Being Popular
being known by a lot of people is not the same as being liked
very well known, and very unpopular with some
Little did I think that eventually this blog would have had 200,000 hits. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that’s a lot for a blog written by a bloke. Especially considering the eclectic mix of stuff I write about, and how controversial / opinionated / difficult the topics I choose can be. It would appear that I can be prone to lecture at times.
Looking around at WordPress it seems to me that blogs written by women attract a far wider readership than my efforts, and that they receive far more comments than my posts do. It could be that’s just my perception, but I don’t think so. And, I can think of several good reasons why both women and men comment more on a blog written by a female than they would on a blog written by someone who is an obvious guy.
But, just because this blog has now had 200,000 hits doesn’t necessarily mean that either it or I am popular. Maybe it only means that I’ve been around a long time. The oldest post still on here is dated 17 November 2013 ~ since then there have been another 1,924 posts that still exist, and 10,311 comments. (Along the way a fair amount of crap posts have been trashed.) So I may neither be popular, nor well-liked ~ just old.
I could court popularity, or write a blog specifically designed to attract the greatest number of followers, the highest number of hits, the most likes, and a constant stream of comments ~ but I’d have to decide why the fuck I was doing that. Getting lots of attention would flatter my ego, but not necessarily in a good way. To me, courting popularity is one short step away from promiscuity, and I have very mixed feelings about that. I’d far rather be true to myself, think and believe what feels right and proper, write what I want to write, say what I need to say honourably, honestly, and openly.
Anyway, sorry if I disabuse you, but mostly I write this blog for myself.
In real life, in the past, I have courted popularity, because back then my self-esteem was lower than a snake’s belly. I firmly believed I needed the positive affirmation of others to feel worth anything. How sad was that?
Some say that popular people are better people. And that if you’re not popular then you’re nobody. All I know is that popularity is not the same as quality.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
Marmaduke is very popular
he’s a very cool bear
Random Jottings ~ Insanity
insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result
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‘you’ve got to be insane if you think I like abandoned railway yards’ she said
he could tell she wasn’t best pleased with their day out
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he was happy because he didn’t know what the hell was going on
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nothing is foolproof for a sufficiently talented fool
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he didn’t suffer from insanity, he was very happy being crazy
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he knew it was a win-win situation
she won and he didn’t
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‘FUN!’ she said, ‘this isn’t FUN!’
‘what’s next on your agenda, the creepy crawlies of the fucking snakes?’
he could tell she didn’t really like the outdoors life
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
‘just lock me up and throw away the key,’ he said
and so that’s what she did
Breathing, Meditation, and Light
the send of the sea answers all our prayers
In these times of worry, uncertainty, and stress it’s very easy for the negative emotions and bad news to overwhelm our minds ~ our thoughts, emotions, and spirit. All of that dark negativity effects us mentally and physically as stress, and when it gets very bad stress becomes distress.
Severe stress has a lot more symptoms than merely a lot of worry. For a start stress can cause insomnia, and that’s like throwing petrol, (gas), on a fire ~ it just makes it worse. Other symptoms of stress can include low energy, lassitude, fatigue, indecision, anger, aches and pains, chest pains, rapid heartbeat, headaches, loss of sexual desire, heart attacks, strokes, death…. Far too much stress also takes up so much of your reserves that you become more vulnerable to catching whatever other illnesses are out there.
Worrying about the coronavirus will make you more prone to catching the coronavirus.
One of the best ways to combat stress is through simple breathing / relaxation exercises. A simple internet search will find you lots of them https://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/uz2255
However, years ago when I was under tremendous stress at work I found something of my own. For most people this exercise is far better than booze, drugs, or smoking too much.
- Close my eyes and imagine that I’m standing on a sunlit beach, I can feel the gentle warmth of the sun.
- The sound of the surf is very calm and slow, flowing in and out again.
- I time my breathing to that slow gentle surf.
- Slowly breathe in, pause, slowly breathe out again.
- And in the sound of my own breathing I hear the surf.
Usually, within a couple of minutes I feel calmer and more relaxed.
Within five minutes that simple breathing exercise drifts into meditation.
If you think you are suffering from the signs of stress, or deeper distress, then just try to slow your breathing and imagine the sounds of the gentle surf.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
all things look better in the light of a new day.
Random Jottings ~ Strange Love
love can be an intimate connection and a dreadful bond
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love makes you do strange things
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she hears you before you have spoken
answers you before you’ve formed the question
and she loved you before you ever dreamed of her
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and then, in walked the witch
the electric broomstick was bad
her fuck-me stilettos were a bitch
but the pearl choker was just sadistic
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erotic witches aren’t all bad
they just like to behave that way
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
memories of
sex, secrets, sins
lovers, lies, lusts
desires, demands
resentments, regrets
Songs on Saturday ~ Cat Stevens
oceans apart, day after day, and I’m still in love
Either in lockdown in the garret, or prevented from travelling, or in a beautiful place on vacation….. where ever I can go, and whatever I can do, I still cannot see my friends. Especially I am not allowed to meet those I care for the most.
I may be only a solitary traveller, but love, true love, transcends time and space.
Please listen with your heart.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
purity, innocence, youthfulness
or a new beginning of everlasting love
Scenes on Sunday ~ Free as a Bird
a bear, seeking freedom, the open air, and two tickets to adventure
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
on a day like today
he would blow his cares away
with the wind, the sun, and the sea
Monochrome Monday ~ Film Noir
you just put your lips together and blow
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
he was a big hairy guy you said?
give me the facts ma’am
just the facts
Monochrome Monday ~ The Marina
if you want to know how much she costs, you can’t afford her
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
they used to call it good clean fun
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
Writing
English, the finest and truest language ever known to mankind
Nobody can write a scene like Shakespeare, even though he couldn’t even spell his own name.
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother
I cannot write prose like Mark Twain, even though he was naught but a steam boat pilot.
Never allow someone else to be your priority
while allowing yourself to be their option
Few can stir the blood like a Tennyson or Coleridge.
Half a league, half a league, half a league onward
into the valley of death rode the six hundred
Or evoke love and passion in the way of a Keats or Shelly.
A thing of beauty is a joy forever
its loveliness increases, it will never pass into nothingness
But I can write like me ~ direct, pithy, sanguine, and terse.
Haunting music of the wind, wave counterpointed, pink sky echoed
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
perhaps not the greatest writer
Fleming created an iconic character
