I remember you

Joey Jones6 Comments

If you could have something named after you, what would it be?

I need to write the following with my left hand as my dog is asleep on my other arm….😂 Edit.. and now he has awoken and moved and I can come back to edit. Something I often forget to do.

Thank you for the Daily Prompt, WordPress. I shall use this space with names of others in my head and dedicate something to them.

‘ To all those we have loved and lost’. This would be beautifully engraved on a plaque and attached to the back rest of a bench. It would be a memorial to the considerable amount of people and animals I have been fortunate to spend time with here on Earth, before they moved on.

It would be a wonderful thing if throughout any given day all manner of humans and wildlife would spend time here. Maybe a weary mom, just taking a breather with some coffee, before she needs to get up and on with her day. An elderly chap and his little dog may sit for a while to watch the world go by. A paramedic after a gruelling shift may stop and collect themselves before heading home. A young woman with a broken heart unable to go anywhere else at the time, or maybe a blackbird taking shade. They would all be so welcomed….And at the end of the day when the sun is going down and dusk falls a weary soul will lay down, feeling safe and secure and rest until dawn.

Laugh and the world laughs with you….

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What makes you laugh?

We’ve all heard the line ‘ laughter is the best medicine’, turns out it’s true. As the brain’s production of endorphins increase, blood pressure and the heart rate become steady. Feel good chemicals flooding our bodies help to relieve stress and ease pain.

I don’t like to be in a large group of strangers and I really don’t like small talk..It’s an art form I just don’t have. But being with close friends who I love and trust allow me to come out of my shell and have the best time. So to answer today’s prompt, promptly, I would say to laugh with my buddies. But that doesn’t hamper me from finding things to laugh along with when I’m alone. Although I’m never alone having my dog constantly at my side.He looks at me funny sometimes, but I don’t think that’s in the funny ha ha sense..more like funny peculiar.

There is one particular English comedian/writer/actor/producer/director I find extremely funny. He’s not everyone’s cup of tea and his language can be and often is full-on Anglo-Saxon. He is often rude and disparaging beyond measure and tbf he does go a bit too far sometimes, but I simply let that go. No one is perfect!

A year or so back he hosted the Golden Globes. The venue full of ‘stars’. All movers and shakers from the film industry with their plus one’s..their egos. His verbal attack was brutal, gasps where audible from the audience, their faces were a picture. Throughout the ceremony he took no prisoners, a relentless tirade as he held up a mirror to the faces, who let’s not forget are paid handsomely for what they do anyway. The fact they also want to be congratulated and adored was not lost on the host. Laugh? I almost died. Absolute comedy gold.

I saw a mouse…Where?

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When you were five, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Like lots of other bloggers here on WordPress today, I have no direct answer. Yes, we understand it is a daily ‘prompt’ and not a question, as such. But my mind was completely empty when I searched round for ambitions from childhood. Lucky are those who had them and achieved them. That must be quite something!

Instead, in this space I shall write down a poem. It was in a collection for children, published in1924, by the legendary AA Milne…..

Halfway down the stairs

is a stair

where I sit.

There isn’t any

other stair

quite like it.

I’m not at the bottom

i’m not at the top;

so this is the stair

where I always stop.

Halfway up the stairs

isn’t up

and it isn’t down.

It isn’t in the nursery,

it isn’t in the town.

And all sorts of funny thoughts

run round my head,

it isn’t really anywhere!

It’s somewhere else instead!

*****In this poem the child finds a sense of escape on this particular stair, which exists in liminal space between familiar and unknown.

******* ‘ I saw a mouse’ is from a song recorded in 1965 by Ronnie Hilton called ‘ A Windmill in Old Amsterdam. It was written by Ted Dicks and Miles Ridge.

Find your tribe

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What’s something most people don’t understand?

Maybe there are some people who don’t realise that their voice, their time and energy matters. That alone they may feel inadequate, but joing a group of like minded souls can make a huge difference in the world. By giving they will receive ten-fold and some.

One group with 30 years of campaigning behind them are Surfers Against Sewage. A Cornish based charity who work tirelessly for marine conservation and all other sea related issues. For example they mobilise thousands of UK volunteers to sweep the beaches clean. Their aversion to plastic is legendary. I take off my hat to anyone who supports this amazing charity, in any way they can. It’s like paying rent for the privilege of living on our beautiful planet with an apology for all those who don’t give it a second thought. sas.org

One organisation close to my heart is LACS …League Against Cruel Sports. Their focus are animals, which are constantly abused at the hands of man. They stand side by side with these voiceless persecuted souls. Dog fighting, bullfighting, snaring, shooting, hunting any which way an animal can be harmed these fabulous people are there to put up a fight. For someone who loves animals this maybe the charity they may wish to get involved with. Again there is a wonderful website which explains everything. league.org.uk

As Autumn approaches each year I find myself getting vocal about ‘ Leave the Leaves’. A group who want to discourage folk from raking up all the fallen leaves and instead distribute them to under trees or over flower beds to act as a natural fertilizer as they break down and also a safe haven for insects and invertebrates which need somewhere to go to hibernate. If speaking up changes just one person’s mind it will have been worth it.

And that is why I say I really don’t think people believe their one voice can make a difference. There are endless causes to be fought for, everyone can find somewhere to go to join others in making a noise.

( I don’t mean making a noise and being disruptive like the Say No To Oil lobby…Who in the past have disrupted the lives of so many in their quest to get their message across. But all they have done is be disrespectful and troublesome to those who amongst other things may have missed their only chance that day to attend a Hatches, Matches or Dispatches moments.

Edit. Just Stop Oil have just announced they are disbanding.

So I shout out to anybody who feels that alone they can change nothing. Find your cause, join the group and you will never look back. Your tribe awaits.

Tomorrow’s World

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How has technology changed your job?

Every older generation gets to see the world change before their eyes. An almighty shift away from ‘ the good old days’. Some folk continue to grow and embrace The Now and sadly some will fear and shun it.

The person writing this is still in awe of the landline. I kid you not! I mean, how the hell did someone come up with that idea and put it into practice? The history books will educate me on it, but it’s the original concept that blows my mind. And don’t get me started on 3D printers. How is that possible? Mind blown again!

As a child I remember watching a weekly TV show that would talk about the future of innovation, science and technology There was one particular episode I remember to this day, Raymond Baxter the presenter told us the time may come when we would be able to see the person on the other end of a telephone call. ‘Wow’ we said in unison, sat together in the one room, as families once did in the evenings.

Today my brushes with technology are minimal. As the kettle boils I ask ‘ Alexa, play LBC London’. She obliges and then I check into WordPress/Jetpack ( a few changes gone on there, obvs) and that really is the extent of how technology affects my day. Or is it?

Frog March

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How often do you say “no” to things that would interfere with your goals? (A tad off piste)

  ‘ A frog decided to reach the top of a tree.

All the frogs shouted ” it’s impossible, it’s impossible.

Still the frog reached the top of the tree.

How? Because he was deaf and he thought everyone was encouraging him to reach the top.

Be deaf to negative thoughts, if your aim is to reach your goal.

Anon

Pic credit Lisa B-D With thanks JJ

Now you see me

Joey Jones2 Comments

What’s a secret skill or ability you have or wish you had?

The ability I would choose would in essence be a superpower, to be able to become invisible.

I would use this gift to infiltrate areas where oxygen thieves congregate and bring them down.

Human Traffickers, paedophiles, and those involved in dog fighting. I would need to start somewhere, so chose these three groups to begin my quest. We share this planet with some truly cruel and horrible people. The scum of the Earth walk amongst us. I believe the world would be a better place without them.

50 million people worldwide are in modern slavery, over half of those in forced labour. I will not disturb you with the statistics for the damage done by paedophiles or those involved in dog fighting…..But rest assured I would never give up!

Dogs and polecats

Joey Jones6 Comments

What is your favorite type of weather?

In the UK there are many ways to describe rain and how it is falling. Colloquially we might say bucketing down, pouring down and chucking it down. All rational examples. This idiom we have all heard said at some stage, but the etymology is unknown.

In a play written in 1652 Richard Brome called City Wit, it was said ‘ It shall rain dogs and polecats’. Brome was known for being heavily influenced by the works of others ( perhaps not quite plagiarism?) So it was no surprise to learn that a year earlier in 1651 Richard Vaughan’s had a collection of poems published in one of which he describes a roof secure against ‘ dogs and cats rained in shower’. But why Vaughan should imagine / use that expression remains a mystery.

Leaving all negative connatations about wet weather to one side. I find a certain beauty in rain. The way it cleanses and refreshes. How it leaves puddles in the streets for the wildlife to access. To see a bird taking a bath at the roadside is an absolute joy to me. But best of all is lying in bed at night, cosy and warm, the dog by my side and rain beginning to pit pat on the window. Steadily the velocity and volume increase and forever I could lie there listening to this magical sound, that conjures up absolute peace….

Crushed

Joey Jones2 Comments

Who was your most influential teacher? Why?

I was about twelve years old when I learnt that’ good energy’ was a Thing.

Mr Grant, my English teacher. The epitome of cool, as I realise now. No, not a school girl crush, but a moment of clarity. It was when for the first time ever I knew that some souls are a bit different. I was all ponies and boaters but sent to a school that clearly wasn’t.

Stepping into his classroom was electrifying. I emphasis again, for you to be sure, this wasn’t a girly heart thing. I knew and know the difference.

Every word he spoke resonated.

Tall, with a slim build, long layered hair sweeping the collar of his corduroy jacket. His moeskin trousers and moccasins. Nah, I was making that up for effect. They were probably desert boots.

I remember he had asked us to bring in a book from home. I took the Politics of Ecstasy which belonged to my eldest brother. I wondered what my English teacher would have to say about that. He said not a word.

After the summer holidays we returned to find he had left ( along with the maths teacher, who was fiercely strict, but I respected a great deal) I was absolutely devastated. His replacement could not hold a candle to him. It changed everything.

Watch paint dry

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What do you wish you could do more every day?

I wish I could paint, full stop!

To be that artist in a big lofty studio with the perfect light. A huge canvas waiting to be brought to life with an array of colours.

The whole day would be stretching ahead of me. With only the birds, easily audible outside in the trees, for company.