"For the nice...."

Earlier this week, Lynn was talking about how she wished she had a bigger soapbox (so more people could hear her) and how she'd tell everyone to "get a grip." And then, how lots of people just need to go "kiss some puppies."

I think there's wisdom in that. Back in my fairly-privileged youth (I went to prep school where we read stuff that probably not a lot of people read any more), we read Candide. (IIRC, we did it in French, in French class, and then a year later, my English teacher decided she wanted the English class to read it in English)

(An aside: Candide is a wonderful, funny book. A bit bawdy in places, but somehow that old-time bawdiness - like Shakespeare's phallus jokes - does not squick me out in the way that some modern vulgarity does. I don't know if it's the fact that it's hidden behind a veil of language that's unfamiliar to us, or if there's more of a disconnect between hearing the statement and realizing, "Oh, that was a penis joke" or what....but yeah, with some of Shakespeare's comic stuff, there's very much an "Oh, you! I see what you did there!" reaction on my part, whereas something like a Farrelly Brothers movie just makes me go "Ick, that's so in your face."

Anyway. Another bit from Candide I loved was the philosopher who commented regularly that "This is the best of all possible worlds" (even as things were happening to him - didn't he get his nose cut off with a sword? It's been a long time since I read the book) In the book the character is called Professor Pangloss* but we were taught he was really modeled on Liebniz, the mathematician. And this is the weird way my mind works: when I first ever say Liebniz brand butter cookies sold in the store (they are an import), my reaction was to refer to them as "The best of all possible cookies" and of course NO ONE I was with EVER got it.)


(*And yes, it does not escape me now that that would make an excellent Pony character)

Anyway. The very end of Candide contains the phrase Il faut cultiver nos jardins which literally translates to, "We must cultivate our (own) gardens" or, I think more broadly, to detach from the unnecessary stuff of the world that annoys you, and attend to the things that are really important. (For example: telling someone on the Internet that they are wrong is almost certainly not really important).

And I like that. I also like the old French phrase, Revenons a nos moutons, which again literally translates to "Let us return to our sheep" but really means, "Pay attention to what is important in life."

And I think both of those are good mottoes. There do seem to be a lot of folks out there losing their collective minds over stuff, and it's been that way for a few years. (Probably was always that way, but Before Internet it was easier to roll your eyes and go "Bless their heart" and ignore the person)

Another motto I like, that I commented on over at Lynn's - there used to be a website called Adorablog. It still exists but has not been updated in forever. It was kind of sort of a more text-based and less animal-centric version of Cute Overload, but the thing I really liked about them was their motto:

"Because some parts of the internet should be nice, for the nice people."

Meaning, they didn't do Big Drama and Controversy and Flamewars* and everything else that happens on so many other sites.

(*Do we still talk about flamewars? Or have they been so commonplace that we consider what used to be called a flamewar kind of SOP for some corners of the internet?)\

And I always liked that motto a lot. Partly because I generally regard myself as a "nice person." (Oh, deep down, there are parts of me that are not so very nice. But I try to not let those parts out in public). In fact, my mother once lamented (after something happened to my brother when he was in high school), "I guess I taught you kids to be too *nice*," meaning that the louder, ruder, meaner people tended to run over us a little bit, because we were used to doing things like waiting patiently in line for our turn, or saying "Excuse me" and "please" and "thank you."

(Though I also maintain that saying "please" and "thank you" are the BEST way to get what you want in a lot of situations. I think the fact that I was polite, and said "This isn't URGENT but..." when I went into the Streets Department, that may be part of what got the guys out to my house to take care of the issue so fast. And even if there's no return on your investment, it's just being a good person to let other people know you appreciate their efforts.)

Anyway. I tend to like things that are "nice" when it comes to entertainment and the like. I don't like the competition cooking shows where people are under a lot of stress or are yelling at one another, but I do like things like Barefoot Contessa that are fundamentally kind of quiet and are someone talking about how they do something (And also she seems to cook for her friends a lot). And part of my love of many cartoons is related to this....my favorite cartoons do tend to be the sweeter, calmer, quieter variety. (And I find when a cartoon series gets sad and metaphysical - Adventure Time did that - I lose a little interest. Also, Steven Universe has taken a different turn, I guess, though I've missed all the recent episodes and would have to catch up....) One of the reasons I'm happy I get Qubo is that there are a few cartoons on there that aren't TOTALLY juvenile but are quiet and nice. (Pearlie, for example).

Yesterday afternoon I watched part of an OLDER generation MLP special....I don't know what generation exactly it was (3? maybe?) It was the one where Wisteria becomes a princess because she finds a special flower (and it's the one where Spike has a weird Britishy accent and also writes himself into fairy tales). And it was the kind of thing I would have rolled my eyes over and gagged at at a younger age, but now, as an older and sadder adult, I sat and watched it and actually kind of enjoyed it.

(And there was an interesting moral: that a "princess" isn't necessarily bound by convention. Wisteria got sad because Spike told her "Princesses don't sniff flowers" and "Princesses don't dig in the dirt" and those were things she really wanted to do. At the end it got a little confused by the "You're a princess! And YOU'RE a princess" princessification of all the ponies, but there was some good fundamental kernel of an idea there, that your natural dignity makes you regal, or something like that, and that everypony has that dignity and so should be treated with respect.....but also that princesses don't have to be prissy and idle.)

I dunno. It was just pretty (lots of pastel colors) and kind of restful to look at. (Though I maintain it's weird seeing an earlier-generation pony called "Rainbow Dash" who is an earth pony and who acts and talks more like Rarity than the Rainbow Dash I've come to know.) And I STILL like Minty and maintain I want to do a G4-style Minty stuffie some day.