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Thursday 3 May 2018

Trolls


When I was little I remember hearing and then reading the story of “The Three Billy Goats Gruff”. They had to cross a bridge to get to their grazing pasture. A troll lived under the bridge and wanted to eat them. The story, though a bit gory, was a message of good flouting evil as the troll was bested by the goats.

Trolls were normally pictured as weird, ugly, misshapen beings who wanted to eat everything in sight. They were prevalent in Norwegian fairy tales as far as I can remember.

Let us now take a step forward in history to the present day. As with a lot of things in life the computer age has taken over words and given them new meaning so why should the word “troll” escape?

In the fairy stories trolls were always pictured as mean, horrible creatures. In computers a troll is just that. It is a mean, horrible person who is looking for a fight.

A troll’s modus operandi is to visit social sites and post inflammatory comments to a post. The sole purpose of this seems to be to get a rise out of the followers of the post.

I’m sure you know some people like that. Many years ago a member of our social group would introduce a controversial topic with seemingly no agenda. As the conversation around the topic developed it usually became clear that all were united in their opinion either for or against. As soon as that happened this guy would fling in a comment that was the exact opposite of the common trend. His purpose? To get a rise out of the group, to cause disharmony while he sat back with a satisfied smile and watched the ensuing fiasco.

© Vera Alexander

Wednesday 2 May 2018

Cap


When I saw the title for today’s writing prompt I did not think of the cloth type. Being a computer teacher my mind went to bandwidth cap. The thing that puzzles me is why is it called cap?

My imagination conjures up a picture of an unidentifiable mass of something with a cloth cap sitting where its head should be. As all minds go, mine wandered off a little from this picture and thought of the saying “Put a sock in it.” Could I rather say “Put a cap on it?” This would then signify that is it – the discussion is over; the top of the discussion has been reached.

Ah! This begins to clarify the word cap. Cap signifies the end of something – the end of your head has a cap on it. The conversation has reached its end so put a cap on it. Your data has reached an end so put a cap on it!

The horror of it! In this day and age when we are cut off from our Internet of Things our world seems to grind to a halt. When we have reached our cap and there are still days to go before it is renewed we can no longer use the internet and all the doors that it opens.

Facebook! Oh no! Who is having birthdays? Who is sharing what? Who is saying what about whatever? Where are the jokes? The pictures of cute animals? The wise saying? How can I live?

Showmax? Netflix? No movies – my entertainment gone!

WhatsApp! No messages, no cancellations, no invitations!

Instagram! Pinterest!

Google! How can I find things out? Use books you say? How? Why?

Our lives have become so immersed in this digital source of everything that we shudder to have to come to a grinding halt. So we strive to never run out of our Internet Cap. We hold on to each and every last Megabyte and breathe a sigh of relief when our data is renewed.

© Vera Alexander

Tuesday 1 May 2018

Style


I have my own fashion style. I am not one to be dictated by common trends and I have never been.
Now that I am old I can see through all this hype about style and the latest fashion trends. All you are doing when you follow this style is to line someone else’s pockets while possibly making a fool of yourself.
Todays trends seem to be manipulated by supposed big name in show business. It seems hedged in by crudity – the more skin you show the better it is - but woe betide any man who gets turned on by it and attempts to take it a step further.
And men what is this with prancing down a runway in some scrappy clothing that a few years ago would have had you the laughing stock of the whole community – all in deference to fashion.
Style is something innate. Style is something you are born with or not. Style is something that makes you stand out no matter what you are wearing. Style can be learned but can never be imitated.
I have honed in on one meaning of style. The website www.thefreedictionery.com  gives 19 definitions – knock yourself out and learn some new meanings of he word style.
© Vera Alexander