Blossom's Blathering

What pushes your buttons or goes beyond the pail for you?

I pride myself on my good sense of humour, my dry droll wit and my appreciation of sarcasm and parody. My whole family is like this and we are indeed very sarcastic to each other and it has come to our attention that a lot of “outsiders” don’t see the affection behind this.

I like ads that tackle holy cows, I like Monty Python and “Life of Brian” is on of my all time favourite movies. Now I don’t like blasphemy, but consider this movie to be more aimed at mocking people and their sanctimonious piousness than mocking the Lord.

But ... in recent days I have found myself tested by none other than the latest red bull ad. You know the one? The super hero hears a woman crying for help, rushes to his fridge only to find that he is fresh out of red bull, so what does he do? He closes the window so he can’t hear her cries and turns and walks away.

I have had to sit down and try and analyse just why this ad doesn’t sit well with me and why I react so badly to it.

I think it has brought home to me the fact that we do this all the time as humans, we ignore cries for help in various scenarios on different levels from others, and I remembered the quote from Edmund Burke ... “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” ...

How often have you ignored some situation, some wrong being perpetrated, and someone’s cry for help because you “didn’t want to get involved, you felt inadequate, you felt it wasn’t your place” whatever... I know I have many times, and have always felt tremendously guilty not just (as they say) for things done, but more for things left undone.

But this ad goes a bit deeper for me and strikes a very personal chord. I have been a victim of crime, I have been in the situation when all I have been able to do is scream for help and I have seen people walk / drive past and not stop, and I know just how desperate and alone I have felt.

And I realise that this ad irks me so deeply because I totally identify with the victim. Which give rise to me thinking of all the times I have enjoyed a good joke at someone else’s expense solely because I haven’t identified with them on a personal level?

So what is the answer? I don’t want to lose my sense of humour, the ability to laugh at myself and others. It is after all a coping mechanism in a world that is just plumb crazy, and one that helps me keep my sanity. But maybe I just need to inject a level of thought, responsibility and respect before I join in the mirth, and maybe I need to step up to the plate when people go beyond the bounds and make a stand instead of doing nothing.

Would love to know what ads, jokes, situations are button pushers and beyond the pail for my fellow bloggers?

my blog on my web page: http://www.freewebs.com/auto-scribe-africa/

I yam what I yam

Hmm everyone is "blogging" nowadays, It's the in thing, gives us a chance to bare our souls, and to be amateur "journalists" documenting our thoughts for anyone who wishes to read them. This site of mine being a business site, I wondered at the wisdom of my including a blog, whether it would detract from my professionalism to let a little of the real me escape the bounds and confines of business. But what you see is what you get and why not "let it all hang out" so to speak.. As popeye would say, "I yam what I yam" And so, I will use my blogs, to discuss oh I don't know, almost anything.

Tonight for instance, my web page is my topic, whether it is too colourful, to much information, should it be more stereo-typed and mono-chromatic. My one friend has advised me, to advertise only one service instead of the whole lot just in case I put people off by "offering" too much. My point is this, I am colourful and whimsical, I dare to be a little different, I like to push the boundaries. I spent the first 40 years of my life being that dull grey little mouse and it got me exactly ??? "nowhere" Of course often in my life when I have pushed the boundaries, they have caved in and I have fallen over with an awful bump hurting other people around me in the process sometimes. In fact I think my theme song shoud be "Tub thumping " by Chumbawumba , you know the one? " I get knocked down but I get up again, you ait never gonna keep me down"

However, I digress. My web page reflects me, and if you aren't attracted to me for who I am then we probably aren't going to do business together anyway. The wise and savvy marketer and sales person will tell you that it doesn't actually matter what product you are selling, if you are a good sales person you could sell anything from toilet roll to gold bars and your clients would buy because they are buying you and what you represent and portray to them. The actual product is often incidental .

AS for putting all my "washing" out at one time, well again that is me. I have and am actively pursuing multiple streams of income instead of putting all my eggs into one basket. (Eissshhh am I on a roll where metaphors are concerned tonight or what?) I do not apologise for this. Having multiple sources of income does not mean that I cannot cope or that I pay more attention in some directions than in other. Life is a glorious, rich O.T.T. juggling act, and yes sometimes things get a bit wobbly, and sometimes I may drop a few balls and have to start all over again, but for me it is better than being a grey nine to five drone who has to play "dummy" to some employer who likes being a puppet master.

So ........ if you are looking at my site from a business potential, be encouraged rather than discouraged by my colour, my ingenuity, my originality. I am a professional and I offer a very professional service whatever it is that I am doing. You would get nothing but the highest quality work from me

My Africa
by Gillian P Stokes
________________________________________

Come to my land to feel her warmth.
Come to my land to hear her myriad voices.
Come to my land to see her many magical colours.
Africa the shape changer, the chameleon,
Africa, different things to different people
Never ever dull or commonplace.

Merge with her, become one with her
Feel her joys and her sorrows
Feed on her abundances and
Weep at her devastation and famine.
She is the mother of mankind
The cradle of civilisation.

A multi-layered lady, feel her deep rhythms
Her primordial throb as vital as a heart beat.
Hear her sound images vibrating.
Smell her odours, from the seashore
To the deserts, to the lush green rain forests,
To the high snow capped mountain ranges.

She is a wanton, fickle, ever changing mistress.
She will seduce you, draw you in and
Enslave you forever. The call of Africa is
A siren's call, a savannah lore lei.
She has bartered for the souls of mankind
Since the world evolved and time began.

The promise of land, the lure of precious
Metals and gems, the domination of the beasts,
The beckoning of vast uninhabited spaces.
Man has come to conquer her, make her his.
Instead she enters your blood like a fever,
A sickness that will never leave,

No matter how far you travel from her,
And no matter how you try to leave her behind,
Wherever you roam, she will forever more
Call to you to return to her embrace.
This Africa is life; she is the alpha and omega,
This is my Africa

We all have those days I'm sure when we feel defeated by life, and today is one of those for me. When I am having a bad day I go through this cycle of self-pity and then guilt because surely I have no right to the self- pity, and yes realy do try to count my blessings, because I know I am blessed. I know too there are those who have troubles that make mine pale into insignificance. Without being facetious I truly wonder at and admire those people who like staunch troupers take all the really sour lemons that life throws at them and make the most wonderful lemonade out of it.... Now perhaps if I were to think in terms of life throwing hops at me, or sour mash......... hmmm.... No tonight I am having one of those days (actually one of those lifetimes) where I am just overwhelmed by my life and my circumstances, I think that Winston Churchill and I have a pet in common at the moment the "black dog". I choose to wallow tonight, I choose to have a huge big "pity-party" , as the words of the song go "it's my party and I'll cry if I want to." Self indulgent or not I don't want to be chivvied out of my doldrums, in fact I think that if any cheerfull "life's full of rainbows and sunshine" person crossed my path right now, I would put my foot out and trip them up. Sooooooooo am going to go off and do my wallowing and comiserate with myself. And...... when it's over I'll put on my outside happy face again , throw my bag of woes over my shoulder and press on regardless, cos that's what we do in life hmmm?

So here I am in Durban South Africa. Loaded on blog courtesy of my good friend Ian Thorpe from the UK. Have always wanted a place where I cna freely air my thoughts et al and now seem to be stumped!! More later...............