Up Front: The C Word
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Social capital counts - as Malcolm Gladwell touches on readably in "Outliers".
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Except it's not just income.
Plan A: wins Lotto tonight, orders the new modified Atomic. Waits
impaitently until Monday when it is couriered to Big O. Places carefully
in van, and drives happily ever after-
Yes taste accounts for class also. :)
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I suspect that work and best attire is far less of a social marker than what one wears to dig the garden.
Oh, that's simple.
If your 'garden' is a patch of dirt out front with an old car up on blocks sitting in the middle of it, you're working class.
If you have a garden and tend it yourself, you're middle class.
If you can afford to pay for a gardener, you're upper-middle class.
And if your garden is so big that you need multiple gardeners and possibly a gamekeeper, you're upper class.
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The scary thing is how it lingers for decades.
Like I said, it's not actually part of the DNA if you're from the UK, but it might as well be.
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Rich, if so, what are you when you employ a gardener but do most of the gardening yourself because it is your hobby.? I don't mow lawns as I am prone to accidents and heavy stuff with the trees is a tad diff when my balance went west.. Knives are an issue also. Dangerous, but beautiful at the same time. So where are ya huh?
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If you have a garden and tend it yourself, you're middle class.
All the women in my family are really keen gardeners. But. We've recently moved into a working-class neighbourhood, and the back yard is a working-class garden. Clothesline, huge vegetable garden, compost heap, lemon tree, berry bushes - nothing that doesn't produce food.
Before that we rented in a middle-class neighbourhood. Every house had an area of garden out the front which was painfully immaculate - and which nobody ever used. Its sole purpose was to look good from the street. I found it really uncomfortable in a Stepford-y sort of way.
Yes, I am currently replacing a fairly sensible garden with an English cottage monstrosity, but I don't care. It's for me, and I intend to sit in it pretty much all summer. I have hyacinths out, and daphne and daffodils about to bloom, and the jasmine I've trained over the front porch next to the banksia doing the same is just about in flower. So yeah, the 'why' matters too.
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but I don't care. It's for me, and I intend to sit in it pretty much all summer.
Yes, now that's a class all on it's own. A satisfying perfumed pretty garden. Anyone could have it, if they want. Be it pot sized or acreage. It becomes one size fits all.
Emma, keep the lemon trees, handy for drinks like gin, vodka etc.There is a use for worms too apparently. ;)
...mulled wine...
...cider punch,cider sangria... -
That's why I didn't say great to get it done. I'm guessing there is lots of work between drafts.
But even so getting that first (nth?) set of words down even if few of them make it to the final ... that is a great feeling even for my much smaller manuscripts :).
A dear friend in Vancouver some years back told me of a contest where you had to write a novel in 48 hours, over a weekend. He did. Mind no sleep but that was part of the fun. Is there a similar contest here?
If I want to make any further advancement within the company I work for (into low, low lower middle management) I will need to trade in my wages for a salary once again. I will also need to take an income cut of around 20%.
I could never quite figure it out; why would you trade your relatively stress free although pecked on position for a intensely stressed position in return for a salary and a drop in hourly income? The number of people I see getting into management then complaining to me about the hours, the stress, the pressure, is something - and enough to make me NOT to want to seek out management positions.
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...port and lemon mull...
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On ingrained class attitudes in Britain : I once interviewed Richard Hoggart (who wrote The Uses of Literacy) and he stumped me with his very first questions "Are you from a working class background? Are you a socialist?" I guess my response to both questions would have been a qualified 'yes' but I was really flummoxed by the questions.
On gardens: my peony (transplanted from Nelson) has come to life and extending shoots. I am hoping for luscious blooms
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Sofie: no danger, we love the lemon tree. It's massive and ridiculously productive. I've also spent the winter planning what to do with the veggie garden, it's just a matter of having the energy to maintain it.
A satisfying perfumed pretty garden. Anyone could have it, if they want.
Yeah, my previous collection of 35 aquilegias was mostly grown from sneakily collected seed. My neighbour and I swapped "bits", I had stuff from my mother's garden. Moving around means starting from scratch again, pretty much, but now I can just... go to the garden centre (which is a block away, temptations far too close) and just buy things.
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: my peony
Now aren't they a beautiful flower. I am sooo looking forward to creating our new garden up north. I hope I can grow Peonies.
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Christopher Dempsey - not that I've ever heard of, but there's one on the tubes that requires a novel in a week (I think - never been interested in pressurised writing.)
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Christopher - the most common one I've heard of is NaNoWriMo - a novel in a month. Most of the people I've seen embark on it, however, simply weren't prepared for how much time it takes. Old hands suggest filling your freezer with meals before you start and arranging child-care.
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no danger,
Emma, invest in "The Gardener" mag.It's online now too. In the back there are people who trade and swap seeds, plants, etc. Most people who enjoy gardens and have them are good at cuttings for free. After one year of a mag sub ( I lie, it was 3 years) I could forego the need as the info collected is timeless but good for plant diary stuff.I gave a years worth away. One rule I keep for the local garden centre, I only buy specials unless it's a gift. Otherwise it can blow the budget frequently.
Oh, and of course Tequila and Cerveza! -
Unrelated, but Danyl has discovered that Lhaws' mystery woman has her own blog.
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: my peony Now aren't they a beautiful flower. I am sooo looking forward to creating our new garden up north. I hope I can grow Peonies.
How far north? I believe they need cold, cold winters to really flourish. I know of growers in Otago and near Raetihi. But I hope you can grow them--they are more than beautiful--probably the most luxurious and sensual flower ever.
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Unrelated, but Danyl has discovered that Lhaws' mystery woman has her own blog.
Not only unrelated, but frankly, who cares?
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I certainly didn't care when Lhaws popped up on teh Innerwebb to tell us that he had been playing around and it was foolish... as if the whole world was interested in his, his, - it's not a saga, it's not an affair - his naive pathetic self. Oh grow up you professional fourth former.
@ Islander / Emma - thanks - it could have been the month long one my dear friend was talking about. At any rate it was interesting to observe as the words mounted up... a veritable mountain of them - to satisfy some word count requirements... I think he enjoyed the experience more than anything.
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My mother has been keeping irises for my return home.
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Mary (toku hakui) grows that iris Deborah! And about 15 others...and many peony-roses. And a heap of other flowering plants, including the scented kinds.
Her gardens (small now, because there's a limit to what an 83yrold arthitic person can do) are a free delight for all visitors and many passersbye.
I appreciate gardeners.
Do not ask about my garden. (Hint: it is regenerated - with my help - bush...) -
How far north?
Peria. Far far north. Hot but, it is quite cool in the bush so never say never, or it might be orchids....
@ Islander Bush is all good. I am happy, that I only have to make our garden in the bit cleared for the house and the rest is native bush, but along the edges of the new drive is going to be a pleasure. I'll find a pic ,hang on... -
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Unrelated, but Danyl has discovered that Lhaws' mystery woman has her own blog.
Not only unrelated, but frankly, who cares?
Well I confess that I did follow the link, but . . . once there, it took all of 30 seconds to evoke an image of shining a light in someone's ear and making those bunny-rabbit shadow pictures with your hand on the wall out the other side.
Pfaaah.
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Ah yes, Sof'! Bush indeedy! (Nikau are quite a bit further north but most of the rest looks - homely.)
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