Valentine’s Day is coming. That’s a big deal around here. In some places it’s not. I guess like a lot of things, it depends on the context. The context here is that my Lady Wonder Wench seriously disrupts the estrogen level for most of this zip code. When she walks around in her two piece…which is what I call her bedroom slippers…I often lose control of my eyebrows, my ears, my fingers, and many of my other parts, and I am…for a short period of time…once again…Lifeguard Man. So I’m sitting here in my big, comfortable, black leather poppa chair in my living room, scratching my head…which feels good by the way…trying to think of a new and better way to put how I feel about my Lady Wonder Wench into a Valentine’s Day context.
Lots of the things we say every day have different meanings depending on the context. For example, if you say, “It’s time for bed” to your 2 year old, what he hears is, “Now it’s time for me to lie down in the dark for hours…and be careful I don’t move, or I’ll wake the monster who lives under the bed. And there’s no use screaming, because Mommy won’t hear me, since she’s locking the door now and going far away, and I’ll probably ever see her again.” If you meet a Catherine Zeta Jones look alike at a singles bar, and you say, “It’s time for bed,” that produces an entirely different meaning. Context.
If you call your husband, and tell him that you’re at the doctor’s office, and you just put your baby to sleep…that’s one context. If you call your husband and tell him that you’re at the vet’s office and you put your baby to sleep…that’s an entirely different context.
So what exactly is context. Let’s take the word apart. A Con is a cheat. A text is words. So a context is the kind of speech most political candidates give when Diane Sawyer is asking a question. Which means…depending on the candidate…we have to leave open the possibility of an ounce of brilliant truth in the bucket of bull. When you say I love you, that can mean a lot of different things…depending on the context. That’s why Valentine’s Day is heavily dependent on the context.
Lady Wonder Wench came into my life at about the same time as the Beatles came into everybody’s lives. So it has been a while. Did you know the Beatles were known in Europe for a while as the “Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs?” As in, She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah seems like just some nonsense sounds. But maybe not. John Lennon had more than his arms up his sleeves with lots of his lyrics.
Think about the possible context. Suppose you’re an ordinary guy, and a buddy tells you that he’s just found out that a Catherine Zeta Jones look alike is interested in you. You’re not going to believe it. So you say, “yeah.” As in “yeah sure.” He tells you, “Seriously…she really goes for you.” It begins to sink in. So you say…”yeahhh ???” Then he tells you, “She says she REALLY goes for you.” Wouldn’t you say…”YEEAAHHHH.” Context.
Dick’s Details Quiz. All answers are in the current podcast.
1- What made it ok for some guys to tie up a couple and watch them have sex?
2- What are five million lobsters?
3- What may change the name of Facebook ?
Dick’s Details. They take your mind off your mind.
You’ve got to know the context, if you want to understand what’s being said. For example is irony the opposite of wrinkly ? If rock is dead, did paper kill it ? Is sportsman ship just for losers ? If the only thing we have to fear is fear itself, what about big, furry spiders ? If it says on your box of animal crackers, do not eat if the seal is broken, and the seal is broken…what do you do ?
I guess the point is, that words can be tricky. Con-Text…tricky words. It’s sometimes hard to be sure the words you’re hearing are describing real feelings. There’s a very short story about that in the lovin touch personal audio cd, and in the current podcast. It’s called…words.
She talks to me…my Lady Wonder Wench. A lot. But the context is…I love the sound. She sometimes says she talks too much. But…context…I love where the sound comes from.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah…yeah.
Hey Dick, do you remember the name of the group who was appearing in Boston the same night the Beatles were in town? Really bad luck for them. I think I still have their 45 somewhere. “Secret of Love” by the Minutes
if I remember correctly. But that was a lot of Valentines days ago!
That was a wild night. No I didn’t go to either show, but I remeber that you were on the air that night. Ah, fond memories…