In the theatre program at Drexel we had one particularly favorite vocal warmup, which we did before every show i ever acted or teched. It went like this:
Theophilus thistle, the successful thistle sifter,
While sifting a sieve full of unsifted thistles,
Thrust three thousand thistles through the thick of his thumb.Now, if Theophilus thistle, the successful thistle sifter,
While sifting a sieve full of unsifted thistles,
Thrust three thousand thistles through the thick of his thumb,
See that thou, while sifting a sieve full of unsifted thistles
Thrust not three thousand thistles through the thick of thy thumb.Success to the successful thistle sifter!
Much like Homer Simpson’s classic “I am so smart! S-M-R-T” (which i hear least once a week in my corporate office), the Theophilus jingle has stuck with many of us theatre kids, none more so than Elise and i. Whenever we overcome a major household obstacle we are known to proclaim loudly, “SUCCESS! To the successful thistle sifter.”
The charm of the phrase comes, i think, from the fact that sifting thistles by hand is a sortof thankless excercise to take joy in.
Well, as of this post WordPress is (somewhat) unbugged and live on ck.com. And that was not a thankless endeavor. I’m going to write a whole Blogger-to-WordPress walkthrough soon (yeah, and that Bonarroo walkthrough, too), but the thing that really sticks out is that there was an actual, tangible, workable answer to every single question i had through the installation process – right down to the last issue that was keeping me from going live. Most of those answers came directly from the WordPress Support wiki.
Thank you for your patience with me as I spent a few days to complete the changeover. I’m like a kid-on-Christmas with all of these new features to play with – especially categories. Please continue to comment whenever you find something broken, especially if it’s broken in a well-rendered browser like Firefox.
digging the new layout
Hello, Krisis,
I was, as a preschooler, when treated to this wonderful poetry, as my Mother told it to me from memory.
This feat was to me just as magical and amazing as the poem itself, because she would never twist her tongue, and, she was quick.
I am one of the lucky children who had parents that read to them, posed questions and of course, encouraged me to ask any and all the questions I could come up with.
This was all in the 50’s, oh…how I want to go back, to those times of coal stoves,
home cooked meals, with real food…real flavor.
I’m now a young 58, parents both gone now for about 5 years.
I was surfing to find some history on Theophilus T. and found this site.
When I read about your theater experiesnces, I was reminded of the strong influence theater and cinema had for my Ma, how we would discuss our take of what we saw, she had no theater background other than college, but had the soul of the stage within her and this was a force in our family.
I clearly remember watching ordinary events, of school days, home life, church, or childhood friends unfold and how they could be parts of a fine film, or play, as I saw them, with no changes, I knew where I would put the camera, how I might edit.
My Father was interested in the derivation of words, an amateur etymologist, well I too have the word bug,now more than ever, as my land lord has allowed me to use his computer.
I have been on line for about two years.
With this wonderful tool I am able to find the answers to many questions I have had and never managed to get the answers to when in the library, or at home, due to other priority’s.
With Google and others it is easier and faster than ever.
Of course…weather using actual books, or the web, there is the tendency to stray from the main point of a quest, as there are so many inviting paths to explore.
Additionally, all answers invariably lead to more questions, this is not a complaint, rather the natural way of the cosmos.
Cordially, M. V.
“Nothing compares to learning”
(Author unknown)