Pet Tweeters

22 February 2012

Why would people tweet their pets?

There are a great number of animals tweeting on the Internet; or shall I say pet owners hiding behind the photographs of their pets.

I remember years ago I was very shocked when a “pommie” (English friend) referred to someone as having a puss-face.   In those days I only knew the South African interpretation of the word. 
Today there are many cat- and dog-faced identities on Facebook and Twitter.
It is in Twitter that one can get behind the psychology of these pet-faced identities.

For what reason would someone choose to use a photograph other then their own as an avatar?
Some of the reasons may be:
1.    The person fear identification for some reason.
2.    The person does not have the courage to make his comments face to face.
3.    The person does not like the way they look.
4.    People with poor self-esteems.
5.    The person does not want to reveal their age, gender or race.
6.    Just for fun.
7.    Want to communicate as sequels among all gender, racial or age groups – brain-to-brain rather than face-to-face.

 Why use the identity of an animal friend or pet?
1.    All the above reasons.
2.    Someone who loves animals more than people.
3.    Someone who make money from the upkeep of animals.
4.    Animal charity organizations.
5.    Someone who wants to meet other animal lovers.
6.    Someone who wants to try and experience the world through the senses of their animal.
Above are a few possible reasons for not using ones own ID photograph or using that of a most loved pet as a photograph.
I am sure there must be some professional scientific psychological profile for people using pseudo identities on the Internet.   Above is my own unprofessional summery.

If we are one of those un- or other-human profile people we can use the above lists to do some self-examination.   We may just find out something about ourselves that we were not aware of before.

For an example you may want to follow Onesock Dog on Twitter who is the mascot for the Blaauwberg Animal Trust.

It may be a good exercise for any psychologist or anyone working in a field where communication with public or with a patients are required, to look at the world through the eyes of an animal.   We are often so caught up in our own importance that we fail to recognize the true need of other.

DA for women power.

Lindi  should be given as high a position in the DA as possible.   Africa needs female role models for all women in South Africa and the world.    With a white, colored and black femle on the helm, the DA will prove that she is trying to colour the rainbow nation.

The problem is that men do not like to serve under a “*pantoffel regering.”     Remember what a fantastic leader Maggi Thatcher was; even the working class liked her,  but the toffee nose Brits could not tolerate her strength so they got rid of her and the Tories starting sliding down the hill ever since.   We do not want that to happen to the DA so just make sure that you balance your top posts out between male and female positions.  

Anyway with three ladies in the driving seat, you can vote each other in.     Just make sure the female votes will outweigh the male votes, every the time, unless there is one jealous bitch in the hen-hock. 

Men like to feel they are in charge, even if they are clearly out numbered.    Perhaps you can throw a gay into your leadership-position-pot, give it a few stirs and put him in charge of a position as the “Minister for Animal welfare”.    You will then appeal to all animal lovers also, not to mention the group of people with a different sexual orientation.

We, animal lovers are fed up about seeing how humans behave like animals and animal representation is grouped with  “mining and global warming”.

 The above suggestions will put a big feather in the DA cap.

I think there are a few Saudi’s that will want to lash you all for being “*te voor op die wa” but then they have not wangled voting rights for them to inflate the opposition numbers yet.

Of wat praat ek alles.

*pantoffel regering -  Slipper government.   (In this case referring to women laying down the law)
“*te voor op die wa” - Too much at the front of the wagon.

Damaged goods people

Children, in many African and other third world countries grew up with warriors or militant leaders as role models. They are damaged goods in any society. They can only envisage a struggle for survival. For many of them the notion of fighting for freedom became their life’s purpose. In some cases, as little children they could strip and name the different components of a gun before they could recite the ABC.

Their childhood dreams were to possess real guns and when they grew up and joined a gang or a militant group, the guns they dreamed about just got bigger and more powerful. What is the purpose of possessing a gun, if they did not have an enemy to fight, so they made enemies? The object was to kill real people.

Some of these damaged children managed to work themselves up to leading rolls. Some became ministers of parliaments and other even gained authority to lead nations.
They soon declared enemies so that they could strengthen their armies and produce bigger guns and faster planes. The toys of war exceeded their wildest imaginations. They see not the suffering and hunger of their people while they sat behind closed doors strategising their next move on the enemy.

Some even tried to unite the continent in one big army against the rest of the world. Damaged goods they are, creating more damaged children so that the wars can continue.

We all need to find ways of removing the imprint of war making, racism and division from the African DNA

The citizens of Africa need to heal their inner child. Africa needs to have positive roll models and positive goals.

African people need to hate the gun and see it as an instrument of poverty and suffering. They need to learn to focus on unity, rejuvenation of the land, the prosperity of the community and above all they need to strive towards PEACE..

Of wat praat ek alles

Dis my reg, dis my reg, dis my reg vir wat ek veg.

The bottom feeders in humanity are rising against the big fish.
Many of the worlds nations are either in a war situation or are experiencing strike action.

We are entering an era when those who have been suppressed up to now are demanding equal opportunities in life.

I was reading about a domestic worker who does not only have to financially support her own children but also the seven children of her sister and brother-in-law who both passed away; I presume they had aids.

We should all hang our heads in shame that we are so busy chasing our own wealth that we neglected the education of the “want them to disappear” people who live in tin shanties at the borders of big cities.

• Every citizen should have the right to know his or her aids status.
• Every citizen of the world should know the importance to be informed about aids.
• Every citizen should understand his or her responsibilities regarding this condition.
• People with aids should be encouraged to take birth control measures in addition to using condoms.
• People with aids should not have intercourse with non-infected people even if they use condoms.
• No child should have to grow up without parents.
• No child should have to look after younger siblings before they had a chance to enjoy a natural childhood.
• All children should have the right to have a suitable education, love, support, shelter and food.

Child abuse and neglect is a cancer in humanity.

Those should be basic human rights.

Of wat se ek alles

Another chance.

All over the world the waterways have been contaminated and stripped from its life-force.
We humans are polluting the very essence of life on earth.

These latest floods are as if Gaia , the earth, is having a bath. A big clean-up.

She is sitting at the local heavenly spa having a nice sploosh splash to rid herself of all the toxins we have been depositing in her waterways.

Lets just hope she is not having a good massage and a rough and tumble afterward.

In Noah’s time when the earth had a good soaker, he built an ark for humanity to survive.

Two of each, strolled in on the gangplank .

It was easy back then.
Could you imaging the selection process in South Africa.
350% black, 30% colored and a pinch of white for democratic reasons with some freeloaders on the roof and while the hoards hang onto the sides while marines shoot rubber bullets at them.
Anyway, the rainbow is to be a sign that the earth will never take deep sea diving lessons again. Mind you it did not mention a 75% color coded rainbow. So perhaps we are still in for it. Perhaps the Biblical rainbow sign means that ‘we better paint our rainbow nation good’ or else!

According to Biblical reference its next trick is a fire walk for purification.

It’s not an ark we need to build but a space ship.

I believe someone on the Internet is selling land on the moon.
That may be a good idea if it comes with a return ticket and if animals are allowed.

Personally, I shall rather live on Venus, the planet of love.

I think I shall stake my claim on a nice spot near the ocean with some large trees and peace, peace ….. not a beggar and burglar in sight.

Venetian plots are free. I am the estate agent down here. Just stake your Internet claim.
There is a selection process. Potential buyers must have hearts full of love and no thoughts of hatred and revenge in their minds.
I shall ask my Uncle Google to do a scan of Venus so you can select and cyber-plant your love-pole to mark your spot.

Of wat praat ek alles.

It is not the same any more

Q: What is the worst thing about a lazy day out in nature?

A: The journey back home.

As children we loved visiting our favorite picnic spots in Paarl. It was a carefree day of fun under tall trees next to a little river.
We had a picnic, explored the environment, had a swim, and ate ourselves dik then we started all over again, while the old people had to sleep it off on the camp chairs or a blanket on the grass.

I no longer consider such an outing fun. Just the thought of having to dodge the traffic, on the way back to Tableview, undoes all the relaxation of the day. My my nerves are as knotted as it has been before the trip when I get back home.

Then there the idiots and smart Alex’es who know just how to bring your blood to boiling point, when they squeeze into your lane, while you queue at the bottle neck in the road into Tableview.
You also have to figure out which is the best lane to queue in. I seem to mark one car in the other lane and see who moves the quickest. One can never see the cause of the holdup until you passed it.

When you get home you have all the picnic things to clean away and the family will be looking at you with big eyes for their next tummy fillers or just coffee to get the old nerves back to its normal stress levels.

If you live in and around Tableview, it is silly to go all the way to Paarl just to sit under the trees.
We may not have many shady trees in our nature areas left, but we still have a lovely dam and beaches where we can enjoy a relaxing day out.

People, who live in Tableview, do not appreciate or utilize the resources right on their doorsteps.

We have some of the best shops, nature walks, parks, water sport areas and beaches right here, on our doorsteps, and much of it is free. The only thing we do not have a lot of in our nature areas are shady trees to sit under, so perhaps a tranquil visit to deeper in the country now and again may still be warranted.

My garden is like a rain-forest. If I want to sit under a shady tree near water, I just have to put the sprinkler on and fold the beach chair open. I possibly have more birds concentrated on one spot than anywhere in Rietvlei.

Five big trees have been cut down in our area recently. It is the height of breeding season so we have birds breeding at eye level.

It is difficult to know when it is the best time to trim trees now that conservation removed all the alien trees, which is just about all the trees in the nature area. The birds seem to compensate by breeding all the year around.


Of wat praat ek alles

Doggy poop - what to do with it.

My dog made a soft poop on someone's lawn the other day. I did not know what to do because I forgot the plastic bag at home. Even if I had a plastic bag, how does one scrape a soft poop from the grass? It will take forever. We shouted at the dog but it was a matter of “If you got to go, you got to go".
So I walked on pretending I did not see it and hoped no-one was looking through the window and spotted me as the culprit. The right thing would have been, possibly to write a note of apology and leave it in the letter box, but that will only cause a temporary irritation to turn into a longtime memory. Once you put a face to a poop it burns into your memory bank.
What to do with the poop once you collected it is the next problem. We have no doggy poop bins on our doggy trail. Some people just dump the plastic bags on the field and other throw it into the storm water drain to clog up our beaches and wetlands.
I was thinking of getting one of those plastic, washable gift bags especially to be used as a dog poop bag.

Photograph: Storm-water draining into Rietvlei. Feb 2010

I was reading somewhere that someone suggested we make electricity with it.

Of wat praat ek alles

Perhaps I should start a ‘what to do with dog poop' forum; but then again, it is only me and Bible and the occasional visitor using the forum.