Kent Brockman reporting
by chuckofish
Kang: It does not matter which way you vote. Either way your planet is doomed. Doomed. Doomed.
dual personalities
January 12, 2012
Winter Wonderland? I think not
by chuckofish
photo by Chris Fraser of Ogdensburg
Today’s local headline: Ice storm warning issued; roads getting slipperier as ice accumulates; sleet, freezing rain to continue…
Oh, joy. And on the first day of classes too. I’ve been here at work since 7:20 am and now I’m going home. But first I get to spend a half hour or so trying to chip my car out of the ice. Then the slippery ride home. On the way here this morning I had to pull over and scrape the windshield even though the inside of my car was tropical. I’m not looking forward to this. On the bright side — it is pretty!
January 12, 2012
Easter in your soul
by chuckofish
“She had long accepted the fact that happiness is like swallows in spring. It may come and nest under your eaves or it may not. You cannot command it. When you expect to be happy, you are not, and when you don’t expect to be happy, there is suddenly Easter in your soul, though it be midwinter.”
–Elizabeth Goudge
January 11, 2012
Let’s get this show on the road
by chuckofish
Everyone is making resolutions, even the staff at Kate Spade New York. They even have a new bangle: This is the year to play your cards right.
Play your cards right. That got me thinking. Now there’s a saying that was used in our home growing up. I have had this conversation with my children numerous times…about how no one uses idioms anymore (except apparently Kate Spade). Through the years they have been met by many a blank stare when they used a colorful expression commonly used at home. No one (except my family) says:
Hold the fort.
Hold your horses.
Back to the salt mines.
I have a bone to pick with you.
(and an ax to grind.)
Let’s rustle up some dinner!
There are, of course, many more examples that I can not think of at the moment. Can you think of any?
January 10, 2012
Tout va bien
by chuckofish
“My child, the troubles and temptations of your life are beginning, and may be many; but you can overcome and outlive them all if you learn to feel the strength and tenderness of your Heavenly Father as you do that of your earthly one. The more you love and trust Him, the nearer you will feel to Him, and the less you will depend on human power and wisdom. His love and care never tire or change, can never be taken from you, but may become the source of lifelong peace, happiness, and strength. Believe this heartily, and go to God with all your little cares, and hopes, and sins, and sorrows, as freely and confidingly as you come to your mother.”
Louisa May Alcott (from Little Women)
(I found this quote on the wonderful blog Hay Quaker. Check it out!)
January 9, 2012
Why I love Raymond Chandler
by chuckofish
“Yes. I can imagine. Out. I don’t know you. I don’t want to know you. And if I did, this wouldn’t be either the day or the hour.”
“Never the time and place and the loved one all together,” I said.
“What’s that?” She tried to throw me out with the point of her chin, but even she wasn’t that good.
“Browning. The poet, not the automatic. I feel sure you’d prefer the automatic.”
–-The Little Sister
January 7, 2012
Westward leading, still proceeding
by chuckofish
Thursday night I went to the Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ Evensong at Grace Church. It was a lovely respite during a busy and stressful week. The church was still decorated with white poinsettias and trees with white twinkly lights. The three wise men had joined the rest of the creche figurines before the altar. And we got to sing “We Three Kings”–always a favorite. I remember learning it for my first Christmas Pageant, which was held actually at my school (back in the good old days). The Junior Kindergartners made up the “choir”. We wore freshly-ironed white cottas with big red bows and carried these neat flash-light candles. We sang in the near-dark. It was very mysterious and cool. And “We Three Kings” was a very mysterious and cool hymn. All that traversing afar, over field and fountain, moor and mountain, following yonder star. Not to mention that dramatic ohhhhh-ohhhh-ing into the refrain! Then there is that fourth verse:
Myrrh is mine; its bitter perfume
breathes a life of gathering gloom;
sorrowing, sighing,
bleeding, dying,
sealed in the stone-cold tomb.
Awesomely descriptive and creepy. I can honestly say that was the best pageant I was ever in. The next year, as a Senior Kindergartner, I was given a part (with a solo) so it was much more stressful. I was Joseph. (Yes, I went to an all-girls’ school.) My best friend, Trudy Glick, played the Innkeeper, and we could barely contain our hilarity during our important conversational exchange concerning the lack of room at the inn. Oh well. At least I didn’t faint, like my good friend Harriet who played an angel. And I made it (tremulously I’m sure) through my solo.
Good times. Were you ever in a Christmas pageant?
January 6, 2012
We’re gonna howl at the moon
by chuckofish
I have a 20-minute drive to work (17 when I hit the lights right) and so I listen to a lot of music while I drive. I listen to everything from Gilbert & Sullivan and classical music to soundtracks and country, with the occasional Eminem thrown in for good measure. Today I happened to be listening to an old favorite from country’s glory days in the 1990s, Hal Ketchum.
The boy had borrowed this CD (and scratched it up some) recently and had returned it, not to its jewel case, but to my car for some reason, and so I was listening to it. It is so good! He has a great country vibrato that I am always partial to.
With 15 top 10 singles to his credit, Hal is not a super-star by any means. He is no Garth Brooks or Alan Jackson, no Kenny Chesney. But he has been a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1994 and, according to his website, he often hosts the “Opry Live” show on GAC. He’s had a good career and is still, despite health problems, making music. And that’s the thing, right? Here is a little Hal to brighten your day. (And you’ve got to love those woolly caterpillars over his eyes!)
January 5, 2012
Small but mighty
by chuckofish
Daughter #1 has moved to New York City…and not under the best of circumstances. Her purse was stolen the night before she was scheduled to take a train from Washington D.C. to NYC on New Year’s Day(!), and with it her credit cards, driver’s license, money, and her phone. But per usual she soldiered on and got to NYC and into her apartment and managed to start her new job the next day. Phew. I couldn’t be prouder of her. But, then, that’s always been the case. She never allowed circumstances to get the better of her–
Though she be but little, she is fierce! (Thank you, Will Shakespeare.)
January 4, 2012
Guess what’s out on DVD?!
by chuckofish
Season 2 of the best show on TV, Justified, is now available on DVD.
the incomparable Timothy Olyphant
I love this show. The writing and characters are wonderful! Here’s a favorite “prayer” from the first season:
Dear Lord, before we eat this meal we ask forgiveness for our sins, especially Boyd- who blew up a black church with a rocket launcher, and afterwards he shot his associate Jared Hale in the back of the head out on Tate’s Creek bridge. Let the image of Jared’s brain matter on that windshield not dampen our appetites, but may the knowledge of Boyd’s past sins help guide these men. May this food provide them with all the nourishment they need. But, if it does not, may they find comfort in knowing that the United States Marshal Service is offering fifty-thousand dollars to any individual providing information that will put Boyd back in prison. Cash or check, we can make it out to them. Or to Jesus. Whoever they want. In your name, we pray. Amen.
Justified reminds us of how good TV can be. Why aren’t all shows this good?
Season 3 premiers January 17th. Don’t miss it!
