They say history is written by the victors. And that the difference between a traitor and a hero is a matter of which victor scribes the tale.

Feh on talk like a pirate day. I’m dressing the kids up, though I won’t partake myself (maybe I’ll go commercial and borrow the kid’s Pirate Mickey ears).

“Feh” because I can’t participate much (previous work committment) and “feh” on it in general. There could always be a less funny way to “commemorate” an ex’s birthday.

We’re apparently on the fifth year of this, and there are folks out there talking about how it’s no longer what it once was - it’s now nearly mandatory. “Hey, we can all be quirky in exactly the same way one day next week!” Another decided to make it “Talk like a Ninja” day. Reminds me of a failed fictional ninja blog I started and abandoned long long ago. Five years and we’re already complaining about how it’s not like it was in the “good old days”? I think that’s a record even in internet time.

On the one hand, they have a point. On the other hand, it’s a nice fun day if you need one to celebrate other than Halloween. Depending on how things turn out, pirates aren’t all that they seem. Sometimes it’s good to be the pirate.

And amazon.co.uk seems to think I’m a pirate - oddly enough. I swear, you buy one “birth visualisation hypnosis” CD set and you get the strangest suggestions after that. I may take them up on those suggestions one day if I run low on reading material.

But I am a pirate of sorts, and happy about it. Dread Pirate Roberts turned out not to be such a bad chap after all. A few years back I started my pirate garden (more details and pics later) though this year it is fallow (to be remedied soon).

But a number of “perfectly respectable” industries and movements were born of piracy; sometimes it is the only way to force change. And sometimes you have to force it quietly, forging forward one small mind at a time. Plant the seeds of change, reap the rewards on down the line.

Enjoy talk like a pirate day, whether you wear a simple pirate blouse, or moonwalk like a ninja. Have fun out there.