My First Posting Ever

Hi You!

This is my first experience with blogging, and I'm sure you are asking yourself why you shouldread my blog. Well, the short answer is that you shouldn't. At least, not in my view. The word “should” always raises my hackles a bit. It is a word that is so saturated with judgement that it is virtually dripping. Dripping with obligation (“You really should visit your mother more often.”), with blame (“She shouldn't have been wearing such tight clothing.”), and with regret (“I really should have told him that there was shellfish in that dip.”). There's no good response to being told that you should do something. If you do it, you've given over your agency and decision making to someone else, and if you don't then any negative consequences that ensue are your own damn fault. “I TOLD you that you should have turned left at Albuquerque!”

In the world of pop culture and on-line everything, the world of shoulds serves a different purpose. The powers that be (yeah, you know who you are..) have an interest in creating conformity. It's so much easier to sell to a single-minded demographic than to have to tweak your message all the time to appeal to thousands of people with their own thoughts and opinions. So anyone who accesses any kind of media finds themselves inundated with top ten lists, and must-see television shows and the one movie that you should see if for some weird reason you choose to only see one movie this year (a vow you made as an idealistic youngster? A deathbed promise to your inexorable grandmother?). And what happens if you don't? See the must- see movie, follow the fashionable blog? Best not to find out. Better to keep checking your smart phone every ten minutes in case some crucial piece of information comes up that everyone else will know. Everyone but you... FOMO!!!

So don't worry about reading my blog. You won't miss out on anything critical. But if you happen to be in the neighbourhood, feel free to drop by and have a read. Or not. Up to you.

By the way, I am not actually an elf. Apologies to any Nordic readers who were drawn to my blog on false pretences. I chose to use a pseudonym because I work in a public school, and not everything that I write will win me any accolades from my employers. I chose this name because my last name starts with an L. One little girl was having trouble pronouncing it, so I told her that she could call me “Miss L.” She thought for a second and then her face lit up and she said, “Or I could call you Miss Elf!” And she did, to my very great delight. Everything in this blog other than my name is true.