Spending time on a day off from work...
Tomorrow is the starting day of my regular work week, but I have had the last two and a half days off.
Monday night I spent the late evening sipping from a bottle of Wild Turkey that Coyote had gone out and purchased dressed in a garish orange print short sleeve button up shirt, shorts, and sunglasses in February weather to honor the passing of Hunter S. Thompson.
We sipped from the bottle together as we watched Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas. It seemed a fitting sort of tribute evening.
Yesterday, I shopped at Walmart and bought a TV antenna for our living room TV. We had not watched any broadcast TV for about 4 months in this household as without an antenna or cable it was impossible to get any stations in.
We have only been able to watch video tapes and DVDs. I watched some TV last night and the commercials and quality (or lack thereof) of the programming made me remember why I had been in no hurry originally to purchase an antenna.
Oh well, at least I will be able to watch CSI again, occasionally. :)
Mostly last night I bummed around our home and did very little, though I did make some good progress cleaning and organizing out still packed box filled living room. I fear that we are major procrastinators in this household.
Now I am cooking chicken after having spent the early afternoon reading an old book of poetry that I found in one of our bookcases. It is called "Archy and Mehitabel" and is written by Don Marquis. The poems themselves are supposed to be the work of Archy, a cockroach who has the transmigrated soul of a dead poet within him.
Mehitabel is the cat that lives in the apartment with Don and Archy.
Here is a sample of some of the poetry, behind the cut...
The coming of archy
expression is the need of my soul
I was once a vers libre bard
but I died and my soul went into the body of a cockroach
it has given me a new outlook upon life
i see things from the under side now
thank you for the apple peelings in the wastepaper basket
but your paste is getting so stale i cant eat it
there is a cat here called mehitabel i wish you would have
removed she nearly ate me the other night why dont she
catch rats that is what she is supposed to be for
there is a rat here she should get without delay
most of these rats here are just rats
but this rat is like me he has a human soul in him
he used to be a poet himself
night after night i have written poetry for you
on your typewriter
and this big brute of a rat who used to be a poet
comes out of his hole when it is done
and reads and sniffs at it
he is jealous of my poetry
he used to make fun of it when we were both human
he was a punk poet himself
and after he has read it he sneers
and then he eats it
i wish that you would have mehitabel kill that rat
or get a cat that is onto her job
and i will write you a series of poems showing how things look to a cockroach
that rats name is freddy
the next time freddy dies i hope he wont be a rat
but something smaller i hope i will be a rat
in the next transmigration and freddy a cockroach
i will teach him to sneer at my poetry then
dont you ever eat any sandwiches in your office
i havent has a crumb of bread for i dont know how long
or a piece of ham or anything but apple parings
and paste leave a piece of paper in your machine
every night you can call me archy
Since Archy is a cockroach he has trouble hitting the shift and return keys, that is why the punctuation is so terrible in these poems. ;)
I fear that it is predictable that I would enjoy the character of the cat, Mehitabel and her adventures the most.
mehitabel s extensive past
mehitabel the cat claims that
she has a human soul
also and has transmigrated
from body to body and it
may be so boss you
remember i told you she accused
herself of being cleopatra once i
asked her about antony
anthony who she asked me are
you thinking of that
song about rowley and gammon and
spinach heigho for anthony rowley
no i said mark antony the
great roman friend of
ceaser surely cleopatra you
remember j ceaser
listen archy she said i
have been so many different
people in my time and met
so many prominent gentlemen i
wont lie to you or stall i
do get my dates mixed sometimes
think of how much i have had a
chance to forget and i have
always made a point of not
carrying grudges over
from one life to the next archy
i have been
used something fierce in my time but
i am no bum sport archy
i am a free spirit archy i
look on myself as being
quite a romantic character oh the
queens i have been and the
swell feeds i have ate
a cockroach which you are
and a poet which you used to be
archy could not understand
my feelings at having come
down to this i have
had bids to elegant feeds where poets
and cockroaches would
neither one be mentioned without a
laugh archy i have had
adventures but i
have never been an adventuress
one life up and the next life
down archy but always a lady
through it all and a
good mixer too always the
life of the party archy but never
anything vulgar always free footed
archy never tied down to
a job or housework yes looking
back on it all i can say is
i had some romantic
lives and some elegant times i
have seen better days archy but
what is the use of kicking kid its
all in the game like a gentleman
friend of mine used to say
toujours gai kid toujours gai he
was an elegant cat he used
to be a poet himself and he made up
some elegant poetry about me and him
lets hear it i said and
mehitabel recited
persian pussy from over the sea
demure and lazy and smug and fat
none of your ribbons and bells for me
ours is the zest of the alley cat
over the roofs from flat to flat
we prance with capers corybantic
what though a boot should break a slat
mehitabel us for the life romantic
we would rather be rowdy and gaunt and free
and dine on a diet of roach and rat
roach i said what do you
mean roach interrupting mehitabel
yes roach she said thats the
way my boyfriend made it up
i climbed in amongst the typewriter
keys for she had an excited look in her eyes go on mehitabel i
said feeling safer and she
resumed her elocution
we would rather be rowdy and gaunt and free
and dine on a diet of roach and rat
than slaves to tame society
ours is the zest of the alley cat
fish heads freedom a frozen sprat
dug from the gutter with digits frantic
is better than bores and fireside mat
mehitabel us for the life romantic
when the pendant moon in the leafless tree
clings and sways like a golden bat
i sing its light and my love for thee
ours is the zest of the alley cat
missiles fall around us rat a tat tat
but our shadows leap in a ribald antic
as over the fences the world cries scat
mehitabel us for the life romantic
aint that high brow stuff
archy i always remembered it
but he was an elegant gent
even if he was a highbrow and a
regular bohemian archy him and
me went aboard a canal boat
one day and he got his head into
a pitcher of cream and couldn't get
it out and fell overboard
he come up once before he
drowned toujours gai kid he
gurgled and then sank forever that
was always his words archy toujours
gai kid toujours gai i
have known some swell gents
in my time dearie
archy
So my zest is the life of the alley cat, through life times up or down I shall always be a lady. None of the meaner things in life for me.
Of course, I have my own definition of what it means to be a lady and Mehitabel seems to fit my definition quite well. :)
Toujours gai kiddies, always toujours gai!
Monday night I spent the late evening sipping from a bottle of Wild Turkey that Coyote had gone out and purchased dressed in a garish orange print short sleeve button up shirt, shorts, and sunglasses in February weather to honor the passing of Hunter S. Thompson.
We sipped from the bottle together as we watched Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas. It seemed a fitting sort of tribute evening.
Yesterday, I shopped at Walmart and bought a TV antenna for our living room TV. We had not watched any broadcast TV for about 4 months in this household as without an antenna or cable it was impossible to get any stations in.
We have only been able to watch video tapes and DVDs. I watched some TV last night and the commercials and quality (or lack thereof) of the programming made me remember why I had been in no hurry originally to purchase an antenna.
Oh well, at least I will be able to watch CSI again, occasionally. :)
Mostly last night I bummed around our home and did very little, though I did make some good progress cleaning and organizing out still packed box filled living room. I fear that we are major procrastinators in this household.
Now I am cooking chicken after having spent the early afternoon reading an old book of poetry that I found in one of our bookcases. It is called "Archy and Mehitabel" and is written by Don Marquis. The poems themselves are supposed to be the work of Archy, a cockroach who has the transmigrated soul of a dead poet within him.
Mehitabel is the cat that lives in the apartment with Don and Archy.
Here is a sample of some of the poetry, behind the cut...
The coming of archy
expression is the need of my soul
I was once a vers libre bard
but I died and my soul went into the body of a cockroach
it has given me a new outlook upon life
i see things from the under side now
thank you for the apple peelings in the wastepaper basket
but your paste is getting so stale i cant eat it
there is a cat here called mehitabel i wish you would have
removed she nearly ate me the other night why dont she
catch rats that is what she is supposed to be for
there is a rat here she should get without delay
most of these rats here are just rats
but this rat is like me he has a human soul in him
he used to be a poet himself
night after night i have written poetry for you
on your typewriter
and this big brute of a rat who used to be a poet
comes out of his hole when it is done
and reads and sniffs at it
he is jealous of my poetry
he used to make fun of it when we were both human
he was a punk poet himself
and after he has read it he sneers
and then he eats it
i wish that you would have mehitabel kill that rat
or get a cat that is onto her job
and i will write you a series of poems showing how things look to a cockroach
that rats name is freddy
the next time freddy dies i hope he wont be a rat
but something smaller i hope i will be a rat
in the next transmigration and freddy a cockroach
i will teach him to sneer at my poetry then
dont you ever eat any sandwiches in your office
i havent has a crumb of bread for i dont know how long
or a piece of ham or anything but apple parings
and paste leave a piece of paper in your machine
every night you can call me archy
Since Archy is a cockroach he has trouble hitting the shift and return keys, that is why the punctuation is so terrible in these poems. ;)
I fear that it is predictable that I would enjoy the character of the cat, Mehitabel and her adventures the most.
mehitabel s extensive past
mehitabel the cat claims that
she has a human soul
also and has transmigrated
from body to body and it
may be so boss you
remember i told you she accused
herself of being cleopatra once i
asked her about antony
anthony who she asked me are
you thinking of that
song about rowley and gammon and
spinach heigho for anthony rowley
no i said mark antony the
great roman friend of
ceaser surely cleopatra you
remember j ceaser
listen archy she said i
have been so many different
people in my time and met
so many prominent gentlemen i
wont lie to you or stall i
do get my dates mixed sometimes
think of how much i have had a
chance to forget and i have
always made a point of not
carrying grudges over
from one life to the next archy
i have been
used something fierce in my time but
i am no bum sport archy
i am a free spirit archy i
look on myself as being
quite a romantic character oh the
queens i have been and the
swell feeds i have ate
a cockroach which you are
and a poet which you used to be
archy could not understand
my feelings at having come
down to this i have
had bids to elegant feeds where poets
and cockroaches would
neither one be mentioned without a
laugh archy i have had
adventures but i
have never been an adventuress
one life up and the next life
down archy but always a lady
through it all and a
good mixer too always the
life of the party archy but never
anything vulgar always free footed
archy never tied down to
a job or housework yes looking
back on it all i can say is
i had some romantic
lives and some elegant times i
have seen better days archy but
what is the use of kicking kid its
all in the game like a gentleman
friend of mine used to say
toujours gai kid toujours gai he
was an elegant cat he used
to be a poet himself and he made up
some elegant poetry about me and him
lets hear it i said and
mehitabel recited
persian pussy from over the sea
demure and lazy and smug and fat
none of your ribbons and bells for me
ours is the zest of the alley cat
over the roofs from flat to flat
we prance with capers corybantic
what though a boot should break a slat
mehitabel us for the life romantic
we would rather be rowdy and gaunt and free
and dine on a diet of roach and rat
roach i said what do you
mean roach interrupting mehitabel
yes roach she said thats the
way my boyfriend made it up
i climbed in amongst the typewriter
keys for she had an excited look in her eyes go on mehitabel i
said feeling safer and she
resumed her elocution
we would rather be rowdy and gaunt and free
and dine on a diet of roach and rat
than slaves to tame society
ours is the zest of the alley cat
fish heads freedom a frozen sprat
dug from the gutter with digits frantic
is better than bores and fireside mat
mehitabel us for the life romantic
when the pendant moon in the leafless tree
clings and sways like a golden bat
i sing its light and my love for thee
ours is the zest of the alley cat
missiles fall around us rat a tat tat
but our shadows leap in a ribald antic
as over the fences the world cries scat
mehitabel us for the life romantic
aint that high brow stuff
archy i always remembered it
but he was an elegant gent
even if he was a highbrow and a
regular bohemian archy him and
me went aboard a canal boat
one day and he got his head into
a pitcher of cream and couldn't get
it out and fell overboard
he come up once before he
drowned toujours gai kid he
gurgled and then sank forever that
was always his words archy toujours
gai kid toujours gai i
have known some swell gents
in my time dearie
archy
So my zest is the life of the alley cat, through life times up or down I shall always be a lady. None of the meaner things in life for me.
Of course, I have my own definition of what it means to be a lady and Mehitabel seems to fit my definition quite well. :)
Toujours gai kiddies, always toujours gai!