Just after I’ve been stuck for a subject, several come along in one go. There is actually a logical explanation of why this happens with buses, but I’m not sure it applies to thoughts.
For today, I thought I’d give you an idea of how my mind works. It came to me as I was putting on a blue and yellow check shirt. Subtlety and fashion are not really thing.
Blue and yellow is a favourite colour combination, and was even before the Ukrainian national colours became prominent. I used it as a colour scheme when I made an Airfix model of a Fokker Triplane. The colour scheme they recommended ws the all red colour of Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron. Frieda von Richthofen, a distant relative of Manfred was married to D H Lawrence. I had, at this point, a thought that I should read some more of Lawrence’s books, but I have read several (though not Lady Chatterley’s Lover) and the thought withered before becoming strong. My reading of The Canterbury Tales has ground to a halt as a lot of the tales seem to be much the same. It is, to be frank, a test of endurance rather than a literary delight. I wrote a poem about Lawrence once. I think I already posted it. I will look. I found it.
Lawrence and Albert Ball both went to Nottingham High School – Lawrence with a County Council scholarship. Albert Ball was killed flying in 1917, supposedly shot down by another von Richthofen, though this was later disproved.
Farmer Ted – one of our teaching assistants on the farm
The Finns have abolished private education, such as Nottingham High School. There is an argument for that, as the theory is that all educational standards will rise. There is an argument against it, as some people see it a dumbing down an entire nation. However, I don’t see that happening as the people who send their kids to the High School still pay for private tutors on top of that, and will continue to do so. The thing that worries me from the above article is that the British system has, for years, been moving towards the American system described in the article. What do you think?
Then, as I reached the ground floor I had a brief thought of Snoopy and his struggles with the Red Baron before going to see Julia in the kitchen.
My next thought was “Breakfast!” and my original train of thought ended abruptly. My thoughts ae like that, wide ranging and random, and easily diverted by thoughts of food.
However, despite the transfer of my energy from thought to eating, I now have a list of things to write about later in the day, and as a result of looking for references for links I have many other ideas for further projects. Thoughts are like that, once you start them they just keep going.
Buses, you say? Well, if you insist. The theory is that if the first bus along a route is late, it has extra passengers to pick up. This means that it takes a little longer to load and the second bus loads quicker as it has fewer passengers. Same for the subsequent buses. As they progress along the route the first bus gets later and the following ones catch up. If you are waiting somewhere towards the end of the route it will seem that you waited a long time for your bus (which is late) and that several turn up at the same time (because the following ones have caught up. Not sure that is useful knowledge, but read the whole post – 600 words and very few of them useful. That is how my brain works.
Gingerbread Men
I remember your D H Lawrence poem. It is a good one.
The tour of your brain was indeed interesting. With our species in general, things often have to get far worse before there is a general consensus a course correction is needed. It seems we may be going that direction.
I would like to think we were capable of working things out. However, look at the internet – so much potential for good and we ended up with Social Media. 🙂
Social Media is also a blessing and a curse, a sword that cuts both ways.
Enjoyed the various zigs and zags of your brain. Our educational system is so patchy that it can hardly be called a system. This is certainly reflected in our writing and reading skills, which seem to be way behind the U.K.’s
Ours is patchy too. My kids weren’t taught history after the age of 11 and geography was patchy. To be honest, I’m not sure what they actually did from 11-18, but they both ended up with degrees so something worked.
Sigh. But I have always admired how people in the UK use language, both verbally and with the written word. Seems to me that while there are some good American writers, there is also a lag. If this is a third rail that you’d rather not address, I will certainly understand.
I’m not really qualified to comment, because I don’t read enough novels. I don’t really find any difference with the poetry – plenty of good poets in both countries.
I do read crime novels and find that many of ours are quite dull compared to yours, mainly because the background is so much more interesting. Your writers are much more punchy at that end of things too. In terms of “cosy” mysteries, I will stick my neck out and say I find ours much better. It might be my fault for reading cheap Kindle fiction, but the American version always seems to be about women returning home to open a bakery. I wouldn’t mind, but most of them never seem to bake. 🙂
My daughter just signed up to do a two year stint teaching in underserved communities. I’ll keep you abreast of the American system as it stands now
According to one measure the American system is number one in the world, with UK at number two. Not sure what they were measuring though. In terms of pupil attainment we both seem to lag. Personally I’d start renting them out to sweatshops once they were tall enough to work the machines then plough their wages back int education.
Good luck to your daughter. I imagine she will have some stories to tell.
I’m looking forward
I want more
An interesting post though I found the print size a little taxing for my ancient eyes. As someone who suffered from all the evils of private boarding education and got none of the benefits, I wouldn’t be at all sad to see it go.
Was the print size smaller than normal? I didn’t do anything to reduce it. It looks OK on my screen. I do find the grey print they use on the comments page a nuisance, so you have my sympathy. I will see if I can find a remedy.
Maybe the print size was the same as usual but the post came with a light blue background which made the print harder to read so I felt that it was smaller. Apologies.
It sometimes does that to me when I’m writing the post. I find it difficult too. I will make sure I get rid of it before posting if it happens again. Hopefully it won’t reoccur.