About half of the people that I have known to go to a school reunion, have regretted it. I’ve often heard it said that once back in those circles, the old childlike circles form, including the role of bullies and bullied. It’s a shame. I’ve never been to one, but although in a way it does appeal to me, another part of me wonders whether the past is best left there in some circumstances.
I was only bullied very very briefly by one person who actually was there but has changed so dramatically it was not an issue. But you are absolutely right, Helen, re childlike circles and mind sets still playing a part.
There are no regrets on my part though my objectives were a little different when I organised my one and only effort. With us all getting older, I was a little worried about those who might have health or financial problems (perhaps I was thinking selfishly too, who knows?) and I thought since we all knew each relatively well once, that we could form a support group. It never happened and I let it drop.
But I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little miffed that, despite meeting up and/or maintaining a loose kind of contact with many over these years, there was still this barrier – though I felt more for those who felt continuing hurt and I don’t think they will ever lose that hurt now. Hence the ripples of sadness etc.
I can honestly say that if someone in my year organised a reunion, I would not go. I hated school, and I’ve not kept in touch with anyone from that era. Still, it would be nice if someone would organise such a thing so that I could snub the cool kids 😉
Having said that, I wouldn’t be able to resist a sneaky look at the pics afterwards.
@Mike Heheh! My curiosity does have a tendency to get the better of me but I’m sure you are not the only one to feel that way.
Last time of trying to see if Gravatar works (properly).
Hi Euphrosene,
You should be seeing the blue Gravatar logo now (I changed the Discussion Settings). You need to set up your avatar now at gravatar.com.
Shout if you need help.
Cheers,
Tracy
Heh! It’s the blue one I loathe, Tracy.
I set up my Gravatar account to use one of my paintings but still it shows up as that awful blue one, hence changing it to none at all :^/
Cheers Euphrosene
Hi Euphrosene,
Should all be fixed now. It was the ‘ratings’ setting on your image at Gravatar.
Cheers,
Tracy
Just had a swift look over at Gravatar and still can’t see any ratings :^/
But great that it’s working again :^)
Cheers Euphrosene
Ignore that last one. I get the ‘ratings’ now.
Thanks for this. Unfortunately, the way the excerpt appears, if I put a title (catchy or otherwise) it makes the rest read strangely. Same goes for the Twitter link. Cheers Euphrosene
Just testing to see if the comments closed is no longer closed :/
Another one to open up comments – which seems to have strangely closed itself ??
Planning on doing a kind of cartoon strip so this is really a test to see if it is readable and if I can really fit in a salient point (obviously relating to my human experience) with so few words.
Hello Euphrosene, this is so unlike what I read about your visit to Autchwiz. Here there is a feeling of ‘ revisited ‘ under duress , not only the travel hassles but also the sadness of spoiling a happy memory. I hope your prayer for yourself at the tomb, ( you are looking very well and pretty ) is answered. btw. LOVELY sketches ! <3 Mosey.
Thanks Mo!
I think the ‘duress’ may have been from taking the holiday at that particular time. My Facebook feed was filled with photos of various holidays whereas I was here working, and attempting blocking out tactics re you know who. Hence the up and off sense but still attached to a purpose – as I travel alone.
So glad you liked it and the sketches (and me!).
xx
Strewth, Euphrosene! Proof, please. It’s ALTAR!!!
Interesting point to ponder – I think neither like for like or counter-balance – I suppose, literally, the best word is “balanced” implying that both aspects are equal.
Using a set of scales as the image, completely differing things can be put on each side, but a balance can be achieved if both have equal mass – similarly, using a piece of paper as the reference two completely different things can have the same size but different colours – etc etc
The ghastly thought of imminent human extinction and the criteria for selection for a colonising spaceship fills me with images of bankers and those with a belief in their own preferential “entitlement” filling it – how I long to see them all go as they are the ones destroying this planet anyway so there then may be a better chance for the rest of us (as in Ben Eltons’ book Stark)
Selection for a new planet? it cannot matter, we all have the same heritage, genes etc, just make sure no one gets on with a laptop or mobile phone
Hi Tony 🙂
Am guessing those of us past child-bearing age would be at the bottom of any queues unless we have skills sets of some description that are needed. Wisdom of course has a valid weight re balance.
I doubt wealth would be a criterion as should such a massive catastrophe ever happen, then money per se would also disappear. Gold, maybe not.
In all honesty, part of my pondering was also due to the endless flow of posts re everyone being equal and marriage… which of course has multiple underlying layers of equality or non-equality.
No real answers as yet though my gut is being firmly opinionated ;^)
Aha – here is the comment I thought vaporised
Answers – who would be chosen depends on who does the choosing – obviously the choosers would define characteristics they considered important themselves, which implies these choosers are people who like catagorising and listing things and have a self image which is likely to be biased towards areas of activity they themselves are comfortable with – also using “logic” implanted by their own indoctrinations – I am sure the “token” artist, poet and radical thinker would be included as a “balance” but skills and academic strengths would likely be weighted for the others – childbearing would not be needed as eggs etc can be carried, only intact petri dishes and wombs would be needed for that – same for the men – I vote for hairdressers and people who do nails, massage feet and make marmalade – if a futurer ace developed from these it would be identical to what we have today, but possibly not so violent and certainy with better taste nd appearance
You are assuming that the new planet will be full of mod cons to enable in vitro etc Or indeed that the conditions would be suitable for anything that fragile to survive.
Doctors and scientists with a philosopher and mystic would be in my top ten ;^)
Ah such arrogance! Who knows? Certainly not you nor I.
Aside: the possessiveness of what passes for knowledge – as if only one person can possibly know what is truth – never fails to bemuse me. God is vast and omnipotent and in God anything and everything can be ‘true’ – for that person.
Thank you for sharing those thoughts. Brought back memories of the care my mother received at Salisbury hospital.
A very interesting post well written and presented.
An area of interest to me, thank you.
Cheer Chris!
PS I forgot, I have had an out of body experience – standing upright in a car park in Guildford!
Since this post, I subsequently discovered he has been accused of harassing a couple of women with his pervy DMs. A friend of one posted his comments for all to see – but oddly his Twitter women didn’t notice or comment. I was blocked on that account and the info came to me via a third party.
I understand this happened at least once more with another, possibly twice more, and he deleted that account totally including all tweets.
A subsequent account was also ‘suspended’.
The current one now occasionally appears in my feed as he has been avidly picking up presumably where he left off but not with the ones he sexually targeted.
Ugh. Going to have words with my God again.
FYI Why I included the photos:
It’s because I would rather be the one to put them in the public domain than him or anyone else. And to show that they were and are fairly innocuous as socmed photos go.
If anyone reads the whole post, wondering why the various mentions of Eastern Europeans, it was around the time of the great mass migration from Soviet bloc countries where they had never seen dark people and were either rudely curious or patronising. Horrible either way.
About half of the people that I have known to go to a school reunion, have regretted it. I’ve often heard it said that once back in those circles, the old childlike circles form, including the role of bullies and bullied. It’s a shame. I’ve never been to one, but although in a way it does appeal to me, another part of me wonders whether the past is best left there in some circumstances.
I was only bullied very very briefly by one person who actually was there but has changed so dramatically it was not an issue. But you are absolutely right, Helen, re childlike circles and mind sets still playing a part.
There are no regrets on my part though my objectives were a little different when I organised my one and only effort. With us all getting older, I was a little worried about those who might have health or financial problems (perhaps I was thinking selfishly too, who knows?) and I thought since we all knew each relatively well once, that we could form a support group. It never happened and I let it drop.
But I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little miffed that, despite meeting up and/or maintaining a loose kind of contact with many over these years, there was still this barrier – though I felt more for those who felt continuing hurt and I don’t think they will ever lose that hurt now. Hence the ripples of sadness etc.
I can honestly say that if someone in my year organised a reunion, I would not go. I hated school, and I’ve not kept in touch with anyone from that era. Still, it would be nice if someone would organise such a thing so that I could snub the cool kids 😉
Having said that, I wouldn’t be able to resist a sneaky look at the pics afterwards.
@Mike Heheh! My curiosity does have a tendency to get the better of me but I’m sure you are not the only one to feel that way.
Last time of trying to see if Gravatar works (properly).
Hi Euphrosene,
You should be seeing the blue Gravatar logo now (I changed the Discussion Settings). You need to set up your avatar now at gravatar.com.
Shout if you need help.
Cheers,
Tracy
Heh! It’s the blue one I loathe, Tracy.
I set up my Gravatar account to use one of my paintings but still it shows up as that awful blue one, hence changing it to none at all :^/
Cheers Euphrosene
Hi Euphrosene,
Should all be fixed now. It was the ‘ratings’ setting on your image at Gravatar.
Cheers,
Tracy
Just had a swift look over at Gravatar and still can’t see any ratings :^/
But great that it’s working again :^)
Cheers Euphrosene
Ignore that last one. I get the ‘ratings’ now.
Thanks for this. Unfortunately, the way the excerpt appears, if I put a title (catchy or otherwise) it makes the rest read strangely. Same goes for the Twitter link. Cheers Euphrosene
And talking of extinct human species and cyborgs, an interesting piece on being in a computer simulation: http://www.washington.edu/news/2012/12/10/do-we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-uw-researchers-say-idea-can-be-tested/
Just testing to see if the comments closed is no longer closed :/
Another one to open up comments – which seems to have strangely closed itself ??
Planning on doing a kind of cartoon strip so this is really a test to see if it is readable and if I can really fit in a salient point (obviously relating to my human experience) with so few words.
Hello Euphrosene, this is so unlike what I read about your visit to Autchwiz. Here there is a feeling of ‘ revisited ‘ under duress , not only the travel hassles but also the sadness of spoiling a happy memory. I hope your prayer for yourself at the tomb, ( you are looking very well and pretty ) is answered. btw. LOVELY sketches ! <3 Mosey.
Thanks Mo!
I think the ‘duress’ may have been from taking the holiday at that particular time. My Facebook feed was filled with photos of various holidays whereas I was here working, and attempting blocking out tactics re you know who. Hence the up and off sense but still attached to a purpose – as I travel alone.
So glad you liked it and the sketches (and me!).
xx
Strewth, Euphrosene! Proof, please. It’s ALTAR!!!
Interesting point to ponder – I think neither like for like or counter-balance – I suppose, literally, the best word is “balanced” implying that both aspects are equal.
Using a set of scales as the image, completely differing things can be put on each side, but a balance can be achieved if both have equal mass – similarly, using a piece of paper as the reference two completely different things can have the same size but different colours – etc etc
The ghastly thought of imminent human extinction and the criteria for selection for a colonising spaceship fills me with images of bankers and those with a belief in their own preferential “entitlement” filling it – how I long to see them all go as they are the ones destroying this planet anyway so there then may be a better chance for the rest of us (as in Ben Eltons’ book Stark)
Selection for a new planet? it cannot matter, we all have the same heritage, genes etc, just make sure no one gets on with a laptop or mobile phone
Hi Tony 🙂
Am guessing those of us past child-bearing age would be at the bottom of any queues unless we have skills sets of some description that are needed. Wisdom of course has a valid weight re balance.
I doubt wealth would be a criterion as should such a massive catastrophe ever happen, then money per se would also disappear. Gold, maybe not.
In all honesty, part of my pondering was also due to the endless flow of posts re everyone being equal and marriage… which of course has multiple underlying layers of equality or non-equality.
No real answers as yet though my gut is being firmly opinionated ;^)
Aha – here is the comment I thought vaporised
Answers – who would be chosen depends on who does the choosing – obviously the choosers would define characteristics they considered important themselves, which implies these choosers are people who like catagorising and listing things and have a self image which is likely to be biased towards areas of activity they themselves are comfortable with – also using “logic” implanted by their own indoctrinations – I am sure the “token” artist, poet and radical thinker would be included as a “balance” but skills and academic strengths would likely be weighted for the others – childbearing would not be needed as eggs etc can be carried, only intact petri dishes and wombs would be needed for that – same for the men – I vote for hairdressers and people who do nails, massage feet and make marmalade – if a futurer ace developed from these it would be identical to what we have today, but possibly not so violent and certainy with better taste nd appearance
You are assuming that the new planet will be full of mod cons to enable in vitro etc Or indeed that the conditions would be suitable for anything that fragile to survive.
Doctors and scientists with a philosopher and mystic would be in my top ten ;^)
Ah such arrogance! Who knows? Certainly not you nor I.
Aside: the possessiveness of what passes for knowledge – as if only one person can possibly know what is truth – never fails to bemuse me. God is vast and omnipotent and in God anything and everything can be ‘true’ – for that person.
Thank you for sharing those thoughts. Brought back memories of the care my mother received at Salisbury hospital.
If you want to see some of the photos, here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/pg/EuphroseneLabonArtAndBooks/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1439594446098552
NB July 2016
Testing testing
Aside: rashes have gone down a little but still sneezing a LOT. It’s like late Autumn out there but pollen is still high.
This is the John Denver tune that was playing in my head as I wrote that post: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv6sRsVsn3g
Testing testing
A very interesting post well written and presented.
An area of interest to me, thank you.
Cheer Chris!
PS I forgot, I have had an out of body experience – standing upright in a car park in Guildford!
Since this post, I subsequently discovered he has been accused of harassing a couple of women with his pervy DMs. A friend of one posted his comments for all to see – but oddly his Twitter women didn’t notice or comment. I was blocked on that account and the info came to me via a third party.
I understand this happened at least once more with another, possibly twice more, and he deleted that account totally including all tweets.
A subsequent account was also ‘suspended’.
The current one now occasionally appears in my feed as he has been avidly picking up presumably where he left off but not with the ones he sexually targeted.
Ugh. Going to have words with my God again.
FYI Why I included the photos:
It’s because I would rather be the one to put them in the public domain than him or anyone else. And to show that they were and are fairly innocuous as socmed photos go.
If anyone reads the whole post, wondering why the various mentions of Eastern Europeans, it was around the time of the great mass migration from Soviet bloc countries where they had never seen dark people and were either rudely curious or patronising. Horrible either way.