Only after I'd posted yesterday did I realize how appropriate the subject of gifts was, seeing as the 6th January is the Three Kings Day. Epiphany.
When I went on facebook I discovered something very different. That was, that the 6th January has been deemed the most depressing day in the year!! Huh? Who said? And in any case, I thought that was supposed to be in February sometime.
I discovered that it was some kind of alcoholic drinks board that made the proclamation. Sad, really. And if you did happen to be in a bad space, would it be helpful to know this was a depressing day, or would that simply make things worse?
So that's it for today. Just a short post to put in my two cents.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Monday, January 6, 2014
Presents
'What did you get for Christmas?
This was an important question when I was a child, and a good opening conversational gambit.
Presents, I guess, come in various categories: the fun, the useful, the entertaining, and of course the 'what on earth am I going to do with this?' kind. Fortunately, I receive very few of those. If any.
This year my husband and I were on our own for Christmas and we didn't exchange gifts. However, we agreed to buy ourselves a new toaster. One morning last week, off he went to run some errands. And he returns triumphantly with said new toaster. Fine. You know how it is. Go into a store, remember that this is what we need, take a look at what's on offer and buy what seems most suitable. Whereas me, I would have done some research, price-wise and design wise before making a choice. But I guess that's the gender difference, isn't it?
Still, it's not totally true when I say that we didn't get any gifts, because (also last week) a friend arrived with a shiny bag filled with three different treats: tiny chocolates, a box of special tea and some Weleda rose body products for me. How truly delightful!
Some people, it seems to me, are simply brilliant at gift buying and giving. But me, I largely lack the skill, with the exception of the occasional flash of inspiration or stroke of good shopping luck.
I suppose we've all felt that sense of gratification and gladness when a present hits the right note -- often one of surprise, certainly one of delight.
So what's the secret? I suspect the answer is quite complex. Once you've decided on a budget or, if it's a craft, a time investment, maybe it goes something like this: observe the person you wish to give a present to, think about them and get a glimpse into his or her soul. Then keep your feelers alert and search both outwardly and inwardly for what this person would like.
This was an important question when I was a child, and a good opening conversational gambit.
Presents, I guess, come in various categories: the fun, the useful, the entertaining, and of course the 'what on earth am I going to do with this?' kind. Fortunately, I receive very few of those. If any.
This year my husband and I were on our own for Christmas and we didn't exchange gifts. However, we agreed to buy ourselves a new toaster. One morning last week, off he went to run some errands. And he returns triumphantly with said new toaster. Fine. You know how it is. Go into a store, remember that this is what we need, take a look at what's on offer and buy what seems most suitable. Whereas me, I would have done some research, price-wise and design wise before making a choice. But I guess that's the gender difference, isn't it?
Still, it's not totally true when I say that we didn't get any gifts, because (also last week) a friend arrived with a shiny bag filled with three different treats: tiny chocolates, a box of special tea and some Weleda rose body products for me. How truly delightful!
Some people, it seems to me, are simply brilliant at gift buying and giving. But me, I largely lack the skill, with the exception of the occasional flash of inspiration or stroke of good shopping luck.
I suppose we've all felt that sense of gratification and gladness when a present hits the right note -- often one of surprise, certainly one of delight.
So what's the secret? I suspect the answer is quite complex. Once you've decided on a budget or, if it's a craft, a time investment, maybe it goes something like this: observe the person you wish to give a present to, think about them and get a glimpse into his or her soul. Then keep your feelers alert and search both outwardly and inwardly for what this person would like.
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Words, words, words
Well hello there! Yes, I'm back, literally as well as digitally. It's almost a week since I returned from two and a half months (!!) of far-flung travels. More about those later, as I'm still picking up the threads of my life. Long-distance travel, especially when it's between hemispheres, always turns me upside down for a while. But you might find my experiences of living off the grid quite fun.
Reading emails and a few blogs while I was away got me to thinking about how our language is changing, and I'm wondering if it's time to simply accept that we're going to simplify. No use rolling the eyes, or getting even a little bit irritated when, for instance, the writer neglects to differentiate between the various uses of '2'.
I mean, to, two and too. So you might read, 'will you be there to?' Well, I knew what was meant, didn't I? And typing makes it easy to make mistakes. I do it to. Although a sentence such as, 'Are you going to town to?' will probably always look wrong to me.
The question is, does it matter?
I'm not sure.
The other one we see a lot of, is of course 'your' instead of 'you're' as an abbreviation of 'you are'. Having recently acquired a smart phone, I've discovered that getting a correctly typed message onto the screen is actually quite difficult.
Then there are those circular emails that show us the human brain can decipher a message even when the words have mixed up letters.
Hmmm. Okay. We'll see how things go. I just hope I can stop myself from going digital and always writing 2 and 4 instead of to, two and too, and for, four, as I've been tending to do when writing notes to myself.
Bad Brenda!
Reading emails and a few blogs while I was away got me to thinking about how our language is changing, and I'm wondering if it's time to simply accept that we're going to simplify. No use rolling the eyes, or getting even a little bit irritated when, for instance, the writer neglects to differentiate between the various uses of '2'.
I mean, to, two and too. So you might read, 'will you be there to?' Well, I knew what was meant, didn't I? And typing makes it easy to make mistakes. I do it to. Although a sentence such as, 'Are you going to town to?' will probably always look wrong to me.
The question is, does it matter?
I'm not sure.
The other one we see a lot of, is of course 'your' instead of 'you're' as an abbreviation of 'you are'. Having recently acquired a smart phone, I've discovered that getting a correctly typed message onto the screen is actually quite difficult.
Then there are those circular emails that show us the human brain can decipher a message even when the words have mixed up letters.
Hmmm. Okay. We'll see how things go. I just hope I can stop myself from going digital and always writing 2 and 4 instead of to, two and too, and for, four, as I've been tending to do when writing notes to myself.
Bad Brenda!
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