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Writer's Block: I May Be Crazy
Aug. 7th, 2009 11:19 am[Error: unknown template qotd]Birds attacking...something. Probably another bird.
My first glance at el blotto gave me a bit of a start - something subliminal and fleeting and unpleasant - and then I recognized the birds. I used to have 5 birds, but age and illness have reduced their number to 2. It wasn't until we got our first bird that I discovered that people are mostly wary of birds, if not outright afraid of them. Even having seen Hitchcock's The Birds, I really didn't understand that it was a common phobia and not just a quirky fear of Mr. Hitchcock's that he self-indulgently put to film. I've never been afraid of either snakes or spiders and I do realize that that is a bit unusual, especially since everyone else in my family is frightened of them. However, I never would have guessed that lacking a fear of birds was at all deviant.
Most people who have explained their bird fear to me indicate that it intensifies with proximity. A bird over there, in a tree, is pretty. A bird that flies near you is undoubtedly aiming for your eyes - how near constiitutes "near" is determined on an individual basis. Biting is also a concern. Being pooped on, which I would consider the main bird risk, is not even mentioned.
There was a series, just called Birds, if I remember correctly, which was hosted by David Attenborough and aired on PBS in the U.S. It has probably aired since, but the initial run occurred during a time when DVRs did not exist and our VHS was uncooperative, so I missed all of the series despite very much wanting to see it. Well, almost all of it.
The single episode of Birds that I did manage to see was the homicidal cannibal episode, wherein birds behaved like junior high girls, ganging up on the weak in shrilling packs, pecking at their eyes, beating them with their wings, and ousting them from nests. The most benign behavior was egg destruction, frequently to replace the hapless parents' own eggs with the attacker's eggs. Because sad things make me cry, I was in mini-hysterics. The Mr. came in, saw what I was watching, and turned it off. It had not occurred to me that I didn't have to watch.
Yes. It's definitely birds attacking another bird. Horrid.
My first glance at el blotto gave me a bit of a start - something subliminal and fleeting and unpleasant - and then I recognized the birds. I used to have 5 birds, but age and illness have reduced their number to 2. It wasn't until we got our first bird that I discovered that people are mostly wary of birds, if not outright afraid of them. Even having seen Hitchcock's The Birds, I really didn't understand that it was a common phobia and not just a quirky fear of Mr. Hitchcock's that he self-indulgently put to film. I've never been afraid of either snakes or spiders and I do realize that that is a bit unusual, especially since everyone else in my family is frightened of them. However, I never would have guessed that lacking a fear of birds was at all deviant.
Most people who have explained their bird fear to me indicate that it intensifies with proximity. A bird over there, in a tree, is pretty. A bird that flies near you is undoubtedly aiming for your eyes - how near constiitutes "near" is determined on an individual basis. Biting is also a concern. Being pooped on, which I would consider the main bird risk, is not even mentioned.
There was a series, just called Birds, if I remember correctly, which was hosted by David Attenborough and aired on PBS in the U.S. It has probably aired since, but the initial run occurred during a time when DVRs did not exist and our VHS was uncooperative, so I missed all of the series despite very much wanting to see it. Well, almost all of it.
The single episode of Birds that I did manage to see was the homicidal cannibal episode, wherein birds behaved like junior high girls, ganging up on the weak in shrilling packs, pecking at their eyes, beating them with their wings, and ousting them from nests. The most benign behavior was egg destruction, frequently to replace the hapless parents' own eggs with the attacker's eggs. Because sad things make me cry, I was in mini-hysterics. The Mr. came in, saw what I was watching, and turned it off. It had not occurred to me that I didn't have to watch.
Yes. It's definitely birds attacking another bird. Horrid.
