Being a Ghost in a solid world

Hey there!

Welcome to the first proper post on this site, and my foray into ghost-writing (pardon the literary pun).

I was reflecting on the name of this site as the chosen home for my new ramblings and it felt like a natural fit. I wasn't going to use 'Substack' with all it's 'nah, we're too edgy to moderate hate content' and with the sexy definition of the word being 'a subset of a stack'.If you are a creative without a clue, like me, then being classed as a minor stack of a bigger stack is hardly inspiring, even if it is pretty true. I'm all for truth, but I also have an ego, damn it! There's also the shudder-worthy prospect of being on the same platform as Dominic Cummings and that gives me the dry boak.

Anyone that has followed my blog posts on my old site will know that I ramble about all sorts, but it's mostly observational, sometimes political, unashamedly liberal (by some standards) but firmly of the belief that no one political ideology has the answer. I love observing society through my own lens and try to look through the lens of others as well - anyone that fails to look at an issue from another's point of view has an agenda with a weakness. I refer you to my previous statement about political ideology. To that end, feel free to call me out on any angle I have not considered - that's the beauty of debate. Reasonable debate. If you're an abusive edgelord I will just laugh and mute you.

I've often found it to be a bit of a struggle to find my place in the world, having the creative urge but lacking that something to stick in at a creative output and refine my art. Whether it be painting, digital art, writing or some other content creation, I've been through many different forms over three decades, trying to find my groove. I think I have finally found it with jewellery making where I have come to accept I will never be perfect, and found that creating in silver can be just as rewarding when you have to melt everything down and start something different. I dabbled in a psychology degree many years ago, but was not mature enough for university and soon dropped out. Basic principles stuck with me, however, and I still think a lot about crowd behaviour, projection and indications of psychotic behaviour as a pose to the herd awfulness we are all capable of.

Let's get all the information out in one go, so those horrified by more liberal ideas can run to the hills and not waste any more time here. Gender, to me, is a completely stupid notion; a recent creation to categorise, order and control people as well as create markets for the selling of goods to specific genders. It's a nonsense and I can't be fucked with it. I have a name, call me by that. Titles like 'Mr' are an utter waste of data. I have zero objection to those who feel their gender is important, as much as I have no objection to those who don't feel gender is important. Gender and sex are not the same thing, but people do feel they have to conflate the two and be angry about it. If people want spaces where those with the same dangly bits can hang out together, that's fine. If people want to get together regardless of dangly bits, that's fine too. Guess what, people will decide what they do and don't want - just don't attack each other over what makes you happy. Utter waste of energy and life.

I also have no compunction about swearing in posts and, though I don't tend to use it as punctuation, I take great joy from the smiling swear cannons of our world from Billy Connolly to your average Scottish 'story for everything' character 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿. Language is beautiful and should be used to full effect. Swearing isn't somethng isn't something that is offensive by its existence, as Mary Whitehouse seemed to believe when I was growing up but can be funny, endearing and insulting depending on intent. I've never been a student of language but through experience I can make myself understood in my child-like grasp of French 🇫🇷, can say hello in Arabic, count to 10 in Japanese 🇯🇵, call you a 'blonde whore' in Greek 🇬🇷(thanks for those lessons, Anastasia) and love Scots words. I was born in England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, grew up in Scotland and have an Irish 🇮🇪 father. I've never felt I belong to any one place and thanks to an upbringing based on fairness and feminism that was in no small part, I believe, a reaction to the violence in my parent's upbringing, I instinctively push back against assumptions and generalisations. But I am human, and those sweet, sweet generalisations can be a trap even I fall into at times.

Oh, and I am a vegetarian. Try that lifestyle in the Philippines 🇵🇭, where everything with a pulse is eaten at various stage of life. Yeah, I ate a lot of pastry in those four weeks in Manila.

Still here? Not crafted a scathing put-down yet? Excellent - you, might find my ramblings mildly interesting as you try to wake up on public transport, making your way to work. Or as you are 'watching' that Netflix series you feel obliged to watch in order to participate in work conversations you can't be bothered with but, you know, networking. You might even want to strike up conversation with someone about random topics affecting society who doesn't just speak in 'Love Island'. Whatever your reason, welcome to my corner of the tinterwebs. Let's quietly observe society together, occasionally trying to throw things but generally going unseen. Till next time, ghosties. 👻