Ok so get ready for a strop. This one has been a long time in the making and I have a fair bit to say about the following because although a lot (and I mean a lot) of things annoy me on a day to day basis, this is right up there…
Adverts or commercials or 'the breaks', whatever you choose to call them are the bane of my life. There used to be a time not so long ago when the advertisements were good. Sometimes better than the soap, film, TV drama, documentary or whatever it was you were watching. I will talk about the kind of great commercials I mean a little later on but for now bare with me.
It is somewhat of an odd thing to hate adverts because they are everywhere, but the thing is why do they have to be so annoying? You can argue that if you find them annoying and they stick in your head, they are doing their job. This is true, that is after all how advertisements are supposed to work. I have enough brain power to understand that if you see an advert enough it is designed in such a way to stick in your mind so that whenever you are looking for a specific product you will think of the advert and subsequently (the manufacturers of said product hope) you will buy/use theirs.
The problem is subliminal messaging. You see there is legislature in place (it has been for some time) to stop advertisers using techniques that will hit your subconscious rather than your conscious mind. This sounds all a bit drastic but subliminal messages are a serious thing, I could be making you all want to give me money with out you knowing it. It can be used in such a way that when you want to buy a packet of crisps for example you only ever buy Monster Munch. What this leaves us is the necessity to make adverts that are either so unusual or catchy that you think of them all the time.
You see, my perspective of advertising is this; I want to find it funny and interesting and not always to the point as long as it's clever. Please tell me you agree with that… If not stop reading. You're probably one of the people who still like the Go Compare man. And he is just doing what he is paid to do but the 'masterminds' behind him who came up with the idea definitely need to be shot. And so do you. So there. Anyway, what I'm making a point of is that I don't mind if the commercial is direct simple and straight forward or if it's beating around the bush so far you haven't got a clue what it's about until its ending. It just shouldn't be annoying or stupid and seem to be on every five minutes of your life.
By now you might have a few adverts in your mind and "Yeah, I hate that one too." well here are some of the ones that are getting me at the moment; We Buy Any Car, anything for a fragrance, Go Compare, Yoe Valley, Money Supermarket, Churchill. There are a multitude of others, so many in fact that I can't focus. Fragrance adverts really take the biscuit if you ask me. They're all the same. They will start with a man or a woman depending upon the target audience and then some stupid close-ups; introduce the opposite sex and some slightly inappropriateness and whisper the name… Crap. Just crap, there is nothing about whether it smells good or anything just that you are supposedly not allowed to say the name of it any louder than a whisper.
I must admit as we continue with this that I actually don't watch that much TV, usually I pause or record things so that I can fast forward the breaks. I mostly feel the skull smashing irritation of adverts designed to appeal to cavemen while I'm at work. For those of you that don't know, I work in a call centre where there are TV's around with music channels on. Most of the time my ears have to suffer the endless repetition of MTV Base but then on top of that come the stupid adverts to boot. And people wonder why it's an effort to go to work… Taking a couple of steps back, these days I never hear anyone say "I love that advert." anymore (if they do it's generally someone a bit slow and it's a really crap advert - their opinions don't count).
Years ago, loads of adverts were great. Loads of them - I have a list but again, I'll come to that in a bit. I'm not quite finished yet. Right we all know that sex sells, my question to you is does it? There is no question that I prefer to look at a beautiful large breasted woman over well, anything else really but nevertheless the question remains that if it had never been said would sexuality be such a massive part of advertising today? I honestly don’t think it would because again it’s all about suggestion. Here’s a good example, there is an advert currently running for Herbal Essences shampoo & conditioner where this woman is doing a Mission Impossible style abseil to get this shampoo or whatever but then the camera pans back to show her absolutely fantastic bum. Now she has good hair, true but that's not what you notice if you see what I'm saying. What's the point of the bum shot? I like it, but have they done it to appease men watching it or just because… Women will look as well, whether they say it or not but either way it's pointless. It has nothing to do with her hair.
That's just an example of the nonessential sexual references in adverts these days. Honestly, if you watch the adverts after you read this, see if you can count how many don't have a cleavage shot in them. There won't be many and like I say I can always appreciate a bit of cleavage but sometimes I just think, would I remember the advert otherwise? There was a Dreams commercial a while back where a woman comes over to a child and the camera stayed on her boobs for a couple of seconds. I don't remember what the bed looked like at all, but even so I still remember it was a Dreams advert so again, isn't that what it's supposed to do?
I am now inclined to mention some of the all time classic adverts so that you can understand what I am talking about. All these stupid commercials at the moment pale in comparison to some of the ones I am about to mention. What I would like to say first off though, is that there was a Channel 4 special show on the 100 Greatest Adverts and most of them were 90's and early 00's and that helps just emphasis my point. The first one I want to talk about is the Renault Clio Nicole/Papa campaign of the mid to late 90's. Everyone remembers them. They weren't exactly to the point but at the same time they showed the Clio as a car for all ages. That was the entire gimmick, but they did it in a brilliant way. That came 12th in the top 100 and I agree completely with it.
Now I don't remember all of the top ten, and I am too young to remember a lot of the 100 but even so, watching them back was brilliant. None of them were repetitive or annoying they were just different for the time and funny. Have you ever seen the Smash robots? Little tin robots talking about the genius of Smash… pointless but brilliant. When that advert first ran, there was nothing like it and Smash became popular because of it. That advert has been voted TV ad of the century by Campaign Magazine and it came 2nd in Channel 4's top 100. The 1st in that 100 you might be wondering was Guinness - Horses in the waves… tick followed toc, followed tick, followed toc. Simply brilliant.
I also have to make a special mention - as Channel 4 did - to Honda - Cog or dominoes advert. You may remember it; a small cog starts rolling and then sets off a sequence of events to eventually close the boot of a Honda Accord. The intricacy of it was amazing, there were no special affects and when they eventually got it to work and it was filmed in one take. It took over six hundred attempts to get the whole sequence to go through properly but if you haven’t seen it before, watch it and you will see why it was worth it.
So unfortunately it appears the golden age of sheer genius advertising ideas are gone and it appears that we are destined to suffer the stark ramblings of idiots who think annoying people is the best way to get their attention. Unfortunately it seems to be working because they just keep going; I think we're on the sixth or seventh version of the Go Compare campaign… It genuinely makes me want to cry. To all you advertisers out there please, please be clever and deliver something that makes me want to watch you advert again and again. Better yet you could give me a job and help me help you make great adverts.
Thursday, 28 October 2010
Friday, 22 October 2010
Who Am I?
It's a difficult question if you ask me, which clearly you don't need to because I'm asking myself. I often wonder who I really am because different people and situations breed different sides of me. That in itself isn't really shocking, almost everyone is like that even if they don't admit it. Still, why does it cause me so much confusion?
I hope by getting this down I can gain some clarity on the/my situation and potentially inspire thought in you as you read this. For me, my questions come when I'm at home by myself and that's a good place to start I think because let me tell you, I am not designed to be by myself. Have you ever seen Jerry Maguire? There's a great scene in that film that resonates with me... He is thrown a 'surprise' party (I think it's for his birthday) but some of his friends think it will be funny to get all of his ex-girlfriends to say something about him and they play the video. They all sort of say how great he is and blah blah blah but, they all start saying the same thing. That Jerry Maguire can't be alone.
At first when I saw that I thought nothing of it, but because I'm a bit of a girl and like my chick-flicks, I have seen that film probably a dozen times and every time I watch it that scene impacts me more. Are the women on the vidoe saying that he can't be alone as in single alone or just alone in his own company? Now I know as a matter of fact that I am a relationship kind of guy, I love having someone to come home to, someone to spoil as much as I'm able, someone who's eyes I can look into and tell them that I love them. That's just me. Looking at the other side of it though, I am also a very social person and I really don't like being by myself.
As I write this I have another eight days off work, which is ironic because a large portion of that time, sadly I will be alone. I know... diddums right? Going back to my original question, this is where I start to wonder, I have a lot of time to think and the more I do the more my imagination gets away from me. I start thinking about what it would be like if I won the lottery and didn't have to worry about bills anymore. I start to wonder if I'll sell my script (when I eventually finish it) and win an Oscar for best screenplay. Who doesn't do that right? Thing is, I am always a bigger or better version of whoever I am. In these endless wonderings of fantastical circumstances I am never the person I am now.
Automatically you may think that I'm miserable in some way, there are things that could make me happier there is no question of that, but all in all I'm content with my lot. So what is it then? Why can't I be by myself and be in my own company? Why do I change and blend into whatever situation I'm in? I think a part of it may be thinking that I'm not the person think I am. Which is fairly odd because people like me, I don't mean to brag but they do. I could probably count the number of people I know don't like me on one hand (unless there are a lot of fake people who are good at lying).
I know I'm insecure, I don't think many people notice it but that just means I'm doing a good job of hiding it I suppose. Is that a good thing? I do think we're getting somewhere though. I reckon that only people who either have none or can let go of their insecurities can truly be themselves. So then maybe that means that until I/we can do that, we are just fooling everyone and pretending to be something we're not until we can overcome our insecurities.
So if people like me, are they liking a projection of who I think I should be depending on the situation, person or people? I know this is the case (or at least I do now) so what still bothers me is why I need to be around people and/or have people to talk to. I think I've established that I'm a multitude of different people depending upon my circumstance (maybe I have schizophrenia) so maybe I like to exercise each of those sides of me because they are too different to be rolled into one. Therein I believe lies my problem, potentially I am distracted by small pieces of me per person I am with so that it affects me on a more serious level, maybe seduces me into making decisions based on my mentality at the time.
Now I never make rash decisions, I am far too logical for that. As I am re-reading this it seems like I am in some way suggesting that this may be in part the fault of my friends, so if you are my friends and have got this far I am not blaming you, I love you all. A question I have just asked myself is something I said earlier and that is "does it actually matter?" Does it? Is it a problem that my friends invoke different things in me? Here is a list of people I am;
A film critic
Someone to watch funny TV with
A comedian
A flirt
A 'leader'
An advisor
Someone who is always the butt of the jokes
And there are more but difficult to write down and as I wrote that list and thought of the different aides of me, I sit here with a smile on my face. I have realised who I am, I am the person that will cheer you up, make you laugh, make you smile and that's never a bad thing. I am rarely all of those people in the same day and I don't think ever at the same time - I'd probably explode - but that is all if me.
So my original question and a massive puzzle has been solved. I am who I need to be, when I'm needed and who I'm needed for. And in answering that problem I answered the other thing I was asking... The reason I can't be alone and I don't like it is because I miss everyone who makes me be me. I miss having someone to bounce jokes off and laugh with. So if I e-mail, text or call you (call might be few an far between because we all know I don't like using the phone), think yourself lucky and special because at that moment and at that time I am missing you more than anyone else.
I hope by getting this down I can gain some clarity on the/my situation and potentially inspire thought in you as you read this. For me, my questions come when I'm at home by myself and that's a good place to start I think because let me tell you, I am not designed to be by myself. Have you ever seen Jerry Maguire? There's a great scene in that film that resonates with me... He is thrown a 'surprise' party (I think it's for his birthday) but some of his friends think it will be funny to get all of his ex-girlfriends to say something about him and they play the video. They all sort of say how great he is and blah blah blah but, they all start saying the same thing. That Jerry Maguire can't be alone.
At first when I saw that I thought nothing of it, but because I'm a bit of a girl and like my chick-flicks, I have seen that film probably a dozen times and every time I watch it that scene impacts me more. Are the women on the vidoe saying that he can't be alone as in single alone or just alone in his own company? Now I know as a matter of fact that I am a relationship kind of guy, I love having someone to come home to, someone to spoil as much as I'm able, someone who's eyes I can look into and tell them that I love them. That's just me. Looking at the other side of it though, I am also a very social person and I really don't like being by myself.
As I write this I have another eight days off work, which is ironic because a large portion of that time, sadly I will be alone. I know... diddums right? Going back to my original question, this is where I start to wonder, I have a lot of time to think and the more I do the more my imagination gets away from me. I start thinking about what it would be like if I won the lottery and didn't have to worry about bills anymore. I start to wonder if I'll sell my script (when I eventually finish it) and win an Oscar for best screenplay. Who doesn't do that right? Thing is, I am always a bigger or better version of whoever I am. In these endless wonderings of fantastical circumstances I am never the person I am now.
Automatically you may think that I'm miserable in some way, there are things that could make me happier there is no question of that, but all in all I'm content with my lot. So what is it then? Why can't I be by myself and be in my own company? Why do I change and blend into whatever situation I'm in? I think a part of it may be thinking that I'm not the person think I am. Which is fairly odd because people like me, I don't mean to brag but they do. I could probably count the number of people I know don't like me on one hand (unless there are a lot of fake people who are good at lying).
I know I'm insecure, I don't think many people notice it but that just means I'm doing a good job of hiding it I suppose. Is that a good thing? I do think we're getting somewhere though. I reckon that only people who either have none or can let go of their insecurities can truly be themselves. So then maybe that means that until I/we can do that, we are just fooling everyone and pretending to be something we're not until we can overcome our insecurities.
So if people like me, are they liking a projection of who I think I should be depending on the situation, person or people? I know this is the case (or at least I do now) so what still bothers me is why I need to be around people and/or have people to talk to. I think I've established that I'm a multitude of different people depending upon my circumstance (maybe I have schizophrenia) so maybe I like to exercise each of those sides of me because they are too different to be rolled into one. Therein I believe lies my problem, potentially I am distracted by small pieces of me per person I am with so that it affects me on a more serious level, maybe seduces me into making decisions based on my mentality at the time.
Now I never make rash decisions, I am far too logical for that. As I am re-reading this it seems like I am in some way suggesting that this may be in part the fault of my friends, so if you are my friends and have got this far I am not blaming you, I love you all. A question I have just asked myself is something I said earlier and that is "does it actually matter?" Does it? Is it a problem that my friends invoke different things in me? Here is a list of people I am;
A film critic
Someone to watch funny TV with
A comedian
A flirt
A 'leader'
An advisor
Someone who is always the butt of the jokes
And there are more but difficult to write down and as I wrote that list and thought of the different aides of me, I sit here with a smile on my face. I have realised who I am, I am the person that will cheer you up, make you laugh, make you smile and that's never a bad thing. I am rarely all of those people in the same day and I don't think ever at the same time - I'd probably explode - but that is all if me.
So my original question and a massive puzzle has been solved. I am who I need to be, when I'm needed and who I'm needed for. And in answering that problem I answered the other thing I was asking... The reason I can't be alone and I don't like it is because I miss everyone who makes me be me. I miss having someone to bounce jokes off and laugh with. So if I e-mail, text or call you (call might be few an far between because we all know I don't like using the phone), think yourself lucky and special because at that moment and at that time I am missing you more than anyone else.
Saturday, 2 October 2010
Its Called English
There are thousands and thousands of people that share my opinion on the following subject but equally as many who say it's "easier" and in all reality just don't care. What am I so passionate about now? Text speak. I literally hate it. If you know me well enough to talk to me via text or indeed if you ever facebook chat me, read an e-mail I send or even a comment on some-one's status or wall post, there is one thing you will know that I do - I write using English. People don't write anymore they abbreviate and alter letters when it's unnecessary. I can appreciate that it might well be easier to text under you desk if you have to because maybe you don't have the ability to see whether your phone has 'corrected' a word to make whatever you were trying to say sounds like utter gibberish. I also understand the initial reasons all this abbreviated 'speech' came about - The dawn of the short message service.
Some of you may be pleased to hear (I was) that the first real sms message was sent in the UK through the Vodafone network and it said 'Merry Christmas'. It is a pity then, considering we sent the first message that we have no real standing in the mobile communication world but I suppose we can't have everything can we. Anyway, back to the point. Generally text speak doesn't bother me too much because at the moment it's sort of a hit and miss in my daily life, sometimes my facebook news feed is full of it other days I get to view what's happening without huffing about spelling and grammar. You might be wondering why it is that it's an issue for me, probably because I haven't explained it yet, I will, I just like to build up the tension. You may well be thinking "what's the big deal? Everyone does it." - If you thought that, you have just hit the nail on the head. Everyone does it and this has a long term and detrimental affect on the future of language, not just the English language, all of them.
By using technology instead of the basic tools like a pen and a paper we are restricting ourselves from using and maintaining something that has evolved over thousands of years. The sms has a limit of 160 characters and in my opinion a downward spiral has been getting bigger and deeper since. It is commonplace to use abbreviated words to shorten the length of a text message, the use 'lol' and other such terms if you know what I mean. I must admit that I am a 'lol'-er but I use it sparingly and it tends to only be women that I use it too which is something I don't really understand but that's another subject entirely. Now I do respect the fact that we have evolved a language to adopt our constantly changing technologically improving lifestyle. As a species we are the most adaptive on the planet and brilliantly we have the ability to affect change in drastic ways. My fear however that as we grow and move forward we will no longer write and I am genuinely saddend by that.
As it stands, there are only small portions of the general demographic that do this semi-annoying text/abbreviated speech - 'everyone' is a drastic exaggeration. There are slightly different twists on what my issue is now that I come to think about it. I have a well known pride for being from the Black Country, we might not have the best accent in the world but, the industrial revolution started through the biggest steel works in the world and that was right here. My point is that I used to and sometimes still do write in Black Country. I don't shorten words for the sake of it and I will use the correct grammar i.e. apostrophes for abbreviations like comin' but that's just because it's part of me and I like to use it comically not because it's easier - if anything it takes more thinking. The fast paced world of texting and facebook and msn and twitter and all those social networking sites (which again I admit to taking part in) are increasing the rate of language and vocabulary decline. As we created and adapted a way of talking with 160 character limit in a text message we have now continued (to a certain extent) that trend even though it is becoming unnecessary. We have the time to think and really put down what we mean.
I am writing this and thinking that I should use some examples of what I mean; words that I hate to see re-written pointlessly, but I can't. I physically can't bring myself to type that way, I am browsing the culprits on facebook to show you but it is not going well. Quite ironically I am having a huff-free day and can't find anything to help emphasise my point but it seems that I have deleted the final few that were annoying me. I'm sure it's clear and obvious the kind of thing I mean. I would like to be able to blame 'the kids' because that tends to be the thing to do, unfortunately it is not all them (although they are most definitely a large part of the problem - but I'll come back to that) I see it more with people my age. For those of you that don't know I'm 24 and if I started speaking or writing that way, I would be disappointed expect someone to punch me. I feel let down in a way but I can completely understand that it's just through force of habit and that maybe it is easier but please, come on. its really not that hard to do.
So, back to 'the kids' then. My point about kids and I would like to affirm that I know not all kids will do this but I remember what I was like to bare with me. I am not thick, stupid or dumb and I'm not overly intelligent either, but nevertheless I got bored at school really easily. I would often just doodle or daydream and generally just not pay too much attention and I managed to get away with it more often than not because I could pretty much pick up what I needed to without putting too much effort in. My long winded point is this, I didn't have a multitude off applications on my mobile that I could be even more easily distracted by. I had snake (I still think its awesome now) and pay as you go so I couldn't spend all day texting and on top all that I only had access to the internet in the I.T. rooms. Imagine how rubbish my GCSE results would have been had I had all this to take my mind of whatever lesson I was in. In all fairness, my results aren't that bad and in no way am I trying to say your little brother or sister is thick but I would be very surprised if they don't spend a little more than just their lunchtimes messing around on their phones. I don't have kids in constant contact with me and there is only one person in my friend list that is still at school and I am quite happy to say that I never have to huff at his status updates.
The written word dates back to 3400 - 3200BC where the Sumerians were using characters for the first time instead of symbols. That's more than five thousand years of thinking and reason and the use of language for the development of culture. Five. Thousand. Years. Writing has been frowned upon as yielding too much thought - that has a lot to do with religion and I won't go there - however the fact remains that if civilisations long gone hadn't started documenting their life and times then we would have no idea of they were or how they lived. If people didn't use their imaginations we would not have some of the most famous works of fiction we know of today, there are thousands to name but just think of any classic author or book and you will know what I mean. We are an intelligent species, we use our minds to think, plan and write and I am concerned that we are 'dumbing' ourselves down and sullying everything that the past left for us. The more our world improves the less we have to think and that is why our general vocabulary and use of the written word are withering away into nothingness.
Some of you may be pleased to hear (I was) that the first real sms message was sent in the UK through the Vodafone network and it said 'Merry Christmas'. It is a pity then, considering we sent the first message that we have no real standing in the mobile communication world but I suppose we can't have everything can we. Anyway, back to the point. Generally text speak doesn't bother me too much because at the moment it's sort of a hit and miss in my daily life, sometimes my facebook news feed is full of it other days I get to view what's happening without huffing about spelling and grammar. You might be wondering why it is that it's an issue for me, probably because I haven't explained it yet, I will, I just like to build up the tension. You may well be thinking "what's the big deal? Everyone does it." - If you thought that, you have just hit the nail on the head. Everyone does it and this has a long term and detrimental affect on the future of language, not just the English language, all of them.
By using technology instead of the basic tools like a pen and a paper we are restricting ourselves from using and maintaining something that has evolved over thousands of years. The sms has a limit of 160 characters and in my opinion a downward spiral has been getting bigger and deeper since. It is commonplace to use abbreviated words to shorten the length of a text message, the use 'lol' and other such terms if you know what I mean. I must admit that I am a 'lol'-er but I use it sparingly and it tends to only be women that I use it too which is something I don't really understand but that's another subject entirely. Now I do respect the fact that we have evolved a language to adopt our constantly changing technologically improving lifestyle. As a species we are the most adaptive on the planet and brilliantly we have the ability to affect change in drastic ways. My fear however that as we grow and move forward we will no longer write and I am genuinely saddend by that.
As it stands, there are only small portions of the general demographic that do this semi-annoying text/abbreviated speech - 'everyone' is a drastic exaggeration. There are slightly different twists on what my issue is now that I come to think about it. I have a well known pride for being from the Black Country, we might not have the best accent in the world but, the industrial revolution started through the biggest steel works in the world and that was right here. My point is that I used to and sometimes still do write in Black Country. I don't shorten words for the sake of it and I will use the correct grammar i.e. apostrophes for abbreviations like comin' but that's just because it's part of me and I like to use it comically not because it's easier - if anything it takes more thinking. The fast paced world of texting and facebook and msn and twitter and all those social networking sites (which again I admit to taking part in) are increasing the rate of language and vocabulary decline. As we created and adapted a way of talking with 160 character limit in a text message we have now continued (to a certain extent) that trend even though it is becoming unnecessary. We have the time to think and really put down what we mean.
I am writing this and thinking that I should use some examples of what I mean; words that I hate to see re-written pointlessly, but I can't. I physically can't bring myself to type that way, I am browsing the culprits on facebook to show you but it is not going well. Quite ironically I am having a huff-free day and can't find anything to help emphasise my point but it seems that I have deleted the final few that were annoying me. I'm sure it's clear and obvious the kind of thing I mean. I would like to be able to blame 'the kids' because that tends to be the thing to do, unfortunately it is not all them (although they are most definitely a large part of the problem - but I'll come back to that) I see it more with people my age. For those of you that don't know I'm 24 and if I started speaking or writing that way, I would be disappointed expect someone to punch me. I feel let down in a way but I can completely understand that it's just through force of habit and that maybe it is easier but please, come on. its really not that hard to do.
So, back to 'the kids' then. My point about kids and I would like to affirm that I know not all kids will do this but I remember what I was like to bare with me. I am not thick, stupid or dumb and I'm not overly intelligent either, but nevertheless I got bored at school really easily. I would often just doodle or daydream and generally just not pay too much attention and I managed to get away with it more often than not because I could pretty much pick up what I needed to without putting too much effort in. My long winded point is this, I didn't have a multitude off applications on my mobile that I could be even more easily distracted by. I had snake (I still think its awesome now) and pay as you go so I couldn't spend all day texting and on top all that I only had access to the internet in the I.T. rooms. Imagine how rubbish my GCSE results would have been had I had all this to take my mind of whatever lesson I was in. In all fairness, my results aren't that bad and in no way am I trying to say your little brother or sister is thick but I would be very surprised if they don't spend a little more than just their lunchtimes messing around on their phones. I don't have kids in constant contact with me and there is only one person in my friend list that is still at school and I am quite happy to say that I never have to huff at his status updates.
The written word dates back to 3400 - 3200BC where the Sumerians were using characters for the first time instead of symbols. That's more than five thousand years of thinking and reason and the use of language for the development of culture. Five. Thousand. Years. Writing has been frowned upon as yielding too much thought - that has a lot to do with religion and I won't go there - however the fact remains that if civilisations long gone hadn't started documenting their life and times then we would have no idea of they were or how they lived. If people didn't use their imaginations we would not have some of the most famous works of fiction we know of today, there are thousands to name but just think of any classic author or book and you will know what I mean. We are an intelligent species, we use our minds to think, plan and write and I am concerned that we are 'dumbing' ourselves down and sullying everything that the past left for us. The more our world improves the less we have to think and that is why our general vocabulary and use of the written word are withering away into nothingness.
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