Perception and Reality

Perception and Reality©

By Michael Casey

I was wondering what to talk about today, then I thought what kind of week have I had.  It’s been a week of contrasts. I’ve been threatened on the Internet and condemned too. I’ve also received thanks and too much flattery. I also had somebody who’d lost the argument condemn my spelling. If all somebody can do is condemn spelling, or the fact that I’ve not self-corrected my words then proves how shallow they are.

I like to entertain with my writing, and amuse and sometimes make you all laugh out loud. Why am I using Palatino type now? Because the guy on New Girl mentioned it so I took a look and decided to use it.  I have used Bookman Old Type before but now I may switch to Palentino all because a failed writer character in a show on tv mentioned it. Though I must say New Girl is a great discovery in our house. I do see the irony about a failed writer….

Now where was I, when you talk to friends you may talk about X, Y and Z, or zee if you are American. But talking about that doesn’t mean you want to do that all your life or ever. It’s just a conversation, you don’t think a brigade of US Marines really wants to dress in drag and go for a night of drinking. If they were in Holland with their Dutch buddies then maybe, providing the Dutch Marines paid for all the drinks.

If they happened to be in England with our Royal Marines then you can take it for granted that anything goes. We do have a long tradition of men dressing up as women, especially in Panto. As for our special forces, they can and will dress up anyway they like and speak local languages perfectly. Their commanding officers know not to say a word, and as for how senior law firm partners dress up at Christmas you would never never ever believe me, and I’ve been at a major international law firm Christmas party.

We all say things not knowing that somebody else will misconstrue it, if you say you like cashmere you don’t expect a cashmere jumper to appear on your desk. I don’t go out to work, I have my computer desk, so nobody is going to email one to me. Size 46 to 48 blue, if anybody knows where to send it. I could say I like Stella Artois too, or Ck One but nobody is going to parachute from the sky and deliver it to my house, not unless it’s a drunken Marine in drag, or several doing it for a bet.

The point is, we may say something and somebody thinks you are asking. Look what happened to Thomas a’Becket after the King said “who will rid me of this turbulent priest” I could say who will rid me of this badly decorated house. Ikea and a band of decorators are not going to arrive and do a makeover of my house. Totoro our cat loves peeling off wallpaper by  biting the wall.

So on it goes. A girl may have a crush on you, but not know you are gay. Or a boy may have a crush on you, hoping you are gay. A girl may have a crush on you, but you may think her ugly. You may have a crush on a girl and she is ugly. So the merry-go-round of love and lust and desire goes on and on and on , and up and down, and any other positions you can think of.

In diplomacy the dance of words is even more complicated, and each word has nuances and shades of meanings. If you say NO, it can mean many many things. Especially if you have pedants and journalists over analysing each syllable, which sometimes happens when you post things online. I always say, write your own stuff, and don’t comment on mine, bore your own audience, not mine.