So today marks a very special day here at Jane Austen Runs My Life. It is our fifth anniversary of blogging!
Yay!
Thank you all who have been a part
So I was trying to think of something for the fifth year-the traditional gift being wood.
I thought and I thought…and I had nothing.
All I could think of is what Nick says in Gone Girl:
“There’s no good gift for wood.”
So I started doing another post and when I was looking through my pics and I saw this:
And it hit me! Boats are made out of wood! Why not give myself a boat for my anniversary.
I thought I could do a little boat like in The Phantom of the Opera
And I didn’t want one that would sink like in The Little Mermaid.
I want something strong and sturdy. Something that has the ability to wage through every storm, obstacle, or army navy that comes my way. I want Captain Wentworth’s boat.
And if you give the girl a boat, chances are, she’s going to want a captain to go with it. And not just any captain, oh no, I want this one:
Yep, I want him with his broodiness, good humor, and amazing writing skills/romantic heart. How can you resist such words?
I only have one reply:
*swoon*
So thanks for the past five years of awesomeness, and here’s to many more!
Day 15) O is for Ocean: Choose a book that takes place on or in the Ocean
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
This is one of my top favorite books.
I started reading this book the same way I started reading all the classics, The Great Illustrated Classics collection at my local library.
And this is one of my all-time favorite stories. Just like Doc Brown
Doc Brown: So do I. “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”, my absolute favorite.
As I mentioned before I love Jules Verne. I’ve read almost everything by him.
My favorite thing about this novel is everything they see and all the adventures they go on.
Another amazing thing was how Verne was so ahead of his time. In his novel Captain Nemo has electric lights on his submarine, it wasn’t until more than thirty years that was possible. He just had all these ideas or improvements that inspired people to create and copy them.
This book also has some solid math and science, based on current inventions of the time and what was known. It is just a fantastic book!
The book takes place in 1866. All the countries are agog as something seems to be destroying ships. Something…or some monster!
They call in the top people to launch an expedition to destroy whatever it is that is doing this to them. One of the people called in is Professor Pierre Aronnax, a marine biologist. He believes that the creature is something from the very depths of the oceans, as it would need incredible strength to survive that and destroy the ships the way it does.
Maybe a giant sea monster or narwhale?
He takes along his valet, Conseil, and the two meet and become good friends with Canadian Whaler, Ned Land, as they sail the sea searching for the creature.
They eventually find the creature, which rips apart the ships set after it. The only crew members to survive are Professor Aronnax, Conseil, and Ned. They try to find something to grab onto and drift on, when they grasp the monster and discover it is not a sea creature after all…
It is a super advanced submarine.
They are taken inside and saved by the captain, Captain Nemo. He decides to let them live because he greatly appreciates the intellect and things that Professor Aronnax has written.
But they are forced to remain on the ship forevermore, as they can not be returned to the surface. Saved but not free.
Conseil enjoys being underwater at first, but begins to wish for home. Ned has never liked being under the water, and from the beginning has been trying to figure out a way to escape their imprisonment. The only one who is thrilled with this arrangement is Professor Aronnax, as being a marine biologist this is the opportunity of a lifetime to learn about what really happens in the deep blue.
What is under the water?
They travel 20,000 leagues around the world; being the firsts to look upon Antarctica (as it wasn’t officially visited until 1911), battle a squad of sperm whales, visit shipwrecks, walk along the ocean floor, witness all kinds of marine life, fight off cannibal islanders, and are attacked by a giant squid in one of the most harrowing battles in literature.
As they journey they discover that their Captain has a lot of bitterness and rage; attacking ships because of an old pain.
For one who is so stone faced and set in his ways, will they ever be able to convince him to set them free? Or will they be stuck under the sea forever?
Yep just one fantastic read you need to check out for yourself.
No matter how many times I read this book it is still one wild ride! What can I say?
So I absolutely love this song! My father is a huge Kansas fan so it was always played in my home. This is me.
So enough with Supernatural let’s get back to the song.
Carry On Wayward Son by Kansas
So this song has been around long before Supernatural although I’m sure that is what most people now associate it with.
So my parents grew up in the ’70s and were big music fans, in fact my mom was a disco queen. Anyway, I got a lot of info on this song from my dad, as since he was around then he knew all the skinny on what was happeming in the music scene.
So when Kerry Livgren was writing Carry On Wayward Son, not only was he and the group under pressure from the studio but he was struggling with his own spirituality and religion. He felt there had to be something more, but didn’t know what. In 1979, Livgren became interested in The Urantia Book, a series of papers that claim to be a series of revelations written by supernatural beings. He later rejected the teachings, and once again found himself at a loss. Kansas went on tour with another band, Louisiana’s Le Roux, and he and one of the members, Jeff Pollard, would debate over what was the truth. Urantia or the Bible. Livgren ultimately was convinced by Pollard and became a Christian.
Livgreen wrote the piano, guitar, and the amazing lyrics. I just love this song as it just captures so much emotion of hope, despair, confusion, etc.
Now doesn’t that make its connection to Supernatural even better? I mean the whole theme of Supernatural is about these two brothers trying to figure out the what God, angels, demons, etc. all means. Trying to figure out their place in the world.
They actually weren’t going to use the song as a theme it just sort of happened. And its perfect as Dean and Sam Winchesters are from Kansas.
Carry on my wayward son
There’ll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don’t you cry no more
Ah
Once I rose above the noise and confusion
Just to get a glimpse beyond this illusion
I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high
Though my eyes could see I still was a blind man
Though my mind could think I still was a mad man
I hear the voices when I’m dreaming,
I can hear them say
Carry on my wayward son,
There’ll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don’t you cry no more
Masquerading as a man with a reason
My charade is the event of the season
And if I claim to be a wise man,
Well, it surely means that I don’t know
On a stormy sea of moving emotion
Tossed about, I’m like a ship on the ocean
I set a course for winds of fortune,
But I hear the voices say
Carry on my wayward son
There’ll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don’t you cry no more no!
Carry on,
You will always remember
Carry on,
Nothing equals the splendor
Now your life’s no longer empty
Surely heaven waits for you
Carry on my wayward son
There’ll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don’t you cry,
Don’t you cry no more,
janeaustenrunsmylife 