(seuss rules) You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch. You really are a heel. You're as cuddly as a cactus, You're as charming as an eel. Mr. Grinch. You're a bad banana With a greasy black peel. You're a monster, Mr. Grinch. Your heart's an empty hole. Your brain is full of spiders, You've got garlic in your soul. Mr. Grinch. I wouldn't touch you, with a thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole. You're a vile one, Mr. Grinch. You have termites in your smile. You have all the tender sweetness Of a seasick crocodile. Mr. Grinch. Given the choice between the two of you I'd take the seasick crockodile. You're a foul one, Mr. Grinch. You're a nasty, wasty skunk. Your heart is full of unwashed socks Your soul is full of gunk. Mr. Grinch. The three words that best describe you, are, and I quote: "Stink. Stank. Stunk." You're a rotter, Mr. Grinch. You're the king of sinful sots. Your heart's a dead tomato splot With moldy purple spots, Mr. Grinch. Your soul is an apalling dump heap overflowing with the most disgraceful assortment of deplorable rubbish imaginable, Mangled up in tangled up knots. You nauseate me, Mr. Grinch. With a nauseaus super-naus. You're a crooked jerky jockey And you drive a crooked horse. Mr. Grinch. You're a three decker saurkraut and toadstool sandwich With arsenic sauce. Copyright � 1957, Dr. Seuss.

and don't we all still love dr suess?

I have always liked Dr. Suess.

(the incomparable lewis carroll) I have a fairy by my side Which says I must not sleep, When once in pain I loudly cried It said "You must not weep" If, full of mirth, I smile and grin, It says "You must not laugh" When once I wished to drink some gin It said "You must not quaff". When once a meal I wished to taste It said "You must not bite" When to the wars I went in haste It said "You must not fight". "What may I do?" at length I cried, Tired of the painful task. The fairy quietly replied, And said "You must not ask". Moral: "You mustn't."

Kind of looks at life from a child's perspective, doesn't it?

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okay...

i think it means "hi". welcome pampaliny.

wolf, you are so good at decoding!!! HI Pampaliny!

*smile*

Wolf, are you a linguist?

no. dabble with german (as i have relatives). lemme guess, you are?

Somewhat. More of a dabbler in languages than a serious student. I am only fluent in three: English, Russian, French. I can read and understand three more: Greek, Spanish, Italian. I can understand a native speaker in: Spanish, Sicilian, Polish, and Czech. And I know just a touch of Arabic, Hebrew, Gaelic, Korean, Japaneese, Chineese, German, and Farsi.

well, i can't say any of that. when i read german or hear it, i get the gist of what's being said but can't answer to save my life nor translate for anyone else!

That is pretty much what I mean when I say that I can understand a native speaker, except that I can translate for someone else. I speak to Mexican nationals on a fairly regular basis. They can generally understand English well enough that I can get through to them. I can understand their Spanish well enough to know if I'm being clear enough to them. It is the same way with a Czech or a Pole. I can understand them well enough in their native tongue, and make myself understood to them in Russian. The languages are verbally very similar, but written totally differently.

yes, like spanish, french and italian (same basic language family) completely different from the germanic family...in your line of work (the truck driving stuff) i bet you speak to a lot of hispanics (esp. in austin) via the radio? when i lived in kansas, my father had a scanner for emergencies should something happen on a trip, and we could pick up spanish radio on it. was real weird!

That is true. But most of what I say on the radio to spanish speakers, would not be repeated in polite conversation. They tend to get a little free with vulgarity, thinking that nobody understands them.

There is a time and place for everything, and kids listen to the CB.

Wolfie, I've been sorting out my books, and of course, have had to sit a while wallowing in old memories of stories read, poems told and so forth. I shall have fun deciding where to post some of my old favourites that I have newly re-discovered! Here is a poem my kids loved when they were little, which also speaks of the difficulties of writing (anything!!) when you have kids around. It's by Thomas Hood TO MY SON AGED THREE Thou happy, happy elf! (but stop - first let me kiss away that tear) Thou timy image of myself! (My love, he's poking peas into his ear!) thou merry, laughing sprite! With spirits feather-light, Untouched by sorrow, and unsoiled by sin (Good heavens! The child is swallowing a pin!) Thou little tricksy Puck! With antic toys so funnily bestuck, Light as the singing bird that wings the air (The door! The door! he'll tumble down the stair!) Thou darling of thy sire! (Why Jane, he'll set his pinafore on fire!) thou imp of mirth and joy! in love's dear chain so strong and bright a link. Thou idol of thy parents (Drat the boy! There goes my ink!) Thou chrub - but of earth: Fit playfellow for Fays by moonlight pale, In harmless sport and mirth (That dog will bite him if he pulls its tale!) Thou human honey-bee, extracting honey From every blossom in the world that blows; Singing in youth's Elysium ever sunny (Another tumble - that's his precious nose!) Thy father's pride and hope! (He'll break the mirror with that skipping rope!) With pure heart newly stamped from Nature's mint (Where did he learn that squint?) Thou young domestic dove! (He'll have that jug off with another shove!) Dear nursling of the hymenial nest (Are those torn clothes his best?) Little epitome of man (He'll climb upon the table, that's his plan!) Touched with the beauteous tints of dawning life (He's got a knife!) Thou enviable being! No storms, no clouds, in thy blue sky foreseeing; Play on, Play on, My elfin John! Toss the light ball, bestride the stick (I knew so many cakes would make him sick!) With fancies buoyant as the thistle-down, Prompting the face grotesque, and antic brisk With many a lamblike frisk. (He's got the scissors, snipping at your gown!) Thou pretty opening rose! (Go to your mother child, and wipe your nose!) Balmy and breathing music like the south (He really brings my heart into my mouth!) Fresh as the morn, and brilliant as its star (I wish that window had an iron bar!) Bold as the hawk, yet gentle as the dove (I'll tell you what, my love: I cannot write unless he's sent above!)