dual personalities

Tag: thanksgiving

November 19, 2012

Time for some thrilling heroics

by chuckofish

Well, while my dual personality was posting about Achilles and The Illiad and heroes ‘n such and carrying on a deep conversation with the boy in the comments section, I was busy enjoying a Firefly marathon.

What a great show, though sadly short-lived. You may recall that it follows the exploits of a rag-tag bunch of misfits on a small spacecraft 500 years in the future. It’s an old story, but one we can relate to, can’t you? “We’re deep in space, corner of No and Where.” You gotta love it.

Meanwhile, back in reality, it is already the week of Thanksgiving. How did we get here? We haven’t even begun to post about all that we are thankful for! We have been side-tracked. We’ll have to do better.

For starters, I am thankful that the boy and his lovely bride came over for dinner last night. I made sloppy-joes and french fries. I am thankful that they live here in town and that they are always happy to come over.

We are going over to their place for Thanksgiving dinner with her parents. I am bringing my cheesy potato casserole. How wonderful, after all these years, to have an extended family!

Finally, here’s a little treble heroics ( Christ Church Cathedral Choir, Oxford: “Jubilate Deo”) to perk up your day:

4 Comments
October 25, 2012

A laurel and hardy handshake

by chuckofish

Earlier in the week my students surprised me with a party celebrating my 10 years at my flyover university. I was completely taken by surprise, which considering there were nearly 700 people keeping the secret, is pretty amazing. They gave me a lovely corsage, flowers and a very large cake (which quickly disappeared).

Thankfully I did not cry. But I was reminded of how grateful I am to have my job and how blessed I am to work with such wonderful and kind people. It is easy in this world to feel taken for granted and under appreciated, isn’t it? It is a good thing to tell people thank you and well done and I love you.

So your assignment today is to smile at your colleagues and your students and the checker in the grocery store. Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

6 Comments
August 24, 2012

Send out your light and your truth

by chuckofish

Well, it’s Friday once again. Time to look back over the week and to remind ourselves of some important things. Here’s Frederick Buechner with some wise words:

“We must be careful with our lives, for Christ’s sake, because it would seem that they are the only lives we are going to have in this puzzling and perilous world, and so they are very precious and what we do with them matters enormously.”

Have a great weekend and be careful with your life!

6 Comments
February 17, 2012

Such secret comforts

by chuckofish

“I learned to look more upon the bright side of my condition, and less upon the dark side, and to consider what I enjoyed, rather than what I wanted : and this gave me sometimes such secret comforts, that I cannot express them ; and which I take notice of here, to put those discontented people in mind of it, who cannot enjoy comfortably what God has given them, because they see and covet something that he has not given them. All our discontents about what we want appeared to me to spring from the want of thankfulness for what we have.”
–Daniel Defoe

2 Comments
November 28, 2011

Leftovers, anyone?

by chuckofish

Well, the long holiday weekend is over, the kids have packed up and gone back to school. Sigh. We now return to our usual, familiar empty-nester routine.

We did get a few things accomplished this weekend. The boy put up the outside Christmas lights!

And I decorated my mantel.

Clearly, Christmas is just around the corner. Meanwhile, the petunias are still hanging in there.

Christmas lights/spring annuals–go figure. They say this balmy weather is going to change tonight, but who really knows?

2 Comments
November 25, 2011

A family tradition or “If they told you wolverines would make good house pets, would you believe them?”

by chuckofish

I think I have probably seen this movie at least 25 times, i.e. every year since it was released in 1987. We even let our children watch it at impressionably young ages, long before they knew what the f-word was. (Okay, a black mark on my parenting record, but they survived.) We watch it every Thanksgiving and that is why Planes, Trains and Automobiles, directed by John Hughes and starring Steve Martin and John Candy in their greatest roles, is my Friday movie pick.

It is the story of two mis-matched guys, both apparently trying to get home for Thanksgiving. Steve Martin is the uptight ad man Neal Page who becomes burdened with Del Griffith (John Candy), an “annoying blabbermouth”, as his traveling companion. Everything that can go wrong, does. In our house we know the entire script and (annoyingly to any outsider watching with us) say the lines along with the actors. Many of the lines have entered the family parlance, and just a few words can set off the recitation of a scene:

Neal: Del… Why did you kiss my ear?
Del: Why are you holding my hand?
Neal: [frowns] Where’s your other hand?
Del: Between two pillows…
Neal: Those aren’t pillows!

or

Del: You wanna hurt me? Go right ahead if it makes you feel any better. I’m an easy target. Yeah, you’re right, I talk too much. I also listen too much. I could be a cold-hearted cynic like you… but I don’t like to hurt people’s feelings. Well, you think what you want about me; I’m not changing. I like… I like me. My wife likes me. My customers like me. ‘Cause I’m the real article. What you see is what you get.

or

Gus: Del Griffith! How the hell are ya?
Del: Well, I’m still a million bucks shy of bein’ a millionaire.

or

Hotel Clerk: Do you have seventeen dollars and a good watch?
Del: No I don’t. I have uh… two dollars… and a Casio.

or

Neal: You know everything is not an anecdote. You have to discriminate. You choose things that are funny or mildly amusing or interesting. You’re a miracle! Your stories have NONE of that. They’re not even amusing ACCIDENTALLY! “Honey, I’d like you to meet Del Griffith, he’s got some amusing anecdotes for you. Oh and here’s a gun so you can blow your brains out. You’ll thank me for it.” I could tolerate any insurance seminar. For days I could sit there and listen to them go on and on with a big smile on my face. They’d say, “How can you stand it?” I’d say, “‘Cause I’ve been with Del Griffith. I can take ANYTHING.” You know what they’d say? They’d say, “I know what you mean. The shower curtain ring guy. Woah.” It’s like going on a date with a Chatty Cathy doll. I expect you have a little string on your chest, you know, that I pull out and have to snap back. Except I wouldn’t pull it out and snap it back – you would. Agh! Agh! Agh! Agh! And by the way, you know, when you’re telling these little stories? Here’s a good idea – have a POINT. It makes it SO much more interesting for the listener!

Well, I could go on and on (and I already have), so let’s just watch the movie!

8 Comments
November 23, 2011

Gobble, gobble

by chuckofish

This morning daughter #2 (home from college) and I made the annual trek to Schnuck’s Market to pick up the already-prepared and cooked turkey and cart-full of holiday food. Cheesy potatoes, anyone?

P.S. I almost hit a (giant) wild turkey on Lindbergh Blvd yesterday on the way to work. What kind of omen is that? Really, the turkey was as big as an ostrich. Clearly on the lam.

1 Comment