Tuesday, March 3, 2015

TULIPS & SHELL SHOCK

Gentle Readers . . . and Maxwell,

I won't name names, but some of you bent the contest rules yesterday. One comment per day does not mean you are allowed to put multiple guesses in your one comment. Play nicely and stick to one guess a day, please.

Mommy always has to give such specific instructions.

Now, where are the tulips today?


Ah, here they are in the family room, on top of the pie safe. They wanted to prove they aren't afraid of heights.

Because no one guessed the giver* of the tulips correctly yesterday, I offer one clue to help you decide who sent the tulips: The tulips were delivered by a florist.

Next on our agenda is a video in which George Carlin talks about how "shell shock" eventually become "PTSD." I saw this video on someone's blog and wanted to ask the blogger "do you mind if I use it," but it didn't work because I thought the blog was fishducky's at fishducky, finally! I emailed fishducky to ask if she objected to my using the George Carlin video she used recently. She said she didn't know what I was talking about, but to go ahead and use whatever I wanted. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Thus, I don't know which blog showed this video, but I thank the person who used it because it helps me make my point:



Notice, please, that we (Americans) change words as we try to depart from reality.

Here's a photo, taken during the first World War, of a shell-shocked soldier:


So sad, isn't it?

I look forward to reading your guesses: Who sent the tulips?


Infinities of love,

Janie Junebug

*For contest rules, please see the THIS POST.

44 comments:

  1. I used to think shell-shock was damage to the ears from bombs, but I'm unsure why. I feel so horrible for anyone who's gone through that or any other illness.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Damage to hearing isn't the only problem, but it is a concern. After a bomb goes off close to a person, for a while the person usually can't hear or the hearing is impaired. The noise of battle could also be enough to upset a person horribly.

      Delete
  2. Oooh a fellow Mary Engelbreit fan!! Are they from her?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 'Fraid not. I don't think she knows I exist. My mom gave me the Mary Engelbreit print because she thought it resembled The Hurricane as a little girl.

      Delete
  3. My guess is Maxwell. You single him out at the start of every blog post. The least he could do is send you tulips. He did good too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm afraid I haven't heard from beloved Maxwell in quite some time.

      Delete
  4. Okay, as one of the "cheaters" I think it would help to get a cast of characters, a list of suspects, if-you-will.
    I recently heard that Carlin bit on an NPR show (I think it was Fresh Air) because they were discussing how it literally evolved as doctors learned what was really happening in the brain and how we're going to have to redefine it again because we're learning there's less trauma from seeing horrible things, and more head trauma like concussions that are affecting the soldiers worse. Typical therapy they give to returning soldiers isn't accounting for their brain chemistry being way off thanks to a head injury. So blanketing soldiers having a hard time as "PTSD" isn't working, hence the rise in suicides. It's a rough world sometimes. I hope those soldiers get the right help they need.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As do I, regarding the help that's needed. And no, you can't have a list of suspects.

      Delete
  5. Hello, dear Janie Junebug!

    No matter where you place them, those tulips look terrif. If you ever need someone to tiptoe through them with you, hit me up.

    Since no one correctly identified the sender of the tulips, I am prepared to submit another guess. My first instinct was to name Mr Spratt, granny Violet's butler, as the mystery man who sent you those flowers. However, I began to channel Shawn Spencer on the TV series Psych, and fragments of a different name began to enter my mind.

    James Joyce...no...Joyce Kilmer...no...

    Maynard G. Krebs...no.....

    JOYCE MAYNARD! That's it!!!

    My official guess is author Joyce Maynard.

    Dear Janie, starting tomorrow I need to take a two day break from blogging. I will return to you on Friday. Please try to hang on until then. Happy Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I started laughing as soon as I saw Spratt, and now I can't stop. How you do give me the giggles, Sir Shady. Willy Dunne Wooters was here last night. He gave me something, too.

      Delete
  6. I forgot to comment on the George Carlin video. Carlin, like Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor and a few others, didn't pull any punches. He was fearless, a comedy/satire genius who dared to tell it like it is. Carlin helped reinvent stand-up and turn it into an art form. Thanks for posting that classic Carlin performance, Janie!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The content of his commentary is so important. Words are power.

      Delete
  7. Ryan Reynolds?

    I know I'm the rule breaker. Clemency? Judge Janie, you see, I have to teach all morning and I gotta get my bloggin' in while I can or else I have to wait till night time...and I don't like to be at the end of the line...

    Next time, I'll send them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Who in the world is Ryan Reynolds? You want to send the tulips so you can guess that it's Shady.

      Delete
  8. My flowers often come from my daughter, who things mom should have flowers. How about your daughter as a guess?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No. My daughter is The Hurricane, and that guess has already been made.

      Delete
  9. I have no clue but it must be from someone special who thinks you are special

    ReplyDelete
  10. What is a pie safe?!

    I also want to thank you for stopping by, for your support.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I want so badly for all to be well with you and your husband, Inger. A pie safe is a fairly large cabinet. I suppose they were called pie safes because food was stored in them. The doors close tightly to keep out rodents, but the doors have small openings to allow air to circulate. I keep sweaters in mine.

      Delete
  11. I always assumed that because shells were fired in the heat of battle, shell shock was the result of the stress brought on by battle.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Agreed. When one has shells and bullets whizzing past one's head, I suspect it's rather stressful.

      Delete
  12. As he so often did, George Carlin NAILS it.
    I miss the guy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is the hippie dippy weatherman with your hippie dippy weather, man.

      Delete
  13. Whoever sent them has great taste!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I can't tell on this P of S computer, but isn't there a picture of tulips hanging on your wall?

    ReplyDelete
  15. All my other guesses have been ruled out, so that only leaves Barack Obama!! (Unless you're having a fling with the florist.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'd pass out from joy and shock if the Obamas sent flowers to me.

      Delete
  16. Okay, I know I'm breaking the rules by guessing twice in one day, but I'm going with your crappy version of shirtless boy above.

    -andi

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Crappy version of shirtless boy above? I'm not sure what that means.

      Delete
  17. I miss Carlin - no 'comic lite' there.
    Your ex sent the tulips.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hmmm someone who likes things direct and is into plain language. I will say Stephen McCarthy (I might be even writing his name wrong)-from blog land. I love George Carlin-he was so intelligent and witty. He mailed it every time and I use the term shell shock because it brings the point home more. I have seen rare film clips of that WW1 man just shaking and blinking and out of control-very sad indeed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't really know Stephen McCarthy. I see his comments around sometimes.

      Delete
  19. Replies
    1. Nope, but I know he loves me because he wants me to keep the health insurance he so thoughtfully arranged for me to have.

      Delete
  20. Your mum sent them............that is my guess for today
    Shell shock is terrible just saying

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If my mum sent them, I'd faint. She's been dead for about twenty years.

      Delete

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