactions in the supermarket become potentially moving / poignant / funny / revealing anecdotes. That I never get round to writing them is at least half the fun.

Some of you make me think "Oh my god I am soooo crap at this writing stuff that I don't know why I bother ... ". Some make me think "If I am ever blessed with the insight of this individual I shall be truly happy / rich / suicidal ... ". There's a fair bit of envy and a hell of a lot of relief that it wasn't my cervix / testicle / cat / mother / child / car / bar mitzvah in the story. Thanks.

So - here are my nominations ...

... Best Screenplay: this too ... a fearless account in words and pictures, with honesty that stirs me every time I read.

... Best Sound-effects: Badger That ... a joyful reminder that being normal is nothing to aspire to.

... Best Script: Blaugustine ... a seriously philosophical artist, who informs me about politics, religion, the human condition and the joy of being just who you are.

... Best Actress Mad Harper ... an extraordinary performance in the face of adversity. (Mad's keyboard no longer has a letter J, and yet she writes 'ust brilliantly).

... Best Supporting Actress Hoarded Ordinaries ... the support bit being that Lorianne's ridiculously wise words pop me back on the kerb at very regular intervals. Wisdom, kindness and a good looking dog - she's got the whole package.

So - they can consider themselves tagged, and I spose I should tell them myself as well. I'm off now to look for my sticker ...

Sx

---

The participation rules are simple:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote.

5 things meme ...

So, way back on the 23rd of Jan 2007, Natalie of Blaugustine tagged me with a "Five Things You May Not Know About Me" meme ... and her wonderful responses are here.

So, um, yeah, after 8 weeks of procrastinating ...

1. On my 23rd birthday I climbed the Golden Gate Bridge, right to the top, accompanied by a structural engineer called Chip. Of course.

2. I have a condition known as heterochromia. This basically means I am a piebald. I have one dark brown eyebrow and one blonde one, eyelashes to match. I tan and freckle much more on one side of my face and body. I have some variation in the colour of my irises, but that's hard to spot because the eyebrows throw you off. People either notice and remark on this the very first time they meet me, or never tune in to it at all.

3. When I was a child I wanted to be a goal keeper. I also have a growth hormone disorder. The two are not compatible. Fortunately, when I was old enough to accept this kind of disappointment, my dad explained the harsh realities to me and we swapped places in front of the garage door and started working on my shooting instead. Ta dad.

4. A punk band, who I have never met, wrote and released a record about me.

5. I was a highly literate and numerate child, and very focussed on order and understanding things in their correct context, and making sure the grown ups around me did too. I once solemnly told my mother that I had the whole 'multiple births' thing sussed. One baby is a baby. Two are twins. Three are triplets. Four are quadruplets. And 5 are piglets. ... well, I wasn't that far wrong - was I?

Now I have to tag some peeps, so ... I tag ... Badger, Mad Harper and my new bestest blogging mate ... (ok, she's emailed me, twice, probably mostly out of politeness ... but she's now an international superstar of Shaggy Blog Stories fame ... so, that'll do me ... ) Ms Melancholy.