So another Pagan festival has passed. It's no wonder children get confused. Does Easter celebrate the old time pagan belief in the beginning of new life in the Spring, or the sad story of Christ on the cross? (That's if you're a Christian believer, of course!) How do all those non-Christians out there cope with it all? And all this eating of rabbits. Eggs is fine, they're common day-to-day fare, but rabbits? I'm quite partial to a bit of well-cooked rabbit. Stew, or roasted, or almost any other way.
But children, and soft-hearted adults always think of those 'cute, cuddly bunnies' or even the well-known Bugs, as portrayed by that master Chuck Jones. Somehow it puts them off eating the 'fur-bearin' critter'. Yet somehow it's perfectly legitimate to eat rabbits in chocolate effigy. Am I the only one to see the dichotomy in this? From a practical point of view of course, it's much cheaper to buy a solid block of chocolate than it is to buy hollow chocolate figurines, but somehow, most people overlook that fact. Isn't advertising and brainwashing wonderful? I'll bet the manufacturers laugh all the way to the bank. No, don't give me the spiel about it only being once a year, and what harm does it do! It's insidious, and pervades so many corners of Western society. Just because we have more, doesn't mean we should waste more! How much packaging is wasted on moving say, 2 dozen chocolate rabbits, compared to an equivalent quantity of chocolate in block form? 3 times as much? Four? The use of plastic in blown shapes? Just to protect chocolate from breakage! Plastic is made from oil. Why is the world complaining about a fuel shortage?
Ah well, I'd better stop my gripes again. I've been reading again. And laughing at the ignorance of people who try to write. I never knew that spanking was 'capital' punishment! I always thought it was 'corporal' punishment, but I suppose some people take it more seriously than I do! :-)
I must admit too, some of the errors with phonetic homonyms give me the giggles. The most recent examples have been 'taut/taught/tort', and 'a fowled line'. I still haven't worked what a 'taught butt' is. A 'tort' is found in the practice of law, and 'taut' is tight, but how does one teach a. . .? Or do they mean to educate a goat? Is a 'fowled line' what one uses to tie a chicken with? I know English is confusing, but-Come On! Enough is enuff!
Right! please note; I've reviewed my prices. Only minor revisions, but so many writers of short stories are reluctant to have their work checked, with most of them pleading poverty. Yet they are so often the ones who need to have their work reviewed, in order to present it better. I know that the big commercial editorial services charge a lot more than I do, but I don't have their overheads or investments to think of, so I charge less. All I'll say is- Try me! To start with, my turn-around times are much shorter!
There you go. That's my lot for Easter. Don't smear melted chocolate over everything. :-) R
