Monday, December 21, 2009

Darwin on Marriage


The Lady Wife and I are pleased to announce that today is the 35th anniversary of our marriage. We were thinner then, but just as happy now.
Last spring I had the honor of presenting the following reading at the wedding of our niece Elana to our new Nephew-in-law Seth. The notes on marriage by Charles Darwin were apparently scribbled in the margin of one of his notebooks. Read and enjoy:


Deciding Whether or Not to Marry:

Not Marry?

Freedom to go where one liked
choice of Society and little of it.
Conversation of clever men at clubs
Not forced to visit relatives, and
to bend in every trifle
to have the expense and anxiety of children -
perhaps quarrelling -
Loss of time -
cannot read in the Evenings -
fatness and idleness -
anxiety and responsibility -
less money for books
if many children, forced to gain one's bread (But then it is very bad for one's health to work too much).
Perhaps my wife won't like
London, then the sentence is banishment and degradation with indolent, idle fool.


Marry?

Children - (if it please God) -
constant companion, who will feel interested in one
(a friend in old age) -
object to be beloved and played with - better than a dog anyhow
Home, and someone to take care of house
Charms of Music and female Chit Chat -
These things good for ones health but terrible loss of time
My God, it is unthinkable to think of spending
one's whole life, like a neuter bee, working, working, and nothing after all
No, no won't do
Imagine living all one's days solitarily in smoky
dirty London House -
Only picture to yourself a nice soft wife on a sofa
with good fire, and books and music perhaps - compare this vision with dingy reality
Marry! Marry! Marry!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Awkward Family Photos

Have you ever looked back at the family photos and thought "What was I thinking?" These things tend to be committed over the Holidays, so by way of warning I offer the following exhibits for your consideration. These examples of photographic excellence are brought to you courtesy of Penny. Where she got them I do not know...


















Sunday, December 13, 2009

You Face

Fair Reader,

You may be aware that I have railed on occasion against the current fashion of "social networking" on line. It is with no small amount of chagrin that I am hereby announcing my intention to set up my own Face Book page.

I have been inspired to do this by the fact that I have been receiving an increasing number of e-mail type messages and highly valued comic content via the Lady Wife's Face Book page as well as those of others. So, I want to make it quite clear that I am not taking this step because I want to Friend you, but rather in self defense out of the fear of being left out of the loop. Let's face it. I can little know (nor long remember) when anyone reacts to or comments on the contents of DRF.

More important however, than my profound sense of insecurity about being left out of something, I am keen on mining the comic potential of having my own Face Book Page. Last week I was watching the most recent episode of the NBC sitcom, 30 Rock. The characters introduced a social networking site called You Face. You can enjoy this in full streaming glory at: http://www.hulu.com/watch/113089/30-rock-secret-santa.

So, if you receive a request to be "friended" by yours truly you have two choices:
1. Respond in the affirmative exposing yourself to my world and its inherent psychological risks.
2. Quietly stand up, carry your notebook computer to the kitchen sink, fill sink to a depth of 6 inches and submerge the computer for a minimum of 5 minutes. This should take care of the problem.