"We don't need no education..."

"..we don't need no thought control."

I recently got a message from a rather lovely friend asking me to start blogging again. Isn't that sweet? I've only written a handful of posts and they are mostly pretty trashy. But maybe I should try harder...

Last month saw the inaugural International Day of Happiness. What a lovely idea, but does it really mean anything? One of the things organisers are encouraging people to do it to make a Happiness Day Resolution and choose an action to support and develop their happiness over the coming year. Well for once I was tired of my default critical perspective, decided to throw my lot in with an ideal and ditch my "dark sarcasm*" in favour for the pursuit of happiness. And so I announce to you:

My name is Philly, and I am a learnaholic. (That's right, I have made up a word.)

Basically, I've always been a sponge for knowledge. I am a swot, a geek, a boffin, a nerd. Always have been, always will be. Innit. I remember cheering in primary school when they told us we would be getting homework...I will never forget the looks I got from my fellow students around me... Learning makes me happy, and so I chose to actively pursue this over the course of this year. I looked into options such as a distance learning degree or adult learning classes, but I couldn't really sign up with bankrupting myself of time and money. Which I didn't think would make me very happy. Happily (see what I did there?) I found MOOC, or Massive Open Online Courses, and have currently enrolled on one about Gender in Comic Books - an issue close to my heart in one of my favourite mediums. I'm only in week one at the moment, but hopefully when I'm a bit further in I'll be able to post about some of my thoughts....won't that be fun for you?

So please excuse my very brief, very self-centred post today, but I think I need to dip my toe back into the water before throwing my shoes in. (That's another song reference, but I think I'll save it for a future post)

*Quote from Pink Floyd

"Words are good servants..."

"...but bad masters."

My rather lovely friend recently wrote a rather lovely blog entry about me recently and it struck me that, had she tried to say it in person, I would have cut her off with jokes. What makes it easier to accept something when written then when said in person?

Perhaps we still think that the written word reflects some great thought behind it, some time spent searching for the perfect phrase...but you know as well as I that this just isn't always true. Some writing (particularly that found online I'm afraid to say) is littered with mistakes (as I'm sure my blog is a testament to!) and obviously has been typed before fully thought out. And sometimes it's easier to write trash as it's a little more faceless; I write this in isolation, you read it in isolation. Face-to-face is harder, more personal, inescapable. So maybe I should put more stock in verbal compliments...or at least let people give them without immediately making a joke out of it. 

Nevertheless, the written word inexplicably has some sort of power. Which is why I'm always a little extra-cautious when sending emails at work. Yup. Extra-cautious. You know, in case what you say sounds a little rude. Hmm. Not everyone feels the same way. 

So, world, just remember that if you don't know the person you're emailing, perhaps a one line message might seem a little cold. Maybe add a few courtesies, or some lighthearted punctuation - a question without a question mark can be a little severe: "I assume this information is correct" may not technically be a question, but how much would it kill you to stick a squiggle on the end eh? Makes it less like you're barking at me and more like a conversation. But you know, whatever. What do I know. I just write for a f*cking living...

*Quote from Aldous Huxley

"No hope, no harm..."

"...just another false alarm."

It's been a bad week.
Don't get me wrong, there have been highlights - including a nice evening with a certain muppet and seeing The Cabin In The Woods (more gory than I was anticipating but thoroughly enjoyable) - but altogether I am very happy to be seeing the back of it.

I've been thinking over the past 5 days and the tally's pretty even until we get to Thursday. Thursday was dire. Thursday was fighting dirty. Generally I'm quite good at remaining upbeat, but on Thursday I almost cried at work. That's pretty big for me; I think the only time I actually cried was when I crashed my car on the journey in (about a year ago). As I see it, the tally stands at

Philly 1 : World 4

So tonight, world, I avoid you. Alone I shall sit, eating popcorn and watching Game of Thrones through my still-bruised post-surgery eyes.

Cheers.

P.s. No, there's no point to this post, just self indulgence. Deal with it.


*Quote from The Smiths

"Being busy does not always mean real work...."

"...The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing."

Today I am working from home. When I say that I do this roughly one day every week people generally retort: "Working(!)" their hands quick to support with inverted commas. They also tend to tilt their head and look at me sideways as if this will somehow change what I'm saying. But it won't. Because believe it or not, I spend these days actually working. Pretty much exactly as I would if I were sitting in the office, the main difference being that I wouldn't show up to the Civic in my Ninja Turtle pyjama bottoms. Probably.

Perhaps I am in the minority here but if I am given a task, I'm dead set on doing it properly. Go hard or go home. Except that I am at home... Some days are slower than others, I'm well aware, but the work has to get done no matter where my tea-making facilities are. I'm not rushed-off-my-feet-busy all the time, in the office or out of it, but that doesn't mean I don't get the job done. I mean, shouldn't we base how well you work on the quality and quantity of output, rather than hours inputted?

I like being useful; I like being busy. So, to all the head-tilters and comma-inverters out there, please don't mistake my flexible working habits as a flexible working ethic. You may prefer me to 'seem to work' but I prefer to actually work. Go hard or go home and stay home.

*Quote from Thomas Edison

"There are some oddities in the perspective with which we see the world."

...so I hope you enjoy my oddities.

Salutations dear reader, I don't know how we got here, but here we are. Another afternoon of procrastination and BLAMMO another blog littering your interwebs.

Lucky you.

*Quote from Douglas Adams