The people I think are best aren't always my favourite people.

And by this I mean those I hold in high esteem.

The people I rate highest aren't always the ones I most desire to spend time with. My Mum comes in pretty high, also a fair number of my friends. I suppose Lady of the House gets about 90%, but then she's sometimes far too cause-oriented rather than people oriented, worried about the world rather than those around her, or herself. It's all well and good, but you've got to worry about those things too, the selfish things, else you end up pushing your children away or tiring yourself out or being dishonest to yourself. You can't be all causes. I am never quite sure whether she likes me for me, or because I'm useful to have around, another body that can entertain and is better in social circumstances than some; I know that that's a mode of preference in itself, but it's for a cause, it's all coming back to a cause. Some of it's got to be self-centric, or self-centred. The two are different, I think.

Unexpectedly Kind has got a whole series of flaws; terrible when she's nervous, defensive, pernickety and pedantic. She's bordering on self-righteous at times. Others would cite her closed nature, the lack of real laughter- but I like this about her. She's closed till you open her, and doesn't laugh properly till you make her. I like her. She's not a person that scores highly, yet I still want to spend lots of time with her, and please her, and make her happy. The people that score best are not necessarily those I like best; I suppose they're more those that I aspire to, or not even that; those who I consider to make the best decisions? Not always. Those who are upstanding, and kind, and don't force themselves on anyone else. Those are the main constituents, but there's so much more than that to the people that come top in my bizarre rating system that doesn't even hold up to my own scrutiny. They're all open minded people, to an extent, but they also know what they stand for. I suppose Unexpectedly Kind has all of those attributes, as do the others. Lady of the House hyperbolises those qualities until they're her tragic flaws, ha, just like a Shakespearean tragedy.