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terribleturnipOver the holidays we went to visit a couple of places in Conn. that Brad had never seen: The Mark Twain House and Gillette's Castle (William Gillette, the famous actor/writer/director, not the razor guy, nor the really big guy with the silent partner). I'd been to Mark Twain's house before, but Brad hadn't and my mother loves it, so I thought that would be a good thing for us to do together. And despite growing up in Conn and being surrounded by people who'd rather chew their arm off than go on one more school trip to the Castle, I had never been. It was time.
Two absolutely amazing domiciles. Clever, clever people, who created marvelous environments. Check out the big brains on Sam and William! Which, of course, made me feel incredibly inadequate that I haven't made scads of money, written a book nor a play, am mostly recognized mostly as the Captain's girlfriend on the "theatrical" circuit I roam in. Even if I could afford them, I probably couldn't get today's equivalent of Louis Tiffany to decorate my house. Mr. Clemens did. Still haven't finished re-doing my kitchen and it's been several years. Mr. Gillette had a small, but incredible castle built, with intricate masonry and woodwork in less than 5 years, with fewer than 20 people working on it.
Good thing I didn't include Ludwig's Castle in Bavaria, or I'd be raving about how I'm not even CRAZY enough.
Anyway - it was neat, I'd recommend them both if you find yourself looking for touristy things to do in Connecticut. And hopefully your self-esteem comes with more padding than mine.
He wrote "Man is the only animal that blushes or needs to". And while I'll agree with the first, I do have to take issue with the second. For starters, I think it's silly that "we" keep looking for the thing that sets us apart from animals. Well, I should say, other animals, because fundamentalists aside, we ARE animals. Remember when it was tools? How quaint is that? A damn bird can make and use a tool. And you may be fortunate enough to have not ever seen a bird's brain, but I have, and let me tell you, it makes me think, what the hell are we doing with the rest of that big brain? Okay, we can sing more SONGS than a bird....although I can't, which brings me back to that self-esteem thing again.
And speech...oh, yeah, till the parrot maybe learned to talk and the apes started to write in sentences and communicate with sign language. And whales...jury's out, but to those people who say how can an intelligent animal do something so stupid as to beach themselves...been in a Wal-mart parking lot lately? We're so smart we eat ourselves to death.
And planning and forethought...Bruno the octopus didn't like the light shining in his tank at night, so he figured out how to get out of his tank, direct a stream of water at the light until it shorted, then clambered back in to get a good night's sleep.
So, for a minute there, I really thought Mr. Clemen's had it: the only animal that blushes or needs to...and then I remembered the other day, when poor ol' Percy started helplessly peeing on me and the look he gave me and I thought...if I shaved him bald, I bet he'd be pink with embarrassment.
Two absolutely amazing domiciles. Clever, clever people, who created marvelous environments. Check out the big brains on Sam and William! Which, of course, made me feel incredibly inadequate that I haven't made scads of money, written a book nor a play, am mostly recognized mostly as the Captain's girlfriend on the "theatrical" circuit I roam in. Even if I could afford them, I probably couldn't get today's equivalent of Louis Tiffany to decorate my house. Mr. Clemens did. Still haven't finished re-doing my kitchen and it's been several years. Mr. Gillette had a small, but incredible castle built, with intricate masonry and woodwork in less than 5 years, with fewer than 20 people working on it.
Good thing I didn't include Ludwig's Castle in Bavaria, or I'd be raving about how I'm not even CRAZY enough.
Anyway - it was neat, I'd recommend them both if you find yourself looking for touristy things to do in Connecticut. And hopefully your self-esteem comes with more padding than mine.
He wrote "Man is the only animal that blushes or needs to". And while I'll agree with the first, I do have to take issue with the second. For starters, I think it's silly that "we" keep looking for the thing that sets us apart from animals. Well, I should say, other animals, because fundamentalists aside, we ARE animals. Remember when it was tools? How quaint is that? A damn bird can make and use a tool. And you may be fortunate enough to have not ever seen a bird's brain, but I have, and let me tell you, it makes me think, what the hell are we doing with the rest of that big brain? Okay, we can sing more SONGS than a bird....although I can't, which brings me back to that self-esteem thing again.
And speech...oh, yeah, till the parrot maybe learned to talk and the apes started to write in sentences and communicate with sign language. And whales...jury's out, but to those people who say how can an intelligent animal do something so stupid as to beach themselves...been in a Wal-mart parking lot lately? We're so smart we eat ourselves to death.
And planning and forethought...Bruno the octopus didn't like the light shining in his tank at night, so he figured out how to get out of his tank, direct a stream of water at the light until it shorted, then clambered back in to get a good night's sleep.
So, for a minute there, I really thought Mr. Clemen's had it: the only animal that blushes or needs to...and then I remembered the other day, when poor ol' Percy started helplessly peeing on me and the look he gave me and I thought...if I shaved him bald, I bet he'd be pink with embarrassment.
