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enter: sera's rant.

literacy. wot is literacy? the state of being literate. and literate? the ability to read and write.

so, wot, exactly, is the definition of being able to read and write? i must argue that netspeak and even 1337 aren't included in the definition of literacy. it takes quite a bit to be able to understand them. *shrugs* perhaps it is just me.

now let's look at how sera writes here on gaia. please note the lack of capitalization. also, when i get into chat or my very informal mode, i tend to leave off the final punctuation.

does this, then, make me illiterate? has the lack of capitalization obscured the meaning of my words? no. i will admit that the lack of caps can make things a bit difficult to read when in a large block. this is why i break it up.

with punctuation AND line breaks.

'clear enough', you say? why, yes, i agree, thank you.

and yet, for some reason, i've been spoken down to numerous times today for how i write.

as though i've lost my ability to write simply because i don't use capitals at the beginning of my sentences!

see here: this began as a simple low self-esteem issue. i stopped capitalizing the word 'i' because i didn't feel i deserved the recognition and honour that capitalizing it deserved.

and since then, though my self-confidence has, indeed, recovered, i still prefer this 'lower' way of speaking about myself. perhaps it's false modesty, perhaps it's real moedesty; i don't know.

but from that has grown a habit of not capitalizing the first word of sentences. and yes i will caps in the middle if it is called for. such as city names and other people when they caps their names.

i won't stand for people implying or saying that i am not literate simply because i no longer follow all of the conventions of written speech.

i am not dropping or adding vowels all over the place. i'm not using numbers in place of letters. i have simply made a choice, for personal reasons, to type as i do in informal situations.

so let's consider how sera spells.

wot. colour. honour. favour.

i follow a British style of spelling. is this wrong? no. does it mean i cannot spell? no. it means that i follow a British style of spelling.

the next person to tell me i can't spell may very well find themselves on the receiving end of a series rant.

why?

because i pride myself in the fact that i can, indeed, SPELL. no insult to several of my friends, but i spend enough time playing real-life spell-checker that i think i know how to spell. go figure.


i -abhor- when people talk down to me, especially when they don't have reason to. i'm not some teenybopping ten year old who thinks the whole world revolves around me.

i'm a responsible adult, for all i may not want to be, and my intelligence level, i have to admit, is very high. i come from a very smart family. deal with it.

and i'm more than willing to take anyone on who would like to argue differently.

again and again, i will not stand to be spoken down to for no other reason than someone wants to make themselves feel better about themselves because they can't understand that not everyone wants to be like them.

i follow -my- rules, -my- code of honour, -my- standard of living.

if that involves spelling 'what' like 'wot', then so be it. it's not for you to judge me. i will be who i am despite wot anyone else things because i am proud of the person i've become. i may not be exactly where i want to be just yet, but i love who i am.

just because you don't have the backbone to be who you ought to be doesn't mean that i'll let you take your bitterness out on me. fight your inner struggle somewhere else; my terms don't include your pity party.