Paws for Thought.
THAT is one very full inbox…
I am touched, genuinely. I had thought that putting up a jokey message in place of the blog would reassure you that I was OK, and just taking a rest. I underestimated how many of you would be concerned by my absence.
Truth and consequences time.
I am very down right now, and finding it impossible to write. No, that’s not right. I never find it ‘impossible’ to write. I am finding it impossible to write what I want – and I don’t know how to write ‘robotically’, I can only write what is in my heart, and normally to hell with the consequences. I have weathered many storms over the years; of course they leave scars – there is only me behind this keyboard. No secretaries, no wiki-Raccoon, no neo-Raccoon. It can be a lonely place when the internet trolls descend. Right now I am sitting on a story that I should be, would be, publishing if I had my normal courage – but I don’t. Until this storm blows over, I am taking a break – I don’t know how long that will be.
Healthwise, I am fine. Cancer is not the terrible thing it is made out to be. Christ, I didn’t even know I had it! Bowling along, not a care in the world. Surgery? Well, I was fitter than many women 20 or 30 years younger, I shrugged it off in no time – hosting a house party for ten people three weeks later. Chemotherapy? Arggh! Six months of chemotherapy nearly defeated me. It’s the ‘cure’ that gets you. Six months after chemo finished I am a shadow of the woman I was before, and terribly, desperately, tired. The bloody stuff continues to course around your body, finding every weakness, magnifying every minor ailment that we all acquire as we age. I wouldn’t be human if I wasn’t affected psychologically by this. Just the constant scans, the blood tests – the sheer knowledge that there is only one reason why they are carried out, and that is that everyone is waiting for the first signs that it has reappeared.
I can no longer physically do all the things I used to occupy myself with before. I can barely see my own feet – long way from my eyes that they are! I can’t drive: I can walk only a short distance; I can’t see to do any of the hobbies that I loved; I can no longer help Mr G around this place. I can still see the computer screen, and have no need to see the keyboard, my fingers know where to go – but can I cope mentally with the people who have nothing better to do with their lives, no greater problems in their lives, than to lash out at those with different viewpoints from their own? I think not right now! If I could write something bland an’ ornery I would, but I can’t.
The UK and much of Europe is becoming incredibly intolerant, ‘rats fighting in sacks’ I liken it to – and I can appreciate the pressure that some are under at the moment. There is a tide of puritanism flooding over the land, and truth is the first casualty. We are all facing an uncertain future, yet we fight each other rather than the real problems.
The daily news is nothing more than propaganda for particular viewpoints. In the past few days I have watched as Maria Miller has been skewered time and again on the evening news and the papers – yet every single journalist quoting her as saying ‘Newsnight inappropriately pulled the Savile programme’ was in possession of, and fully aware of, the printed version of her speech which fatefully left out the magic words ‘allegedly’ – did they report it as a gaffe? NO, it was reported as more fuel to the Savile fire….daily allegations are reported as ‘revelations’.
A politician swears in front of a policeman – there is no evidence that he swore ‘at’ the policeman, yet the official report is leaked to the press, and the press have lapped it up – prime ministers question time is consumed by it – is it really more serious than Prescott as deputy prime minister landing a punch on a voter? Apparently so.
Fathers murder their children in lonely forests, city wide boys jump off restaurant roofs to their death, the streets of Athens and Barcelona are ablaze, our financial system is broken – and yet the evening news is appalled to find that a country which in recent times murdered hundreds of thousands of its fellow countrymen because they were of a different race – is racist! They must be punished for upsetting a footballer, but forgiven for murdering thousands! Clasped to the bosom of ruined Europe, yet cast out of Premiership football. The Nobel Peace Prize for Europe – it is a fitting metaphor for our times.
I often wonder what it must have been like in pre-war Germany, watching millions of ordinary, everyday, citizens, Joe Bloggs next door, unaccountably turn into jack booted murdering animals. How did the ones that didn’t buy the Nazi dream feel? Did they too sit on the sidelines and think ‘the world’s gone mad – and its unstoppable’. Did they wonder whether the effort of holding onto their values and beliefs, of placing truth above propaganda, was worth the effort? Or did they creep into their own little world, enjoy the bubble that they created, keep their heads down?
Right now I feel tired and dispirited. There is a blog post bursting to come out, but I do not have the energy to cope with the aftermath. I have an inbox full of e-mails telling me that I mustn’t give up – and I particularly enjoyed the one from the student in New Zealand (you know who you are) who wants me to copy and paste all the court of protection stuff because he’s using it to write his thesis and it is most unfair of me that I have taken it away from him! Not that he’s ever bothered to comment nor would have been moved to e-mail me if I hadn’t shut it off from him…that one will go in the special folder along with the school dinner lady we raised money for who came back for more money – ‘or she would expose me’; the publican we saved from jail by paying his fine that we never heard from again; the photographer who we spent days finding the evidence to keep him out of a portuguese jail and never heard from again; all the people who want this blog to be there when it suits them complaining how damned inconvenient of me it is that I took it away from them.
Interspersed among those e-mails are the ones that have forced me out of hiding to write this post – the people who do give something back, the ones who encouraged me day after day, and to whom I do have a real sense of loyalty. I apologise, right now I am not up to the strain of doing it. This latest wave of madness in the UK will blow over, and when it does I shall hopefully regain my sense of humour and be back.
Ironical, isn’t it? In trying to suppress the blog post I want to write – I’ve ended up writing the ‘poor me’ one I never wanted to write. So be it.
October 23, 2012 at 21:37
-
THIS is what makes the blog special. What politician of any major party
could write this?
- October 21, 2012 at 19:03
-
Hooray! My first and foremost blogger has re-appeared. Your fan club is in
full voice and I’m proud to be in that number. Much love.
- October 21, 2012 at 10:17
-
Previously available evidence suggests that MTG is not amongst those who
‘worry about their mental health’.
- October 21, 2012 at 10:56
-
And I have been worried about you ‘to’, PC Thor. It must have been a
considerable shock to eventually make sense of the tattoo ‘THAW’
commissioned for your forehead.
- October 21, 2012 at 08:44
-
It’s a funny old World and one in which we can become temporarily
dispirited. Only the sane worry about their mental health but you could try a
little self-evaluation. Unquestionably, the Blind Man’s White Stick Test is
the best new barometer, Anna. Conduct this procedure in good daylight by
placing the stick a few paces away to facilitate focus and contrast. Nothing
resembling katana or kalashnikov? No worries.
-
October 21, 2012 at 07:41
-
Dear Anna, so sorry to hear of your current plight. May your spirit &
health soon return. Your blog posts are beacons in an increasingly murky,
irrational world, they are greatly appreciated. As for trolls, nothing more
than Pavlov’s flea circus: fcuk ‘em. Take care of yourself, & draw
strength from your many supporters. We are out there willing your
restoration!
-
October 20, 2012 at 23:36
-
“…the publican we saved from jail by paying his fine that we never heard
from again…” Yep, I contributed to that.
I feel a bit like the character in the film ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’
who is struggling to think of something to say (to the parents of the bride at
one of the weddings)… Anna: “You must be so proud!”
As WE ALL ARE of your superb blog posts. Thank you
- October 20, 2012 at 22:39
-
Where’s Gildas when you need him? One of the
senior/knowledgeable/interesting/readable contributors to Ms Raccoon’s
postings I, for one, would welcome his contribution to this hiatus.
-
October 20, 2012 at 21:22
-
Welcome back!
- October 20, 2012 at 20:10
-
Phew! Thought you’d packed it in permanently.
You do realise that there is small community of itchy Mongolian
transgendered ferrets that is now very frustrated that it will not get to meet
the world-famous red-headed Raccoon of Scotland Road, London, Norfolk and
several other places. The world will be poorer without a considered thesis on
their tribulations. (It would have made a hell of a blog post, too.)
Maybe this is nature’s way of suggesting a brief period of hibernation.
Whatever it might be, take as much time as you need, and as many bacon butties
and pint mugs of Yorkshire tea. Stuff the rest of the world and it’s petty
bickering for a bit, but above all, never, ever, EVER give up!
- October 20, 2012 at 19:48
-
Glad to see you back, Anna, if only briefly for now. Like others, I feared
the worst. Take care of yourself, and know that when you’re ready, there’ll be
a welcoming audience waiting for your return.
-
October 20, 2012 at 14:23
-
Bless…..and take good care. I have no other words.
-
October 20, 2012 at 11:39
-
That made me cry. It is a beautiful Blog Post.
I don’t email you when you are missing because I know that you will get
hundreds, and I don’t want you to feel obliged to answer. I thought that they
would all be good, and I am sad to discover that they aren’t. But I did miss
you.
- October 20, 2012 at 04:45
-
Oh, Anna! I turn to your blog for purely selfish reasons: after a day
dealing with the Vogons who seem to have infiltrated every position of petty
authority, reading you is a reassurance that not all sentient and honest life
has yet vanished from this planet. I’m glad you’re back and wish you a speedy
return of strength and courage.
- October 19, 2012 at 23:36
-
Anna, Hope you start feeling better soon. You are very much missed.
- October 19, 2012 at 23:26
-
A ‘pre-war allusion’?
Just search – “First they came.. “
- October 20, 2012 at 09:02
-
Thor (if I may presume)
It is my period, and I’m familiar with the
quote. Anna appeared – or perhaps I misinterpreted her – to be drawing a
parallel with the present day. That was my interest/concern.
Mike
- October 19, 2012 at 18:59
-
Dear Anna
I don’t know if you had a hit counter on your ‘I may be some time’ post,
but I for one was checking twice a day to see if there was some news. I
suspect like a lot of others I was wondering if the ‘Big C’ had returned.
If you have a writers block, so be it, we will wait; if only to disagree
(not that that happens much). If/when you have time. could you expand upon
your pre-war allusion?
Mike
COI I too am a PhD student, but am not using any of your stuff; being a
historian, its not my period!
- October 19, 2012 at 18:51
-
Anna – Please take care of YOU – and blog when you feel able. If you again
need to take some time away from the bar, could you perhaps leave the door
ajar, so we can pop in and chat to each other?
As for ‘trolls’ – I prefer to think of them in terms of “Bandar Log”
(Kipling’s original of course – not ‘Disney’.)
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rgs/jngl-Log.html
- October 19, 2012 at 18:49
-
Very best wishes from Birkenhead.
-
October 19, 2012 at 18:49
-
It was a very pleasant surprise to find the doors of The Raccoon Arms open
again but remember, Mme R, to fling the beer-towels over the pumps, call
‘Time!’ and tell us all to “Sod Off!” whenever you like. This is your place
and although it’s wonderful for us all to pop in here, either to join in the
chat or merely to eavesdrop, the opening hours are entirely down to you. If
you are inclined to open the bar then so be it. If you want to lock the door
then so be it. Landlady’s prerogative and all that. Take care and have a good
rest whenever you need it. Much love, Glo x
-
October 20, 2012 at 22:20
-
Nice to hear from you again Ms Smudd! I was worried you’d gone on
walkabout too.
-
October 19, 2012 at 18:16
-
Anna,
Wishing you a return to good health as soon as possible. I do hope
you can return to blogging when you feel the time is right.
Since the
Racoon Arms temporarily closed its doors I’ve had to take my custom down the
road to the Ferret’s Arse . Not the same kind of pub at all !
Look forward
to seeing your excellent posts again soon.
Ken
-
October 19, 2012 at 16:46
-
Add me to the list of mightily-relieved regulars at the Raccoon Arms. Odd
how writing one thing leads readers to suspect the opposite; statesmen have
the same problem, with many tragicomic misunderstandings.
My fellow-drinkers are far more expressive and empathetic than I, so simply
increase the well-wishers count by one.
- October 19, 2012 at 15:47
-
the school dinner lady we raised money for who came back for more money
– ‘or she would expose me’…..
I’m totally stunned to read this (and
about the publican). I didn’t know this had happened; I’ve been a tad
distracted of late and haven’t been keeping up on my favourite blogs.
Honestly, you try to do right for some people and they kick you in the teeth!
I can only reiterate what everybody else is saying here: don’t let the
turkeys get you down, hopefully they’ll end up being someone’s Xmas roast,
well and truly stuffed and smothered in gravy.
Get better soon.
- October 19, 2012 at 16:03
-
The Good that one does, seldom does one much good.
But good folk do it anyway.
- October 19, 2012 at 14:38
-
Anna
Your health comes first and foremost – focus on that and on the fine wines
of France – only if – and be selfish here – if you feel up to it, should you
resume blogging. We are all big strong folk and although we found your blog a
ray of sunshine and common sense, we would understand if you took an extended
sabbatical. You have touched many of us with your writing, and should feel
proud that your work in the Raccoon Arms has been such a positive influence on
so many people. As for those who abused your hospitality – forget them. Don’t
attempt to reason with their likes again – remember the old saying – “Never
get into a fight with a pig – you’ll end up covered in shi*e, and more to the
point the pig will enjoy it.”
Now go and find that corkscrew….
- October 19, 2012 at 13:15
-
Anna – rest up, get the energy levels up and recover the joie de vivre that
the treatment has taken out of you. And fight on! Mut verloren – alles
verloren.
-
October 19, 2012 at 13:04
-
Oops, apologies for the you’re/your mistake – I do know my grammar,
honest!
-
October 19, 2012 at 13:03
-
I’m glad you’re back Anna – I’m one of those who often reads, yet rarely
comments. In response to to ungrateful sods who didn’t appreciate you’re help,
I’d just like to share with you of one of my favourite sayings: “If you loan a
friend £20 and then never see them again, it was £20 well spent”
- October 19, 2012 at 12:10
-
Hey – we all miss you – don’t be disheartened!
- October
19, 2012 at 11:36
-
Oh Dear! Who is looking after the needs of transgender ferrets while you
are at the keyboard Anna? Personally I am extremely concerned at their fate.
As you well know they are subject to extreme psychological pressure and have
very few people to help them, indeed specialist care is all but non-existent
in our busy modern society.
No, really – temporary emotional burnout with
any stressful situation is both normal and natural, dealing with trolls and
the ‘gimme gimme’ brigade is unpleasantly stressful for anyone, it undermines
one’s sense of decency and respect. Have a ggod rest if you need one and be
assured that most of us appreciate and enjoy the blog, in both style and
content, but we don’t expect something for nothing and are content to get only
what you want to send.
-
October 19, 2012 at 11:26
-
What In Like Flint said.
-
October 19, 2012 at 10:15
-
What they all said in spades. Consider every troll to be a successful
pinprick in the in the backside of a deserving target you have aimed for and
hit. Look after yourself and allow Mr G to pamper you as much as he
wishes..
- October 19, 2012 at 09:38
-
Anna, you owe us nothing and we are grateful that you have still managed to
ensure the bar is well stocked and the regulars well oiled despite all your
travails of recent times. I did consider emailing you to inquire if this was a
planned break, or a spur of the moment departure, but decided your privacy was
more important than my curiosity. I am one of your silent (long time) lurkers,
who generally find that others are able to say more eloquently, or succinctly,
that which I am thinking, and I have no desire to be a simple “me too”
commenter; your posts deserve more consideration than that.
- October
19, 2012 at 08:57
-
Dear Anna,
I don’t comment much (although I generally don’t bother looking at what
festers below blogs – under your blog I always found the comments to be worth
reading in themselves).
If you want a story out there, but don’t want to deal with the hassle
afterwards, why not pass the post on to other bloggers, to put on their blogs.
Either one with a lot of traffic, or numerous ones. I would be happy to
contribute my minute traffic to helping you get something out if it were
important. We could keep it anonymous or whatever you felt like. I can’t help
deal with writers block though. You don’t owe me anything of course, so I
can’t rightfully complain if you stopped blogging, but I enjoy reading your
posts and am here to help if I’m needed. Not that I can help very much. Those
of us who love freedom must stick together.
I hope you are feeling better soon, as I’m sure you will be.
- October 19, 2012 at 08:54
-
Dear Miss Raccoon,
Here is your email-a-cure from Parrot InstaCure Ltd, the internet’s most
successful avian medical service (motto: “We kill even less people than the
NHS!”).
1.
An initial diagnosis suggests the following cure might help:
Get
Mr.G. to pop down to the local Tescos or French equivalent thereof to purchase
some prime back bacon, Yorkshire tea bags, and a fresh bottle of tomato
ketchup. To be taken orally in the form of a bacon sarnie and a nice strong
cup of tea.
Although regarded by some as a quack cure, there is much anecdotal evidence
that this can cure many ailments from the winter blues to hangovers.
2.
If your symptoms persist then a rarely used reverse-homeopathic
remedy might help. For those who don’t know, Homeopathy is based on giving the
patient a small sample of the poison or ailment that is harming them, or
something like that. The reverse-homeopathic remedy requires the patient to
give back to the organisms causing offence. In your case you must fill up the
650 specimen jars shortly to be delivered to the Raccoon Arms. Then mail them
individually to the 650 harmful pathogens that reside in Westminster.
3.
If that doesn’t work then more drastic action may be required which
involves targetting other possible sources of the pathogens affecting you.
Analysis shows that these sources may be in Brussels, Strasbourg and bovine
editorial desks in London and Salford.
The remedy is quite drastic and you may need some help here. It could
involve asking the Womens Institue for some help in assembling thousands of
empty jam jars (apparently the EU hates mere mortals using empty jam jars, so
to make this remedy more effective make sure they are unwashed). These jars
will need to be filled with specimens and mailed individually to the causes of
the current malaise(s).
4.
Other than that, writing a blog post that you know will piss off a
lot of annoying creeps is known to work wonders (well for readers at any
rate). If you wish, Dr Daedalus Parrot will be happy to have the article
appear in his name and he will also generously accept all the viriolic abuse,
tabloid serialisation deals, chat show appearance fees and associated misery
memoir royalties that may ensue.
Kind regards,
Dr Daedalus Parrot
(By the way if you do insist on closing the Raccoon Arms again, at least
have the decency to leave a note telling me where to get my favourite pork
scratchings from.)
- October
19, 2012 at 12:08
-
A quack cure? So it only works on ducks?
- October 19, 2012 at 08:44
-
We’ll still be here for when you feel like it and are up for it.
You have no responsibility here, I am just grateful you have been running
such a great bar.
Thanks and fingers crossed for everything.
Love from Spain
-
October 19, 2012 at 08:16
-
Do what you need to do. Of course, we all hope you’ll return to inspire us
once again; but if you choose not to, always remember all those who’ve read
your words and either (a) been provoked to change the world; or (b) been
gratified to know that we are not alone. As to the chemo, rest assured it DOES
get easier: three years after intensive chemo destroyed my bone marrow
(deliberately) and a subsequent stem cell transplant, I begin to feel even
better than I ever was before. It’s hard but worth it. Love and respect for
all you do.
- October 18, 2012 at 23:57
-
You have always been a breath of fresh air in a world which doesn’t smell
to pleasant most of the time. I hope you will be back on writing form, but
confess that is a selfish desire to enjoy your publishings in the future.
What is a sincere wish, is that you will be back on form in yourself soon,
and enjoy your life as before, with Mr G. Should that extend to more discourse
at The Raccoon Arms, then that would certainly be the icing on the cake. I
would dearly like you to tell me again that I (nearly) owe you a new
keyboard.
In the meantime, there are many who haven’t had the pleasure of meeting you
yet still feel they know you, like you and care for you. Think about those
people, and view trolls as the pitiful inadequates they are.
Just an occasional note – when and if you feel like it – keeping us up to
date would be most appreciated, but only do it if you want to, and never
because you feel you ought to. Take care and all the very best.
- October 18, 2012 at 23:31
-
You are the big sister I never had (although I am blessed with a most fine
younger sister). Despite your ordeals, your spirit shines through your limpid
writing – there’s rarely a piece that doesn’t seem thoughtful and
well-reasoned. Keep it up!
- October 18, 2012 at 22:36
-
You write so brilliantly well with such thought provoking, intelligent and
inspirational insight, that your absence creates a significant void. Whilst
your equilibrium may not be as it should be right now, be assured that you are
very much admired.
- October 18, 2012 at 21:49
-
Well…now, look back at what you just wrote. Here I am, someone who writes
to “moan” about the state of the world, as I simply must, and there you are
managing such a beautiful statement despite feeling hopeless, in pain, and
dealing with your own mortality much too soon.
If you don’t feel like writing…DAMN the world. You have given them all you
can, and that’s enough. There is so much wrong with the world…and as it
collapes in front of our eyes, we are seeing the elites climb into the boats
and the rest of us are being locked down on the bottom floors.
I think you should take time to heal. When you are a compassionate and
caring person, (as I can tell you are) you have to protect what you have left.
I am a politically junkie too. And I have to FORCE myself to make other goals
in my day. It’s depressing. It’s overwhelming the insanity. It can drain you
to your very core.
To know that you went through all that, and came out the other side, is
comparable to landing on the moon. Unless you’ve been there, you never know.
You are quite the warrior!
So..I don’t know you, or your readers, but there is one thing everyone can
ALL do for you. PRAY..Pray for your body to heal, and your mind to heal, so
that you can once again, come back, and give them all hell….because damn it,
they all deserve it.
Write to that one reader that you know loves you… And then tell yourself…”I
did a good thing today.’
Because, you did.
- October 18, 2012 at 21:39
-
Anna: I for one was genuinely at a loss for a few days – kept wandering
back to see just how long this Doctoral thesis work you were doing would take…
All joking aside, the sad fact is that people NEED to read your stuff. It is
interesting, thought provoking, on a level all by itself, and it may serve a
purpose… to get things off your chest. You have an enquiring mind and we are
the beneficiaries. Having said all that, creating such though provoking
material is an undoubted strain and I and everyone else that appreciates you
would, I am sure, never begrudge you a long leave of absence. You have been
through a hell of a lot personally, so it should not be suprising to anyone
that you find the lunacy going on all around you too much to take at
present.
Please do two things for yourself.
1. Ignore the trolls. I say this like it is the easiest thing in the world
but the truth is they do not have 1% of your wit and nouse. Jealousy breeds on
the Internet, it is certain. In England, I saw an excellent sign, which said
“KEEP CALM, AND DRINK TEA”. I know that you are an ex pat, but the rule holds
good.
2. Ignore those whom you have helped so assidously in the past, who have
subsequently not lived up to your reasonable expectations. If they are so ill
mannered as to either: ( a. ) plot against you ( b. ) not say thank you, then
it is they that are diminished, not you, as we all know the lengths you have
been to to help and assist those whose cases cried out to your better
nature.
So, Anna. Take that break. Try to enjoy the life that surrounds you there
in your idyll. Recharge your batteries. I hope to read good things from you
soon.
À bientôt…
Frankie
- October 18, 2012 at 21:34
-
Hi Anna, I am sorry to hear you are so down and hope things pick up soon,
ignore these trolls, they don’t matter and you have plenty of fans who
appreciate and care. Glad to hear you are keeping the cancer at bay, me too
for now anyway, next scan in January, I didn’t know either, it is frightening
that you can have something so seriously wrong and have no idea. I was lucky
that I didn’t need chemo it does seem to be really rough, not sure I would
have it if I get a recurrance. I find the scanxiety between the scan and
results the hardest to take. I did not know you had a sight problem, might be
joining you with that too! they suspect Glaucoma now, never seems to end. I
agree about the way things are going and I find I have practically lost
interest in all politics, used to be a real politics junkie, and have
withdrawn more and more to my own family and making sure they are ok as far as
I can. I despair for the world we have now. Good luck and hope you will be
writing again soon.
Carol
- October 18, 2012 at 21:04
-
Phew. You came back. Its only You and Redwood that are left now. I know I
can be a curmudgeon, but I do like coming here. Old age and ill health get us
all in the end, but keep your pecker up.
- October 18, 2012 at 20:36
-
P.S. The old hotmail A/C/ was hacked so should you wish to reply please use
the one attached in the leave a comment bar.
- October 18, 2012 at 20:33
-
Hi Anna, I am sorry that you feel so down, all I can say is I live no more
than 20 minutes from you, we actually had a coffee together in Issigeac quite
a while back and you invited me to your old place; I have never forgotten your
hospitality, so any time you want a bit of cheer give me a bell, ( I’ve moved
but the number is the same ) and M.J. and myself will ensure you and Mr. G. du
bonheure.
- October 18, 2012 at 18:50
-
All power to your elbows, fingers and lovely self. You bring daylight to an
increasingly murky world.
- October 18, 2012 at 18:35
-
“I often wonder what it must have been like in pre-war Germany,
watching millions of ordinary, everyday, citizens, Joe Bloggs next door,
unaccountably turn into jack booted murdering animals…..”
I do not wonder, Anna. I have seen the beast close to on smaller scale.
Happy to be driven because they no longer know how to make rational choices.
Whipped into irrational frenzies, frontal lobes in shutdown mode. Told what to
think, what not to think, no longer allowed to form opinions without the risk
of public sanction. Frustration and anger their only release from the
tightening constraints of bureaucracy, increasing debt, over regulation and
the drip, drip, drip, water torture of bad news and obfuscation. Wound up and
just waiting to be set running like clockwork mice.
Add one plausible, ranting demagogue and bring to the boil…….
- October 18,
2012 at 18:17
-
” It can be a lonely place when the internet trolls descend…”
Just remember, for every sad, pathetic individual trolling, you have 50 or
more real readers. The trolls will give up and go away – your genuine readers,
never…
- October
18, 2012 at 17:58
-
Anna, advice you probably don’t need and it’s presumptious of me to offer,
but if you haven’t, then get your thyroid levels checked. Hypothyroidism is
easy to diagnose with a simple blood test, but very hard to pick up from
symptoms. You get very tired all the time, but that also describes many other
things, (such as anaemia which I’ve also had).
Also, COQ10 helps me and if you don’t eat eggs then vitamin B12, if you
don’t get much sun then vitamin D, (in big doses), and if you don’t eat lots
of leafy veg., then vitamin K2.
And rest. Recovery takes time.
- October 18, 2012 at
17:53
-
Recharge. Restrengthen. Reblog. Rip the Righteous a new one.
Am missing my #1 blog authoress – take care of yourself Ms Raccoon!
-
October 18, 2012 at 17:30
-
dear mrs. racoon,please take whatever time you have to to recharge.we will
still be here,and glad you are rested.you and patnurse atr just two blogs i
read daily.you,gildas,and sbmlad are folks who will call it as they see it. no
shame in your game,and good ob all of your blog-mates.you brighten my day
every post.come back swinging,and nil illegetammi carborundum you indeed are
spartacus.much love raymond barfoot
-
October 18, 2012 at 16:55
-
Ha, you didn’t fool me – 40 years Ferreting, man and boy, and I’ve never
seen a bird doing it !
If you’ve got something noxious to post, can’t you
stick Brother Gildas’s name on it – he’s got broad enough shoulders to take
the flack.
Lovely to have you back though !
- October 18, 2012 at 16:32
-
Have a break; have a Kit-Kat. Re-charge your batteries. Let the fire of
frustrations subside to embers.
It’s good to know you’re just (hopefully) dormant, and that like Krakatoa
you’ll will erupt with enthusiasm when the time suits you.
- October 18, 2012 at 15:50
-
Glad to see you back Ms Racoon
- October 18,
2012 at 15:32
-
Thank goodness you’re back Mrs Raccoon. And thank goodness you’re well.
Whatever you decided to do, do it at your pace.
If the story is about
Liverpool or Scotland, spike it ‘cos it’s just not worth the hassle.
- October 18, 2012 at 15:11
-
I am so relieved that your message wasn’t like the one before ( the one
when you declared that you had had enough of blogging and was closing the
site)
Like others, I miss your thoughts. I wish I was as coherent as you.
Glad to see you again.
- October 18, 2012 at 15:02
-
Anna, get back to your thesis, we can all do the French thing and set our
chairs outside the door and take up half the road if necessary while you get
your degree and yourself feeling much better.
Like WoaR my main concern was that you had shut down and I was considering
offering one of my servers as a temporary home – lucky that isn’t necessary,
the internet speed here isn’t the best.
- October
18, 2012 at 14:56
-
To echo what others have said. That said, when taking a break, perhaps just
write nothing and leave the blog up as it is.
- October 18, 2012 at 14:52
-
Whew! See – we do care. You’ve had these escapes several times over the
years and you always came back fighting so please get back to us soon.
- October 18, 2012 at 14:22
-
WB
-
October 18, 2012 at 14:14
-
Don’t let the bastard grind you down!
I wish you MANY more years of writting. You CAN do it lass!
FIGHT IT!
- October 18, 2012 at 13:05
-
I’m just grateful you’re OK, when I saw your message I assumed the worst.
You don’t owe anybody anything. Please take your time to recover, and when you
are ready for it, open up the ‘Raccoon Arms’ again…
I hope you feel much better soon.
- October
18, 2012 at 13:03
-
In the maelstrom of bad news you describe, your reappearance is a ray of
sunshine – that’s one less thing to worry about, anyway!
Stay well, take some time out and indulge your battered sense of humour
with whatever makes you laugh most; we’ll all still be hanging around outside
the door of the Raccoon Arms when you get back.
- October 18, 2012 at 12:59
-
I am almost overwhelmed with sorrow Anna, my dear. I am an infrequent
visitor who has not been a friend in any meaning of the word, but just an
observer who delights in the beautiful word pictures you generously give and
the wonderfully interesting matters you place on the bar before us.
I am so sorry that your spirits are low along with your physical health. I
do suspect that your intellectual capabilities are quite up to the task of
analysing your personal progress, and I am hopeful that you will find your way
out of the despair and despondancy and return to health. My prayers are with
you, dear Lady. I just hope Someone up there will listen.
- October 18, 2012 at 12:58
-
Phew, there you are. I thought you’d been injunctificated.
- October 18, 2012 at 13:03
-
October 19, 2012 at 15:25
-
Moi aussi.
Welcome back, you were missed.
-
October 18, 2012 at 12:47
-
Come back soon Anna, we need your common sense in this world.
- October 18, 2012 at 12:06
-
That’s not a ‘poor me’ blog – it’s an open and honest statement to a lot of
folk who actually care but who usually shy away from asking or supporting. In
different degrees, we’ve all been there at times and we’ve all come out the
other side. It takes its own time and works its own way out – whenever it
does, the words flow again and the spirit handles the aftermath.
Nil carborundum illegitimi. (Which Cameron would apparently claim not to
understand).
- October 21, 2012 at 15:24
-
Magner Carter….did she die in vain? (Which neither Cameron nor Hancock
appeared to understand).
{ 74 comments }