Did anyone notice... Does anyone care...

I have been at the ranting again. Not as vehement as sometimes, but niggles here & there. I am sure a good venting every now & then, does us a power of good!

There is currently an Ad for some insurance. As if it is not insulting enough to have to see the damn thing, they are trying to produce a 'new' word. As if our young are not dumbing down enough!

This new 'word' is 'unworry'. I can hear my departed mother snorting in rage! I used to quietly watch as she fumed & ranted about things, & I never thought I would see the day, where I do the same. I try not to. I mute the sound. I leave the room, but I still see the stupid ad in newspapers, & it just enrages me.

Another point of rage making occurs when I hear the 'new phrase' "Two times".

As in, it is 'two times as effective'. What happened to TWICE?? It is a perfectly good word. It saves sound & time- why say two times, when twice would do? GGRRRRR. I am in danger of becoming apoplectic over some of this nonsense!

We like Australian films, Australian made dramas. We recently watched Rogue Nation. For overseas readers, it was an historical drama about the formation of Australia as a Colony with rights & regulations.

It was apparently made with a small budget. We quite enjoyed it, but there seemed to be one or two glaring 'comical' aspects.

I saw them as comical anyway, & they detracted from my enjoyment of the series as being accurate.

One of the comical aspects I noted was the use of the language of the day. I know this was true to the time, but it just sounded funny & odd to hear John Wood, saying things like "Damn your eyes Sir! I will see you in Hell!"

It reminded me of how, as a teenager I loved Georgette Heyer's books, & her use of quaint language of the period she used for her wonderful novels.

Perhaps it was because John Wood has been such a prominent actor on TV playing many great modern roles. I am not sure. There were times when I found myself giggling when some of the gravest events were happening.

***********************

In other news, I have been graciously, & generously awarded this award by Ian, writer of Or So I Thought. Thank you Ian.

I feel very humbled, as Ian is a really excellent writer- he is a 'Real Writer'.

This is the Premio Dardos Award.

What’s the Premio Dardos Award?Premio Dardos means “prize darts” in Spanish. It is given for recognition of cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values transmitted in the form of creative and original writing.What do you do once you’ve received one?There are some rules to be followed.

• First, accept the award by posting it on your blog along with the name of the person that has granted the award and link to his or her blog.

There are quite a few rules & regulations attached to this award. I am a notorious rule breaker, & the thought of having to limit my choices to 15 recipients makes my head hurt.

I feel all the blogs I read are worthy of some award, or I would not read them. Some are gentle, & full of art & pleasure. Some are sad & soft. Others are full of Swash & Buckle ~can one say that? Please take the award if you would like it, or award it to some blog you consider worthy.

*******************************

MISS TEE.

I was reminded, on the weekend, of a character from the past.

I have thought of her often lately, & I think she wants to be written about.

I would almost bet that she is departed this life, now. She was not young, when I encountered her.

Miss Tee was a tall slightly faded recently tinted red~gold blonde. Rather in the style a rose, whose fresh bloom of youth is gone, the full blown petals not quite wilting, but showing the slight sag of the heaviness of the bloom.

Not that Miss Tee was buxom. Not at all. In fact she was rather angular, & slim. She wore her hair fastened up at the back, & it looked quite rigid during the day, as if she perhaps used those many-toothed metal bulldog clips at night to press the rows of waves into the front lines, that swept back from her slightly wrinkled forehead.

Because her hair must have really been that red-gold colour naturally, her eyebrows were also that colour. Miss Tee used a black pencil to accentuate them, which relulted in a somewhat comical expression on her face. Her raddled rouged cheeks were a bright red, with a matching lurid red lipstick.

She had strange blue piercing eyes set a tad too close together. When the lines on her eyebrows were particularly rakish she had a very fierce look.

Miss Tee ran a Boarding House for Young Gentlemen.

Miss Tee had very strict Rules & Regulations. No young Ladies were to be taken to any bedrooms.

Young ladies could be brought for Dinner, if permission was prearranged.

Miss Tee did all the cooking, & provided a full nightly meal for all her Young Gentlemen boarders. For a small extra cost, she would also cook for ~& grill & vet, with gimlet eye, & probing questions~ the young Lady of choice.

Miss Tee occasionally entertained a Gentleman herself. She & the Gentleman would retire to her private Sitting Room, to partake of their meal, while the Young Gentlemen were left a pre-plated meal, they could reheat, or a cold salad, to be eaten, as they were ready. They were not to eat their meals in the Communal Sitting Room, they must eat in the Dining Room.

When Miss Tee entertained the Young Gents would turn the music, or the television low, & listen for any grunts, thumps & noises of a mystic nature to come through the walls from the Private Sitting Room.

The Young Gents were usually disappointed in this regard, as Miss Tee's bedroom was a room further away.

Miss Tee rather liked a tipple, & she could often be seen, hair in disarray, makeup slightly smeared, eyebrows even more askew, farewelling her Gentleman Caller.

Of course this occasioned much speculation, & laughter on the part of the mostly sex starved Young Gents.

As it happened I was 'seeing' one of the Young Gentleman boarders. I had got to know several of the other young men, as they were all friends, & would often come to the house where I shared accommodation with some other girls.

One evening we were told we were invited for Dinner at Miss Tee's. We all concluded that we were to be checked out for suitablility for Miss Tee's young Gentlemen.

One of the Young Gents, we shall call Al, was engaged, & his fiancee was invited to attend the Dinner. Miss Tee had learned that Al's fiancee loved classical music, & she startled all of us by loudly playing Henri Mancini music all evening, declaring that she "Just love Classical Music!" Miss Tee had a Special Voice, she would use when, entertaining.

I dont remember much about the meal, but from memory I think it was roasted meat & veg with some thin gravy, with fruit & custard to follow. I disgraced myself by refusing the custard, & I am sure I was marked as 'not suitably well mannered'. We all sat about in awkward silence as Henri Mancini crashed about our ears.

I saw Miss Tee years later. She was more faded, a little thinner, her brows crooked, as ever. She told me she still ran her boarding house, for Young Gentlemen, though they were less refined than they used to be. To my knowledge she never married, & none of the Young Gents ever found out her first name.

As a footnote, Al & his fiancee married, but alas, the marriage failed.His sense of fun & the ridiculous were not at all his fiancee's cup of tea, & we could never see how they got together in the first place.

No I didn't marry the turd Young Gent of the time, either.