A book meme... tagged by Lauren...

* Grab the nearest book.
* Open the book to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post the text of the next two to five sentences in your journal along with these instructions.
* Don’t dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.
* Tag five other people to do the same

"Be Prepared. Have a pre-determined plan and necessary supplies. Turn on soft music, watch a funny video, or meditate.
Comforting Children: Children experience relief if adults have taken reasonable precautions to protect them from harm. Adults should manage their own anxiety."

Excerpt from "The real yellow pages", specifically, their hurricane and severe weather planner section.

By the powers invested in me, I hereby tag:
Silverfox
brouhahah
Drew
Java Foo Foo
dreamwalker

Yarr.... it be that time o' the year, matey....

Arrrr! Today be talk like a pirate day. Much thanks to Mama Janet fer pointin out the fact, or I probably would have forgotten it, like the landlubber I am.

As many of you are frightfully aware, tis my tradition t'tell a funny or interestin' story from my briny past in the style of a pirate on this happiest of days...

This one be the tale of a devil of a storm called Gustav, which caused me and mine t'run fer the hills lest we be sent to the bottom of Davey Jones' locker. Durin our voyage into the heart of Mississippi, me beauty, (Silverfox), and our boy, (Short Stuff) were fallin victim to a sense of dread that only sailors feel as they leave port fer the last time.

To take their minds off of our perdicament, I told them to think "EGBAR".

"Egbar?" Me beauty asked, never hearing the term before, "What in the seven seas is egbar?"

"Tis an acronym, my sweet." I said, "Stands fer 'Everything is Gonna Be All Right'. Egbar!"

"Egbar!" Short Stuff shouted from the back seat in a merry voice.

"Egbar!" Silverfox agreed. And so we drove on inta the night.

Twas a longer voyage than we had figured to get to safe harbor that night, and as fatigue began to wrap its scurvey arms around me, I got snippy with Silverfox (about something that was of no consequence, no less) and we began to argue. We were glaring at each other when Short stuff piped up from the back seat:

"Mom! Dad! Egbar!"

Yar... we both smiled at each other and laughed, the fog lifting from our hearts like a calm morning on the north atlantic. The boy spoke the wisdom of an old salt...

Next time ye be under stress with you and yours, take a lesson from the child, and remind yerself that Everything is Gonna Be All Right... for years from now, you and yer mates will be drinking rum and singing shantys about that day.

Now... all together... Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Multiple languages, and perfect for "talk like a pirate day"...



or, for you old traditionalists...

V-v-v-ote P-p-p-alin.

I laughed for five minutes at this "Get Fuzzy" cartoon:

The reason, (I am ashamed to admit) is that the first Palin I thought of when I heard about McCain's pick for running mate was Michael Palin as well. (Moreso because I actually knew of the Alaskan Governor before the big announcement) It just disappoints me that no one has made any "A Fish Called Wanda" jokes, choosing instead to go with the more obvious Monty Python gags.

Still, "NOBODY expects the Alskan Politician!" is pure comic genius.

Friends and family...

For those of you concerned that I have not contacted personally... Me, Silverfox, and the boys evacuated on friday before Gustav hit the gulf coast south of New Orleans. Once again thanks to Drew and Stacey, me and mine were sheltered from the storm in beautiful Brandon, MS. 

As far as going home goes, it's a little more complicated... Power and essential services are out across the area, but we have heard our Condo is fine, apparently minus one fireplace cap. We're not sure when we will be returning, as the Boys are a handful even with working power and toilets.

Not gonna lie to you, folks... this one was scary. More so now that I have a full on family to worry about. Silverfox and I have had a few discussions at this point about possibly moving out of the gulf south.