Saturday, March 31, 2012
AN A-Z JIMMY BUFFETT CONCERT
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
A SHORT LIST OF PIRATE THINGS
This is my short list of pirate facts and other things:
1. Yes the flag in the picture is hanging outside my house on an unusually warm day in March in New England.
2. Pirates are often shown with parrots because in the 1600's, 1700's etc., these were considered "exotic" and were therefore somewhat valuable. Never accuse a pirate of not wanting to make a quick buck.
3. In my pirate reading I have found that it was not really known for pirates to use "walking the plank" as a punishment. More usual punishments for wayward pirates that upset their captains were the wonderful practice of leaving them on an uninhabited island to die or the warm thought of tying them to the mast to starve.
4. This is for my fellow rum lovers. Yes, Captain Morgan was a real pirate named Captain Henry Morgan, who was actually the British Governor of Jamaica for a time during the 1600's. I prefer Gosling's rum, especially the Dark Rum which makes a great Dark and Stormy.
5. A Dark and Stormy is the world's best drink mixing Dark Rum (preferably Goslings) with Ginger Beer (not ginger ale). This drink came to popularity in Bermuda and I'm sure all good pirates drink it.
6. Rhode Island was considered a great place for pirates in the 1600's and 1700's because of vagaries of its coastline with many safe inlets and the corruptibility of the government. i.e. the term "Rogue's Island". Some things never change.
All you readers join this blog for it's A-Z of Jimmy Buffett songs starting April 1, or I'll have to tie you to the mast.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Simplifying to Complexity
Written for GBE2 Week #41 "Simplicity"
Many times I've found that trying to "keep it simple" has made things more complex. Sure everything starts out simply enough, say for instance playing the piano. You start with the basic C scale, no flats, no sharps, no chords, just one note at a time. However, if the point is to play the piano decently you need to learn all the scales with sharps, flats etc. and chords and different timing and many other things that then make it a complex pursuit.
When simplifying one's life, does it not really lead to more complexity? How many politicians have left office saying that they want to get back to the basics; time with their families. Now, when has time with anyone's family, particularly your own relatives, been particularly simple. Family relationships are beyond complex and spending more time in them may enrich them, but will never make it simple.
There are those people who want to simplify their lives by getting rid of the "clutter". In many cases, such as my husband's, this means to literally get rid of junk accumulating around the homestead. Usually, in his case, this means getting rid of MY "junk" from around the homestead. Nonetheless, does removing clutter simplify things? Certainly you may have to hold an annoying and amazingly complex yard sale to rid yourself of these items, also you may find you actually did need one of the items and end up buying it again.
Is my whole thesis in this post that we can never simplify our lives? No, but it may not be as simple as it first appears.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)