"Author, Author"

Apropos of nothing in particular, today's quote of the day comes from Jerome K. Jerome, whom I first read as a teenager - due only to the fact that I was told that I "wouldn't understand it". Which, incidentally, was correct. I've since re-read Three Men in a Boat twice, and I'm happy to say I do now actually "get" it.

JKJ (which you notice is incredibly close to JKR, but without the same magnitude of fiscal reward) is credited with saying "Idleness, like kisses, to be sweet must be stolen."

I'm not sure that I completely agree with this, as I find I often have to not only schedule my idleness but also make arrangements for an appropriate venue - otherwise it just doesn't happen. Any other attempted dormancy is almost instantly detected by the Fun Police and immediately terminated. To be honest, I'm not certain that the amount of work involved qualifies the "down time" as idleness in the purest sense.

Maybe I'm missing JKJ's message? "Stolen", as in taken from someone else? Would that mean I need to find someone else being idle, then give them my work so I can partake of their dormancy? Gee, I don't' think that's going to work either. Sigh.

When technology meets culture

Maybe it's because it's the end of the footy season here, or the influx of immigrant folk from places where body art has significance in the native culture, but there does seem to be a huge increase in tattooing at the moment. Not that I'm suggesting in any way, shape, or form that there is anything intrinsically wrong with a 'tat', mind you. There used to be a tattooed librarians website.

I'm all in favour of people expressing themselves in any manner that does not impact on anyone else; that said, my kids have been told the consequences of getting tattooed. They will be disinherited; other worthy recipients will be identified and have have our accumulated debts bequeathed to them. Possibly someone in Nigeria with several million dollars that they have to dispose of quickly.

But back to the issue of tattooing. I couldn't work out why The Other Half's jaw dropped when I told him I was popping out "to get some ink". And the visible relief when I returned with a twin pack of printer cartridges.

Is truth stranger than fiction?
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Workplace Culture: "Fitting In"

Quotation:

"Having found myself intellectually incapable of thinking like a moron, in order to integrate with the culture of the workplace power brokers, today I attempted to at least dress like a moron - in the spirit of achieving parity and recognition, and with the hope of being more highly valued. It didn't work."