Leslie's Laughs

A meme sent to me by a friend sums it up [The end is nigh, or so they say.  The end to the long 54 day lockdown. The end to a whole lot of Lockdown Live superstars  and home concerts  on Facebook, cooking expertise, yummy recipes, expert opinions and confessions of Who's-in-Charge stories at home.  And perhaps the end of this lockdown blog?  Not so sure, it could become the "new normal".  So herewith my sacrilegious observations on some of the dress sense and etiquette shown during lockdown online programs.  As usual, laugh, share, comment, or delete.] I guess you've all seen memes like the one above, where everyone dresses for their official meetings, only from the waist up.  You've probably also seen videos of the same guy getting up to get something and revealing the rest of his torso, clothed loosely in wrinkled night pants, at best. Or you might recall the 'family' video where one of the ladies walks with her mobile to the loo, drops h...

Image by  Александр Красовский  from  Pixabay   [This one is some sort of hair-raising tale, which had me in splits for awhile till someone pointed out that split ends are not the best thing to have. Read on, if your experiences resonates with those featured here -- names changed to protect identity which is already protected by unrecognizability -- please do share, comment, laugh.] As I have often confessed, I spend more time in the Library of Facebook and Instagram than is recommended by the University of WhatsApp.  So, friends and relations aside, a lot has been gleaned from those ancient tomes!  Not the least of which is the fact that if we don't visit the barber we will look barbaric .  Weak puns. But anything is welcome in this period of intellectual starvation.  Another meme has a picture of a pile of money, with a Barber and a Divorce Lawyer silhouetted against the backdrop accompanied by the phrase, "After the lockdown".  ...

From a post on Facebook, author and place unknown Okay, so I suffered a rather long bout of momentary writer's block.  Perhaps it was due to what can now be called a blockade, rather than a lockdown, judging from the number of thoroughfares that have fallen victim to the barricades demarcating them as containment zones.  A depression locked me down when I read of deaths not due to Covid, film stars and migrant workers, cancer and death-by-cycling-home (a novel disease invented in India). Some of them flooded Facebook with obituaries, old pictures and clips of songs and videos. The others managed to elude all but the most dogged of press reporters.  And then friends started texting me asking "What happened to your blog?"  and "We are waiting to read the next episode in the lockdown tales".  So, here it is, a bit of a ramble on things that happen around me. Forgive me, share if you like, comment if you don't, whatever. Star Wards This morning we woke up to any...

Image by  Tumisu  from  Pixabay   [As a departure from my usual stuff and nonsense, this is a quasi-serious post, based on calls I have had with people, fearing the prolonged extension and its aftermath which some futurists are expecting to last several months. I would seriously like you to consider the issues hidden beneath the surface here and please do leave comments and suggestions as to how the affected persons can best deal with things. Please share on your networks.] The Present Future The video I viewed today was from a guy who styles himself a 'futurist' - so now I have heard them all, futurists, defeatists, fatalists and evangelists as well as doomsday apologists. This particular guy insists that it's going to be a long time - even if the lock down lifts - to get back any semblance of normalcy. He does "data analysis" and says "years, not months". One Facebook wag posed a question: O nce we are back to work -- hope springs eternal -- will we...

Image by  Dan Wirdefalk  from  Pixabay   [Okay, so this one is on food.  Not only food, but the sudden profusion of posts about food on social media.  I'm oscillating between salivating for the goodies and resentment for those posting.  This piece takes a look at the variety of foodie things happening on my Net space during lock down.  If you have had similar experiences (or the opposite) please feel free to leave a comment, share on your media or weep with yearning along with me.] There's a meme doing the rounds which goes something like this:  Heartbreak turns people into poets, rain turns them into photographers, but quarantine makes everyone a chef. I've been wondering why my social media feeds have suddenly started showing pictures of exotic dishes, recipes for quick eats and D-I-Y videos of people cooking! So, here goes a brief roundup of my online experience which I rename "Quaranteasing". Our Daily Bread "Buns in oven!" she innocent...

Image by  Gerd Altmann  from  Pixabay   [Sitting at home, with a smartphone in one's hand, the mind is tempted to wander off to dabble with social media and the wonderful world of advertisements.  But, not the ones you usually see.  There has been a not-so-subtle change in the ads these days. I'm taking a look at what at worst could be called "bad-vertising" in this peculiar situation.  Hope you find it as funny as I do - will try not to name anyone. Please leave comments on the blog.] If I had a buck for every time I came across the words "uncertain times" or  "unprecedented situation" or even "unique response", I would be a rich man.  I'm reminded of the Batman meme where he takes an almighty swipe at the person using any of these phrases.  Of course, it's unprecedented, that's probably why the astrologers have gone relatively silent.  Foretelling the future is not in vogue anymore.  As the novelty of the Novel Coronavirus n...

Image by  mohamed Hassan  from  Pixabay   (Image changed due to objection raised by "Child Activist" in comments section) [Last time it took me a week of deliberation to decide to publish the article on 'Quaranteaching' but only another day to come up with this help file for parents.  Blame yourselves, parents. You asked for it. The flood of responses to my mailbox asking for help, can't be ignored. So here it is, my views on how parents should manage the online teaching, learning or fun!  As usual, you need to leave comments in the article itself for this to move forward. Even if you comment as "Unknown" you can leave your name in the text of the comment.] One of the earliest and most meaningful memes that popped up on Facebook at the start of the lock down went something like this:  Parents, now is your chance to show us what you can do!  Your kids are all yours! Signed, Teachers. It was obviously meant to be dripping with sarcasm and born of ye...

Image by  Mudassar Iqbal  from  Pixabay   [The term Quaranteaching is unapologetically stolen from Rianne Selwyn, an extraordinary teacher in Dubai, whose travails with the local internet provider were vented on social media recently. I avoided writing on this topic for a long time as there are just too many viewpoints and too many egos involved.  But I gave in.  So, here's my take on online classes in the days of lock down, two four-letter words that are gaining in notoriety as the corona virus gains in spread.  Please do leave your comments and share.] A few weeks ago, when we were suddenly informed of a lock down spanning 21 days, now stretched to 40 days, the kids cheered with exultation!  "No more pencils, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks" as Alice Cooper sang in School's Out.  Or more recently, Pink Floyd's view that "We don't need no education, we don't need no thought control, No dark sarcasm in the classroom ..." Short li...