We’re about to get a bite to eat in Simon’s Town. A little noshing and a little picture taking. In the meantime, here are a couple pics from the balcony. And wouldn’t you like that view as you do the dishes? Bottom pic is Suzanne and Stormy. Vicki is a dog rescuer. She’d adopt all dogs if she could. Stormy is a very lucky dog, she’s also a sweetheart.
…words have always nearly hung me.”
The word of the year for 2009 is ‘unfriend’ popularized by AceBookFay. It’s so high school, yes? When was the last time you really unfriended someone? Suddenly. Just like that. In the past, more often than not, friends faded away. They might weave in and out of your life or maybe you never see them again. But there was nothing all that sudden about their lack of presence.
Until the internet came along, you could actually convince yourself that high school was long gone. People don’t act like that anymore. Once you entered ‘real’ adult life, the world of cliques and ‘unfriending’ and taking sides was all over. It wasn’t entirely true, of course, but at least you had a certain amount of control over any circumstances that were high school-like.
Unfriending someone seems so silly. How can you have a friend, a real friend, and then not be that person’s friend? Real friendship should be able to stand the test of at least a few throwdowns and moments of tension. Short of having sex with the spouse of a friend (or some other traitorous act like that) , a friendship should withstand some pressure.
Which leads us to the definition of ‘friend’. What is a friend in this era when people consider someone they’ve never met and only “talk” to on an occasional basis a ‘friend.’ These days, ‘friend’ is a catch-all word encompassing the gamut of friendship from acquaintance to BFF. The word has devolved. It has no real meaning. It means, “I know you but if you do something to piss me off I’m going to stop knowing you.” Since we live virtually, stopping the knowing is quite easy.
I suppose, though, the word ‘friend’ has always been a bit tenuous – a universal truth being you know who your friends are when the going gets tough. Back in the day it took a little time to realize who your real friends were. Today it’s instantaneous. Perhaps it’s better that way.
Time is a terrible thing to waste.
Yes, this is a post and it’s not 2010 yet. Hey, sometimes posts happen even when you think there is no time to be had for posting. So here I be, with post in hand. We have had an exceptionally busy and fun holiday season. From Thanksgiving up until today our frivolity runneth over. If we were any more frivolicious, the next slight breeze would sweep us away due to our sheer lightness of being so damn frivolity-like.
A couple weeks ago, on one such Saturday de frivolity, we hosted our sixth annual Wh1te Tra$h Christmas Buffet (WTXB). To our delight, good friend Beth and her best girl, Mona, dropped by to hang out with us. They live in Norway and were visiting the states for the holidays. I decide it would be a rollicking good time to sport a knitted hat the queen had conjured up for me. It’s a very warm hat. I thought maybe I looked ok in it. The queen swears it is all the rage and way cool. Great, I like being way cool.
I put the hat on and Beth says without hesitation, “Elizabeth, that hat looks hideous on you! That’s just awful.” I explained to her it is all the rage and is way cool. The queen also tried to sell it big time. Beth wasn’t having it, “No, that’s just one ugly hat.”
Well, to quote Bob Dylan, “I would not feel so all alone, everybody must get stoned!” And thus we passed the hat around to those who had no qualms about putting on a hideous hat for the camera:
