Mannerism 

96 creative works found

• Chinese & Amsterdam Storeys
  by Maxwell Edward

  “Good afternoon Gentlemen. Our delicious Chinese restaurant serves some of the greatest Chinese delicacies. Can I take your orders?” J…

  “Good afternoon Gentlemen. Our delicious Chinese restaurant serves some of the greatest Chinese delicacies. Can I take your orders?” Jermaine takes charge as usual. “I imagine you can sir. Well my friend will have special fried rice and I will have special sweet n sour chicken. Could you make sure it’s especially sweet n sour though? Thanks sir.” People love to eat Chinese. More often the meals though…for the appetisers may prove too fattening over time. Neville and Jermaine have definitely had their share of fattening up over time. Neville is said to eat more Chinese than most Chinese and as for Jermaine, he probably eats more of most things than most people. “Jerry, don’t you think it’s strange how he mentioned they serve some of the greatest Chinese delicacies?” Jermaine who finds nothing short of highly unusual strange, makes a joke from anything less of great importance. “_Why_? What did you expect in a Chinese Restaurant, Indian food?” Neville who hears these jokes more often than not (but still not in appreciation of them) seems to always be misunderstood. “No, I mean, we’re not Chinese. I can’t see anyone in here that is Chinese…In fact I would say that the only Chinese this restaurant ever sees is on the plates. So, they could get away with telling us that this restaurant actually serves the greatest Chinese delicacies. Why would they not?” Jermaine’s opinion always went back to philosophy. “Some wise advice I have for you Nev. Never question the Chinese.” Something about the way the duo talked, it was utter enjoyment. The puns continuously employed emphasised it. A certain kind of pleasure whenever they accompanied one another was unleashed. “Oh Jerry, you got to hear about what happened to my cousin. _You’ll never believe it_…So Ben was in Amsterdam for some time, on holiday or something. Well on the last week he jumped off the top of a three-storey apartment balcony.” Jermaine who believes most things reasonable, but also hesitates in jumping to conclusions always feels obliged to question the situation. “Why the hell would anyone do something like that?” Neville started blushing. He was never as outgoing as Jermaine, even being questioned made him feel slightly insecure. “Well Jerry, you know my cousin Benjamin. No one questions him.” A certain kind of tension was building somewhere between Nevilles growing timidity and Jermaine’s pursuing nerves. “I think anyone thinking about jumping off the third storey of an apartment should be prepared to answer a lot of questions.” There was an uncomfortable short-lived silence between the duos. Neville thought of it as his responsibility to protect his cousin’s reputation, yet his loyalty had previously shown to lead to misdemeanours. Neville decided to break his loyalty for what his reason was telling him was sensibility. “Yeah Jermaine, agreed. Benjamin sure must be a moron hey. Oh, which reminds me, did I tell you he is going to become a lawyer?” The Chinese waiter had brought back the dishes. This is possibly the fastest time a waiter had brought out dishes (which were supposed to be quality cuisines). Then again, Jermaine and his friends always had their doubts about Chinese restaurants. Over their many meals they had discussed many things ranging from the health issues to the political and economic consequences of the different restaurant franchises. The Chinese waiter did not talk this time. He had a chilling frown cast upon his face. Perhaps he had heard their talking? Perhaps it was just the all-round atmosphere of working in such a demanding service. Jermaine and Neville dug into their meals, each choosing their pick of chop sticks and spoon respectively although ironically not in quite a disorderly manner. It was only lucky that Neville chose a spoon for the fried rice to prevent any more mess (if more mess were possible). “So Nev, back to the story; now that you tell me Mr. Benjamin wants to be a lawyer…that makes much more sense; their all lying bastards. This is one big story to you in order to gain your sympathy or something. It can’t really be explained, except that he is behind it all…” “Not true. I saw his bandages and cuts and sores; everything. That can’t really be faked.” “I’m sure for a lawyer, anything can be faked. Any kind of falsehood can be created and unleashed by those guys!” “No seriously. Okay here’s the story, he said he went to a party. He got pretty drunk knowing it was his last week. Who knows maybe he even did…goddamn man it’s Amsterdam! I don’t have to mention the possibilities, their limitless! Anything could have happened. Well anyway, he woke up and that is when the nurse told him what had been reported to her.” “You know what this sounds like? Chinese whispers. She said this; he said that, you say this…” Sceptical Jermaine could never let any possibility go. “Okay whatever, whatever.” Neville had enough. This sort-of-debate had turned into a sort-of-argument. It was time for him to try and change the mannerism of things “Hey Jerry, this kind of talking is probably not good for eating, let’s just eat okay. I mean just the other day I saw the scars and bleeding…well you know.” Eating continued. Polite (enough) slurping of Chinese tea and rice among other things died down the sound of thought. Than Jermaine continued speaking, but not where they left off. “Hey Nev, I’ll be back in a minute. Just have to convenience myself!” Neville sat there. Five minutes boring his intellect- no one to talk to! Jermaine returned. Back to his meal; back to messy eating and the hope of more polite interesting talk. Before Neville had seen it, Jermaine had finished the rest of his special sweet n sour. “Hey Neville, are you still feeling hungry at all?” Before Neville had a chance to reply Jermaine had beckoned the waiter over and ordered “Special Chinese fortune cookies”. The cookies came in no time at all again. It made it seem like there was surely something efficiently magical about this restaurant. “Hey Nev, can you tell me about this story a bit more. So would you get this, I actually heard about a story similar to his; actually two stories, exactly like his…they both sort of were like these crazy stories where these things happened to guys in…well Chinese restaurants actually!” Neville was only half listening, except the information was still unconsciously processing into his mind. He opened his fortune cookie. “No I do not believe it! Coincidences of such do not occur! Madness unleashed!” Neville started shaking intensely, trembling, his usual steady figure rumbling in what looked like fear; his skin pale and pupils dilating and goose bumps on his skin forming. Than he shoved his hands over his head and continued his fearful actions half-hidden by the table. Jermaine grabbed the little slice of Chinese paper, it must be not so fortunate whatever the fortune be he thought! “You will suffer falling three-storeys tonight. Do not question the Chinese” They both sat there; Jermaine seemingly doing and thinking nothing except watching the actions of Neville. Neville with his behaviour turning more and more intense and shocking as seconds progressed and turned into minutes. “Neville!” Neville took no notice, for a moment, to only a moment later reply, “What? Don’t you fucking get this? Can’t you see what’s happening?” Jermaine looked at his watch. Five minutes. Long enough…longer would be dangerous perhaps. “My good friend Neville. I have a confession. I put that note in your cracker…it’s to teach you a lesson really. But it’s also quite a cracker now too to think of it! You should have seen the look on your face! And my friend, I’ll tell you the moral of the story…Question anything with suspicion, even the Chinese, otherwise who knows what will be unleashed!”

• 

  Elegant Elk
  by Gary L. Suddath

  Bull Elk with his tonge stuck out. Cataloochee section of the Great Smoky Mountains..collared version on request for anyone wanting to do a documentary

• 

  The Manner of a Gown
  by Jennifer Nicolaisen

  “The falling of a teacup puts us out of temper for the day; and a quarrel that commenced about the pattern of a gown may end only with our lives.” / [William Hazlitt]

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  Skaville Uk and ex Bad Manners Guitar Player
  by qshaq

• That which we call a rose foul fowl language…hit and duck smells the same.
  by montdragon

  NSFW

• I have her mannerisms! ("The older you get, the more you look like your mother!")
  by MrJoop

  She’d been sent out to meet my father, in the 1930s …and stayed together for three quarters of a century.

  Twice, recently, I’ve been told that ~ now that I am older ~ I look so much (more) like my mother. Mmmmmmm. Today would have been her birthday.

• 

  Manners
  by remjul

  Acrylic on canvas 2008 / Remi Juliebø / 50×50 cm

• Manners
  by Andrew Price

  Try to learn kindness

  A few thoughts on my view of life.

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  Adopting the Manner of the Whites
  by Francisco Castro

  Mixed Media Collage on Board

• Good manners
  by jubabeast

  The hungry fish made one mistake / that ended his short tale,

  Mind your manners when you’re eating

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  Manners and Pork
  by Pinkham

  24” X 30” acrylic Another thing or two black and white Southerners have in common are good manners and a love for pork products. This project is funded in part by a grant from the North Carolina Arts Council, a state agency through the Community Council For The Arts. Moore works in this series at www.pinkhamsbeach.com

• On manners not costing a thing...
  by pongo

  I fled to the safety of my nearby car, to see the thug roar off at speed, screech to another halt 100 yards down the road, and roundly ab…

• Manners Maketh Man
  by Jeannette Sheehy

  A few years on, with an appalling lack of manners and tact, Tristan’s wife ran off with a young, sullen, stubble-faced writer.

  For Star Twister 50 – Precious Metal

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  Please+Thank you-boy character
  by PleaseThankyou

  Please tell me I’m not the father.

• I Laugh Like Richard
  by Rhinovangogh

  “Anticipate walls”

  A mentor guides the young author through college days and leaves him with a delightful gift.

• Unpalatable
  by Rhinovangogh

  Old battle axe hated me, but I loved her daughter.

  The dreaded mother in law has a bad taste in her mouth.

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  Mind your manners at the table!
  by WalnutHill

• 

  Bad manners
  by Initially NO

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  Belvoir castle approach
  by Dave Johnson

  The front view of Belvoir castle in Lincolnshire, a grand mansion set in the Vale of Belvoir, home to the Manners family

• 

  Excuse My Manners. Raised by Wolves.
  by snarkytees

  Reads, “Please Excuse My Manners. I Was Raised by Wolves.” And to think, my mom was right.

• 

  Rude Chicken
  by Zoo-co

  A cute chicken expressing his nonconformity! / Are you tired of being comprehensive and cute? Express yourself and say how you feel! Do as this chick and get things out!

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  I get so angry, then i do my washing.....
  by Danzo

  keeping the inner demons at bay…...........

• Human Instinct Versus Social Acceptance
  by sophieadelle

  From the beginning of time the human race has survived due to one integral factor. Instinct. One can imagine that when God created the ea…

  From the beginning of time the human race has survived due to one integral factor. Instinct. One can imagine that when God created the earth along with human beings, he granted each being with one facet of supremacy. While our ability in instinct is somewhat less thrilling than that of Spiderman’s endless supply of harmful web, Superman’s flying ability or that of the Hulks strength in anger, human instinct has helped our ancestors survive against the ‘baddies’ of life in general for centuries. Were it not for intuition, the cavemen of yesteryear would be cave less, childless, hungry and possess an inability to control their bladders upon request. Not only has instinct helped us carve our ways through our most primal needs, that ‘gut feeling’ has proven irreplaceable when faced with the choice of scary-alleyway-shortcut versus taking the long way home. Or more importantly, whether taking more than one free mint at the doctors surgery would be seen as rude. So when did instinct become replaced by social and political correctness? Sophie Lane reports. Whilst sitting in a two hour seminar your bladder nears reaching full capacity, yet you refuse the urge to leave and relieve yourself. It would be rude and unacceptable. The girl next to you draws an exaggerated caricature of your bald middle aged lecturer on her notepad, yet you hold in the laughter climbing from your stomach to your throat. It would be rude and unacceptable. After a few drinks at the local pub your alcohol induced friend mumbles an offer of a lift home, he can hardly fit the key into the ignition, your gut feeling says no yet you jump in the back seat instead of paying for a taxi ride home. It would be rude and unacceptable. At one point or another, each and every member of the human race has chosen social acceptance over initial human instinct. This comes as being part of a society. While it is these communal realms of society which continue to keep us functioning as members of civilisation versus mere animalistic beings, it is unarguable that the ratio of instinct to acceptance has, over recent years, become outweighed. “I did not have sexual relations with that woman”, in 1998 Bill Clinton refused reign of his conscience to tell the truth about his affair with Monica Lewinski, instead favouring in covering his actions from the United States of America in order to preserve his image as a socially acceptable figure of Presidency. The former President of America instinctively knew that he was causing harm by keeping the Lewinski scandal under wraps from the government and the people of his country. It is undeniable that a gut instinct, the feeling one gets when you know you have done something wrong, would have been gnawing at his innards. Passing up the message from his brain that told the President wrong from right, the man who was making integral decisions for America’s democracy chose social acceptance over basic human instinct. If Bill Clinton as a human being was unable to take simple orders from the most basic instinctual segment of his brain, then what hope had he in leading the world’s most influential country? In a photography studio far across the Atlantic, groups of skeletal thin successful models ignore the painful cries coming from their stomachs. Having not eaten properly for days, sometimes weeks, the borderline anorexic stick insect role models refuse food while posing for the flashes of an oversized camera. As the brain goes into overdrive sending messages of famine and hunger, ignorance is bliss. It would be unacceptable for the size six models to eat anything of substance; society does not want to see a model with flesh, God forbid. When did conforming to an image of perfection in society become more important than that of our most primal instinct to eat and replenish our bodily nutrients? The glossy covers of the latest fashion and beauty magazine are beaming with life as a twenty year old youth gets admitted to hospital harbouring symptoms of severe Anorexia Nervosa. Instinct is refused and ignorance is bliss. Somewhere across the other side of the page, you, the reader, sit in an office trying to swallow the yawn encompassing your throat for fear that you will come across as sleep deprived and incapabable in the workplace. The man next door through the cardboard thin cubicle barrier refuses his craving for caffeine as he is worried the noise from the office coffee machine will be seen as rude and disruptive to co-workers. The new receptionist at the front desk is tightening the crossing of her legs as she refuses her bodies desire to use the bathroom, for fear that leaving the front desk before lunch hour will get her reprimanded. Finally, the big boss on level ten ignores the gnawing feeling in his stomach telling him to check up on his seventeen year old daughter who did not return home from her date last night. Spiderman uses his web to survive, Superman his powers of flight, The Hulk his amazing strength and anger. Unfortunately we were not granted with such abilities; the best we can do is tie a towel around our shoulders and play pretend. Alternatively, you can listen to your instinct. Why not? The cave-men of yesteryear would.

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  it takes two to preen
  by cheza77