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Change Agent
Posted at 6:00 AM on November 6, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(30 Comments)
I found the following soggy note pasted to my desk this morning. A hunk of something like seaweed was smeared across the middle, but I was able to make out these words:
Avast, ye spoiled whiners!I caught wind of yer parley just yesterday on that there blog regardin' the need fer second chances an' how sometimes a fresh start makes a world o' difference.
But in reviewin' th' transcript, It caught me one good eye that nowhere in th' discussion of second careers an' second marriages an' cross-country moves an' new lifestyles an' whatnot, did any of ye landlubbin' gasbags mention the one most obvious point about "change" - that th' very best way to mark th' end of one chapter an' th' beginning of a new chapter is to punctuate it by spendin' a stretch o' time at sea in th' company of a band o jolly pirates!
With them new job loss numbers comin' out today, I expects t' have more candidates than ever fer a once-in-a-lifetime life changin' experience.
A strong dose o' Pirate fellowship is quite effective at demarkin' the barrier between whatever you was doin' before an' whatever you is about to be doin' hence. Pirates has utter disregard fer all old habits an' every kind o' rule whether it be societal, personal or otherwise. Wardrobe, behavior, dietary, sleep-related ... all these here aspects of yer life changes completely when you falls in with pirates. Even a short while spent on board a vessel like our Muskellunge will hit yer "reset" button fer sure!
We is bookin' excursions right now fer winter months in th' southern hemisphere.
Fees is reasonable an' operates on a slidin' scale fer rich an' poor alike - basically you slides over t' us all that you has, an' we takes you on 'til we's had enough or you manages t' escape.
After yer therapeutic pirate experience aboard the Muskellunge, th' world will suddenly seem FULL o' fresh starts an' second chances!
That there's a guarantee!
Capt. Billy
Have you ever taken a trip that was so memorable, you divide your life into "before" and "after" categories?
Comments (30)
I work in the travel industry, so I have many very memorable trips, but the only life-dividing trip is the parenthood trip!
Morning Heartlanders! I've had a schedule change for a month, but am back on regular hours now. Phew! Everybody have a great day.
yup. a long trip to Europe in the early 70s (who didn't do this??) with only a small backpack. went from loving a hot shower, to loving a hot water sink wash up to loving a cold water wash up to just wishing we could wash up. lots of fun and very eye-opening. Capt Billy would be proud except it wasn't on the sea. helped me appreciate little things and kind people.
good moring, All!
Jim, i was just thinking the other day that i hadn't heard "Season of the Witch" for a long time!
i did the volkswagn bus around america in the early 70's routine, the canadian rockies, west coast, o\lots of time in alberta , bc, montana, idaho, utah , washingotn, oregon, wyoming, utah, arizona, new mexico and calofornia, people and stories and campfires and and scenery, time to reflect, fix the world problems and figure out who i was and where i wanted to go. life changing is what it was. great memories. thanks captian billy for the recollections. kind of hippy swashbuckling i guess.
Barb and Jim - I heard Season of the Witch last Friday during the last hour of the DC show. What were YOU two DOING?
My mind's in the gutter this morning, Barb. I blame yesterday's steamy report on Majority.
I've never been to Europe, but gotta say, you all haven't lived until you visit our state's capitol, Pierre. A little trivia - way back at SD's beginning, there was much debate about where the capitol should be located - Pierre, Mitchell, or Sioux Falls. In the end, Pierre built the capitol, Sioux Falls built the penitentiary, and Mitchell built the Corn Palace.
Dale, do you have the song, Capital, by Rockapella? Pierre gets spoofed in it.
Have a great weekend Heartland!
I took a trip to Disney World March of 2001 that made a big impact on me. I still am a huge fan of all things in the disney theme park universe.
Donna,
I remember Rockcapella for their appearances on the PBS "Where in the World is Carmen San Diego" series, and I recall that song too.
But I don't think we have it in the library.
Didn't they mispronounce "Pierre"? Or did they just leave it out?
Yea - they butchered it! Thanks for checking.
I guess it would have to be moving to Mpls, since that involved leaving behind Marrige #1, and, happily, meeting #2 Husband shortly thereafter. Hmmm, it also bisected my life in years, how symbolic is that? I think there's an old Peter Paul and Mary song called The Other Side to This Life (or something close), if you have it, Dale.
Greetings! Thanks for the trivia, Donna -- that makes my day! It's so sweet when someone loves their home state so much.
I never went to Europe, but in high school, I went on a car trip to Washington, DC with a teacher and fellow students. We had to work in student concessions to earn money toward the trip. It was a lot of fun. I don't know about life-changing, but certainly memorable.
I was certainly a different person after going to graduate school in Canada for 6 years.
Well, THANK YOU DONNA, for letting me know that Season of the Witch has been played. I can't tell you where I was when Dale played that song, I'm a little absent minded, but at least I have you, DONNA, to help me keep in touch. Perhaps Barb has a better reason for missing out on Season of the Witch.
Okay, as I am writing this, Dale is playing Season of the Witch. thanks Dale. I am paying attention this time, Donna
I went on a trip to England with a theater group when I was 15 - so I can in all honesty say I have performed the role of "Eeyore" on London stages...admittedly small stages, and one school, but none-the-less London stages. I guess life kind of divides there between Anna the Kid and Anna the Almost Adult (with a few years intervening). It does feel a little like that 3 week trip divides life up to high school and life that leads to college and adulthood. Guess I never thought of it that way so clearly until now, though.
thanks, Dale! Strange sums up that song also, i think. love it, love Donovan, but haven't a clue about what most of his lyrics mean. do you think he did?
last friday i was out with the goats, trying to get that visiting doe bred (who took her sweet time until sunday/monday) so i missed the song then. no HD up here and no computer in the barn..... sorry
Happy Friday, Heartlanders!
Oh, Dale, I love Music Man and one day I hope to play Harold Hill. I hope my gender doesn't get in the way.
My chorus goes on a tour once a year most years and we are about to embark on this years tomorrow bright and early in the morning. We are a GLBT chorus and we go to smaller towns around Minnesota. We have also been to Iowa, South Dakota and Canada as well. There aren't any GLBT choirs in the places we go and the GLBT people are often not very open about who they are. It can be very profound just to be who we are where they are...if that makes any sense. We will be headed up to St. Cloud tomorrow and I imagine that my life will be changed again!
Have a wonder fall weekend, All!
Oh yeah! I love show biz songs! What's not to love about Robert Preston and Ethel Merman. You forgot to give the Ethel Merman Alert, Dale!
Darcy, that sounds like a very cool tour for you and fellow singers. I'm sure it means a lot to those GLBT folks in the smaller towns where you perform -- and yes, what you said made perfect sense. Good luck on your tour!
well, now you know what Barb was doing, Donna. I think Donovan's big market was teenagers, but I think some of his music is very interesting and not just for teenagers.
I have done some traveling that had an impact on my life, but like Sherrilee, a "trip" of another kind was the most significant for me.
The "trip" I am thinking of was a job I had for 5 years where I worked with a farmers' network sponsored by the Rodale Institute and lead by Dick and Sharon Thompson, who are pioneers in the develpment of Sustainable Farming. Since that time, I have focused part of my life on trying to advance sustainable farming.
I tend to have the mindset that every day is a journey in itself. When I travel, I just tend to enjoy it and soak in as much as I can. I suppose a -significant- trip to remember was the trip to London, Paris, and Rome. I proposed to my wife on the second deck of the Eiffel Tower with my grandmother's engagement ring. Did you know that there are restaurants and some snack places right there on the middle deck of the Tower? We had some Ben & Jerry's right after she said, "Yes." Sure, it was Paris in the fall. Sure, it was romantic. Sure, it was my grandmother's engagement ring. But there was Chunky Monkey involved. All that other stuff was nice but ice cream is like a blood-bonded contract.
cool, Darcy - safe travel and do we say "break a leg" for chorus or something else to wish you well?
my brother is one a plane right now on the way home to Louisiana from S. Korea. we got vivid descriptions of his visit - a guy whose "travel" is getting on a boat to going fishing on the Gulf - and i think we can say it was life changing for him. he was very pleased with the trip except for the bus ramming into their vehicle from behind. he is going home with a headache, and i hope no other injuries. guess the traffic on the Gulf isn't as perilous.....
I guess the most life-changing trips I've taken were down the aisle and twice to the delivery room. Relatively short in an absolute sense, but not in effect.
Funny parallel to Cap'n Billy's letter - I just got a friend acceptance this morning from a high school classmate who now lives in Ireland and fishes for a living - said he was in St. George's Channel last week, and 'looking forward' to a winter out on the Atlantic Ocean. Now there's a change from growing up in southern Minnesota.
Mention of Donovan this morning - I'd had a song I'd been trying to find since I'd heard it in the mid-70s - came and went and never heard it again, but wanted to figure out what it was. I finally identified it with help of an oldies show on KOWZ 100.9 (on Friday nights). Anyway, turns out it was a Dononvan song from his "Cosmic Wheels" album long out of print - I picked up a copy on eBay. Strange lyrics indeed - check out "Cosmic Laxative" for instance. Oh, the song I remembered is called "I like you".
Dale, you must have read my mind yesterday that I'd like to hear "See the Elephant." One of my favorites, thanks.
Whenever the discussion of travel as life-changing exerpience comes up, which of course it often delightfully is, I think of Thoreau's line :"I have traveled much in Concord."
In 1987 I went to South Korea as a consultant to an adoption agency. We were working on finding families for kids with disabilities.
One of the kids was moved to the orphanage from his foster home in spite of my statements about how well kids with his disability do.Well, I know exactly how well he did after the trip I did something entirely different-I became an adoptive parent of that cute little kid.
Have a great weekend-See a high school musical!
Beth-Ann
Mike - I had Cosmic Wheels by Donovan in the 70's ... the song you refer to is "Intergalactic Laxative" and I still think of it every time they bring up the space shuttle or space station. That would be a great song to add to the rotation, Dale!
Travel song--"Spanish Boots of SpaniSh Leather" best by Nancy Griffin
Off topic....has anyone heard about a new movie called Men who stare at goats? I have no idea what it's about but their tag line is "no goats, no glory"
I Love Jeff Bridges & George Clooney so I might just have to get out to see this one this weekend.
Happy weekend all.......Kate
Kate - have seen trailers of the "goats" movie. George stares at a goat and makes it faint. pure fiction - although there are "fainting goats" (myotonic goats) that will fall over upon a sudden noise or being scared by something. but even George Clooney couldn't make my goats faint. ha, ha! i'd like to know if any goats were harmed during filming. but do agree with "no goats, no glory." :-)
You know kidding when you hear it, right Jim?
I know the professor does.
Donna, I am really absent mined, but I do think that I have a fairly good sense of humor.
Oh, I might be a little slow at getting the joke, but I did see what seems to be a double meaning in your comment about what Barb and I were doing. Very Funny!
Keep the humor coming
Kate and Barb,
My understanding is that the movie is based on a book about an actual research project conducted by the Pentagon, trying to develop psychic powers that could be used in warfare.
"The Men Who Stare At Goats" were supposedly doing just that ... staring at goats with an intensity that could kill. They hoped.
It sounds like a story from The Onion.
no surprise that this is an actual story, Dale - it just shows how ignorant some folks are. i suppose we should be flattered that they chose goats - a real challenge - but for a really big challenge why didn't they stare at cockroaches or cluster flies? or ticks? or the dang 13 lined pocket squirrels (the minnesota state rodent) that eat all of my carrots!
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