Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Barf on a Blog!

When I started my blog it was a bit of an experiment to see if I could do it. The things that I posted were really just for my own benefit, to get them out of my head so to speak. I could compare it to puking on the pavement after drinking too much on a night out.
So when people started visiting to read my posts and comment on them it was a bit like having passers-by stop to examine the curbside chunder and admire the chunks. This is where things get quantum on us, observation changing the thing observed and all that.
I found myself impelled to re-arrange the diced carrots in my verbal vomit in an attempt to make them more pleasing to the eye. What is the point of this sick aside? You may well ask, and quite right to!
The point is that if I see my posts as a form of artfully arranged spew then what are memes?
Memes my friends are the equivalent of someone else throwing-up, collecting the resultant mess in a bag and passing it on to their fellow bloggers to see what they can make of it.
That said I will now proceed to re-hash Sugar Smack’s regurgitations passed to me this morning in an airline sick bag cunningly disguised as a comment on one of my posts.

Here it is: The Education Meme

What was the name of the teacher that was most influential in your life from grades K through 6?
I have barely started and I’m breaking the mold already because I am going to name 2 teachers. The first one was called Neville and I can’t remember his surname because we used to call him Neville the Notorious Noodle Nosher, I think my sister Pauline came up with the name and looking at it now I may have inadvertently stumbled upon the root cause of my fondness for alliteration (thanks Pol). The reason I remember him is because he was my first “crush” I must have been all of eight years old at the time. He played the guitar and sang to us!
My second choice is Mr. Dewhurst. He was a God among pedagogs in my view and I credit him with my appreciation of classical music, my love of nature, my enthusiasm for the written word and my interest in the arts in general. He also taught me to add up so he was pretty useful. I still think of him when I stop to listen to birdsong even though I haven’t seen him in thirty years.

What subject did you favor in high school?
Here we go again. The only subjects I didn’t like were athletics (because I sucked), cooking (because it was too easy) and sewing. I still hate sewing. The teachers were all shriveled up old bitches (up yours Miss Fowl!!) .

Did you attend a university and if so, did you attain a degree?
No and no.

Do you learn best through books, by watching, or hands-on?
When I get my hands on a book I watch the words dancing on the page.
OK, I’ll behave now. I think this depends on what is being learnt and not who is learning it.
Though I have met people who might as well be blind, illiterate double amputees judging by what they know.

Has education been an ongoing process for you?
How do you feel about that?
Learning and self improvement are ongoing processes that should continue throughout life (unless you are a blind, illiterate double amputee). Education on the other hand is a euphemism for processing human beings so that they fit neatly into boxes and become “useful” members of society. I am not well educated.

What seven people are you tagging to do this?
Now let’s see, who do I want to piss off on this fine spring morning?

Mona. She could put an extra twist in a corkscrew.
Charles. He likes putting things in boxes when he isn’t torturing cats.
Tina. She never gets angry with me.
Michael. Keep it in the family.
S. Revenge for Rufus on the wrong day.
And now for the mad bit the next and last tag is a blog that I don’t know from Adam which I found by hitting the “next blog” button until I found something that wasn’t in Italian, religious, political or pornographic. It took a while I can tell you!

Lost in Suburbia

31 comments:

Queenie said...

You also had a Miss Fowl?
My Miss Fowl was the needlework teacher, I hated her. She made me unpick all the sewing I ever did. Needless to say I won't even stitch a button on now. Do these people realise the damage, they've done to my partner!!!

Logophile said...

Oh dear, the trauma of education.
Rufus on the wrong day, the horror!
Must go spew now after the mental image of your fiddling with piles of chunks on the sidewalk, thanks for THAT!
:p

Blancodeviosa said...

wow, i'm hungry since you put it that way!

Anonymous said...

For the longest time I couldn't figure out what meme stood for(I'm a slow lurner).
Who starts these things anyway?
Does some anonymous blogger sit in a dark room trying to come up with blogger infomania?
Could it be Dick Cheney bored from sitting behind his desk in the backroom 3 doors down from the Oval Office?
"I CAN'T find the redphone, there's too many brooms and mops in here"
I think it's funny Bush sent Cheney to Iraq during the Queen's visit.LMAO sort of the equivilent of sending weird Uncle Harry to the TV room with a paperplate during family dinners.
ps..I enjoyed reading your answers.
tc

Anonymous said...

btw, my comments regarding meme's are in no way directed toward Sugar Smack but meme's in general.
tc

Charles said...

Hmmm. Its kind of perceptive of you to say what you did about me. When I was very little, and didn't know any better (I've learned since then,) I put a cat in a Cheese Nips box. I'll take your challenge.

lime said...

oh i do like this repackaged verbal chunder. such lovely carrot chunks....

i especially like your comment on what education is...

and LMAO at tc.....weird uncle harry *snort*

Queenie said...

Forgot to ask,why no tomatoe skins?

Sugar Smacks said...

I was very amused reading your education answers Cathy. Not only because they are sparklingly funny, but because I derive pleasure from others' meme torture.

However, I am remorseful. If I get tagged again, I won't tag you or my other blog "neighbours" but instead resort to my handy new default list of tag-ees: Rupaul, Rosie O'Donnell, Star Jones, David Caruso, Condoleezza Rice and Pamela Anderson.

Let's see what they do with it (she says with mad twinkle in eye).

val said...

You have such a lovely way with words! All very visual, too. Here's something from my sick bag.

I used to work with someone who made celebratory cakes as a sideline, and she brought us in some photos of her creations. One was iced with the words "Pissed again" and had a female figure face-down on some steps with a pool of vomit - complete with carrot pieces - surrounding her.

Yum!

Antonio said...

What a colorful post Cathy. It reminded me of a picture I saw circulating around on the internet a while ago. It was a very lovely girl in a very short skirt passed out on the sidewalk. She had vomit all around her and had obviously just lost her dinner but her friends had hiked her skirt up to show that she wasn't wearing panties before they took her picture. What are friends for? Great post Cathy.

Antonio

In Ink said...

Neville Moss. And wasn't it Miss Fowler (Ol' Foul Fowler)?

And you can't tag someone on your own blog...you keep swinging and missing girl.

Mohamed Karolia said...

Hey Cathy sorry about commenting on the wrong blog lol heheh.

cathy said...

queenie, Aargh! Foul miss Fowl was a needlework teacher, CLONES!!!!
Tomato skins go without saying

logophile, no chewing the lumps.

blancodeviosa, umm thanks, I think.

top cat,I traced one back to source once, the links are still in my sidebar.Strangely enough all the links except the original have become regulars for me. This broom cupboard smells a bit musty.
Don't worry about sugar she's cool.

charles,I'm waiting with "baited" breath.

lime,I liked your fish comment on Logo's. Don't sit on unkle Harry's knee whatever you do!

Sugar smacks, I've been looking for a platform for that sick aside for weeks. you did me a favour.

val, Imagine chewing on a piece of that,eewww!

Mona said...

Ok me Dunnit & Charles dunnit too!

ann said...

... it's funny how there's carrot bits even if you haven't eaten carrots

I'm surprised your ab fab fav subject wasn't English since you have such a great way with words...

lotsa luv ann xxxx

Travis Cody said...

Your writing is engaging and I'm generally intrigued by your ideas and the way you present them.

G-Man said...

Ya know Cathy, I hate memes myself...
But I actually liked this one. Most of them are way too voyeuristic and stupid!
Good Job....Galen xo

In Ink said...

I did it. I feel dirty but it's done. Now I just want to forget.

Elaine Denning said...

I had some God awful teachers at school...but then there was Mr Cox.
Oh. My. God.
I think I need to go and cool off....

cathy said...

antonio,I saw that in a post advising young women against excessive drinking. Personally I'm choosy about my friends and always wear cast iron knickers when I'm drinking.

michael, Gottcha! Yes it was fowler but I only remembered the foul bit. LOL

k-man, you are forgiven:)

mona, yes you did. Now you're trolling on your own blogs at least.

ann, are you a Billy Conelly fan too?

travis, that's a very polite comment. Thankyou very much.

g-man,Like I told sugar I've been trying to work the blog barf idea into a post for a while. The meme was a goood platform.

michael, I saw. I'd forgotten about Miss Longton. You're right though she was brilliant. She taught me to play the recorder, LOL

miss understood, I can honestly say that I didn't have any bad teachers except for Miss Anderton, the sports mistress in high school.
and of course those sewing biddies.

puerileuwaite said...

Disturbing. I like it.

In Ink said...

You called that playing huh? I still have the earplugs I used to wear when you were practicing.

p.s. Remember. Don't feed the trolls.

Schmoop said...

We HAD to take a class in 8th grade that part of it required sewing an apron...I would have gotten an F (which I should have) on it, but my teacher said that because she liked me she would pass me with a D-. That was nice. Cheers!!

Kilroy_60 said...

I must say, I LOVE it! I was drinking Heinekens all night when I spewed those questions. 8-)

I especially liked the breaking the mold; you know it was cracked coming out of the factory.

cathy said...

puerileuwaite, You like being disturbed?

michael, Practise makes perfect.

matt-man, A nice sewing teacher? It beggers belief!

Kilroy 60, Just popped over to yours, the pics are nice. Could you answer our friend's question about meme writers and broom cupboards. Are you perhaps the vice president in disguise?

In Ink said...

Oooo....you got a spelling correction in damnit.

Nobody is perfect, so so why did you practiSe so much? Huh??

Maybe it is genetic...I learned to play bass badly. Just wishing you were there to hear it but you can't have everything I guess.

Still, I could sing to ya when I come visit this year...

Kilroy_60 said...

Hard to say where things come from; most of what I see in terms of memes could be coughed up like a fur ball or the result of bad Mexican food.

In terms of the two I've created, they have come from an unmeasurable curiosity. More interested in actually learning something.

Otherwise, the two questionnaries have resulted from an interest to learn and a desire to enjoy.

I'll look forward to your future visits...and input you may have.

Cheers!

a said...

Nice post, one that I actually understood. I also hated my needlework & cooking teacher in middle-school. I'm glad I can choose the subjects I want today. "I could compare it to puking on the pavement after drinking too much on a night out." Best quote lol, on the spot!

Dana Barnett said...

Hi Cathy,I enjoyed your new posts...You keep on writing...YOU are good and you know it...I miss the blogland myself...Writers block and life are stoping me for now...But looking to re enter soon...Sooner then later...THis STUPED on line dating think is such a bore!!!!Take care girl...Write me when you have the time...



Dana...



:-D

In Ink said...

The one thing I remember about about Mr. Dewhurst is his favorite saying... "T.R.Y. try." clapping his hands together with each letter. Old school yes, but I don't see anyhting in new teaching methods that are any better than that advice. Heaven help you if he thought you weren't trying. Just like Nellie Longhurst, same school, he had a passion for teaching and encouraging us to learn on our own.

Today, it's 'aw what a shame, the system failed you' or 'ok, you are (insert an excuse here) so I'll bump up your grade.'