Putzing vs. Packing: Gaslighting by Offspring and the Joy of the Interweb

Luggage Art Sculpture, Santiago Airport / Aeropuerto de Santiago, Chile (Dec. 2005)

We're now down to hours (admittedly, a few days' worth) before the departure for our epic adventure.

I should be packing.

I am not.

I am putzing.

In my defense, I am doing useful things whilst putzing.

Washing loads of laundry, some of which I strongly suspect are completely unnecessary because Daring Daughter has a nasty habit of taking the clean clothes I give her to put away in drawers and hang in her closet and putting them directly into the laundry hamper.

When they are clean. Unworn. Unsullied.

I know, it sounds crazy. But it's the truth. Because she has ADMITTED it. She takes laziness to a whole new level.

To maintain my equilibrium, I have been reading these things:

1. Humorous analysis of the religious underpinnings of the Mark Sanford story.
I couldn't stop giggling. In fact, I laughed so hard I cried. But not for four days. Or in Argentina.

2. The news that, at long last, Al Franken will be seated as Minnesota's senator. It's about f*#@'n time!

3. The Courage Campaign efforts to support Lt. Dan Choi in his fight to continue to serve our country although he is - gasp! - a gay man. Pretty bold, eh? I say he should be thanked for all he's done and allowed to remain in the military. "Don't ask, don't tell" is dumb. It's time to acknowledge the reality that not all men and women are heterosexual and that it's okay. They should not be treated as second class citizens. I encourage you to sign the petition supporting him.

And listening to these:

1. RT and son Teddy performing Persuasion. It is beautiful. I've played it about 10 times in the past two days. It never gets old.

2. Johnny's Far Away from the Sweet Warrior album. I can't find a full rendition online - there's a tiny sample at the Amazon site. You should buy it. It's great. The music sounds like a rollicking old sea shanty. Professor X and Super Son really liked it, but they hadn't paid attention to the lyrics, and they were shocked at how racy and cynical the song is when we heard RT sing it in Santa Cruz. I'd known, because I'd previously listened carefully and found the words amusing in a raise-your-eyebrow kind of way. Remember, I told you RT was like really good bitter dark chocolate. Occasionally, he's surprisingly spicy, infused with chili pepper.


Things which tempt my tongue:










and












The song begins

Johnny’s joined a ceilidh band, They’re known quite well throughout the land, The Drones The Drones are signed up on a cruise

Then we learn a bit about his faithless wife, and tap our toes to the chorus:

While Johnny’s Far away on the Rolling, Rolling
Johnny’s Far Away On The Rolling Sea

And learn more about what shenanigans he's up to:

Johnny’s cruising out to sea And he believes in chastity - for some The wealthy widows bill and coo He fends off one or two, and then succumbs As they’re turning hard-a-port in the Bahamas He’s turning her right out of her pyjamas He’s turned her every which way to the rhythm of the sea He says, I can’t express myself with my old lady

Poor guy. Sounds like he and Mark Sanford had a lot in common.

3. Professor X on the phone trying to buy a collapsible car top carrier to hold all of our extra junk that won't fit in the back of the vehicle. Four sleeping bags, four pillows, four towels. We are traveling lean and mean, but luggage space is tight. And speaking of luggage....

I guess I need to start packing.

I'd better make sure all my RT CD's make it into the Forrestmobile.