well, Facebook: i've been wondering why you haven't replied to my letter. i think that's a bit rude since it was you who asked how i was feeling, and i was only trying to show some interest in you and how you are. that sort of thing is a two-way street and i think most people get that bit - unless you're a bit of an emotional cripple, which i'm beginning to suspect
but it was nice of you to provide those cute 'feelings' icon/emoji thingys. it's been a while since we humans (you *are* human, right?) wrote using hieroglyphs but hey, those people built the pyramids so maybe it's not such a bad idea. however, i had a look at the range of emotions you suggest and it worried me a bit... here they are, just so you know:
"accomplished, alone, amazing, amused, angry, annoyed, anxious, awake, awesome, bad, beautiful, blah, blessed, blissful, blue, bored, broken, chill, cold, concerned, confident, confused, content, cool, cosy, crappy, crazy, curious, defeated, delighted, depressed, determined, disappointed, disgusted, down, drained, drunk, ecstatic, embarrassed, emotional, energised, excited, exhausted, fabulous, fantastic, fat, fed up, festive, fresh, frustrated, full, funny, furious, good, grateful, great, grumpy, gutted, happy, heartbroken, hopeful, hopeless, hot, hungover, hungry, hyper, ill, impatient, in love, incomplete, irritated, lazy, lonely, lost, loved, lovely, lucky, meh, mischievous, miserable, motivated, nervous, nostalgic, old, optimistic, pained, positive, productive, proud, refreshed, relaxed, relieved, restless, rough, sad, satisfied, scared, shattered, shocked, sick, silly, sleepy, sore, sorry, special, stressed, stuffed, stupid, super, surprised, thankful, thoughtful, tired, undecided, unwell, upset, wet, wonderful, worried, yucky"
ffs... wtf is this? do feelings like 'horny', 'sexy', 'homicidal', 'overwhelmed', 'weighed down by post-modern ennui', 'jaded and cynical but trying my best to keep a positive outlook', 'wanting to jump off the nearest high building', 'maniacally violent', 'terminally neglected and smelling of cat pee', 'ostracised because i'm constantly scratching my arse', 'viewing the imminent destruction of all we love and laughing at it' and 'expecting a fart of hiroshimal proportions' never figure in your world? and where's plain old 'negative'? how are you and i ever to have a meaningful conversation if we can't express these significant and commonly experienced emotions?
anyway, i've got to get back to my reading: we're taking a fresh look at Orwell's "1984". i've got to the bit where his colleague Syme says:
"Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. Every concept that can ever be needed, will be expressed by exactly one word, with its meaning rigidly defined and all its subsidiary meanings rubbed out and forgotten. Already, in the Eleventh Edition, we’re not far from that point. But the process will still be continuing long after you and I are dead. Every year fewer and fewer words, and the range of consciousness always a little smaller."
... and there's this bit later on
'By curtailing frivolous and "fighting" words, the Party seeks to narrow the range of thought altogether, such that eventually thoughtcrime will be literally impossible. The same goes for disruptive or subversive behavior.'
where's the smiley-thingy that says 'doubleplusungood'?
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