Wednesday, July 30, 2008

The Walrus and The Carpenter

There are things from your childhood that stick in your brain no matter how old you get.  This is one of mine.  The Walrus and The Carpenter from Through the Looking- Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll 1872.  I'm not really sure where I got the book but I believe it was a collection of children's stories.  For some reason part of this story has been ingrained in my brain.  So for your entertainment and mine, here is the whole poem.

The Walrus and The Carpenter

The sun was shining on the sea,
Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright--
And this was odd, because it was
The middle of the night.

The moon was shining sulkily,
Because she thought the sun
Had got no business to be there
After the day was done--
"It's very rude of him", she said,
"To come and spoil the fun!"

The sea was wet as wet could be,
The sands were dry as dry.
You could not see a cloud, because
No cloud was in the sky:
No birds were flying overhead--
There were no birds to fly.

The walrus and The Carpenter
Were walking close at hand;
They wept like anything to see
Such quantities of sand:
"If this were only cleared away,"
They said,  "it would be grand!"

"If seven maids with seven mops
Swept it for half a year.
"Do you suppose," the Walrus said,
"That they could get it clear?"
"I doubt it," said the Carpenter,
And shed a bitter tear.

"O Oysters, come and walk with us!"
The Walrus did beseech .
"A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk,
Along the briny beach:
We cannot do with more than four,
To give a hand to each."

 The eldest Oyster looked at him,
But never a word he said:
The eldest Oyster winked his eye,
And shook his heavy head--
Meaning to say he did not choose
To leave the oyster bed.

But four young Oysters hurried up,
All eager for the treat:
Their coats were brushed, their faces washed,
Their shoes were clean and neat--
And this was odd, because, you know,
They hadn't any feet.

Four other Oysters followed them,
And yet another four;
And thick and fast they came at last,
And more, and more, and more--
All hopping through the frothy waves,
And scrambling to the shore.

The Walrus and the Carpenter
Walked on a mile or so,
And then they rested on a rock
Conveniently low:
And all the little Oysters stood
And waited in a row.

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

"But wait a bit," the Oysters cried,
"Before we have our chat;
For some of us are out of breath,
And all of us are fat!"
"No hurry," said the Carpenter.
They thanked him much for that.

"A loaf of bread, the Walrus said,
"Is what we chiefly need:
Pepper and vinegar besides
Are very good indeed--
Now if you're ready, Oysters dear,
We can begin to feed."

"But not on us!" the Oysters cried,
Turning a little blue.
"After such kindness, that would be
A dismal thing to do!"
"The night is fine," the Walrus said.
"Do you admire the view?

"It was so kind of you to come!
And you are very nice!"
The Carpenter said nothing but
"Cut us another slice:
I wish you were not quite so deaf--
I've had to ask you twice!"

"It seems such a shame," the Walrus said,
"To play them such a trick,
After we've brought them out so far,
And made them trot so quick!"
The Carpenter said nothing but
"The butter's spread too thick!"

"I weep for you," the walrus said:
"I deeply sympathize."
With sobs and tears he sorted out
Those of the largest size,
Holding his pocket-handkerchief
Before his streaming eyes.

"O Oysters," said the Carpenter,
"You've had a pleasant run!
Shall we be trotting home again?"
But answer came there none--
And this was scarcely odd, because
They'd eaten every one.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Those poor oysters... anyone hungry for some seafood?



Can I Start Packing Yet?!

Well the time has come, the walrus said, to talk of many things, of shoes and ships and ceiling (oops) sealing-wax, of cabbages and...what did you think I was going to recite ( ok, type) the whole thing? It's time to talk about one of my favorite things, VACATION! I'm not sure which part of this whole thing I like more, the planning or the actual vacation. I like planning vacations so much that I have even helped a few friends plans their family vacations that I can't even go on. Could I do this to make a living you may ask? No Way!!! First that would require I go back to school and I didn't like it that much the first time. Then there would be all the pressure of planning the perfect trip for everyone. Not gonna happen. I'll help out when asked but other than that I'll stick to the elaborate planning methods for even the simplest of my trips.

This is how it usually starts, Danny says where do you want to go on vacation? That's all it takes and the wheels start to turn. Usually the answer is : A Cruise. This time Danny said we could take a longer vacation and take Bandit with us if we took a road trip. A road trip, that could be interesting. Where would we go? Danny said he always wanted to take me out west since I have never seen the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone. That was it. The destination had been set. Let the planning begin.

The internet is my best friend. Danny gave me a list of every state we would be passing through on our trip and I let my fingers do the walking to find all the places I wanted to see While we were traveling. Now I know it will be impossible to do everything I want but wishful thinking never hurt. So with my list in hand I started putting together a notebook of all the information I had found. Now while we are on the road we just look at my little book and we kind find all kinds of things to do.

As most of the family knows, as vacations get closer, I get the urge to start packing. That is usually no big deal since we go to warm places when it is cold here. I don't need the clothes I am taking on vacation while we are at home so who cares if I start packing three months ahead of time. This time we are going in the summer, or at least while it is still hot outside and we are going where at times it will be 90 and other times in the mountains it can get pretty cold. Did I mention that we are taking the Prius. That's right, 18 days, Danny, Bandit and me with all of our stuff in the Prius. Danny's brilliant idea is that he and I will share a duffle bag for the trip. Hello, did he forget I'm a girl. I need my stuff. Maybe we can share one duffle bag and I can have another one all to myself. Sounds like a plan to me. He wants to us (meaning me ) to do laundry on the trip. Isn't this called a vacation? Laundry, I don't think so.

So slowly but surely I have been putting things aside in a corner in my room of what I want to bring with. I now have a small mountain by the side of my dresser and that doesn't include the essentials like underwear. I was thinking maybe I could bring the duffle bag upstairs and start arranging things in it to see how they will fit. That isn't necessarily packing yet, is it? I have less then a month. Why not pack now? You can never pack too early is my motto.

I guess I'd better get start.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Catching up

Just a quick update until Danny posts his full recap of the race.  They finished the race even with the extremely bad weather and some very wet crew members.  Danny was happy as could be, and limped away with only water-logged hands and feet and a broken toe.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Marley & Me

To all those lab ( be they yellow, black or chocolate) lovers out there, I just found out some interesting news. The book Marley & Me is coming to theaters near you Christmas 2008. Thanks Aunt Trisha for introducing me to this heartfelt tale.

Mac Race 2008

Just a little update for all those interested.  As you may or may not know Danny was on a sailing team (Cyclone) that sailed the 2008 Chicago to Mac 100th anniversary race this weekend.  I will let him post all the details in his blog.  The important part is they finished the race in the original alloted time. The official finishing time was extended later.  Danny said it was all of the following:  fun, boring, fun, exciting, fun, scary, and did I mention FUN!!!!!!!  He had a blast, and though when I talked to him after the race he hadn't slept in over 25 hours he was wired for a few more hours at least.  So here's to Cyclone and her crew for finishing the 100th running of the Chicago to Mac race.  I for one, am very proud of you. 

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Genius IQ or Common Sense,

Some of you may know that I have occationally mentioned that because Danny has a genius IQ, he sometimes seems to lack common sense.  This weekend on my way downtown (one of my favorite places...NOT) to meet a friend who was in town for work, I had a blowout after just getting onto 55 where there is no shoulder to pull unto.  I managed to get far enough over to not have the left side of my SUV smashed by cars coming behind me.  Now I have had this Kia for 5 years now and have never had any problems ( like a flat tire) before.  I wasn't exactly sure where my spare tire was but I figured somewhere in the back underneath the mat would be a good place to look, not like I knew how to change the tire even if I found the spare in the first place.  Did I mention that Danny was in the middle of a sailing race and didn't even know this was happening.  To make a really long story short I wound up getting my Kia towed to a dealer where I was very rudely informed that on my driver's side window there is a sticker with a phone number that I can call for FREE roadside assistence.  I guess you can say that even though I don't have a genius IQ, living with a person who does has sucked away some of my common sense.  Why did I never notice that little sticker with the phone number on it?  It would have saved me about $80.00 (the cost for a tow to the dealer)  and a couple of hours worth of wasted time.