How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live

I was on the phone with Corporate Travel Office booking travel to (or actually, through) Montreal. We were done with the flights. We had reserved the Hertz, with patented Seldom-Lost GPS technology which allows you to easily navigate sparsely populated rural areas but drives you all over a large city recalculating it's suction cupped plastic ass off and easing you further and further away from your actual destination. But no, I'm not complaining.

The hotel, however, was not going quite as smoothly. No Hilton properties within reasonable driving distance. The only Sheraton was busting past the allowed government per diem rate and my options were shrinking. Eventually we discovered that every hotel was pricing above government rate, so I snagged the Sheraton Four Points after all. Going down my profile, the arranger was making sure frequent flyer numbers were entered, window seats were reserved (I prefer aisle for a faster egress, but now that everybody is carrying big carry on bags, I started to get tired of constantly being smacked upside the head), etc.

When she got to the hotel section, which is usually booked as a room with a King bed, she paused. I could hear her typing and typing. "Mr. Abernathy, " she asked, "Do you mind a room with two Queens?" "Not at all. " I replied in the Gumby-ish, get along style that I am known for, "I mean as long as we are talking about beds." Cracking up the travel agent is the first sign that it's going to be a good day.

Traveling my butt off again. Such is life in the big city. Almost starting to think that I live in Florida, but "summer" in Massachusetts. That's how much time I am spending up there. It is less humid there, I'll give it that. Although when I mentioned that the morning was kind of cool one day, I was told that it was, after all, only June. Sorry. I am not used to using the words jacket and June in the same sentence. I have the aforementioned D.C. trip today and Kingston, Ontario after. Boston (again), Austin, and Moscow (Russia, not Idaho) are on deck. And Iraq has not gone away, it just keeps sliding to the right.

My sunflowers are towering over me now, and have big, bright yellow heads that seem to be smiling and welcoming you to the neighborhood. I know, good for me. Hey, "Nice Gesture" is my middle names. Be good, my peeps.

Sure, power corrupts. But we need the electricity, out
Ramblin' Ed

Two Fisted Mariner's Fate

Come 'round, you young sailors
and listen to me
You toil all your days
for your love of the sea
But if you feel sad and lonely
when the winsome wind moans
then you're just a landlubber
and better off home

Well I was just 16
when we pulled from the port
at Norfolk, Virginia,
and the next I saw shore
was an isle of the Azores
as we slowly slid past
and I realized my manhood
had caught me at last

So come on, you deckhands
you officers, too
'cause I just talked Ed
into cooking some brew
And it ain't all that smooth
but tonight you won't care
when you fall into your rack
and there's still no one there

The ocean's my lady
my home is this boat
and no one can harm us
when we are afloat
And I swore that I'd change once
but I never did
The Westerlies beckoned,
they called to me

So when you find you're an old man
who's lived out his life
with salt in his nostrils
on duty all night
I hope you'll smile to recall
how I warned you this way
and the spray will wash over you
starting your day

So come 'round you sailors
and listen to me
you'll toil all your days
for your love of the sea
She'll end up with your body
with an anchor for weight
and you'll suffer
the two fisted mariner's fate

Ed

A Backwards Glance at Jenny

Well somebody ought to ask you
why you thought that you could make it
why you thought that no one else
could understand your little games
When you wake up in the morning
with your head still full of fire
and the feeling that tomorrow
well, it's gonna be the same

Don't you ever wonder why
nobody took you to the alter
when you sit around and read
those True Romances every day
Girl, your daddy took the liberty
of buying silver linings
when he couldn't find some specialist
to take your clouds away

And somebody ought to ask you
why you thought that you could make it
why you thought tha no one man
could ever make you feel this way
No, I haven't got the promises
of all those other fellows
but I've got a good umbrella
to protect us from the rain

Who am I to ask you
to stay and make me happy?
A girl need independence
or at least that's what you say
And who am I to try
to take away that independence?
Leave you longing for a love
that drags you like a ball and chain

It's with a backwards glance
I'm leaving you now, Jenny
And there's not much chance
that I'll be coming back
Well, I wanted us to fly
you didn't even want to try
so now it's over
and I'm leaving with a glance over my shoulder

Well, I know the night's are longer
know the party's going stronger
'til it's just you and Johnny Carson
half smoked cigarettes and gin
Hell, I know I could not ask you
to give up all that "freedom"
I'm not asking where you're going
and we both know where you've been

It's a two lane road I'm travelin'
but it's not too late to join me
if you think you might could leave
the gin and cigarettes behind
Girl, I don't know why you thought
that no one man could make you happy
But who am I to say?
when it's so hard to say goodbye

So with a backwards glance
I'm leaving you now, Jenny
And there's not much chance
that I'll be coming back
Well, I wanted us to fly
you didn't even want to try
so now it's over
and I'm leaving with a glance over my shoulder

Ed

Now you're telling me you're not nostalgic
Then give me another word for it
You who are so good with words
And at keeping things vague
'Cause I need some of that vagueness now
It's all come back too clearly
Yes, I once loved you dearly
And if you're offering me diamonds and rust
I've already paid
- Joan Baez