Oh man! I am Mirabel :(

[Yak]

I've been playing an online game for the last few weeks and have roped quite a few friends in. Anyway I am running a guild on this game and recently I've been sending lots of 'motivational' messages to the whole guild, demanding that they do this, that and the other and saying how great we will be if we do. And a little while a go I got a polite enough message from a personal friend saying ' you know, you're being a pest.'

And like Mirabel, at first I felt angry and refused to hear that but there came a point when I evaluated it plainly and reread my messages to the group and realised that .. by God, I WAS being a pest. And I suddenly realised why noone had responded to me for days and saw myself the way they were seeing me. And I had Mirabel Unwin firmly in front of my eyes

Well .. she realised the error of her ways and changed so I guess that I can, right?

[Moonraker]

O would some Power the gift to give us
To see ourselves as others see us!
It would from many a blunder free us,
And foolish notion:
What airs in dress and gait would leave us,
And even devotion!

(Robert Burns)

[Kitty]

It is funny when real life reminds us of books. Very recently, in a non-theatrical situation, I was forcibly reminded of the Malory Towers panto, to the extent where in my head I could say exactly who was playing who - uncanny and most peculiar.