Today's Observation:

BEAT

thanks to everyone who have kept this thread alive, I dont get to post as often any more but it means a lot that people read and go out and observe and share life...

My life has come such a long way since my first post and what a whirly twirly trip it has been!
I read all the posts from the first last night and wow, lol...
I have gone from a happy sometimes lonely single and searching girl not quite sure where to go next to a happily married woman with a clear and bright future ahead of me!
it took more than afew years to get here but the wait was definitely worth it.

I still observe the world around me and still try to spread the love and see the good side to every bad situation, life is beautiful and I am lucky for being here to enjoy it. I am out here living and making my dreams come true and working on a few books so I dont get to get online a lot but Im still here and I do check in and read posts and hope to see more posts and peole sharing and I promise to post more after life settles down a bit!

My latest observation was on the way to work, my commute to work takes me across 3 different highways and if I drive the speed limit I can get there in 30 minutes if the road conditions are good and there is no traffic...on days like we have been having the last few weeks though the roads have been icy and covered in snow making driving dangerous and so I slow it down and take my time and leave early.
There are some though that still believe they are superheroes and that their cars are indestructible and it happens every winter, and as they go barreling down the ride past you you wonder if they will make it or if they will kill themselves or someone else because of their ignorance.

I see so many cars slide off the road into ditches, into other cars, into guard rails and if they are lucky they are alive and didnt hurt anyone else, but that isnt the case all of the time. When I see life flight on the highway as I sit in the long miles of cars in rush hour and wonder if the person being taken away was an innocent safe driver or the victim of the invincible jerk flying down the road in a rush becasue they didnt allow themselves enough time to get where they are going and caring about no one but themselves they sometimes make it but in times like these they do not.

Is there ever a time or place you need to get to so fast that you would risk your life and those of the people around you? You can never be sure that you wont have an accident, the word accident implies that you didnt know it would happen and didnt mean it to happen but it happened all the same.

We need to slow down, we need to be safe and know that what we do doesnt just affect us ... you are not invincible and everyone is trying to get somewhere. Leave early and allow yourself time to get there safely to get there and home again
we all have a life to live and it is already short enough lets not cut it off before its time.

Be safe people, love life!

plonk

I haven't wrote in a while. Why??
Maybe I didn't have the time or couldn't find anything inspirational to write about, or maybe I spend quite a great deal of my free time surfing aimlessly on the web looking for something to entertain my procrastinating mind. Nothing accomplished nothing gained.

ddef

Had a funny moment today.
Well, funny wouldn't be the right word. Actually, i can't think of the suitable word. maybe somebody can help me out once this is done.
So this morning I had to get up earlier than usual to catch my bus. Had extra french classes before first period.
My school is down close to the Dublin docklands, and my bus stops relativley close to my school. But being the hormonial teenager that I am, I fell asleep on the way. When I woke up the bus was parked along the rivers edge near the convention centre.
Basically, said to myself I screw the french classes, I'll go get a sandwich.
Walking along the docks at 7:30 in the morning is quite a beautiful site. The sun was just rising along the brim of the buildings futher down the stream, and the modern, glassed buildings around me caught the glint of the sun beautifully. I am no deep person of any kind, but seeing the city so peaceful completely blanks all thoughts of any corruptness, murders or recessions going on during the day. but for now it was perfect.
As I was crossing the new bridge, watching the river come to life, glittering in the sun beneath my feet, I was approached by a stranger.
He wore a full nike tracksuit with a matching coloured addidas cap.
He bluntly asked me for money. My mirage was shattered.
It seems the city does have problems at 7:30 in the morning

Buddah

I sat and watched him as he ate his breakfast. Toast and marmalade, sloshing tea into his mug, head turned to one side so he could watch Sky News on the small telly which nestled on the dresser amongst a clutter of empty dirty dishes, cereal dishes, and empty and half-empty orange juice glass, deterius left over from the kids' breakfast. The house, silent now, apart from the Sky News broadcaster.

"He hasn't shaved, again", I noticed, and a shiver of dread ran down my back as I knew that he would not be looking for a job, again, today. He had lost his job, with 200 odd other workers when his firm went bust, but that was four months ago, and it seemed that the fight had gone out of him almost immediately when he was notified that he was being "let go". I still had my job, nursing, but I am tired I thought. Tired of coming home to find him stretched out on the couch watching the T.V., while the kids ran riot or played X Box games with their friends, instead of doing their homework. No housework done. No shopping done. No dinner cooked. All waiting for me.

"He's probably depressed", a colleague at work had told me, as if I needed telling! "No **** Sherlock", I had muttered to myself as I grabbed my coat and headed for the supermarket. Money was of course my biggest worry. The mortgage, the utility bills, the kids, all four of them needed new uniforms for the next term, and shoes. God, Johnny wanted Nike trainers, Nike clothes. If it didn't sport a tick, he would not wear it. Samantha needed new shoes also. The twins seemed to be growing by the hour, and clothes I had bought them only a month ago no longer fitted. Of course cheap clothes always shrunk in the wash, which reminded me that the washing machine was on the blink.

I sat there and watched him. He was grinning now as the sports news came on and he punched the air when he learnt that Man U. as he called it had managed to sign on some stick insect for a zillion pounds.

I looked down at my lap and scanned the form that rested there, furtively. €200,000. His firm had once paid the premiums on this policy, and I had insisted that we keep up the payments. It cost a lot, too much, but for some reason I had been determined that we keep it up.

"Look at you," I thought, as I searched his face, looking for any sign of the man I used to admire and respect. "Where have you gone?" I sighed and stood up, pushing the form into my handbag. "I'm off to work now love," I said. He nodded, his eyes still glued to the box.

As I headed into work I thought again about the day ahead. I was in charge of I.C.U. today. Just me. My first job was to stock take the Class A drugs. Make sure we had everything we could possibly need to hand. Order more if need be. Make sure any breakages had been doubly signed for and report any unexplained losses.

Today there would be a breakage, by me, witnessed by my student nurse Moira, who was terrified of everything in I.C.U. A vial of sterile water would crash to the floor, and I would show Moira a boken vile of Insulen that I had kept for just such an occasion. It would join the other vials I had saved over the last few months.

When he was passed out on the couch tonight, drunk again, I would see to things.

It was unfortunate, but it had to be done. I have to protect my children.

Today was his last chance. He blew it. Today will be his last day.

Slow Show

Hello. Right...this is my first post in this forum that I only properly discovered today. I'm a teenage girl and I love creative writing so I found this and I might as well give it a go. I didn't see much in the way of inspiration today so this is just how I'm feeling about my life right now.

It's incredible how things change, sometimes without you even realizing it until it's far too late and the past has well and truly passed, whether it was wanted or not. Life can be amazing sometimes. Not so long ago, it really was for me and the worst thing was, I never even realized it until it was gone, like so much else in life.
People change, just like anything else. They may grow taller and grow out a beard, or maybe their nails will have been let grow longer than usual. But none of this matters when you find yourself being distanced from people because suddenly everything inside them seems to have changed. They appear to turn their back on you, preferring other company and forgetting you were ever friends. You miss them, envy them and above all, remember who they used to be. You think back on the good times that may never come again and something hits you. You are no different to anyone else, and you too have changed.
Life changes because everything changes. Good times change to bad and it's easier to just live in the past and hang on to every bright memory you still possess. Next time the winds of change blow in your direction, accept it. Take it from me, I have been there and made my mistakes and can only learn from them. Change is not necessarily bad, it can be just different. Always remember, everything changing can be sad but it will change again and will keep changing throughout time. Good days and bad days will come. Enjoy the good and just get through the bad.

Well, that's that. I feel stupid now.

corkdave

Xx_emma_xX wrote: »

Well, that's that. I feel stupid now.

That, too, will change!
Wonderful post BTW.

Soccertainer

MojoMaker wrote: »

BEAT, I would love to meet you. Hopefully you are unattached. Fancy a mind-meld over a couple of cold Carlsbergs?

desperadoooooo, why can't you come to your senses...?

BEAT

Lol...that was posted a few years ago...

Soccertainer

BEAT wrote: »

Lol...that was posted a few years ago...

still funny after all this time

Slow Show

Here I go again...

You're cleaning, maybe you're cleaning a window sill...and then you see an insect, a fly, twitching feebly and close to death. You don't know what to do - you want to get this job done as soon as possible, but what do you do with the dying fly? Wait, or end it faster?
So you wait, and you grow impatient. Finally, it stops moving. It seems to be finally defeated. You are about to resume cleaning when that tiny insect twitches again. It's still there, it's still fighting. But finally your patience wears thin. You resume cleaning, and that fly is removed from the window. It lies on the floor, finally dead, waiting to be scooped up and put into a bin. There is no grave for the fly. There will be no goodbyes.
Finally it hits you. A life is over. You're thinking that it's not your fault, it isn't. But it's still over. It is the end.

My observation anyway, except I was sweeping the floor and I didn't speed up its death...I feel stupid and self-conscious again :pac:

af_thefragile

If things could slow down, I could find the simplest way through the tangles of events and expectations that weave the web of life.

If only everything in life was as simple...

AnBealBocht

[insert here] an observation not judgy replies to other peoples posts [period]

dr.bollocko

The wind today.
Would sand blast the wrinkles from an OAP's scrotum.

DT100

BEAT wrote: »

Lol...that was posted a few years ago...

I have just seen that I thanked a post you made in 2004......So much for my observation:D.....But I stand by my thanks...:)

af_thefragile

I do many things.
I'm not good at what I do.

sudoku987

But do you enjoy doing what you do?:)

pickarooney

Unstuck this to make room for another sticky thread.

Hacketry

White shards of sunlight pierce blackening clouds above a slate green sea.
A lone trawler motors home.

LaHallia

just came to my mind:

hey little sister,
you said:
borderline broke heart,
but heart was broken first.
and there are these words you say,
every time we part,
that break MY heart,
you say:
see ya in another life.

Smartly Dressed

I enjoyed it so I guess that's something:

It's funny how the person who can surprise you the most is yourself. An old friend of mine was having his birthday the following day and I told him that I'd bought him a gift, which I happened to let slip was quite expensive. He enquired as to what the gift was but I told him that it was a surprise and that he would have to wait and see. He responded, saying that he hated surprises, and that annoyed me. It annoyed me because nobody hates surprises. What people actually hate when they say they hate surprises is being refused information. If people really hated surprises, why is it that when they do something they thought they could never achieve - like climb a mountain or learn to swim - a feeling of jubilation and self-satisfaction sweeps over them? Of course the achievement itself is pleasing but what really hits the spot is the fact that the person has done something they never thought themselves capable of doing. Not only do they surprise themselves, they also love it.

captain 26

Hi smartly dressed, people dont hate surprises - they just dont know how to react to being the centre of attention at that moment. Its like someone who goes into a shop looking for a suit and when the shop assistant asks if they can be of any help the person says no. Its not that they dont want help, its because they're afraid that they will be sold something they dont want! they dont trust themselves to be strong enough to say "I dont want that" Both cases are from low self esteem

captain 26

My Dad used to say “be sure when you leave someone’s home to close the garden gate behind you”
He said it was a sign of respect and consideration for the home owner’s privacy, the work they have done in the garden and your acknowledgement of both.
Isn’t if funny that the modern home very often no longer has a gate!. We’re now in the age of open plan gardens. Is this an expression of a more open society, welcoming and barrier free or a reflection of a society with a growing lack of consideration for the respect and privacy of others?
Just thinking!

BEAT

today I observed someone who should communicate before executing an action....kind of like think before you speak

If you are a "co-supervisor" lets say, and you think that it is ok to lets say...take down a memo they have stuck on the bullitien board because you think you have the right to do so without asking the person who created it....even though everyone in the office has said its a great memo and several people have even left comments about it....what does that say about the person who took the memo down?

Perhaps it doesnt matter what anyone thinks...what should matter though is the complete and utter lack of respect for your "co-worker" to take something down that was around way before you even started working there without even so much as a heads up....even after you were asked to leave it alone previously.
That deserves a big WTF
*communication is key, in any job you have. I find if you speak to people about things before commiting to an action that anything can be resolved in a decent fashion leaving no confusion to chance.

Now that Ive said that, an observation you have maybe made about me...I may not post all the time but that doesnt mean I am not here, when a post gets reported it goes right into my email and I check it...since it goes to more people than just myself a lot of the time someone else gets to it before me but i check my emails and PM's daily.
If you need to drop me a line or need help with anything please do so.

Insect Overlord

Today's observation:

Some people get ridiculously precious about the saddest, silliest things.

ThePinkCage

You ever notice that self help and articles now use a capital letter when writing about the Self. As if the Self has now become God.

SarahMs

Yesterday, I had a day in town with a friend. We stopped at a 'trendy' place for a coffee. The kinda place I would normally stay well away from, but she liked the place so that was fine. We sat outside and I went to the bar. Got chatting to two guys at the bar, one of them bought me a shot.
A while later, I went into the loo and one of them followed me, pushed me into a cubicle and just looked at me. There was a split second where we could just had mad crazy sex right there. But instead I went the the toliet. He simply tried to kiss me. I pushed him away and He left.
Spent another hour, sitting at the next table next to him making eyes etc. Then my friend and I left. and that was that!
The whole point of the whole thing, is that before I would have had the crazy frantic sex and not cared about who heard or saw. So my personality has changed. I was a bit shocked to be honest. I guess I am growing up.

Antilles

There must be a better place for this thread than the creative writing forum.

Blush_01

Today's observation: People never look like they do in your head. And it's weird when you see a picture of them, having never seen them before, and you think "Nah, that's not them, they look like <insert mental image here>".

SarahMs

There years shouldn’t be pregnancy testes and alcohol haze amnesia, but I can’t think of anything else I’ve else I’ve living. Someone wise once said.
And it’s true; since you’ve entered secondary school can you remember when Monday mornings weren’t about how much you drank at the weekend, how much hash you did, or many people you ‘scored’.
Since when did money have to be put aside for Friday nights and the hunt for someone of age to buy the drink begin? Since when was it acceptable to drink in the woods? at Tesco? By the canal? Since when did it become normal to kiss or more someone when your 2 sips away from vomiting?
Girls seem to become objects.Guys ruthless. Girls go to lean on a guys shoulder and soon their hand or worse head is at crotch level. How convenient.
When your in that state you will take whoever and whatever is on offer.
I’m glad I don’t drink.





I'm clearing out my room and came across random bits of writing. I was a sensible 14 year old.

me-skywalker

A child sees fire.
The youth have awoken,
An inner rage.

The eve smokes.
A city lies broken,
A nation sighs.

CD.

Having reached the 50th short story posted on my blog, I had a think back over the past few months. A lot has changed, I've been much more productive, writing 3 short stories a week, though I havn't actually sat down and written anything longer than a short story in a while partly due to laziness and partly due to tiredness. I know that once I sit down to start, I will be able to continue for a while, it's just a matter of doing it.

I have compiled two ebooks of short stories and have started getting steady views on my blog and postive feedback, which is always nice and I self published a novel. I was hospitalised (briefly) and diagnosed with a chronic condition (crohns) and have started preparing for college. It is also coming up to the one year anniversery of a car crash I was in, where we had to be cut out of the car. I can't believe a year has almost past, but I am looking forward to the coming year. I feel better about life, more organised and like something big is going to happen soon, I am looking forward to college, learning to drive, becoming healthier, my 21st, hoping for snow, and finishing my degree this year so I can move on from it and start something new.

I don't know what the coming year will bring, but right now I am content and feel at peace and really, that is what is important at the moment.

monara

Today, I walked along Sandymount Strand and the tide was in. Two young girls, about 10 years of age, were paddling in the water and enjoying the simple pleasure of small waves coming and going. A magic moment.:)

me-skywalker

Today I hit the snooze button 4 times and still made it to work early. The next day I hit it once and I'll be late. Expectation.

me-skywalker

In a moving sphere... do we rotate?

Blush_01

When someone uses the weapons you unwittingly gave them, do you focus on the fact that you know how those weapons work, or do you focus on arming yourself accordingly? In an ideal world you'd have time for both, but this isn't an ideal world, it seems!

pickarooney

I'd go with Ronald Reagan on that one.

Ben Moore

I find myself twirling my hair and wrapping it tightly around my finger when I am trying to figure out the next line/something in work/when engrossed in a book or movie. It is a habit that has lasted from childhood. It happened today.
I need a haircut.

swan19

I absolutely love this idea.....(",)

My observation today is...Depression...it can be all around us!!! Could it just be a state of mind and the simple answer is "think positive"???

Antilles

swan19 wrote: »

Depression...it can be all around us!!! Could it just be a state of mind and the simple answer is "think positive"???

What a disgustingly offensive idea. Depression is more than just thinking sad thoughts.

What's your cure for epilepsy, "stop shaking"?

swan19

swan19 wrote: »

I absolutely love this idea.....(",)

My observation today is...Depression...it can be all around us!!! Could it just be a state of mind and the simple answer is "think positive"???

No, that is not the simple answer. What a fcuking idiotic offensive post.
Why don't you wander over to the long term illness forum and tell them their illnesses are all just a state of mind.

swan19

I didn't say that was my belief..:eek:

It was a question, hence the question marks and wanted to get people's opinion on it. I have suffered with depression and people who didn't understand it have said things like that to me. Trying to explain to people its a disorder like diabetes or asthma they tend to find that hard to understand.

I'm sorry if i offended anybody..believe me that was not my intention!!!

On another note==> My observation today....

People tend to jump to conclusions before having all the information. People tend to take QUESTIONS as STATEMENTS...

Ok. My observation today is that if people are misunderstanding what you say, the problem often lies with you and not them.

swan19

Hard to believe people can't understand question marks!!! But yeah the problem definitely lies with me. Thanks so much for clearing that up for me :rolleyes:

Antilles

swan19 wrote: »

Hard to believe people can't understand question marks!!! But yeah the problem definitely lies with me. Thanks so much for clearing that up for me :rolleyes:

My observation for today is that this p.o.s. spam thread is a breeding ground for passive aggressiveness and has very little to do with Creative Writing, and it should therefore be de-stickied and moved to another forum.

swan19

Antilles wrote: »

My observation for today is that this p.o.s. spam thread is a breeding ground for passive aggressiveness and has very little to do with Creative Writing, and it should therefore be de-stickied and moved to another forum.

It definitely turned that way on me alright...people telling me i have a problem when all i did was ask a question because i wanted peoples opinions on the matter..God things can really get misunderstood in these forums. Again I'd like to apologize for any offence caused.

Insect Overlord

swan19 wrote: »

It definitely turned that way on me alright...people telling me i have a problem when all i did was ask a question because i wanted peoples opinions on the matter..God things can really get misunderstood in these forums. Again I'd like to apologize for any offence caused.

How about next time you ask your ridiculous questions on an appropriate forum instead of trivialising a very serious range of conditions? This thread is supposed to be about observations, not uninformed medical speculation.

storker

swan19 wrote: »

It definitely turned that way on me alright...people telling me i have a problem when all i did was ask a question because i wanted peoples opinions on the matter..God things can really get misunderstood in these forums. Again I'd like to apologize for any offence caused.

I guess it's considered that the overtly agressive response to your post is "better". When I read your original post I saw it as a point of view, perhaps overly simplistic and didn't specifiy what kind of depression you were talking about. Actually, I thought you were hinting at the economic situation. Either way, hardly anything to jump down your throat over.

I studied abnormal psychology some years ago and I remember that there are two forms of depression: "reactive" and "clinical". "Reactive" depression is, as the name suggests, a negative emotional response to events, for which trying to maintain a positive frame of mind might well be an appropriate response. "Clinical" depression is, of course, a much different kettle of fish, and trying to use positive thinking to cure it would probably be about as effective as trying to beat an elephant to death with a feather duster.

Nevertheless, my observation is that some people need to lighten the hell up. Apart, of course, from people who really are suffering from depression.

Stork

Blush_01

my observation, if you dont like it then dont post here.

Antilles

Blush_01 wrote: »

Any chance this thread could be locked and turfed into the vault somewhere

It seemed to go away once but then it came back like an unfortunate STD.