"A Pirate Looks at Forty", Jimmy Buffett
It's been a while since I've written one of these L&A columns. Just took a few months off. I'll be writing them again occasionally, probably monthly. Or, or plus, I'll do another more serious article or two, not L&A. L&A is supposed to be light, whimsical, or some such. Whatever, whenever, Jim Davis, the UO's editor-in-chief, wants and allows, what I write for the UO will in the future be in the UO.
Speaking of Jim. He's a fine editor and, naturally, concerned with deadlines. Me too, frequently and often, sometimes.
A reminder to those who don't know, this feature known as L&A takes it's title from a Jimmy Buffett album, Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes and a song therein. Now I'm not an official Parrot Head, but I like Buffett. I used to sail a bit. Primarily along the Florida's Atlantic coast from Miami to Key West, to Bimini and the Caribbean. Jimmy was a sailor and wrote a lot of lyrics about the sea. We used to listen to his music while aboard my old sloop Cirrus, a 41 foot Morgan. The lines from the song above begin:
Mother, mother ocean,
I have heard you call
Wanted to sail upon your waters since
I was three feet tall
You've seen it all, you've seen it all...
Very lyrical, beautiful, but descends to the raucous and reckless in other verses. But not as bad as that of some of his other lyrics (e.g. " My head hurts, my feet stink, and I don't love Jesus.")
The company that is responsible for this magazine is a little about pirates these days. Thus, at least one reason for the particular choosing of the lyrics above. I won't go into this now but it may be a subject, at least partial, for another L&A.
Also, the company's owner and the publisher of the UO has recently written the company's own Declaration of Independence. Readers likely will hear more on that later. That's the company's own declaration.
The owner, publisher and all his ancestral and lineal relatives have always been a kind of independent bunch. We ourselves don't need to declare anything. Independence? Our history is dissent and nonconformist. Queen Anne's Test Act was too much. We didn't care for the Anglicans or the Catholics a few hundred years ago (err…perhaps a Seinfeld moment here). Actually, that's not so. We just objected to being told what to do and at that time it had to do with worship, and marriage and a few other things. One group had a pope with rules; the other substituted a king for a pope. Our group cared for neither king nor pope if they insisted on telling us what we were to do. Both sides caused us to have to fight; both fight with them and for them. We didn't mind the fighting. But, both sides really wanted to subjugate us, or be rid of us. So, largely, our families left and went to America. Caused trouble there too. First we helped the British fight the Indians and the French, then we had to fight the British. And then we moved mostly to the South then west and populated the earth…err, America.
Anyway, it's my feeling and belief that folks in Eastern Europe, Eurasia, and other places both east and west and even further abroad will soon know more of a certain company's Declaration of Independence. I may write about it. I know it will soon be understood by many.
Speaking of populating the earth. Europe, Great Britain, Russia… haven't been doing it lately. Others have. And those others are largely of a culture very different from the aforesaid described groups and nations of peoples. So western culture is bound to change. Diversity, multi-culturism are good words…maybe. One might use them so long that their progeny will be both diversified and multi-cultural too… or perhaps, maybe, even not so diversified and mostly of one culture. Preach and wish for what you want. You might get it.
As a former fairly long-time editor of the UO, part of my idea, vision if you will, was to make the UO a kind of forum.
I thought if I or others writing for the UO could stimulate responses from our Readers (out of respect, I always capitalized the R) then an objective would be reached, a forum for exchanging ideas. Well, I was never successful. Seldom did Readers respond. So, the magazine moved on. Occasionally I'd still write what I perceived to be a provocative title, increasing the likelihood of someone reading the article and responding. Well in my first article in the UO in months, we had my article titled "Jean-Jacques Rousseau-AN IDIOT" (November, 2006).
Finally I was successful. David Lay, a professor at Wisconsin University responded to my article. His response is posted in this UO issue. I thank him for his response. I generally agree with what he says. He knows a lot more about Rousseau than I do. Rousseau was a noted author. Rousseau wrote the famous "Candide". Right? Or was that another Frenchman?
Seriously, the UO and I appreciate anyone who will respond to our efforts. Professor Lay's response was thoughtful, scholarly.
I make three points though. First, the second full paragraph of my article begins with the sentence, "Of course Rousseau was no idiot." Second, my point was that the principle of equality as followed historically by many, rather than merely "equality before the law" has led to significant mischief and human travail and loss of life over the years. Thirdly,
I thought I myself was treating the Rousseau quote as one that had been misused. Maybe I could have been clearer. Anyway, I'm not the first person that has used the particular quote in the same vein (heck, I seldom have original ideas).
Now in what could be a fourth point to the above…note the eye-catching title to this article. Maybe it will cause a Reader to take notice. And read. And maybe respond.
But, a problem. I'm not sure I have enough space to write about the love life of my granddaddy Bennie Lafayette Willard. Or about his mistress (housekeeper?) Eula. Or, anyway, even whether it's appropriate. It's just that I've been wondering for some reason lately about ol' Eula (she'd be pretty old now if she were still alive). My granddaddy showed my how to get crawdads to walk up a stick. Later on
I learned to 'suck the heads and eat the tails" but I'm not sure Bennie would have done that.
Grandmother Nora, Bennie's wife died at 39 almost three years before I was born so I didn't know her. But she had
11 children by granddaddy, nine that lived to majority (told y'all our tribe was into populating the earth). Anyway, don't know how she'd of felt about Eula.
Maybe I'll write the romance thing later. I go home for Christmas. Maybe I'll do some research on this project.
Screw the "Happy Holidays" and other neutral, PC crap.
Hope all have a Merry Christmas. Everyone that wants to anyway. That includes Catholics and Anglicans.
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