Davy Jones’s Gift

Davy Jones’s Gift

By John Masefield

From A Tarpaulin Muster by John Masefield (1907). Excerpt

“Once upon a time,” said the sailor, “the Devil and Davy Jones came to Cardiff, to the place called Tiger Bay. Thy put up at Tony Adams’, not far from Pier Head, at the corner of Sunday Lane. And all the time they stayed there they used to be going to the rum shop, where they sat at a table smoking their cigars and dicing each other for different persons’ souls. Now, you must know that the Devil gets landsmen and Davy Jones gets sailor-folk and they get tired of having always the same, so then they dice each other for some of another sort.

“One time they were in a place in Mary Street having some burnt brandy and playing red and black for the people passing. And while they were looking out on the street and turning their cards, they saw all the people of the sidewalk breaking their necks to get into the gutter. And they saw all the shop people running out and kowtowing and all the carts pulling up and all the police saluting. “Here comes a big nob,” said Davy Jones. “Yes,” said the Devil, “it’s the bishop that’s stopping with the mayor.” “Red or black?” Well, I say red,” said the Devil. “It’s the ace of clubs,” said Davy Jones; “I win; and it’s the first bishop ever I had in my life.” The Devil was mighty angry at that – at losing a bishop. “I’ll not play any more,” he said; “I’m off home. Some people gets too good cards for me. There was some queer shuffling when that pack was cut, that’s my belief.”

“Ah, stay and be friends, man,” said Davy Jones. “Look at what’s coming down the street. I’ll give you that for nothing.”

Davy Jones's Gift. Photo by Elena

“Now, coming down the street there was a reefer – one of those apprentice fellows. And he was brass-bound fit to play music. He stood about six feet, and there were bright brass buttons down his jacket, and on his collar and on his sleeves. His cap had a big gold badge with a house-flag in seven different colors in the middle of it, and a gold chain cable of a chinstay twisted round it. He was wearing his cap on three hairs, and he was walking on both the sidewalks and all the road. His trousers were cut like wind-sails round the ankles. He had a fathom of red silk tie rolling out over his chest. He’d a cigarette in a twisted clay holder a foot and a half long. He was chewing tobacco over his shoulders as he walked. He’d a bottle of rum-hot in one hand, a bag of jam tarts in the other, and his pockets were full of love letters from every port between Rio and Callao, round by the east.

“You mean to say you’ll give me that?” said the Devil. “I will,” said Davy Jones, “and a beauty he is. I never see a finer.” Ge us indeed a beauty,” said the Devil. “I take back what I said about the cards. I’m sorry I spoke crusty. What’s the matter with some more burnt brandy?” “Burnt brandy be it,” said Davy Jones. So then they rang the bell and ordered a new jug and clean glasses.

“Now, the Devil was so proud of what Davy Jones had given him, he couldn’t keep away from him. He used to hang about the East Bute Docks, under the red brick clock-tower, looking at the barque the young man worked aboard. Bill Harker his name was. He was in a West Coast barque. The Colonel loading fuel for Hilo. So at last, when the Colonel was sailing, the Devil shipped himself aboard her, as one of the crowd inn the fo’c’sle, and away they went down the Channel. At first he was very happy, for Bill Harker was in the same watch and the two would yarn together. And though he was wise when he shipped, Bill Harker taught him a lot. There was a lot of things Bill Harker knew about. But when they were off the River Plate, they got caught in a pampero, and it blew very hard and a big green sea began to run.

The Colonel was a wet ship, and for three days you could stand upon her poop and look forward and see nothing but a smother of foam from the break of the poop to the jibboom. The crew had to roost on the poop…

The Stranger

The Stranger

By Michael Z. Lewin

Excerpt

The next few days were very busy ones for the stranger, and increasingly Edie acted as social secretary, taking messages and keeping track of when the stranger was available for lunch or dinner, for this excursion or that.

The stranger went out several times with Lenny Kahlenbeck to look at substantial homes in various parts of Dubois and adjoining counties. Isolation, as they discussed at length, would be essential because of the need for privacy. Kahlenbeck offered to help with a high-tech security system too, through a cousin.

The area the stranger found most attractive was near Patoka Lake in the Lick Fork State Recreation Area. But there were tempting houses too in Celestine, Riceville, Bacon, and in the ironically named English and Ireland.

By the third afternoon, however, it was clear that the stranger could not be easily satisfied and would not make a hasty purchase.

“But don’t get me wrong,” Kahlenbeck said. “I respect a careful man, I truly do.”

“It is beautiful country,” the stranger said. “And I certainly appreciate your generosity with your time. I particularly like the modern log cabins. Do you have any more on your files?”

The Stranger. Photo by Elena

“You’ve seen everything,” Kahlenbeck said.

“But if something else comes up, you wouldn’t mind my coming back for a look?”

“I sure wouldn’t,” Kahlenbeck said.

“Good.”

“Chuck?”

“Yes?”

“I wondered if I could ask you a little favour?”

“What’s that?” the stranger said.

“I don’t begrudge a minute of it, but I’ve put in a lot of time with you the last few days.”

“And I am very grateful, truly.”

“What I was wondering was, would you mind if my little secretary, if she took a picture of the two of us together.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” the stranger said.

“It would be just for me, maybe to hang on the wall behind my desk. I know how you want to make sure it wouldn’t get in newspapers or anything.”

“Even so,” the stranger said. “It’s matter of… well, how things are done. What we call protocol.”

“Don’t you ever have your picture taken with people you meet?”

“Oh, sometimes. For instance, when I’m at a charity function.”

“Charity?” Lenny Kahlenbeck’s eyes narrowed.

“If, say a local philanthropist were to make a large charitable donation to one of the causes I espouse.

Alternative medicine, for instance, or population control. Well, it would be churlish in such circumstances for me to object to a photograph being taken with the benefactor.”

“A donation, huh?” Kahlenbeck said.

“Yes,” the stranger said.

“Like, how big a donation is “large”?

Having had considerable opportunity to assess the best answer to such a question, the stranger said, “Like, two thousand dollars.”

(Ellery Queen, Mystery Magazine, September 1993)

Weddings

Weddings

Second weddings: When both the bride and groom have been married before, they usually pay for most of a simple wedding celebration themselves (it’s a wonder how appealing simplicity looks from that perspective). If only the groom has been previously married, than the bride’s family usually hosts a celebration akin to that of a first wedding. If only the bride has been married before, then the couple may decide to throw a larger-than-usual second wedding celebration for the benefit of the groom’s family, but the bride’s parents have no obligation to pay for it.

Second weddings usually are less formal than the first ones. Brides wear a suit or dress of any color, and no veil. Grooms usually wear a suit and tie. The bride’s father does not give her away, as that is a tradition reserved for first weddings. Attendants or witnesses might include children from a previous marriage, or close friends.

Pregnant brides: Depending on how comfortable she is with her condition, a pregnant bride can choose a long wedding gown or a maternity dress in white or another light color. Traditionally, a bridal veil is a symbol of virginity, so she should opt against it. Elisabeth Post suggests that these weddings be simple, so that the coupe does not appear to flaunt their situation in society’s face. Announcements sent by the bride’s parents suggest that they support the couple in their decision.

Waiting for a bride to come. Photo by Elena

Relationships

Divorce: A divorced woman does not wear her engagement ring on the fourth finger of her left hand. She may have the stone reset into a bracelet or necklace or keep it for her children’s use later. A divorced couple does not return wedding gifts. A recently divorced person’s friends should be supportive and sympathetic without prying for details. “If you love both people, don’t take sides”, suggests Baldrige. “Your job, as a friend, is to try to get each member of the couple into an affirmative, cheerful mood once again.”

If children are involved, both sides of the family should be respectful of the other side’s efforts to spend time with the children. Also important: one parent should not criticize the other in front of their children, even if the impulse is nearly irresistible.

Living together: When addressing mail to an unmarried couple that lives together, each name should be on a separate line, and their names should not be joined by the word “and”.

When introducing couples who live together, most labels sound awkward (boyfriend, significant other, date), so it is best to forgo the explanation and simply introduce each person by name.

After the First Diamond

Wedding anniversaries and suggested gifts (traditional gifts and modern gifts):

First year     Paper                               Clock

2nd year      Cotton                              China

3rd year       Leather                             Crystal or glass

4th year       Fruit of flowers               Appliances

5th year       Wood                                 Silverware

6th year       Candy or ironware          Wood

7th year       Copper or wool                Pens, pencils, desk sets

8th year      Pottery or bronze             Linens or laces

9th year      Potter or willow                Leather

10th year    Aluminium or tine           Diamond jewelry

11th year    Steel                                    Fashion jewelry and accessories

12th year   Silk or Linen                      Pearls or gems

13th year   Lace                                     Textiles or furs

14th year   Ivory                                    Gold jewelry

15th year   Crystal                                 Watches

16th year        –                                       Silver hollowware

17th year        –                                       Furniture

18th year        –                                      Porcelane

19th year       –                                      Bronze

20th year  China                                  Platimune

25th year   Silver                                  Silver

30th year   Pearl                                   Diamond

35th year   Coral                                   Jade

40th year   Ruby                                   Ruby

45th year   Sapphire                            Sapphire

50th year   Gold                                    Gold

55th year   Emerald                            Emerald

60th year   Diamond                          Diamond

75th year    Diamond                         Diamond

25th, 50th, 60th, 75th – jubilee.

An ice watch, Symbol of our life. Photo by Elena

Sizing Up Small Computers

Sizing Up Small Computers

Portable computers are big in the market. Here’s what you get

Seems like everybody’s going mobile. According to PC Magazine, over a quarter of 1994’s overall PC sales were notebooks, and you can expect that number to expand at Malthusian rates from now on. With more and more people working away from the office – at home, on the road, in planes and trains, and other far-flung locations – portable computers are compact, convenient, and are getting so powerful that many people are beginning to use them as their primary computers. But other than the size difference, what’s to know about portable computers? We asked some of the editors of PC Magazine to give us the low-down on the downsized machines.

What’s the difference between portable and desktop computers? – Portables are smaller. It sounds like a ridiculously obvious point, but if you are talking components, that’s about the only difference between desktops and portables. You will, however, have to pay more for these components in miniature. While prices of portables are falling steadily, you’ll still pay about a third more for a portable (specifically, a notebook) than you would for a desktop. Why? It’s the price of design ingenuity. It takes some pretty fancy engineering to cram all those goodies into a compact package. The other difference is power. By and large turbo-powered computing always has the desktop market before it shrinks to portable sizes. In other words, don’t expect the same kinds of bells and whistles that you see on desktops now (CD-ROM drives or 1GB hard drives) to be standard fare on a portable until at least next year.

Old macs. The typical notebook serves up only about one-third the computing performance of a comparably priced desktop computer (The editors of PC Magazine, 1994). Source of the photo : CC-BY-SA-2.5-IT

What’s the difference between the PowerBook, laptop, notebook, or subnotebook?

Actually, it’s pretty straightforward. PowerBooks are made by MacIntosh; this is the company’s registered trademark for its line of portable computers which, different from PCs, are not based on Intel chips. Everything else is a PC of varying shape and weight. Laptops are the heaviest (7 pounds or more) and, while they enjoyed a period of popularity in the late 1980s, they’re outdated at this point; if you’re in the market for a laptop, your best bet is to check the classified section for second-hand sales.

The PC version of the PowerBook is generically known as the note-book, and it’s currently the most popular, practical class of portable. They’re slim, weigh less than seven pounds, and many have processing capabilities on a par with powerful desktop PCs. Subnotebooks are smaller versions of notebooks, about half their weight – great for assiduous notetakers and e-mail communicators, but because subnotebooks have such cramped keyboards and tiny screens, they’re not appropriate for people who write all the time. Any subs are definitely not right for budget-buyers, who will find better bargains in laptop and notebook computers.

Going Through the Grief Process

Going Through the Grief Process

We feel frustrated when everyone seem to suggest answers - how to deal with the death of the loved ones. Actually, only we can know what is right for ourselves. Others may help us find our way, ultimately, however, it is our grief process and we must work it through in a manner appropriate for us.

The grief process is a time to heal. Be patient with yourself. Coming to terms with your loss and adjusting to a new life does not happen overnight. Grief usually takes more time than most of us expect.

The poet John Donne writes: "He who has no time to mourn has no time to mend."

Every experience of grief is unique. Some people take longer than others to work through their emotions. Some experience certain emotions, while other people experience different ones. Also, our particular emotions may differ in intensity. We are unique people and how we will experience the loss of a special relationship will be unique to us.

Do not let anyone squeeze you into a box. By that we mean, some people feel the grief process should be predictable. After one week, this... After two months, that... Some define grief in terms of stages and phases and want to try to fit you into their scheme of things. A few people expect you to experience grief in exactly the same way and at the same pace they did. 

Throw away any notion of "fixed periods of mourning" or "predictable passages., for these are largely fiction. Do not compare yourself to anyone else or allow anyone to compare you to another situation.

You must overcome your pain your way. Try to keep decisions to a minimum. Because your judgement is uncertain now, do not take on new or added responsibilities right away. Delay making decisions about moving or buying and selling property, or getting into another relationship, for as long as possible.

Do not rush yourself, for your body, mind and heart require all your energy just to mend.

Be patient with yourself. Just because someone else did it differently or recovered more quickly than you have is a meaningless comparison. You are a unique person. You had a unique relationship. And you are having a unique grieving process because of these factors.

Accept your feelings. In fact, you cannot choose your feelings. They choose you. Se feel what you are feeling. Don't suppress or deny your feelings.

Feel what you are feeling. Your emotions may be very raw. You have been wounded and you need to mend. Crying is healthy and can make you feel better. You will experience anger, panic, depression, and many of other responses. You may think you are falling to pieces at the very time people are telling you to get it together.

You are normal. You may be frightened that you are going crazy, but you are not losing your mind. Your are going through one of the most difficult and unpleasant experiences of life. It is painful and it hurts.

Do not be afraid to ask for help when you need it. Because we don't want to bother anyone else with our problems, much of our pain goes unheeded. But you need not suffer alone.

Admittedly, we shouldn't have to ask. But we live in the real world. Our friends, family and even professionals cannot read minds. Sometimes help is not offered because people do not know what we need. And often even we aren't sure what we need.

Maybe what we need most is someone to listen. Not everyone will be willing. Some people may not be able to handle your tears. Some will want to give you all the answers. rather than just listening.

Find someone who cares, someone with whom you feel comfortable talking, and to whom you can trust your vulnerability/ With these three attributes, you will undoubtedly have someone who can offer encouragement and help.