tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post8753145757805528708..comments2024-03-18T10:29:46.055+00:00Comments on Ken Armstrong Writing Stuff: The Doorbell LadyKen Armstronghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07775956557261111127noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-19656290542174967982017-10-10T10:15:15.625+01:002017-10-10T10:15:15.625+01:00I pick up pennies and any money but because I am s...I pick up pennies and any money but because I am skint not because of any perceived luck. Any joy I have from finding any cash is always ruined by my pessimistic self who tells me that I probably dropped a tenner last time I opened my purse and I will need a lot of pennies to make up for that!Franhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06675807932843211827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-86701891315458631332017-10-09T23:22:20.356+01:002017-10-09T23:22:20.356+01:00I loved the Romanian lady who did an 'arse wad...I loved the Romanian lady who did an 'arse waddle' impression and you knew what she meant.<br /><br />My first instinct was 'get yourself a wee camera on the door' or 'set up a little mirror thing that you can look out of the window at and see who's at the door'.<br /><br />But, no. You shouldn't do any of that. You should keep playing the game, just as she does. Besides tearing down the stairs, swearing softly, then climbing the stairs again, is probably good for you. Consider it a screenbreak. <br /><br />Simon RickettsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-78352889994467446242017-10-09T04:15:20.425+01:002017-10-09T04:15:20.425+01:00So not quite Alan Bennett’s lady in the van then? ...So not quite Alan Bennett’s lady in the van then? I’m trying to think if I’ve known any eccentrics but I’m not sure I have. There used to be an old man who sat on his wall and we’d see him on the way to and from school so we’re talking eight in the morning. I remember thinking that odd but I expect he was simply lonely. He never cat-called anyone or flirted or seemed to want anything other than to be acknowledged. <i>Esse est percipi</i> as Bishop Berkeley famously put it: To be is to be perceived. I get that. I don’t need to necessarily be seen physically—you and I have never seen each other—but our respective existences have not gone unnoticed. Mostly I seek to be noticed through meaningful acts. Like this. On the surface your bell ringer’s actions seem quite the opposite but maybe all she’s looking to do is exert power in a world where I expect she feels increasingly powerless. What puzzles me is that she wanders off afterward and doesn’t look back to see the effect of her actions. Maybe that’s not important. If no one was at home then no one would come. I guess it’s like tossing a coin. Sometimes it’ll be heads. I could flip a coin in the air a dozen times and never look at it when it lands but I’d <i>know</i> some of those times—maybe even six times—it’d come down heads.<br /><br />I also pick pennies up off the ground. They end up in a piggy bank—a wooden pig Carrie tells me she bought me but I can’t remember—and eventually make their way into plastic bags and, when I can be bothered, find their way to the bank. The same with 2p coins. Everything else gets spent. I’m still very much a cash person. I used credit cards online and for major purchases and even there most of them are made online these days.Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.com