Twain

If Ever the Twain Should Meet

mikemjensen History, Interesting Stuff (to me anyway), Twain Tags: , , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

Wasting a few hours… err, minutes on Facebook today and I came across one of those irresistible click-bait postings. Most I can easily avoid because I don’t care what Disney character or X-men personalities I am most like. But today I had to do it: “Rare images nearly forgotten in the past”.

I have a thing for old stuff and the photos are the best. They make us realize the differences between then and now. The clothes, the cars, and the places around them. The old photos also have an aura of creepy about them. I don’t know if it’s the black and white finish or the non-practiced-selfie unnatural pose and expressions but the people seem even more separated from their photos as the aged photos are from us.

testla-twain

Twain in the lab of Tesla

In the middle of this 89 photo collection, however, I found a gem- my favorite author Mark Twain hanging out with my favorite genius/inventor Nikola Tesla.

Who know they know each other? Funny though. Twain was a crowd favorite on the stage and engaging the interest of all around him, yet he was a failed inventor. Tesla was arguably the most ingenious inventor yet lacked the public skills to properly demonstrate the scope of his vision.

What could’ve happened if the two had actually been one?

Too bad they didn’t have Facebook to follow each other better back then.

 

Post 3-068

Hell May Not Be What They Say It Is

mikemjensen Life's Truths, Twain Tags: , , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,huckfinn

“All right then, I’ll go to hell.”

The famous words of revelation spoken by Huck Finn.

When all your upbringing and all your peers and all your superiors are telling you one thing and your experience and your own ideas and your own heart say something else; are you willing to accept the consequences and follow your heart and do what you think is right?

Welcome to hell.

 

Post 3-052

Whew!

mikemjensen Cooking, Fishing, kayaks, Road Trip, Twain, Utah Tags: Leave a comment

Hey kids,

I know it’s been like six days since I last posted, but what a six days it has been.

I last wrote on Wednesday, after which I worked my over night job.Walmart-Logo-880x645

Thursday, I made dinner for the kids and Annette.mac and cheese

Friday I went to a little diner with Annette where we sipped sweet tea and discussed and caught up on each other’s lives and jobs. sweet teaEnded up getting a little less than two hours sleep before the Friday over night.Walmart-Logo-880x645

Saturday, got home in the AM, took a quick half hour nap and went to a play.Big-river The play was adapted from Mark Twain’s Huck Finn so I couldn’t miss it. ice creamHad some Ice cream afterwards and then got my sugar crash and two hours sleep before the overnight gig. Walmart-Logo-880x645

Sunday meant Uinta mountain kayaks and a little bit of fishing. lake

Overnight, with three hours sleep.Walmart-Logo-880x645

Monday, at last, it was a holiday and I got some sleep before feeding the tribe and attending a Johnny Cash tribute concert.johnny cash

I apologize that I didn’t slip a blog post or two in between.

Life sometimes comes at you fast; you just have to live it and enjoy.

 

Post #50-70

Huckleberry Finn

mikemjensen Twain, Writing Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

I make no bones about it, I enjoy Mark Twain.

I haven’t read every piece he ever wrote, but I have a lifetime to get them all done, but suffice to say that those I have read, I enjoy.

I like the man Twain as well. Maybe a bit bitter towards the end and with good reason, his humor still resonates with me, his descriptions I love, and the way he wrote dialect- pure genius.

My favorite book of his is Life on the Mississippi. I know it’s not the popular choice, but it’s the one I can pick up again and again. Roughing It ranks pretty high up there with me too.quote-Mark-Twain-go-to-heaven-for-the-climate-hell-374

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, however, is known to be his masterpiece. I would not ever try to dissuade anyone from that opinion. It is within the pages of Huckleberry Finn that I believe most will find and recognize that their humanity and ability to see the humanity in others rises above any feelings of race, prejudices, and environmental indoctrination one might have received.

Twain, I believe wanted to paint the picture of how it was, and at the same time how it could and should be. I believe it transcends just the question of race, but includes any point of difference we come across.

In an age of re-doing all the movies ever done, why doesn’t anyone look to make a movie from Twain’s Masterpiece? The Disney version was OK as a kid but I can tell you, I never learn the lesson that I think Twain intended.

In a time, at least in the USA when maybe we need a refresher course on looking beyond the tone of skin, of understanding another’s point-of-view, and of being tolerant of our own history; maybe Twain still has something to say.

After all I’ve said about remakes being of the devil, in this case I’d have to say:

“All right then, I’ll go to hell.”

Day 178

Chaulk One Up for the French

mikemjensen Quote, Twain, Vanity Tags: , , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

Surlendemain.

It’s the French word for the day after tomorrow.

When I was in France, I had a picture on my wall of Garfield the cat that read, “Never put off till tomorrow, that which you can put off till the day after”. In French of course. It’s from this picture I learned the French word. Later I learned this was a translated variation of a quote from Mark Twain, which in turn was a spin on a quote by Benjamin Franklin (Never put off till tomorrow what can be done today), which appears to be stolen from Philip Standhope, a British Statesman and Earl.13 - 1CAAGXQAX

Procrastination is a word I have known for a very long time. I don’t need a quote or a French/English dictionary to understand it. I tell myself I do well under pressure and that is why I like to let things go to the wire. But then again, I don’t concern myself too much with the wire either.

“I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.” Douglas Adams, English writer.

I didn’t need that quote, but I like and agree with it.

Today, I did something different.

I threw some ribs and potatoes in the Dutch oven and let them cook all evening long. The smell in the house is fantastic!

They are not part of a late dinner, as one might suspect. But instead they are for lunch tomorrow. I am cooking proactively. Today anyway.

I’ll start my diet Surlendemain.

Day 175

A Person First

mikemjensen Twain, Vanity, Writing Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

Today marks the 105th anniversary of the death of Mark Twain. Mark Twain was/is my writer.

My favorite of his works are “Life on the Mississippi” and “Roughing It”. I can pick up either book at any time and reread just a few parts to spark my creative juices. His story-telling helps me find my inspiration, my voice, and re-kindle the joy of writing, if lost.Mark-Twain-Quotes-5

I’ve been asked how a meeting with Twain and I would go, do I think we would have anything to talk about. Honestly, I can’t imagine I would have anything to offer to him, but I’m sure that a few questions of the Big River or of Virginia City would conjure stories from Twain that he never had time to write. I believe I would buy drinks for as long as he would speak and he would speak for as long as I bought drinks.

I do not know if there is another writer that I could say the same about.

Except for maybe Hemmingway, but that would most likely end up in a fight, which he would probably win, but we would end up in a fly fishing discussion.

I guess my writers were not just writers. They were people I would want to hang out with and hear their stories first hand.

I hope that I am can be the same type of writer.

 

 

Day 57