#yes that shel silverstein

[chattahoochiecoochie]

Country Lessons With Hoochie

Been on a huge Dean Dillon kick lately, figured I’d put a little list together. I know a lot of y’all don’t listen to country much, or maybe you never have, but I hope you’ll give it a shot. Dean, born Larry Dean Flynn, is an American songwriter credited with much of George Strait's success, but he’s got an extensive catalog far beyond what he’s penned for Strait. Below, I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorites.

Tennessee Whiskey - David Allen Coe (1981), George Jones (1983), Chris Stapleton (2015) Miami, My Amy - Keith Whitley (1985) Tequila Eyes - Randy Rogers Band (2016) An Empty Glass - Gary Stewart (1988) Ocean Front Property - George Strait (1987) Unwound - George Strait (1981) Nobody in His Right Mind Would’ve Left Her - Keith Whitley (1985) Spilled Perfume - Pam Tillis (1994) Every Little Honky Tonk Bar - George Strait (2019)

With over two hundred songs to his name, if these aren’t for you, chances are the others might be. Tennessee Whiskey remains one of the most famous country songs of all time, and there's no doubt Dean helped solidify Straits spot as the King of Country – though it's worth considering his continuing contributions. With recent hits from Lainy Wilson and Luke Combs, he continues to mark his place as a legacy in country music. 

[fairest]

— Shel Silverstein

[haveyouheardthisband]

has there ever been a poll where "i've heard of them, but haven't listened" has won? thank you so much for doing this!! i'm in awe of your dedication!!

Yes, but it's pretty rare. I think this is all of them (so far): Gojira, Pussy Riot, William Shatner, Lil Yachty, Skid Row, Shel Silverstein, Cannibal Corpse, Tramp Stamps, and Phish

[abbysimsfun]

Sims In Bloom: Generation 2 Pt. 41 (Buttercup's New Boyfriend)

Hazel stopped by toward the end of summer to spend time with her oldest sister and nephew. "I have news," she said excitedly. "Nicola proposed and I said yes!"

Heather was thrilled for her baby sister, who really wasn't a baby anymore. "Have you decided when the wedding will be?"

Hazel shrugged. "Later in the fall, once we've both finished school. Nicola wants to be a teacher like her mother and I'm taking some online courses in international relations."

Heather's eyes bulged. "Wow! I think politics is a great career for you, Hazel. You love making friends everywhere you go; I can only imagine how many people you'll want to invite to your wedding."

Hazel shrugged. "Not too many. We see our friends all the time, but we want our wedding to be for family. And if you think about it, our family's getting pretty big already."

"I can't wait to have a new sister-in-law!" Heather beamed. "Will you stay in Henford, or take your skills international?"

"Eventually I'll leave our hometown, but for now Nicola will work at Henford Elementary, and I think Mayor Varner will take me on as an intern so I can get some experience. We're going to live with Nicola's parents and brother in the Bramblewood so River and Cassandra will have space for their new baby."

Heather beamed. "I'm so proud of you, little Dandelion."

"You're as corny as Dad, you know that?"

"You don't like my Single Mom Jokes?" Heather pretended to be hurt.

"You're not single," Hazel reminded her. "It's been a few months since Holly called and said you'd basically met nerdy Clark Kent if he walked around all day looking as hot as Superman!"

"I just mean..."

"I get it, he's not your son's father! But that's obviously a good thing. When can we meet him?"

"Soon," Heather said. "I'm still getting to know him, and so is Ash. I want to be sure."

"Will you ever let yourself be sure?"

Hazel was right to doubt her - Heather doubted herself. But Conrad was back on the coast a few days later, spending time with Heather and her son at Fisherman's Wharf. After watching for sea lions in the bay, they stopped in for a quick bite at the Salty Paw.

No matter how much Heather doubted herself, she knew she loved spending time with him. He was still getting used to handling an infant, and feared more than anything he'd drop the kid on his head, but Ash babbled away in his arms as seagulls circled above, searching for food in the water below.

"My son learned to stand on his own at a booth inside the Salty Paw!" Heather groaned, caught between immense pride and embarrassment. "Does that make me a bad mom?"

"Nothing makes you a bad mom," said Conrad. Heather blushed.

"You're really good with him. Are you hiding any kids on me?"

"I donated sperm to pay my way through college." She froze, but when he cracked a smile she breathed with relief. "I'm kidding. No kids, I promise."

Heather had never had feelings this strong for anyone. Not Everett, and certainly not Malcolm. When they returned to her home on Sable Square for Ash's afternoon nap, Conrad told him a bedtime story to help him sleep.

"Once there was a tree and she loved a little boy. And every day the boy would come and he would gather leaves and make them into crowns and play king of the forest..."

He knew this one from memory, about a tree who gives all of herself to a boy throughout his life to make him happy. Ash suckled sleepily from his own fingers while he listened before dozing off.

Conrad was so perfect. Heather couldn't help but fear it all felt too good to be true. ->

<- Previous Chapter | Gen 2 Start | Gen 1 Summary | Gen 1 Start

© The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, 1964: Harper & Row.

[dabiconcordia]

Where the Sidewalk Ends 

There is a place where the sidewalk ends And before the street begins, And there the grass grows soft and white, And there the sun burns crimson bright, And there the moon-bird rests from his flight To cool in the peppermint wind. Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black And the dark street winds and bends. Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow, And watch where the chalk-white arrows go To the place where the sidewalk ends. Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow, And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go, For the children, they mark, and the children, they know The place where the sidewalk ends. by Shel Silverstein

[lingthusiasm]

Lingthusiasm Episode 91: Scoping out the scope of scope

When you order a kebab and they ask you if you want everything on it, you might say yes. But you'd probably still be surprised if it came with say, chocolate, let alone a bicycle...even though chocolate and bicycles are technically part of "everything". That's because words like "everything" and "all" really mean something more like "everything typical in this situation". Or in linguistic terms, we say that their scope is ambiguous without context.

In this episode, your hosts Lauren Gawne and Gretchen McCulloch get enthusiastic about how we can think about ambiguity of meaning in terms of scope. We talk about how humour often relies on scope ambiguity, such as a cake with "Happy Birthday in red text" written on it (quotation scope ambiguity) and the viral bench plaque "In Memory of Nicole Campbell, who never saw a dog and didn't smile" (negation scope ambiguity). We also talk about how linguists collect fun examples of ambiguity going about their everyday lives, how gesture and intonation allow us to disambiguate most of the time, and using several scopes in one sentence for double plus ambiguity fun.

Click here for a link to this episode in your podcast player of choice or read the transcript here.

Announcements:

In this month’s bonus episode we get enthusiastic about the forms that our thoughts take inside our heads! We talk about an academic paper from 2008 called "The phenomena of inner experience", and how their results differ from the 2023 Lingthusiasm listener survey questions on your mental pictures and inner voices. We also talk about more unnerving methodologies, like temporarily paralyzing people and then scanning their brains to see if the inner voice sections still light up (they do!).

Join us on Patreon now to get access to this and 80+ other bonus episodes. You’ll also get access to the Lingthusiasm Discord server where you can chat with other language nerds. Also: Join at the Ling-phabet tier and you'll get an exclusive “Lingthusiast – a person who’s enthusiastic about linguistics,” sticker! You can stick it on your laptop or your water bottle to encourage people to talk about linguistics with you. Members at the Ling-phabet tier also get their very own, hand-selected character of the International Phonetic Alphabet – or if you love another symbol from somewhere in Unicode, you can request that instead – and we put that with your name or username on our supporter Wall of Fame! Check out our Supporter Wall of Fame here, and become a Ling-phabet patron here!

Here are the links mentioned in the episode:

Wikipedia entry for Everything Bagel

'Shel Silverstein's hot dog and the domain of "everything"' post on Language Log

Wikipedia entry for 'Scop' (an oral poet)

'New publication: Reported evidentiality in Tibeto-Burman languages' post on Superlinguo

Wikipedia entry for Tom Swifty

'Bench in honour of Nicole Campbell, who never saw a dog and didn't smile' post on All Things Linguistic

WALS entry for Feature 144B: Position of negative words relative to beginning and end of clause and with respect to adjacency to verb

'A few notes on negative clauses, polarity items, and scope'

'I didn't ask you to kill him' Learning English post on sentence stress and meaning

'I didn't ask you to kill him' sentence stress example in action by @dheanasaur on TikTok (⚠︎warning, loud sound)

Non-manual Markers in ASL / NMM's

'The Impulse to Gesture: Where Language, Minds, and Bodies Intersect' by Simon Harrison

'Quantifier Scope Jokes' post on All Things Linguistic

'Caring for your baby since 1890' ambiguity post on All Things Linguistic

You can listen to this episode via Lingthusiasm.com, Soundcloud, RSS, Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also download an mp3 via the Soundcloud page for offline listening.

To receive an email whenever a new episode drops, sign up for the Lingthusiasm mailing list.

You can help keep Lingthusiasm ad-free, get access to bonus content, and more perks by supporting us on Patreon.

Lingthusiasm is on Bluesky, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Mastodon, and Tumblr. Email us at contact [at] lingthusiasm [dot] com

Gretchen is on Bluesky as @GretchenMcC and blogs at All Things Linguistic.

Lauren is on Bluesky as @superlinguo and blogs at Superlinguo.

Lingthusiasm is created by Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne. Our senior producer is Claire Gawne, our production editor is Sarah Dopierala, our production assistant is Martha Tsutsui Billins, and our editorial assistant is Jon Kruk. Our music is ‘Ancient City’ by The Triangles. This episode of Lingthusiasm is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license (CC 4.0 BY-NC-SA).

[haveyoureadthispoem-poll]

"If you are a dreamer, come in"

Read it here | Reblog for a larger sample size!

[swiftthistletea]

friday afternoon circletime preparing to read some Shel Silverstein kidskino "my mom got me this book waaaaaay back in 1993"

"you have a mom!?" "yes" "who is she??" "well she's my mom." "no, i mean who is she." "she's my mother." "whats her name." "her name is N and she lives in Texas." "you dont live with your mom???" (literal earth shattering shock) "no I dont anymore. Does your mom live with your grandma?" (thoughtful confusion, gears turning, realization happening)

[itsbenedict]

The Flood is a tabletop game by Jenna Moran about poetry mutilation and farmland financialization. Last August, Farn, Zero and I all played it. These are the results:

Where the Sidewalk Ends, by Shel Silverstein (maimed by me)

There is a place where sidewalk ends And right before the long street bends, And there the grass grows soft for friends, As under sun the road it wends And there the moon-bird rests from flight To cool in the peppermint night. Let’s leave this place where smoke blows white And dark streets wind away from sight. Yes, Ickle, Pickle, Tickle Too Go o’er sidewalk with flying shoe. “Hooray! What fun! It’s time we flew!” Say each and every -Ickle Too And Captain Ick drives Pick down streets While Tick cooks stews with beans and beets And higher, higher, in their seats Ick Pick and Tick chase sidewalk’s sweets. Past pits where asphalt flowers grow We walk a walk measured and slow, And watch where chalk-white arrows go To reach where sidewalk dare not flow. Yes, walk a walk measured and slow, And go where chalk-white arrows go, For children mark, and children know Where sidewalk ends, it ends fo’ sho’.

Question, by May Swenson (vivisected by @eternalfarnham)

Body my house my horse my spouse How will I rouse when you are soused Where will I sleep What tea will I steep What prey, like sheep Upon shall I leap Where can I go With my to all fro too late for the show How will I know in thicket ahead If my genes will spread when Body my shed- raised dog is dead How will it be to lie fancy free without cash to buy A house in Mai Lai With cloud for shift how will I grift? Body, mortgaged horse and house And rouses GDP from the thicket How can I rest? I’ll sell my shed-raised dog And we all lie fancy free in Mai Lai To profit without needing any grift But how am I meant to grift When I own such a profitable house, Comparable to a timeshare in Mai Lai And bring with them a faithful little dog Called Body to investigate thickets? Your wallet will ever be thick. It Will let you achieve results without grift Your investors? Like sheep. Just trust me, dog, Your body, like a temple, but, a house On such a venture? You can’t let this lie! But if you don’t want Mai Lai Or to eval treasures in the thicket, Away this deal, then turn to theft and grift Then let the cops slam you in the big house Where you’ll be eaten by a faithful dog. In this race I have no dog. Do I seem like the kind of girl to lie? If so, I’ll return to my giant house, Because I left you in the cruel thicket, And need therapy. But my guy has grift And back the world’s most profitable dog: The body of this poem is no grift. You can’t let this venture eternal lie As if dead, never roused from the thicket. You’ll thank me when you beat the gambling house. A thicket fit for capital’s running-dogs, In you I lie, and profit without grift.

untitled, by @cloakofshadow (grievously injured by Zerovirus)

The world was born in flame and gold, By decree of realm’s supreme, Fresh and free of painful earthly debts. You would not dare the market break, The world was born- then torn and sold, Creation’s value pierced the sky It pleases you to buy and buy and buy To know all things would surely grow in price. A thousand graphs housing bearish prices, That quaver tracking values of soft gold, Merchants follow but one goal supreme, Flee from spectres, shadows of your true debt. All souls are born in void, and break, So why not make some cash when they get sold Souls born in an empty void-like sky Know nothing but that they must buy buy buy. And all their reason works to buy Lights that cast no shadows but for price, Each night ursines fight for flecks of gold, Strive and strife and prove themselves supreme. Constant siblings are their death and debt, Each others’s skulls they crack and fiercely break. No use for pebbles that you cannot sell, No need for solid stone beneath the sky. And even you, who seeks the sky You would not dare not to buy; You’ve made the grave your lordly price And drawn all warmth from hoarded gold Atop which you take repose supreme Lest ye be taken by the cursed debt You fear to burn but shall be pleased to break What you hold but know can never sell. An empty place beside the antiques sold Rich linens shipped across the distant sky My lord has said, you shall not buy, You shall not spend, you shall not price, You shall be bold and uphold gold, You shall not fear the doom of debt, You shall fund the one true high supreme, Your assets shall not break. But wake again when you are broke, I make to you a flaming sell- And swear on god who rests in sky, That your name she sure shall buy, And till she returns next with a price, To labor for your pile of gold. Worry not about your debts, But sing praise towards the supreme. This world of gold that does not bend or break Where souls are sold and take with joy to sky The will of god is buy at any price! Debt is frail; your wealth shall reach supremes.

Apologies to the artists involved, but we did survive the Flood and made upwards of thirty three thousand imaginary dollars.

[broomsticks]

ten books to know me

Rules: 10 (non-ancient) books for people to get to know you better, or that you just really like.

tagged by @landwriter, who has some gorgeously soft recs [like their sandman dream/hob fic] here! mine are uh, mostly not, so. be warned XD

where the sidewalk ends by shel silverstein. probably the oldest book i physically own, gifted me by a family friend. such memories of chatting to her about danny the champion of the world and the phantom tollbooth and etc, it was formative in so many ways! crediting this book for the fact that i’ve never been scared of poetry, for one.

the city & the city by china mieville, introduced to me by my current partner. the one before that was a mitch albom kinda guy and the one before that was a carol ann duffy and the one before that was a jeanette winterson. all of whom there is a place in my heart for but yes: scifi/low fantasy spec fic! if i could only read one genre of fiction it would be this. no i have not read babel and i will soon!! also: oryx and crake and mmmm cloud atlas.

the little prince by antoine de saint-exupéry. fun fact: i first read this book in chinese.

the ender’s game series by orson scott card — if i had to pick one it might be xenocide, han qing-jao my baby. the other formative childhood fave i don’t talk about enough: artemis fowl!

we need to talk about kevin by lionel shriver. idk i am frightful and this book is a comfort read. my complicated feelings re. possibly ever becoming a parent, don’t ask me about them!

chronicle of a blood merchant by yu hua. love some horrible histories x blaaaack humor.

the time traveler’s wife by audrey niffenegger. my kinda romance 🥰

neil gaiman’s short story/essay collection view from the cheap seats. picked this up secondhand, gave it away, would love to own again someday. one of my fave essays in this book: all books have genders. also: the salmon of doubt by douglas adams and ursula le guin’s the found and the lost / the unreal and the real.

ted chiang’s exhalation gets a special mention for being my desert island book. every single story is so thought-provoking.

battle royale the manga. enjoyed the novel too, oh lighthouse massacre my beloathed.

AND on that fun note: tagging people with cool fic taste @allalrightagain @bluesundaycake @consistentsquash @fanfiction-thesis @lumosatnight @mblematic @phantomato @slashmarks @sleepstxtic @thistlecatfics @unspeakable3 gimme books! talk to me about the Books That Made You! anyone else who wants to play, too, tag me if you do :D

[nopenototdaysatan]

Hi Satan!

It's question time!

I've been wondering, how long have you been writing? Are there poets who inspired to write? Do you have a favorite poem?

Btw your poems are really lovely, I love reading them <3

Hoshi! Hey. CX How are you doing?

I have been writing since I was a kid. I remember trying to write poems when I was like 10/12 ish. I didn't create anything I liked until I was 14/15 though. Won a contest with that one. I have that one on Tumblr as well. I have only recently brought my love of poetry into the fandom space. It's been almost a year now since I started working on Never Had the Chance which was my first and I think it will always be one of my favorites.

Yes! I am so glad you asked cause your question reminded me of what I believe was my first favorite poet. So, when I was really young (elementary school age) my teachers read from "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein. I loved those poems as a kid. As I grew and learned about more poetry and I loved it more and more. I think it was around middle school that I learned about my current favorite: Edgar Allan Poe. And in particular the poem titled Alone:

"From childhood's hour I have not been

As others were -- I have not seen

As others saw -- I could not bring

My passions from a common spring --

From the same source I have not taken

My sorrow -- I could not awaken

My heart to joy at the same tone --

And all I lov'd -- I lov'd alone --"

Those are the first 8 lines and as an undiagnosed neurodivergent kid desperately trying to be like my friends It hit me to the core. I had found a new outlet for my depression and it soared. Giving me a place to both vent and create. Alone has always been my favorite poem and I memorized it so many times in school that I still at 30 remember how I recited it.

I'm so happy you enjoy them. More is incoming! I just finished the first draft of the next chapter of H&H. I've got plans for H&H Side stories I might start writing today, and I will be starting to work on October prompts both whumpy, cozy, and otherwise this month!

(Truthfully I'm most excited for the whump. Surprisingly I'm most excited to mess with Warriors most of all. Maybe I'll give him something fluffy as well to make up for that.)

[homelessnerd]

what are some books you love and why?

Oooo good question! I haven’t read any in awhile, but I’ll drag out my memories

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - A sci fi that has a lot of thought about the science without any romance as far as I remember. It’s about a scientist that’s stuck in space with amnesia trying to figure out why the sun is dying. It also has a unique ending, as far as I remember it’s happy but not in the normal way

Gregor the Overlander series by Suzanne Collins - Yes the Suzanne Collins that wrote the Hunger Games. It’s a series I read as a kid that’s still good today, fantastic worldbuilding and surprisingly complex story for 3rd graders to read

Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson - Another series! Christian author, amazing worldbuilding and story, and you can find some of the music in the books online! He and his family sing as well and the songs are BEAUTIFUL

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein - A book I read as a child that teaches some good morals. Also my sister saw me reading it and that’s how she decided she wanted to learn how to read which is sweet 😊

Thank you for the ask! This was a fun one to answer

[haveyouheardthisband]

[angelosearch]

Who are your favorite poets? :)

AHHHHHH omg I haven't been able to talk about poetry in SO long.

First, the classics. I am not huge on William Shakespeare's plays, but I do like his poetry. Oscar Wilde is just an icon. I like a lot of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley and Emily Dickinson. I HAVE to mention Edgar Allen Poe because he's from my state but honestly, I like his overall ideas over his execution most of the time. Joyce Kilmer wrote one of my favorite poems of all time, "Trees."

Moving closer to the present day, there's Allen Ginsberg. Howl changed how I understood poetry as a whole. Shel Silverstein taught me what poetry was in the first place. I also enjoy Edward Albee and Joyce Carol Oates.

Getting into poets who are writing right now, Maggie Nelson wrote this collection of poems called Bluets that I adore. I also got to take a seminar with her through my college. Finally, I saw Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz give a reading and she was just... mezmorizing. Honestly, poetry is meant to be performed, which is why I haven't read much since college. But if someone invites me to a poetry reading, I am so there.

My favorite collection of poems is Unleashed: Poems by Writers' Dogs. It is just what it sounds like and yes it made me sob uncontrollably by the end.

Curious to know if you or any of my other mutuals have thoughts about poetry!

[haveyoureadthispoem-poll]

"This library book is 42 years overdue."

Read it here | Reblog for a larger sample size!