What are cyber bullies? well, these are the people who leave nasty comments on other people's blogs, also the people who develop virusses, who steal personal information, who send pornographic emails to you and your colleagues from your own email address, who hack into the family photo album and replace the snapshots with unspeakable images.... the list is endless because every day they think of something new and horrible to do. Such energy must go into this, why can't they direct it instead, if not to something actively constructive, at least to something harmless?

I'm thinking about cyber bullies (not that they deserve thinking about) because of the blog of Vero which closed after a horrid comment was left there by some inadequate individual with nothing better to do than wound someone who has given so much pleasure and inspiration to so many of us stitchers. Other people have also experienced incidents lately, not specifically with nasty comments, but just with things that are really inappropriate.

The internet is a public space, for sure, and maybe we have to expect that things won't be the same as in our private worlds, but it's like any public space, there are certain standards and levels of decency that need to be preserved. The cyber bullies are taking advantage of the fact that we can't see their faces to behave in ways that they mightn't be able to get away with in the real world.

Not that there aren't bullies in the real world - I should know, I was married to one and I work for one now (yes, he's still hanging around, rumour hath it that we won't get rid of him until 17th July). But at least you can see them, and there are ways to deal with them, unpleasant though they are.

In general I think there is a lack of standards in public politeness today, although in most cases it falls short of bullying - you know the sort of thing, the woman who cuts in front of you in the supermarket queue and says, "you don't mind, do you, I'm in a hurry" or the man who stands at the airline counter demanding to be upgraded because he's so important. They're just rude and painful people who haven't been brought up to share or to play nicely.

You read that bullies are people who lack self-esteem - I have to differ on that one, or maybe it is just the bullies I have known. Both my ex-husband and D suffer from an inappropriately high level of self-esteem, and I think are probably narcissistic to boot.

And what is our little D doing today? He is sitting in his office sulking, with his bald head gleaming in the sunlight......... he's making quite a lot of noise, with his worry beads (his rattle, we say now) and his extra-noisy printer, but that's typical. It's rather a dull day, there is only Marlon and me here so far, the little boys are swimming, I hope, they were still here when I left at 8:30 pm last night. I have put my Ipod Nano on, and am listening to Gitte Hænning, while I write and run batch jobs.

And I am leaving latest 1:30pm, to go to Jacques Dessange, for facial and hair.........