On Shame, Learning, and Prospects.

I was struggling to think of something to write about on the blog earlier because I’ve had no encounters with person or beast, not been anywhere, and not done anything creative or even notably useful. Nothing in the garden, nothing in the house, and not even a phone call to try to sort out a problem which shouldn’t be there. (I did think of writing a piece about the wider societal significance of the direct debit system, which is a particular bête noir of mine, but I got bored just thinking about it.) And so I felt a sense of shame to add to all the other reasons to feel dutifully ashamed until I remembered that life is not so much about doing as it is about learning. Shame done for the day; time to cook dinner.

And then along came some correspondence and I learned something very interesting…

Did you know that in America, at least the civilised bit in the north east, it’s required that you get a doctorate before you can have a baby? I had it on good authority, and it concerned the cleverest person I’ve ever known who not only attained the doctorate by way of qualification, but also acquired a doctor to assist in the process. Smart creatures, these Borgs.

As for me and my day, well… The one reasonably useful thing I did was sort out some stuff in the shed ready to take it off to the municipal tip in Ashbourne tomorrow. I’m still possessed of this notion, you see, that I don’t have much time left, so it would be no more than reasonable to start clearing out my rubbish in order to save some poor soul having to do it for me just as they’re about to go on holiday. I’m considerate like that.

And that led me to consider what I want to be in my next life. I eventually decided on a big silverback gorilla because the prospect of being a herbivore at the top of the food chain sounds just about right.