BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING ME!

That’s what it feels like, anyway. So I’m not allowed to say anything defamatory or inflammatory, and The Establishment will be all happy and friendly. Yay for euphemisms and untruths and suppression of freedom of speech!!!!! Still think you should create a new blog, Dorgo, even though you don’t read this. Create it under a pseudonym, like Cookie did! Then you can say whatever you like, about whomever you please! Doesn’t that sound fun?

Yeah, I’m somewhat upset. Well, it had to happen some time, although 3.5 upsettings in 1 day is a little rough, don’t ya think?

Tact. Honesty. Tact. Honesty. Tact honesty tact honesty tact honesty honesty. Honesty. Honesty wins, and I lose. *Sigh. I suppose that’s what you get for letting a very select group of people influence you...

Aaron, you’re a jerk and I hate you and you deserve to be abolished. Like an orgasm! Un-nonchalant enough for you?

Also, if anyone else reads this, besides my 3 fairly constants, it is not not not not true that Owen and I have managed to raise 7 grand in 4 months and are just getting, quote bonus money unquote, from the school. Idiots. You try raising 7 grand in 4 months.

Yeah, that’s it.

Bits and Pieces

Things of note that happened today:

• Had ‘love’ written on her arm, by Ewy.


• Was told to take up bodybuilding by her English teacher.


• Completed the Computer Skills test in something like 23 minutes, had her condescending support teacher check her test for another 5 just to ensure she hadn’t accidentally missed a question, left her phone in the conference Room and had it returned by him during Drama. The conversation went something like this:
  Him: Where’s your phone? (Probably whilst brandishing it smugly)
  Me: Oh! Thanks. (Embarrassed)
  Him: *Laughs* It’s ok.
  Deva: Is he your father?
  Me: *Insulted* No! How could you say such a thing!


• Was molested by Praween, it was adorable.


• Assaulted Sean. With a fan.


• Said something that, according to Sneha, was “quotable”. I merely pointed out that Owen rhymes with Bowen (or however you spell it!)

And on a more serious note... a couple of days ago we received our English Yearly marks. First of all, kudos to both Noor and Sneha for each getting an A! You deserved them, considering the amount of work you put in. But the responses of certain individuals left a lot to be desired.

Suffice to say, Sneha received a less than desirable mark for her other essay, and was berated by her teacher for it. ‘If you’d done what I told you to do, that could’ve been a 15!’ Something along those lines. Firstly, considering the fact that the other mark was a 13, I think encouragement was in order rather than disparaging remarks like that. It’s a teacher’s duty to be encouraging, to offset the horrid influence of parents. That’s my reasoning, anyway. Also, I’ll wager I spent far more time critiquing her essays than he did, and I’m happy enough with the outcome. True, if she did horribly (which she didn’t), it wouldn’t reflect badly on me, but maybe he should provide more constructive criticism instead of just... criticism.

Teachers, teachers, teachers. I’m probably being too critical myself, but within the past year I think I’ve seen the very best and the very worst, and it’s really given me perspective.

Update: I was just watching the news on some channel or other, and a particularly lengthy item featured the latest ‘thing’ in America, ‘man-gagement rings’. Pathetic. That’s commercial television for you.

I have recently (i.e. within the past few hours) developed my own way of differentiating a friend from an acquaintance. IMO, it has nothing to do with shared interests, goals, beliefs, senses of humour, the ability to keep up a decent conversation, the frequency of contact, or how much you like/respect that person. Don’t get me wrong, I do believe those things are relevant, but I think what really matters is how you feel about interacting with them. A friend is someone to whom you can freely express your opinions, without fear of being censured. They might disagree with you, but you won’t be afraid of that.

Vaguely related, people can be so... bellicose sometimes, and it really upsets me. I simply do not see the point of being aggressive towards someone for expressing their opinion, particularly with regard to criticism. I’m sure I do it as well, but why must people become so caustic if someone disagrees with, criticises or in any way annoys/offends them? I’m not aiming this at anyone in particular, but a lot of people do it, including some of my friends. It’s really sad, because a lot of those who do it are those who champion freedom of thought, speech and expression, and they’re undermining their own ideals, seemingly without realising it. Come on guys, since when did a question like “Is he white?” warrant a diatribe against racism, small-mindedness and discrimination? Why must the doctrine of “freedom of thought” have, “as long as your thoughts don’t offend or marginalise one single person in the entire world”, appended to it? By instantly condemning someone for thinking homosexuality is wrong, are we really promoting understanding and intelligent thought?

And as for criticism, my God some people can be childishly oversensitive. If someone says something about you that you don’t necessarily agree with or like, perhaps take it with a little grace? If you genuinely think it’s unwarranted abuse, turning the other cheek now and then wouldn’t go astray either. Isn’t that better than degeneration into petty arguments? Often the outcome is even worse than that, particularly if the critic isn’t ready to fight back (I’m looking at you, Aaron) and cops a load from the person they weren’t trying to offend. I think it really is a particularly imperceptible form of bullying, and it’s quite disgusting. And there are so many people I could name who do it. So many. Half of them are friends (or, perhaps, acquaintances) of mine.

Hmmm... I wonder how many people will hate me for my opinions in one week’s time.

P.S: if you think you know to whom I’m referring, please don’t mention their names in a comment.