It must be most confusing to be a reader of this blog. It can at times be deadly serious, then deadly serious interspersed with some humor and then humorous and then deadly serious again When living in Vancouver Triple C, (a nickname) made up this joke about me and it rather explains everything.
He: What is the difference between Ms. McBride and a coffee pot.
Me: I hate riddles, Just tell me the answer.
He: The coffee pot has a filter.
Me: That is SO funny and SO true. I do not have a filter. Anything that comes to mind I just say, no Super Ego comes into play. It is Id all the way.
That explains my blog writing. Sometimes I am really serious and I write about it, other times I am very frivolous, and so I write about it. On Instagram and in real life one sees the fun, amusing Alexis but the blog gives me an opportunity to express my serious side. I am safe from comment by both negative and pandering people. It works for me and for some of you, as my world wide statistics show.
Pander is an interesting word. Pander to means to indulge, gratify, satisfy, cater to, give in to, fulfill, yield to, bow to, humor, please, accommodate, comply with, go along with.
So, people with lots and lots of money and Royalty are surrounded be people to indulge them, cater to them, bow to them, humor them try to please them, go along with them. It must be, and is, boring as they know it is their riches and their Royalty that people are giving in to – not them as people. That is why people with lots of lots of money and Royalty like me because I am not impressed with all of that. I am impressed with hard working people like me who earned what they achieved in life.
Me: Nobody gave me Nothing.
Alter Ego: True. You earned it, went to law school at night, Worked your whole life until retirement. Were frugal. So now you do not have to worry about money and can be independent.
Me: You are absolutely correct. It is so nice to have an Alter Ego.
What is an alter ego? An alter ego (Latin for “other I”, “doppelgänger”) means an alternative self, which is believed to be distinct from a person’s normal or true original personality. Finding one’s alter ego will require finding one’s other self, one with a different personality.
An alter ego Is a good thing for the following reason:
A well thought out alter ego can help you bridge the gap between where you are now and where you want to be. It can allow you to step out of the box that you’ve created for yourself and do something that’s totally out of character for you. Your alter ego can help you get out of your own way.
It is an altogether fascinating subject which is explored in good old Wikipedia. It has ancient origins. It is Cicero’s word, used in his philosophy in 1st century Rome.. He described it “a second self, a trusted friend”. Freud recognized it – hypothesizing that the root was in the narcissistic stage of early childhood. Listen Sigmund, I did not have a narcissistic stage in my early childhood as I was surrounded by narcissists. So there! So There! So There!
Back to the blog. So this morning, at this moment anyway I am in a jolly mood so you get jolly today. For some some strange reason I though of the silly phrase I come before you to sit behind you. Googled it, this is what I found.
“Ladles and Jellyspoons
Ladles and jellyspoons,
I come before you
to stand behind you
and tell you something
I know nothing about. Next Friday,
the day before Thursday, there will be a ladies’ meeting for men only.
Wear your best clothes,
if you haven’t any,
and if you can come, please stay home. Admission is free,
you can pay at the door. We’ll give you a seat,
so you can sit on the floor. It doesn’t matter where you sit,
the man in the gallery
is sure to spit.”
Anon
St Stephen’s Performance Poetry (British Kings and Queens)
But apparently there is more than one version of this and a columnist called John Carrol also came up with another version. And this is about that. In a 1985 column, the world’s greatest columnist Jon Carroll asked for information about the phrase “I stand before you to sit behind you…” He was deluged with comments. Like many of his correspondents, I had heard a version of the phrase as a child; it’s the start of a contradictory nonsense verse. The verse generally consists of a prologue followed by a brief (though bloody) story.his version.
The famous speaker who no one had heard of said:
Ladies and jelly spoons, hobos and tramps,
cross-eyed mosquitos and bow-legged ants,
I stand before you to sit behind you
to tell you something I know nothing about.
Next Thursday, which is Good Friday,
there’s a Mother’s Day meeting for fathers only;
wear your best clothes if you haven’t any.
Please come if you can’t; if you can, stay at home.
Admission is free, pay at the door;
pull up a chair and sit on the floor.
It makes no difference where you sit,
the man in the gallery’s sure to spit.
The show is over, but before you go,
let me tell you a story I don’t really know.
One bright day in the middle of the night,
two dead boys got up to fight.
(The blind man went to see fair play;
the mute man went to shout “hooray!”)
Back to back they faced each other,
drew their swords and shot each other.
A deaf policeman heard the noise,
and came and killed the two dead boys.
A paralysed donkey passing by
kicked the blind man in the eye;
knocked him through a nine-inch wall,
into a dry ditch and drowned them all.
If you don’t believe this lie is true,
ask the blind man; he saw it too,
through a knothole in a wooden brick wall.
And the man with no legs walked away.
Why did I suddenly think of “I stand before you to stand stand behind you to tell you something I know nothing about”? Trust me I have no flipping idea. It is hilariously funny you do have to admit. So, to say the least, this is a rather extraordinary blog. In one week you read of the Major Signs of the Great Tribulation in the Islamic faith and then you are reading this utterly nonsensical poem. All of this stuff is in my head and on the Internet. It is coupled with a new found sense of fearlessness. Give me the Internet, give me a Great Customer Service Representative and I can do practically anything. As long as I get rid of all the dysfunctional people (aka Satans) and I am doing a fantastic job of that,
I had been feeling a bit hamstrung. Hamstrung is a great verb meaning constrain, restrict, cripple, shackle, fetter, encumber, block, frustrate, cramp, bridle; hamper, hinder, obstruct, impede, inhibit, retard, balk, thwart, foil, curb, delay, set back, slow down, hold back, hold up; restrain, check, curtail; stymie. Yes indeed I was stymied, cubed, thwarted and inhibited. Religious facing during Ramadan left me with no energy whosoever. Unfortunately there were tasks that required much persistence and energy. One onerous responsibility was to cancel a reservation made a couple of weeks ago at a charming resort in Jamaica. But terrible portent intervened, a silly new Covid mutation coupled with the total inability to get a booster shot in this (un) fair UAE meant that traveling the 21 hours at this time would be dangerous. But I decided to face the music and dance. Began eating, energy returned and the woman at Trip Advisor was so incredibly helpful. I was able to cancel, get a return of my reservation dollars
It is a concept to live by, There are going to be bad times but when there can be happy times, take advantage of them “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” is a song written in 1936 by Irving Berlin for the film Follow the Fleet, where it was introduced by Fred Astaire and featured in a celebrated dance duet with Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The jazz song has also been covered by various artists years following its release, including Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Todd Gordon and more.
The lyrics of that song are most upbeat.:
There may be trouble ahead
But while there’s moonlight
And music and love and romance
Let’s face the music and dance
Before the fiddlers have fled
Before they ask us to pay the bill
And while we still have the chance
Let’s face the music and dance
Soon, we’ll be without the moon
Humming a different tune and then
There may be tear drops to shed
So while there’s moonlight
And music and love and romance
Let’s face the music and dance
Let’s face the music and dance
Soon, we’ll be without the moon
Humming a different tune and then
There may be tear drops to shed
So while there’s moonlight
And music and love and romance
Let’s face the music and dance
Let’s face the music and dance
The soundtrack of the movie can be heard on Youtube. Try it, you might like it. Listen, face the music and dance while waiting for the Great Tribulation to begin.
Could not think of a photo that fit this rather nonsensical blog. I found two photos of Alexis, in her pre Fatimah Muslim days. You must admit, I was awfully cute. Considering my advanced age I am still rather cute. Not beautiful but kinda cute.
