Bothering to bother

I used to get so annoyed at people's dramas and issues, that at some point in my life I thought, "Bugger that, I can't be bothered anymore."

In recent times though, I have come to realise how wrong my attitude was.

Don't get me wrong, it still annoys the hell out of me when I think I can clearly read a situation, and someone who is in it can't. What has changed though is that I know that my view is only one view. At times, I still think that my conclusion is best based on all that I know, but I've also come to accept that (shocking as the revelation was) I don't know everything, do I?

These days I am glad that when people that are close to me have issues, it bothers me. Because it still means that I care. And although in a lot of cases I can't change the situation and I can't change how those people will respond to it, what I can definitely change is my response. Making sure that what is bothering me is the situation and not something within myself, and then making sure that if I do need reach out to help, that I do it with love.

Not a review

I am a little out of practice. Work is to blame for stealing all my blogging time. Excuses, excuses, I know. But I hope to make it up to you, my faithful reader(s) with this post.

I have been planning since about 3 months ago to blog about this topic, but I never got around to putting my thoughts together. Well, I'm sorry to say that those random thoughts are still rambling around in my head, but upon seeing one of the stars of this blog-post-to-be on a post by Sleepless, I decided to just do it.

A Song of Ice and Fire
This is the name of a series of epic fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin. The hubby has been quite a fan of the series for a while, but it wasn't until HBO developed a television series based on the first book, A Game of Thrones, that I myself became interested...or more like hooked.

This is not a review of the greatest fantasy TV series in the world...no, this is just a tribute.

A Game of Thrones
Firstly, two words. Sean Bean. He plays Lord Stark of Winterfell. No surprises that his character is the noble and honourable one, you know, the kind that if given a chance in a sword fight to stab you in the back he would wait for you to turn around first before continuing. Ugh.



Lord Stark on Winterfell, sitting on the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms

 Then follows a whole cast of beautiful people.
 

Cersei Lannister

 Queen Cersei from the House Lannister is a beautiful, strong and cold lady, willing to do anything to keep her family's line on the throne (yea, one of those tuff chicks).



Ser Jaime Lannister

Twin brother of Queen Cersei, pretty rich boy Jaime is the one of the main guards for the King, whom he despises.



Jon Snow

The bastard son of Lord Stark. Yes, the honourable man has a bastard son. Smack bang in between his "legitimate" kids. Scandal, scandal. Jon leaves his family to join the Men of the Night's Watch, a life long commitment to guard the people of the Seven Kingdoms from the wildlings and The Others that roam the northern winterlands. Ooooh...



Robb Stark

 Eldest son of Lord Stark, destined to follow in his father's rather large footsteps. Gulp.



Daenerys (Dany) Targaryen

 Now why can't I have a cool name like that? And flowing golden locks? I guess because neither the name nor the mane would go with my thighs. Daenerys is the young daughter of the previous King, and she and her brother seek to have their family, the Blood of the Dragon, restored to the throne. But how to do that when you are the last of your line, and exiled to a foreign land? *Drumroll*



Khal Drogo

 Drogo is a chief of the Dothraki people (they're into fighting and riding horses). Drogo is a very rich and powerful man, and he wed Daenerys by her brother's arrangement. Some people have it tough.

But it's not actually the good looking people that make the series. It's the DRAMA!
From marital mishaps to family feuds to friend face-offs to unknown spooks...lies, betrayal, honour, and twists in all the most unexpected places.
Oh, and they do quite a bit of the nasty. No abstaining for the game here! But what do you expect, with all these hot-looking, hot-blooded people in one book? The fast forward button on the remote comes in handy if you're not into that stuff, like me.

So imagine this, all the drama of all the blogs you read, rolled into one, multiply that by a million, then slap some Brangelina genes on top of that. My kind of TV series.

I give it a rating of: Why on earth are you still reading this instead of downloading it?!

No comment

Since I started blog-following (stalking) a little while back, I have found that on top of the generally entertaining blog content there is the added treat of blog comments. From what I have seen, the commenters are usually seasoned bloggers themselves, so they add their own flavour of humour to complement the original post. I myself have been guilty of spending more time commenting on the other blogs than writing on my own (blame the lack of creativity and imagination, with a pinch of laziness).

Then comes the big butt BUT.

But...I have also seen some strange (for lack of a better word) blog comments. You know the ones of which I write. Here are some fundamental principles of blog commenting that I try to abide by, not just for blogs but for Facebook, Twitter, and pretty much any place that a person is able to publicly post personal information/statements/ideas and receive feedback. I'm not saying you need them. In fact, you probably don't. But this is my blog *shrugs*



No (bad) comment

 BLOGCOM101: Commenting for idiots beginners

Humour
Probably the biggest thing that gets lost in translation between blog content and comment is humour. It's annoying when a post is HILARIOUS, and it is pretty obvious that about 0% of it is serious, and then you see some hardcore sneeeerious feedback at the end. Lecturing, finger pointing, berating.
Tip: Log out, look on TradeMe for a sense of humour to buy, install, then log back in and comment. Then continue to regularly update your humour software for optimum results.

Context
The circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed.
Don't see a word and go ape-mad and start commenting. I've seen comments that have had absolutely nothing to do with anything, and have made me question whether the commenter had actually read the whole post, or whether they are having their "monthly sick time" and need an avenue to vent.
Tip: If you are not prepared to read the whole post, please don't comment. That is all.

Faafetai lava mo le fesili (Thank you for the question)
Some blog posts end with a question that invites feedback, and most importantly YOUR opinion on things. In this case, please feel free to unload the burden you bear on the topic.
But some posts can be a personal recount, or the blogger's own opinion, or just a statement rather than a question. Consider this if/when commenting.
When someone posts a blog saying "I don't like sausage rolls", and they're quite serious about it, then don't comment multiple times trying to convince them of the health and economic benefits of buying/eating sausage rolls. They don't care. I don't care.
Tip: If it's not a question, don't answer it.

To comment, or not to comment
If in doubt about any of the above, just don't comment. Don't feel pressured to comment, just because everyone else is coming up with something witty or enlightening on the matter. If you don't think you have anything of value to add, you probably don't maybe another blog post will be more down your alley.

Hateration
Some blogs allow "anonymous" comments. Some people use this to protect their identity when stalking hot rugby boys *cough*
But some people use this to straight out hate and curse on comments, and pretty much just do everything they don't have the gall to do under their own login. To the latter group, I have no tips. Your issues lie much deeper than a 5-minute read of my waffley post could even start to address.

Disclaimer
This is my view on commenting, and not a reflection on all bloggers. Please, comment freely on this post :P