You Can Go Your Own Way
a lion can lead sheep, but sheep cannot lead a lion
stand up for what you believe is right
Even here in England one cannot go very far before one encounters somebody wearing a mask, and probably surgical-type gloves too. Here it’s mandatory to wear a ‘face covering’ on public transport; trains, bus, planes, taxicabs ~ and the Health Nazis want everyone to wear a mask anytime they’re out of doors. In fact the doom-mongers want everyone to stay in lockdown ~ probably forever.
I am afraid they are going to be disappointed in me, but then disappointing people is part of finding your own way in life. There is never going to be a shortage of right-thinking, officious, supposedly well-meaning people around, happy to advise us, instruct us, create and impose expectations about how we should think, act, and be. ‘Don’t date that person, don’t take that job, go to that school, think the way I think, wear a face covering…..’ (Maybe I should have taken some of the dating advice.)
Sometimes taking advice and following instructions makes good sense, but only too often what people want us to do is based on their own experiences, their needs and wants, their desire for self-affirmation ~ not on any understanding of us at all. I have never been in the least surprised if my best way ahead was to ignore advice, do the exact opposite of what others wanted of me, do something those closest to me thought was crazy. We walk the warriors path alone.
Ignoring advice often offends some people ~ right now not wear a face covering in public seems to offend a lot of people. The simple truth is that being true to yourself, going your own way, will always disappoint and offend somebody. Another truth is that some people are ready to be offended by anything that does’t agree with their own warped and narrow mindset.
Don’t know which one is worse, doing your own thing or just being cool. ~ Bob Dylan
Some people in your life will be impossible to please; parents, siblings, the wider family, ‘friends’, your current and past partners, teachers, co-workers….. They will show their disapproval of you, whatever you do. Fuck them. If it’s unbearable then just move on, spend much less time in their company, stop sharing your plans, dreams, wants, needs, and intentions with them. Stop telling them what you’re doing and whatever you’ve done in the past.
Some say; ‘don’t do as I do, do as I say.’ And, ‘you should listen when people tell you what to do.’ All I know is it’s better to make my own mistakes than to repeat the mistakes of others.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
look to the far horizons
Food on Friday ~ Music
all we ever get is gruel
As it goes, lots of Americans eat gruel all the time ~ it’s merely another name for oatmeal. Mixed thin mind you, but oatmeal nontheless. This from the musical Oliver, based on Charles Dickens seminal work; Oliver Twist.
Some things mentioned in that song you may not have heard of; pease pudding and savaloy. You’re not missing much if you’ve never tried either.
Please listen with a proper appetite.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
no doubt Oliver, the Artful Dodger, et al
would enjoy this strawberry and rhubarb pie
What Makes a Man?
a real man makes all women smile
but reserves his very best smile for only one
I believe the nearest Kirk Douglas got to Shakespeare was Spartacus
Shakespeare has a scene in Hamlet where the Danish Lord Polonius expounds to Laertes upon the nature of being a better man than the average spear carrier. Most may merely remember that in that scene there are a couple of lines that proclaim; clothes make the man. Which, outwardly is a limited truth. But there is more to clothes than buying the best and most tasteful apparel your wallet can bear. For a start an expensive suit still looks like a sack when worn by a slob. And, many an expensive coat of paint conceals something rotten inside.
True attractiveness, the kind of look that appeals to emotionally intelligent and discerning people, especially to cool and together women, isn’t something a man can just put on and wear. That kind of attractive, clean-cut, elegant persona comes from within. It’s who a man is, not only what he wears, that is really attractive to others.
Be faithful to that which exists within yourself. ~ Andre Gide
Some lucky guys can look great in jeans and a singlet, whereas the rest of us need to try a little harder than that.
I have discovered that there are a few guidelines a man can follow if he wants to succeed when it comes to Shakespeare’s maxim; ‘the clothes maketh the man….’
- As Polonius says, always buy the very best you can afford. Most women can spot thrift store purchases, cheaper makes, and remaindered stuff a mile off. Besides, quality lasts. You do get what you pay for.
- Always dress up, rather than dressing down. If, on dress-down-Friday most guys go to the office in jeans and a T, then make a point of wearing decent trousers and a crisp, freshly laundered shirt. There is nothing wrong with adding a cool necktie either. A surprising number of women find a nice shirt and tie pretty hot.
- Don’t neglect the obvious. Make certain everything matches, (if you’re colour-blind get help from a friendly female). Your shoes should be spotless, and your aftershave / cologne / deodorant classy, not overpowering.
- Be very, very clean ~ both you and everything you’re wearing.
- Have your own style, but don’t be outlandish, neither try to be too fashionable. Besides which very fashionable soon goes out of fashion. As you would expect, my style is very English / preppy.
Some say that clothes make the man. And that you can spot a slob a mile off, no matter what he’s wearing. All I know is that to look really good you have to work at it every single day.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
many real men have walked the tracks alone,
and still made an effort to look good
Monochrome Monday ~ Disturbed Dreams
you can’s sell false dreams to a man who has walked through nightmares
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
it’s hard to wake from a nightmare if you aren’t even asleep
We’ll Meet Again ~ Dame Vera Lynn dies aged 103
and there’ll be bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover
During WWII the Germans had the overtly sexual Marlene Dietrich singing Lili Marlene, which was the unofficial anthem of the Afrika Korps. We had the wholesome Forces Sweetheart, Vera Lynn. Kind of says a lot about out differing national characteristics.
Dame Vera Lynn is now 103, and she is still almost as big an inspiration to Englishmen of a certain age as is the Queen.
Dame Vera Lynn, the Forces Sweetheart has died aged 103. She will be much mourned.
Please listen with respect
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
after a girl has pushed an ambulance up a sand dune, she deserves a cold beer
Songs on Saturday ~ Hats
not many women dated both Howard Hughes and Bobby Kennedy
Back in the day, comedy westerns were fun. Not all of them were so overtly sexual.
The hat is fabulous, but please stop looking at her legs. Or not.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
most men love great legs
Tunes on Tuesday ~ Enya
rivers flow not because of their power, but because of their persistence
I have never been to the great grey-green greasy Orinoco, and as it’s set all about with fever trees it seems unlikely that a mosquito-ridden river is ever going to be on my bucket list. Not withstanding, I find this a very restful and meditative tune.
(As a matter of fact there’s a bit of journalistic licence here, because Kipling is actually talking about the great grey-green greasy Limpopo. Not ever going there either.)
Please listen meditatively.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
I have towed a boat but the girl was always sitting in it
Lockdown Discredited
you shouId always trust a man, just as far as you must
Two months, 63 days lost, for nothing.
Took my usual walk by the sea today, utterly in contravention of the laws, rules, and guidelines surrounding the lockdown for the supposed COVID-19 crisis.
There were the usual amount of cyclists, dog walkers, joggers, and people out and about enjoying the warm May sunshine. There is no sign whatsoever that self-isolation, lockdown, quarantine means anything here any more. Hardly surprising considering that nobody in or close to government believes in it anyway.
Nobody here trusts the prime minister, government, health officials, nor the BBC. Not since Nazi Germany has such a shit load of lies and propaganda been shovelled onto a people as the British government trying to feed us now.
And nobody believes any of it.
Boris Johnson’s career is over.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
Finished, discredited, a footnote in history
Monochrome Monday ~ Sexy
I may be cooler than her, but she’s much hotter than me
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
some think smoking is sexy
a
Songs on Saturday ~ Gerry Rafferty
when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life
The very first time I heard this song I was staying in an hotel on Baker Street, which runs from North to South right through the heart of London. For a naive North of England boy it was a very strange place. The allyways and byways just off Baker Street are even stranger. (Writing this brought back some very peculiar interpersonal relationship memories of that time.)
Back then 221B Baker Street was part of the offices of the Pearl Life Assurance Company, now it’s kind of a kitsch Sherlock Holmes store.
Please listen thinking about the bright lights, and not the damp Victorian London smog.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
Holmes never did catch Springheeled Jack
