You are Old, Father William

[madbaker]

Ten points for identifying the source of the header. No points if you cheat and use Google.

I've got a lot more grey in my goatee than I did even a year ago. It's particularly noticeable under the fluorescent lights at work. Boy, is that a morale-booster at 6 AM.

A cow-orker suggested that I could shave it off if I wanted to look younger. Yeah, but then I'd get carded again...

What I'm reading: Martha Wells, Wheel of the Infinite

Comments

[scendan.livejournal.com]

Alice in Wonderland.

You are old, Father William, the (can't remember what goes here) says,/

And you've grown most uncommonly fat. Yet you (something about flipping backwards through a doorway or some such), pray how do you manage that?

"In my youth..."

Wow, I used to know a lot more of this! I must be getting old! ;)

[seamoose.livejournal.com]

Wow, I used to know a lot more of this! I must be getting old!

Middle aged, remember?

[our-meg.livejournal.com]

You are old, Father William, the young man said
and your hair has become very white
And yet, you insist that you stand on your head
Do you think, at your age, it is right?

In my youth, Father William, the young man replied
I thought it would damamge the brain
But now, I am certain that I have none
So I do it again and again.

That's as much as I can pull out of my head at the moment.

[loup_noir]

Gotta love Lewis Carroll.... I can't remember which of the Alice books it was in, though.

[corva.livejournal.com]

What shall we do with our sets of ten points?

I rather like the silver myself.

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

Save them up and turn them in for fabulous prizes!

[corva.livejournal.com]

...I should have guessed at that. Would I have won more points for these fabulous prizes if I had?

Alice, of course!

[hyla-regilla.livejournal.com]

from the fifth chapter of Alice in Wonderland, said first by the Caterpillar...

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

You are all correct; however, Lewis Carroll was parodying an earlier poem (whose author I can't remember without using Google).

[scendan.livejournal.com]

I think I once knew that. Rather, when I read it, it seemed familiar.

Re: And the answer is........

[hyla-regilla.livejournal.com]

as per The Annotated Alice:
"The Old Man's Comforts and How He Gained Them"
by Robert Southey (1774-1843)

give my points to Martin Gardner, without whom...

Re: And the answer is........

[hyla-regilla.livejournal.com]

nah - just wrote one paper some time ago.

Annotated Alice rocks - with the original Tenniel illustrations! It's my favorite edition.

[goldenstag.livejournal.com]

Alice in Wonderland or Alice Through the Looking Glass, can't remember which, and my copies are downstairs ... <g>

Catch-22

[goldenstag.livejournal.com]

A cow-orker suggested that I could shave it off if I wanted to look younger. Yeah, but then I'd get carded again...

You young puppy, you. I wear the white in my beard proudly.

Re: Catch-22

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but you've had your grey longer. I'm just coming to terms with mine.

Suck it up!

[farmount.livejournal.com]

For pity's sake, there is a third option. Dye the bugger. Yes, it's nasty chemical shit. Yes, it's likely to grow out quickly. You may want to try one of the cheap "shampoo dyes" and just use it on the beard.

Or you could just try lightening your hair... :)

Re: Suck it up!

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

Ppppttthpt!
Anyway, it's more fun to complain about it than it is to do something.

Re: Catch-22

[goldenstag.livejournal.com]

You'll get used to it. I actually like the one stripe in mine. The rest is slowly but inexorably turning white, so I better get used to it. Of course, I could shave it off, but I really don't wanna. <g>

[spiderdust.livejournal.com]

I had to memorize the Lewis Carroll version for 5th grade. :) I always liked the part where he said he was able to eat the whole goose because his jaws were strong from arguing with his wife.

[callistotoni.livejournal.com]

I *so* don't want to hear someone 10 years younger than I ham complain about gettin old ;-) . Oh, and I love your Dilbert icon--I feel exactly like that quite a bit...

Calvin: You're right, people are scum.
Hobbes: True happiness is only achieved through the wanton indulgence of animals.