Time and speed are different...

The amount of time I have to do things is usually a lot more than the time it takes to do them. Washing up, eating, watching Television- all of these things are done very fast in my world. This is because i am trying to minimise the amount of time I spend with the conspirators. This is the nickname I have for the people in my household. From now on I will try to refer to them collectively as this as it will help.

Anyway, today, I was trying to wash up and afterwards I came stright into my bedroom and wiped my red, soapy hands on my quilt cover. This is how low I am beginning to feel- I would rather do that, than ask somebody where the teatowel (dishcloth) is. I just can't seem to spend a lot of time with these people. It makes me feel very isolated.

Today at dinner I knocked a piece of broccoli out of the bowl. So (having no serving spoon) I picked it up and put it back in the bowl. My mother shouted at me. "But, mother," (I reasoned) "I wash my hands before the meal and the mat is clean." She said that other people would not want to eat the food after I had touched it. She also had a go at me for taking seconds. I wasn't- But the good vegetables are at the bottom of the bowl so I waited for everybody else to get theirs (suckers!) before delving in myself.

The other thing that pissed me off at dinner was the three of them nattering away over the news, which is an important thing for me to know about, as my A-Levels revolve, for the main part, around current affairs. However, the conspirators insisted instead upon ruining my viewing experience by the means of potatoes. Never was there such a conversation to drive me mad as one about potatoes! I am sitting there getting more and more infuriated but I know, I know if I so much as open my mouth to say "Be quiet please" they will all get annoyed at me. Usually they tell me off for talking over the news. Anyway, the two adults are talking about why she likes Aunt Bessie's potatoes and he doesn't. This is a stupid conversation. I think of asking them not to waste their precious words on such a trivial matter, but it occurs to me that by verbally acknowledging the exchange I will sink as low as them. So I stay quiet. But this conversation lasts for ten minutes. "This is ridiculous," I think. "Ten minutes? Of your life? On potatoes? REALLY?! You will probably continue to talk about them in bed this evening, or maybe email each other about it or talk about it while you sit next to each other at work tomorrow."

Mother always complains she doesn't get a moment of rest. She is the same as her mother was. They make up things to do and then when they get ill and can't do them it doesn't matter and those acts they say are so needed, are actually rather inconsequential. And it makes me wonder, "Did you ever need to do it at all? Or do you just like being stressed and busy and filling your time?" I am also ashamed this has not been passed down to me in some way. It is like I am missing the right wiring. I think very differently to the others. I don't tell my friends my true opinions sometimes because I know they will be outraged. It is silly really.

I am beginning to think that they want to drive me insane. Perhaps I will change this blog's name to "The Insanity Chronicles". Perhaps not. TIC is an awful acronym for a blog. Not that EION is much better. EION looks like an electrical company. Damn it. I am being finicky. And therefore, I finish communication for today with a hearty (slightly mad) farewell.

But first! I have been reading a new book. In the last three weeks I read Jilly Cooper's "Jump" and Richard Hammond's "On The Edge: My Story". Both quite good. Cooper is brilliant at fiction. This week I am reading a book my Marina Lewycka called "A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian". Excellent. It is excellent. I highly recommend it, provided you can stand the strong characters.

Happy reading, folks!