I read with interest the comment in my tag box, and I thought I should address it on my own terms, even if mr shigeru will probably never read it again.
Firstly, I was not putting down the lady I was talking about in my post, because she is a friend who I actually wish all the best for, and if anything, I only hope that she gets what she wants. I will let her know that you thought I was doing so, and we will probably have a good laugh about it over drinks.
And in writing the post, I'm not saying that it's no big deal for me, the key is that I do not appreciate it as much as I should. It's the real tragedy, because talking to her made me realise that there are people who are more deserving who cannot even get into the course. If anything, I feel that more should be done so that people who have a genuine interest should be able to gain admission, because such people may inspire those sitting on the fence.
Perhaps I wrote it in a way that offended your sensibilities, but the written word, while dead on paper, is open to interpretation in many ways, often based in personal experiences. I'm only saying here that my intended meaning was not conveyed, which is par for the course in writing. I'm not a perfect writer, and perhaps in that way, I need to refine the tone of my pieces further.
Secondly, if you want to put someone down, please do so with an actual quote, and not your own interpretation in ironically, quote marks, because you are paraphrasing something which I did not write and hence altering the meaning of my prose, attacking it in isolation and out of context. I feel that is very unfair.
Thirdly, if you want to put me down, that is fine. We all endure some of this everywhere, and if anything, I've learnt through life to shrug it away. But do bear in mind that advice given in the best interests of a person is not given as a personal attack. I never mentioned that I was that great a person, neither do I think I am. If I do, it is tongue-in-cheek, and my readers know that.
I recognise that I am flawed, but I publish anyway, because through my blog, people get to see who I really am, flaws, and all. My blog is the one place I feel I don't have to hide who I am.
I don't actually think its advice you're giving, rather it is something calculated to make me feel bad, which is actually just really malicious. The world has enough mean people as it is, I can't exactly say I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, but I can only hope that before you post something like that on another's blog, think carefully about what you wrote, which I will quote here.
"you remind me of myself when i was younger. putting down others to make yourself feel better."