Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Dawn

DAWN, n. The time when men of reason go to bed. Certain old men prefer to rise at about that time, taking a cold bath and a long walk with an empty stomach, and otherwise mortifying the flesh. They then point with pride to these practices as the cause of their sturdy health and ripe years; the truth being that they are hearty and old, not because of their habits, but in spite of them. The reason we find only robust persons doing this thing is that it has killed all the others who have tried it.

2006 Update: A new day's first ray of doubt.

51 comments:

Minka said...

"Delta Dawn, what´s that flower you´ve got on, could it be..."

first thing that dropped into my mind!

Minka said...

dawn, a rooster´s signal to annoy unfeathered beings

FelineFrisky said...

Dawn - I have a friend with this name. The action of sudden realization "It dawned on me..." An event that has become expected and ignored by most of the human population, it is no longer special. Even looked upon with dread.

D :}

Anonymous said...

it's always darkest just before dawn... or so i've heard.

Ole Blue The Heretic said...

I knew dawn and she could kill a man in one night.

Indeterminacy said...

Dawn: Jamie, eternal youth.

Anonymous said...

A mirage that marks the frontier between blissful ignorance and labored conceit.

(Wow, the cool feeling you get when you try to channel the ghost of that guy Bierce! No wonder you do it, Doug.)

Mutha said...

I had a pseudo-Barbie named Dawn in my youth in the '70s. She was an exceptionally thin white girl with no Mailbu tan like the original did.
Then, ofcourse there was Tony Orlando's back-up singers. I seem to remember a short-lived variety show in which they were smart-mouths to him. Kind of a double-team Cher to his Sonny.

Dawn: Those who provide female harmony to "Knock three times on the ceiling if you want me..."

TLP said...

Dawn gets broken daily. Poor thing.

Charlene Amsden said...

Dawn n. the time by which Bruce Campbell's Ash should have been toast [Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn]

Unknown said...

It just dawned on me that my work is done. Freaking DONE, I say! Will be posting soon - just let me sleep a bit willya ... like till dawn? ... yawwwwn

duvhyep: Dusk very hip, affirmative

Anonymous said...

Dawn: That time where your supposed to see by its light - just like in the song!

G said...

Mutha - I think I had that less zaftig Barbie, not to be confused with the "dawn dolls" those smaller dolls.

So is the continuous doubt sunshine?

Mutha said...

No G -- I think I had the "dawn dolls" they were skinnier and on a smaller scale.

What about Vampires...don't they hate the dawn? Flee!

The amoeba said...

DAWN, n. The offspring of a fear.

That's morning that's broken, TLP. Dawn sounds reveille and then gets out of the way. Fast.

:)

Charlene Amsden said...

Dawn Dolls were 6-1/2" fashion dolls produced by Topper from 1970-1973. I owned Dawn, Dale and Daphne. I kept them dressed in their best and used them as dresser decorations until they just disapperared one day. When questioned my step-mother replied I was too old for dolls, and suddenly a new light began to dawn.

Doug The Una said...

Minka, I remember that song very well, I was a little kid and Tanya Tucker wasn't much more than that. By the way, it's good to see you back there at the break of dawn.

That's funny, Diane. I can see where she'd have trouble in high school.

Puppybrose, that's why I do my writing then.

Welcome, Old Blue. God bless her.

Nice, Indie. How did I miss that angle? Nicely crafted, too.

See, A? That is why I do it. Nicely done, too.

Mutha, I sure remember that show and that song. Still, in 70s hispanic tv, nothing beats "Chico, don't be discouraaaaaaged!"

Poor thing, TLP? I'm broke all day long.

Quilldancer, beat 'em or burn 'em, they go up real good. I know that's Night of The Living Dead but that's the best I can do for Zombie movies.

Hey! Good news, K! Congratulations on a job presumably well done.

CJ, I know you're Lutheran but something about you keeps making me want to become a Mormon. Tomorrow I think you should work in apple pie.

G, it is in my life.

Mutha, yeah, vampires.

O Ceallaigh, that Dawn!

Quilldancer, I trust you on that.

G said...

Those are the ones! But of course, mine suffered a fate of neglect and punk rock haircuts by my sister. It was before punk so I guess we should have been a little concerned.

mireille said...

Song by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons that my, um, babysitter liked.

Dawn,
Go away I'm no good for you.
Oh Dawn,
Stay with him, he'll be good to you.
Hang on,
Hang on to you.
Think,
What a big man he'll be.
Think,
Of the places you'll see.
Now think what the future would be with a poor boy like me.
Dawn go away,
Please go away.
Although I know,
I want you to stay.
Dawn go away,
Please go away.
Baby, don't cry.
It's better this way.
Ahh, ahh, ah.
Ohh-ohh-oh.
Dawn,
Go away back where you belong.
Girl we can't,
Change the places where we were born.
Before you say,
That you want me.
I want you to think,
What your family would say.
Think,
What your throwing away.
Now think what the future would be with a poor boy like me.
Meee-ee.
Dawn,
Go away I'm no good for you.
Dawn,
Go away I'm no good for you


xoxo

The Violent Vixen said...

Dawn: the time that dreamers realize that there is a real world out there and unfortunately, they have work to do in it :)

SC

Logophile said...

Dawn~ Yet another event best slept through, I am sooooo with Bierce on this one.

Doug The Una said...

G, I bet your folks knew.

Your babysitter, Mireille? Who's your babysitter now?

True, Solace and most college students think it happens at 11.

Logo, I had a feeling you wouldn't object.

Mo'a said...

The first thing I see at the brake of Dawn, is Aurora who hangs out on a dead tree in my yard.
And, Dawn broke without any Foxy news.

tsduff said...

Now that 2006 update, Mr. Pascover is a glass-half-empty perspective!

Dawn: The unfailing hope of a fresh start.

Charlene Amsden said...

It is beginning to Dawn on me that I may be the only member of this forum whose "dishwasher" is attached to the end of her arms.

Kyahgirl said...

You must be one of those robust fellows Doug because, judging by your posting schedule, you're up before dawn every day. Wait a sec....maybe you're one of those men of reason who doesn't go to bed til then?

If you see a dead penguin in your travels, its only because she has been murdered for planting the most awful earworm in my head. Delta Dawn won't leave!

The amoeba said...

Ah, tsd, how sunny!

Indeed, some of us revel at the brilliance of the light that rushes headlong through the gateway of the morning.

And some of us have the misfortune to see, with that brilliance, the iron inscription in the gateway arch:

Arbeit macht Frei.

Kyahgirl said...

nah Quilly, I was going to mention the dishsoap too....that's the first thin that popped into my mind. It was sure heavily marketed!

The amoeba said...

You would be wrong in that assumption, quill. I tell people I don't need one, 'cause I already have two. Each with five fingers.

tsduff said...

OC - when that phrase was coined, it was not used in a sane manner. I don't believe it for a minute.

The amoeba said...

And I use them with Joy (ha!), not Dawn - which I've not seen in ages. Perhaps in recognition that most folk do dishes in the evening ...

Anonymous said...

now see, Kyahgirl? for some reason, the earworm i became saddled with when i *first* saw this word was: "Morning has Broken" (as performed by Cat Stevens).

relevant to nothing, technically, dawn is the moment a white thread can be distinguished from a black one.

Anonymous said...

dawn: moment of clarity and/or execution.

Anonymous said...

Favorite New England expression:

"Light dawns on Marblehead."

See thick as a brick.

:)

tsduff said...

"Dawn" dishsoap was one of the only detergents which could be used to de-oil luckless birds caught in oil spills. The soap was superior at breaking down the oil without harming the birds as they ingested it when they preened themselves.

Kyahgirl said...

oh dear puppybrose, you've saved teh penguin but sacrificed yourself!

Run, Run for your life!

Anonymous said...

Wonderful definition.

Dawn: the arrival of an idea that i've heard about many times before only finally makes its way into my beanie little brain.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Doug--your defination is too perfect

Think I'm supposed to say I over come the new day's first ray of doubt, and I try, but sometimes....

Anonymous said...

Dawn: The time when women of reason tame their men. (Don't ask!)

Anonymous said...

Doug, your update's a bit pessimistic!
Dawn: the very beginning of the very first day of the rest of your life.

I know, I know, this never dawns on me until much later in the day...

Sar said...

Hi Doug, sorry for the belated comment; I checked in briefly this morning, had nothing and went on my merry way to the spa. You'd think with a whole day to think about this I could have come up with something better than...

Dawn: Midday for a certain curmudgeon host.

The Mushroom said...

Dawn: The only crack a man should have to face in the morning.

(suddenly thinking of Dawn Catherine, a destiny I was not to have... eyes like the Earth from space, railroad kisses, and desires only a lesser man could sate)

mireille: If you hadn't quoted that song, I would have. :)

Anonymous said...

am i the only fan Dawn of French and Saunders fame has around here? she's absolutely fabulous.

Jamie Dawn said...

Indie gave me a nice compliment!! :)
Thank You, Indie.

Dawn is my middle name. Always has been, and always will be.

Doug The Una said...

Mo'a, I'm unfoxed and out of town through Thursday.

Terry, are you calling me a downer? Just my luck.

Quill, that's why I have two dogs.

Kyah, you can't blame the penguin for having been alive in the 70s.

O Ceallaigh, that's why I call you my brother.

Kyahgirl, I'm partial to the rainfresh scent.

O Ceallaigh, is that the amoeba method for a clean kitchen?

I'm with you, Terry. Schlafen macht frei Please no-one tell Minka I'm using German again.

JOY, n. The pleasant sensation of fulfilling one's purpose as a fool in folly.

Puppybrose, that was poetic. I never mind the Morning Has Broken earworm and I get it often. That next definition is classic. Bierce would have approved.

That's a great phrase I've never heard Jack. What's with the new name, OC?

See, Terry, and that's why I support their rainfresh scented product. It's for the birds.

Kyah, sic!

Cindra Jo, now I get it!

Pia, overcoming doubt is a sometimes thing for all of us. I think.

Mule, I won't. But I'm laughing.

Actonbell, the light's on now but I wonder if I'm home.

Haha, Sar. True. I hope you were properly pampered.

Mushroom, that was a great sentence. Long as the tracks and less parallel.

Puppybrose, I'm not sure.

Crisp and clean, Jamie Dawn and no caffeine.

Charlene Amsden said...

That was doggusting!

The Mushroom said...

Doug: I wrote this poem in high school about a few former girlfriends, including this stanza:

he often misses
railroad kisses;
tongue, teeth, wires and all


The persistance of a memory, sigh.

Anonymous said...

Dawn French & Jennifer Saunders are a well-known British comedy team... and co-created the concept for Ab Fab, an absolutely brilliant sitcom. (i think Jennifer Saunders, who stars in it, actually did most of the writing, as well). anyway, it was kind of an obscure reference... which is why it dawned on me that no one would get it.

by the way, Quilly & G: i never had a Dawn doll... and i'm guessing you guys have never heard of Midge, who was Barbie's less perfect/more freckled best friend. (my own sweet Midge doll was afflicted with an unfortunate case of alopecia after taking a dip in the neighbor's pool. as you may have heard, this particular fate befell many of my dolls, before it dawned on me that chlorinated water might not be the best environment for them.)

Charlene Amsden said...

I had a Midge doll. And Skipper and Alan -- to go with Barbie and Ken. In fact, at one point in my life I had 17 "Barbie" Dolls, including, "Christy" and "Francie."

Doug The Una said...

Quill, you can see your reflection in my cleaned plates. I see mine in the full ones.

Mushroom, you never forget your first spark.

Thank you for the history lesson, Puppybrose. I did not know that. She's the redhead's mom in Harry Potter, right?

Wake up, Lammy.

Cie Cheesemeister said...

I have never before been viewed as a person of reason! This description gives me reason to hope.