hel_ana | Open mouth, insert foot

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Open mouth, insert foot

So my fellow technical writer and I were talking about the strategic placement of Forever, Erma by Erma Bombeck, in my step-son's school picture.

She mentioned that the interior designers have of late taken to buying up huge lots of old hardcover books, primarily leatherbound ones, slicing off the spines, and then attaching them like wallpaper to the walls of rich people's houses. So that those people could, you know, get the look of books without actually having to give up any space in their gargantuan houses.

The graphics person came over and joined the discussion, mentioning that it's been going on for at least 10 years. We discussed it for a bit, and I mentioned the terrible irony of the most Philistine-like people to most want to appear like they have culture.

The other tech writer said "Oh, I don't know" and I said (in my wonderfully emphatic way) "If you do that, you're a Philistine. Full stop."

The graphics person put up her hand and said "guilty". And then went back to her cube.

Oops.

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I'm afraid you work with Philistines. Sorry.

Well, at least one. The other tech writer is quite as horrified by the practice as I am.

And after she admitted to the practice, I said "well, I'm sorry. But I have to stand by my statement."

This goes into the "apologize for being rude, not for your opinion" category...

(says she who had to do the same last night...)

Which is what I did.

Hmmm, how do you do that? Seriously, I'm socially inept at times and this is just the kind of hole I dig myself into on a daily basis. If you say you think people that do X are morons and then someone around you admits that they do X, what do you say? You can stick to your guns and say "well then, sorry, but that's what I think of you", which probably falls under that rude category. You can back down on your position and say "well not you of course" which is more polite I guess, but never seems genuine and abandons your opinion entirely. And then there's the option of just saying nothing at all and basking in the uncomfortable silence that will inevitably follow.

I've got this co-worker who is my age but has THE most fuddy-duddy taste ever. She collects "Precious Moments" figurines for god's sake! I am constantly caught in situations where I'm expressing an opinion of disdain for things she just loves and I can't seem to dig myself out.

Quite literally what I said.

"I'm sorry if I was rude, that is not called for. I have the right to my opinion, not the right to be rude about it."

Hmmm just like I thought, no magic "take back" button.

Rarely, in my experience, is the magic button there, regardless of what it's for.

Sucks, but...(then again, don't take tact advice from me...

hel_ana and

much_ado can tell you, diplomacy isn't my strong suit *G*

Oh, I don't know. Add the "gunboat" modifier, and you're quite handy to have on the team.

*laughter*

Okay, fair enough - for that, I suppose so.

She collects "Precious Moments" figurines for god's sake!

Hey, what's wrong with Precious Moments?

Ok, they are a bit too sugary sweet for my taste (for the most part, although I have expressed a desire for one or two of them)... but the Friends of the Feather collection (by the same company) is pretty damn cool.

When asked the question:
"In what store would you max-out your credit card?" what would your answer be?

If the answer is "the Hallmark store so I can buy more Precious Moments figures" when you have a cabinet that is 2' wide and built-in almost floor to ceiling that is ENTIRELY filled with them already, you may have a problem ;)

Seriously though, I don't do "cute" and I don't do figurines either. I decorate entirely with tea pots, vases, candlesticks, martini glasses, pottery and stuff I might eventually use. It's just me, I'm a practical kind of girl and I don't "get" figurines at all.

At least not from anyone who wants to stay friends with you.

Froggy notwithstanding. ;)

Froggy?

The plague froggy.

Though he's more a talisman than a figurine.

He's a pendant, jewelery. Jewelery makes me go prrrrrr :)

LOL As evidenced by the necklace. I was about to say "you really ought to put pictures of that up on the website. And then I saw that you had.

Lovely partlet, by the way.

On which website? Mine or the Tang's Tudor Yahoogroup?

Yours. Sadly, many of the pictures on your website appear to be broken.

Not broken so much as non-existent. I meant to get to it, but life has interfered. I threw what I had online, and I will get to the rest at some point.

I don't understand -- the way you speak, it would seem that my amusement is *not*, in fact, the paramount priority of your life.

I'm so confused.

;)

I'm beginning to wonder if Bidgie is ignoring us. We should phone her. Or ask Mom to put pressure on her.

Well, I do get a lot of people who think the site is broken or that I'm not aware that well over half of the links go nowhere and maybe 3/4 of the images are missing and write me helpful notes to let me know. You know computers though, and you also know that I have a clue, so I should have realized that you'd figure it out.

As for Bidgie, yeah, we bein' dissed! I think I've asked her two or three times now, and nuthin'. Not even an "I haven't decided yet". I think it's time to sic mum on her.

How about Odette? Sabdh? Alyce?

Ooooooo Odette's a fantastic choice.

Of course, rather than going directly to the nuclear option, we could just ask on the d'Courci list.

Done

HA!

And it's the right one, too! ;)

Oh ooops, I already knew that. I can't remember where she posted it last time (must have been in response to either a post or a comment of mine).

I'm sorry I won't be camping with you, I really wanted to. Your camp sounded like it had the best amenities, and I think camping with you and Arnora would have been a blast, but I just couldn't deal with the idea that the annoying two would have taken our presence as a personal all-time standing invitation to drop in. I'll still be down there a whole lot I suspect, I'll just try to sneak in when they're not looking ;)

We should phone her.

Do we even have her number since she moved?

I don't, no. Arnora might.

Oh, and thanks for the partlet compliment. It took all of a single evening with Tang's pattern. You should make one too, they're nice. I can trace the pattern and mail it to you or Tang can probably hand-deliver a copy at Pennsic.

If the answer is "the Hallmark store so I can buy more Precious Moments figures" when you have a cabinet that is 2' wide and built-in almost floor to ceiling that is ENTIRELY filled with them already, you may have a problem ;)

No, actually it would be 1/2 fabric and 1/2 beads... But the whole cabinet thing would apply. *grin*

For the most part, I don't understand figurines either... but once and a while I'll see one that I just have to have. Of course, it'll almost always have a wolf in there somewhere...

Fabric and beads - piffle, fabric and GLASS, you gotta make your own beads, that's even more fun.

Gotta get more glass for practice...

And a decent torch... (got a hothead now...yay for practice torches that use mapp gas and/or propane!)

And more tools

And a kiln.

And even then, I don't think I could make seedbeads. *pout*

Most of what I do is beadweaving instead of beadstringing... although I have no problems incorporating lampwork into a clasp, pouch strap, or fringe. *grin*

Ah, then you already know the lure of the glass.

And I like my hot head. Seems decent enough to me anyway. Sooo wish I had time to work with glass. So wish I was getting work done and not just frittering my ay away on the internet and going to have to make up for unbillable time later - sigh.

Have you checked out Grizel's bead pages yet? Lots of great seed bead projects there.

It's actually been a few years...and I had lost the URL.

Thanks! Mostly for the bead embroidery. *grin*

oh yes. we got a lot of that when i worked for a big used book store here in town about 6 years ago. people came in all the time wondering where we kept the "pretty" books.

morons.

Yes, there's a certain part of me that believes that if at least some of your books aren't "ugly", then you're not using them right.

Yes! The ones I love and cherish and use have the spines bent, are dog eared and underlined. These are the academic ones, though. I do understand the value of a beautiful book, but they are to be read and used.

I was stunned by your revelation of this design trend.

::nods:: Me too.

I must confess, in my earlier years, I was a dog-earer.

I must confess, in my earlier years, I was a dog-earer.

*sigh*

I still am... on second hand paperbacks that I KNOW I can get replacements for without a problem.

Because the covers tend to get destroyed anyway since they tend to get tucked into my purse...

I always thought that was a TV thing. No one in their right mind would destroy books for decoration (or so I thought)!

*sigh* the world is a strange place.

What killed me is that she justified it by saying "well, a lot of those books, that's all they're good for because they're deteriorated".

Something tells me, however, that books in excellent or good condition still suffer the same fate.

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Open mouth, insert foot

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