Honk if You Play 13 Thursday
1. I recently ran into a friend who I hadn’t seen in awhile. When she asked me what I had been up to lately my answer was this: “I’m the nutty professor of blogging. My computer desk is my lab.”
2. I knew I wanted to be a poet when I heard Leonard Cohen singing “Suzanne” on the radio somewhere in Boston in 1969.
3. “It’s not as popular as dog racing.” That’s what I heard current Poet Laureate Donald Hall say about poetry in a recent PBS New Hour interview.
4. Some of my best ideas for writing happen when I’m driving, but I hardly go anywhere these days. This could be a problem.
5. I used to adjust my rearview mirror so that I could look at my boys in the back seat when they were little and we were driving somewhere. I was in awe of their beauty and wanted to stare without making them feel self-conscious.
6. Last October Joe and I were in Aspen Colorado with our camper. THIS is my favorite fall photo from then.
7. My friend Rosemary, who is a member of the writer’s workshop I belong to and a Scrabble playing mate, has a commentary in the Roanoke Times on the Marriage Amendment. Read it HERE.
8. I’ll be glad when elections are over and the ads stop airing on TV in the same way I’m glad when PBS and NPR fundraising is over and they stop breaking into programming to appeal for support.
9. You’ve heard the saying that “history repeats itself?” Here’s Mark Twain’s take on that: “The past does not repeat itself, but it rhymes.”
10. I love the way language has an order and symmetry, as well as mystery to de-code. I like to read words in ways other than left to right and am fascinated by words like silent and listen, tone and note, lust and slut that mirror each other. I recently learned that ridiculous and ludicrous are also the same words with the letters moved around.
11. I recently posted about shopping for meat at a grocery store named “Slaughters,” meeting an actress named “Stump,” and a woman holding a sign in front of the courthouse with the last name “Pickett.” Delane from Life in Mayberry told me about a Mickey Mouse holiday video with a woman name Carole Holiday in the credits and a football team in Mississippi with a kicker name Britt Barefoot.
12. My initials spell CAR.
13. Number 22 in my 100 Things About Me: Song title that best describes my life: What’s it all about Alfie?
Thursday headquarters is here.My other 13’s are here.
View more 13 Thursday’s here.
October 26th, 2006 9:50 am
i don’t know how mark twain came up with all those words of wisdom, but he’s one of my favorite quoters 🙂
October 26th, 2006 10:00 am
I don’t know if you watch Lost, but I think Mark Twain is the reason Sawyer is called Sawyer.
And if you don’t watch, that was probably all gibberish, sorry LOL!
October 26th, 2006 10:04 am
I hadn’t realized that interesting little thing about #10. It really is fascinating.
Have a Happy!
October 26th, 2006 10:11 am
The nutty professor of blogging – LOVE it!
Best ideas while driving – I believe mine come in the shower – both places not inductive to writing them down.
GREAT Colorado camping picture – we drove to Colorado in ’73 on our honeymoon, camped out looking at Pike’s Peak out the tent door – post http://patchworkreflections.blogspot.com/2005/11/on-road-again.html.
What’s it all about? Do we ever stop asking that question?
October 26th, 2006 10:11 am
I don’t know that Alfie song. I think mine would be “Closer to Fine” by the Indigo Girls.
I can never get those things name things like you and Delane. I must be too slow to catch them!
I love the 13 picture!
October 26th, 2006 10:12 am
to #4 – Some of my best ideas for writing happen while taking a shower. Does that work for you?
10 # 11 – all I can think of right now is Gale Huff; the reporter in Boston who stands on the beach during inclement weather. I’ve mentioned this one before, I know and I know too, I should start making a list. Maybe I can come up with 13 for next week.
October 26th, 2006 10:21 am
I love your nr 10, I love palindromss!!
And my blogging name Mar means sea in Spanish. My real name falls into the Roman meaning … happy TT! 🙂
October 26th, 2006 10:27 am
I never take showers! Why stand up and turn and turn when you can lie down and relax! I’m a bath person all the way. I’m glad you mentioned Gale Huff, Kath. I want to start a list.
The link didn’t work, Susan.
October 26th, 2006 10:57 am
ditto about driving and writing- i have to pull over and write things down lest i forget! i find snippets in my glove compartment all the time that i wrote on napkins, receipts, etc. also- i love your and joe’s little conversations- so cute and funny!
October 26th, 2006 11:12 am
HONK!
Interesting list. Mine’s a photo T13 today: 10th Birthday Photos. Have a great day!
October 26th, 2006 11:18 am
I look forward to your 13’s on Thursdays! Your comment about the beauty of your sons touched me this morning.
And a quote from Mark Twain is always welcome.
October 26th, 2006 11:58 am
I forgot to mention that I don’t even like driving…unless it’s local…so it’s a double problem. I relate, Amy, I scribble on anything I can find. I usually can’t wait to pull over because by then I usually forget it.
October 26th, 2006 1:07 pm
As always, Colleen, a fascinating interestingly varied TT…The Best!!!
Love that “fall” picture from last October and the one from yesterday, too!!!
October 26th, 2006 1:52 pm
I, too, love your title, “Nutty Professor of Blogging”! I also liked the Mark Twain quote. That makes perfect sense.
I’ve posted my Thursday Thirteen, too. Enjoy! 😉
October 26th, 2006 1:59 pm
I adjust the rear view mirror to look at my kids too. When the sun hits them just right they look like angels, until they complain about the sun in their eyes.
October 26th, 2006 3:26 pm
i liked your friends piece about marriage 🙂
and yes i love number 10 too, i often read words jumbled or backwards too. ludicrous;)
October 26th, 2006 3:45 pm
I love that: “It’s not as popular as dog racing.” *lol*
And that camping picture is just gorgeous! I’m glad you missed that snow though.
We’re getting a storm with a lot of snow to the northern Sweden any minute now, in Stockholm we’ll probably just get heavy rain and wind.
They say it’s gonna be the worst storm for a long time, the power companys are prepared…
October 26th, 2006 4:39 pm
Cool list.
October 26th, 2006 4:52 pm
# 5: I did the same thing, but they figured me out and then all I heard was “MAH-OMMMMMMMMM, stop staring!”
October 26th, 2006 5:11 pm
Hey there. How about scared and sacred?
loved the piece your friend wrote.
I must remember to absentee vote. With everything that is going on I will forget. And, uh-oh, Halloween is Tues. No costumes or candy here, yet.
October 26th, 2006 5:50 pm
Beauty fall photo! Nice comfy looking camper!
My initials of my maiden name spell RAW!
Love the word order mirroring thing…way better than same spellings frontwards as backwards, like wow and mom..(can’t remember the name for those words!)
I can get my writing ideas at any time…riding in the car looking out, funny things kids say, on holidays out in nature, in the hot tub, when I’m thinking about someone’s predicament, before I drift off to sleep…no rhyme or reason
October 26th, 2006 10:09 pm
That graphic is priceless! And your list ain’t bad either! Ha ha!
October 26th, 2006 10:23 pm
5, 9, 10 love em.
October 26th, 2006 11:56 pm
I am honking, can you hear it? 🙂
http://www.chelleyoung.com/index.php/archive/thursday-thriteen-34-thirteen-things-that-drive-me-crazy/
October 28th, 2006 12:03 am
Thanks to former governor Jim McGreevdy, New Jersey no longer has a poet laureate. He dealt with Amiri Baraka in a very Rudy Giuliani fashion. You can condemn something without pulling the plug on the system. (Giuliani did it to the Brooklyn Museum, if you recall)
My friend used to keep a list of public relations people whose names fit. One was P.R. Miracle. Another was Cliff Spieler. He had a list of about 20 names.
October 29th, 2006 7:29 pm
Great 13, as always! And ditto on the political ads…they seem to be getting nastier the closer we get to Nov. 7.