I always joked I'd end up with a "Pirate"

"SR Logan, G. A-190"

My "Puddle Pirate", as they're sometimes called, is finishing up week 03 of boot camp. The days drag on, but the weeks fly by. How does that work? I have no clue. But we're nearing the 1/2 way mark. Only 35 more days until the graduation ceremony.  Every week or so a recruit from each company writes a short blog post on the events and progress they have been experiencing, as well as stress and yelling. Here is where you can read all about G's company, Alpha 190, and the latest "adventures", or misadventures, they are having. This is just the first post...I don't know how these guys get through this...I certainly would never be brave enough, and I am incredibly thankful for them.

Thirty. Five. More. Days.

Talk Like A Pirate Day

"Captain Hook must remember

Not to scratch his toes.

Captain Hook must watch out

And never pick his nose.

Captain Hook must be gentle

When he shakes your hand.

Captain Hook must be careful

Openin' sardine cans

And playing tag and puring tea

And turnin' pages of his book.

Lots of folks I'm glad I aint -

But mostly Captain Hook!"

~Shel Silverstein.

The Swashbooklers

For those of you who doubted that piracy and love of literature ran in my family... ;)

what do you do with a drunken sailor?

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me. We pillage, we plunder, we rifle, and loot, Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho. We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot, Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.

As all of you should know, yesterday - September 19 - was National Talk Like A Pirate day. One of my most favoritest days of the whole year...arrrrgh!

My interest in piracy began at a young age. I had a love for swords, the ocean, worn out clothes, adventures, hammocks, and floppy hats, not to mention root beer.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me. We extort, we pilfer, we filch, and sack, Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho. Maraud and embezzle, and even high-jack, Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.

The first time I met Bella, I didn't realize she was a pirate like me. It was upon our reunion that we discovered that one similarity. We had a plan. Live on a boat, find us a couple buccaneers and have us a double wedding on my tennis court...

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me. We kindle and char, inflame and ignite, Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho. We burn up the city, we're really a fright, Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.

...we still have yet to find ourselves some pirate menfolk...

We're rascals, scoundrels, villains, and knaves, Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho. We're devils and black sheep, really bad eggs, Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.

Well, we did find some pirate menfolk, many in fact, while the two of us were perambulating in our Pirate garb, at the CT Renaissance fair...but they were...really bad eggs...

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me. We're beggars and blighters, ne'er-do-well cads, Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho. Aye, but we're loved by our mommies and dads, Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.

Favorite Movies and Books:
Pirates of the Carribean..ALL. THREE.
Treasure Island - with the muppets :)
Peter Pan...
and The Goonies, cause that's a classic.

I wanted to share a couple of my favorite children's books with you as well.Pirate Girl, By Cornelia Funke , cracks me up every time. It's about this awesome girl named Molly, who get's captured by unsuspecting pirates, and is saved by the notorious Barberous Bertha.

And there's this one, about a wee lad who helps blundering pirates who are not very good at map reading skills, and how he runs away with them to live a pirate's life...
...because, you want to celebrate piracy, and I know you do, you need to be able to talk like one, savvy?

http://www.piratetreasure.org/pirate-phrases.htm

And I shall leave you with a wonderful poem on this wonderfl subject:

Captain Hook must remember

Not to scratch his toes.

Captain Hook must watch out

And never pick his nose.

Captain Hook must be gentle

When he shakes your hand.

Captain Hook must be careful

Openin' sardine cans

And playing tag and puring tea

And turnin' pages of his book.

Lots of folks I'm glad I aint -

But mostly Captain Hook!

Shel Silverstein.

He was quite cheery until the Iocane took effect.

The Princess Bride ~

'A tale of true love and high adventure, pirates, princesses, giants, miracles, fencing, and a frightening assortment of wild beasts.'

Sure you all have seen the movie. You probably have quite a few scenes memorized too. But with nearly all great movies, there is behind it an even greater book, and that is the case here. Most people I discuss the movie with have never heard that it was based on a book, but it says so in the beginning credits, "based on the novel by S. Morgenstern." "Based" is not the word I would use in most movie/book instances. To me, based is a word used when a director follows the basic plot of a book but has taken creative license with the story, changing and adding things either because there's a time crunch or they don't think it's necessary.

Well I saw this particular movie many years before I read the book and when I finally read it I was very surprised that I was actually able to quote lines from it. They had followed the book so closely that I was surprised to find that the characters in the book were just as amazing and witty (if not more so) in the book as they were on screen. The author, William Goldman, who would have you believe that he's not really the author - just some guy who has painstakingly edited an ancient documentary on the rival countries Florin and Guilder - writes with such humor that at times I sat there guffawing - {Sophia "They laughed harder than it was funny." ;)}

I received this book for Christmas last year, reading it for the second time was even better than the first. One day soon after Sophia and I went shopping at Barnes and Noble where I convinced her that she also must own and read the book. So we set off in search of it, but try as we may we couldn't find it! We looked under action, fantasy, fiction, teen, classics, documentary, but it wasn't turning up anywhere! Finally we went up to the desk and asked a clerk if they could help us. The guy said "oh yeah! I just saw that book a few days ago...what's the author's name?" - "William Goldman."and off we went, the three of us, to search for Mr. Goldman...but we found nothing. The clerk was shaking his head now saying that he had just seen it, and where could it be. We went back to the desk where he asked the computer where it would be. The answer we got: Science-Fiction.....there was a moment of silence between the three of us as we exchanged confused glances. "Science-Fiction?" one of us said, "really?" And off the three of us went(again) to search for the book, this time in the science-fiction section.

We found it and Sophia bought it and she loved it.

So when you are done with the book you are reading now, assuming that you are a bookworm like myself, rush off to B&N and run to the Sci-Fi section. Buy The Princess Bride and laugh. NO, it is not a girly girl book, there are pirates, and monsters, Rodents of Unusual Sizes, albinos, men with six fingers, flesh eating sharks, fencing, kidnapping, revenge, angry Spaniards, rhyming giants, scheming Sicilians, and masks! As well as a man trying to start a war by murdering his own wife. But there is humor, and some touching moments...it's not all action. The plot thickens, back stories are told, and the prince is not so charming as the pirates. Try it. I think you'll like it. If not, you can check it off your 'books I've read' list and let it live on your shelf, never to be touched again.

The Pirate

Because I'm a pirate and love all things of such kind...

Oh, the blithery, blathery pirate

(His name, I believe, is Claude),

His manner is sullen and irate,

And his humor is vulgar and broad.

He has often been known to imprison

His friends in the hold dark and dank,

Or lash them up high on the mizzen,

Or force them to stroll down a plank.

He will selfishly ask you to dig up

Some barrels of ill-gotten gold,

And if you so much as just higgup,

He'll leave youto fill up the hole.

He may cast you adrift in a rowboat

(He has no reaction to tears)

Or put you ashore with NO boat

On an island and leave you for years.

He's a rotter, a wretch and a sinner,

He's foul as a fellow can be,

But if you invite hime to dinner,

Oh, please sit him next to me!

- Shel Silverstein