A View from the Looking Glass

From Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, chapter 4:

"The first thing I've got to do," said Alice to herself, as she wandered about in the wood, "is to grow to my right size again; and the second thing is to find my way into that lovely garden. I think that will be the best plan."
It sounded an excellent plan, no doubt, and very neatly and simply arranged: the only difficulty was, that she had not the smallest idea how to set about it.

Hunkering Down

The Democratic political observer, Frank Pignanelli, makes the following insightful observation:

"Hunkering down" is no longer a viable tactic in 21st-century politics.

From what I have been able to observe, this seems correct. "Hunkering down" assumes that certain constituencies will either not find out about act or will forget about it. The former is unlikely in an age where sins are shouted from the housetops or over the internet. The latter is unlikely among constituency groups that have a big stake in the issue.

Correction

I said here that E. Gordon Gee was my seventh cousin. I was mistaken. An avid genealogist has pointed out to me that he is my fourth cousin once removed. My apologies.

A Little More Lewis Carroll

Apparently my citation of doggerel from Lewis Carroll proved extremely popular. On a similar theme, here is a quote from the first chapter of Sylvie and Bruno:

The 'march up' was a very curious sight: a straggling procession of men, marching two and two, began from the other side of the market-place, and advanced in an irregular zig-zag fashion towards the Palace, wildly tacking from side to side, like a sailing vessel making way against an unfavourable wind so that the head of the procession was often further from us at the end of one tack than it had been at the end of the previous one.

Yet it was evident that all was being done under orders, for I noticed that all eyes were fixed on the man who stood just under the window, and to whom the Chancellor was continually whispering. This man held his hat in one hand and a little green flag in the other: whenever he waved the flag the procession advanced a little nearer, when he dipped it they sidled a little farther off, and whenever he waved his hat they all raised a hoarse cheer. "Hoo-roah!" they cried, carefully keeping time with the hat as it bobbed up and down. "Hoo-roah! Noo! Consti! Tooshun! Less! Bread! More! Taxes!"

Some Snarky Verses

From the second fit of Lewis Carrol's The Hunting of the Snark:

The Bellman himself they all praised to the skies—
Such a carriage, such ease and such grace!
Such solemnity, too! One could see he was wise,
The moment one looked in his face!

He had bought a large map representing the sea,
Without the least vestige of land:
And the crew were much pleased when they found it to be
A map they could all understand.

"What's the good of Mercator's North Poles and Equators,
Tropics, Zones, and Meridian Lines?"
So the Bellman would cry: and the crew would reply
"They are merely conventional signs!

"Other maps are such shapes, with their islands and capes!
But we've got our brave Captain to thank:"
(So the crew would protest) "that he's bought us the best—
A perfect and absolute blank!"

This was charming, no doubt; but they shortly found out
That the Captain they trusted so well
Had only one notion for crossing the ocean,
And that was to tingle his bell.

He was thoughtful and grave—but the orders he gave
Were enough to bewilder a crew.
When he cried "Steer to starboard, but keep her head larboard!"
What on earth was the helmsman to do?

An Early Christmas Present

For those of you who still do not know what to get that certain someone for Christmas, A. Dennis Mead's Crisp Musk Hair Oils is definitely worth the read. Where else are you going to learn about such delicacies as lard cheeses?