Friday, January 18, 2013

And we shall name her, Carpe Diem!

Anyone who knows me knows that Carpe Diem is my 'catch phrase.'  It literally means, for those of you who never saw the movie Dead Poet's Society, "Seize the day."

Every since I saw that film in the summer of 1989, two things were certain:
  1. I was going to be an educator
  2. I was going to make my life extraordinary
I cut out and laminated an ad for the film and placed it on my lesson plan book.  I looked at it every single day for nearly a decade.  Now the phrase is in huge letters in my office.  It greets me every morning and night when I enter or leave my garage.  Soon it will be on the back of my Teardrop!

The idea, which is literally translated as "Pluck the day," encourages the 'seizing' or grabbing of beautiful things, like flowers.  It comes from the poem by Robert Herrick:

To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time

 
by Robert Herrick

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
   Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today
   Tomorrow will be dying.

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun, 
   The higher he's a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
   And nearer he's to setting.

That age is best which is the first,
   When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
   Times still succeed the former. 

Then be not coy, but use your time,
   And while ye may, go marry;
For having lost but once your prime,
   You may forever tarry. 
 

People name their boats, their cars, their dogs,  so I thought it would be kind of cool to 'name' my 'land yacht.'  And, because the phrase Carpe Diem seems to fit me pretty well, I think the name makes sense.  The crowning glory will be finding a way to place the name on the teardrop.  I hope to be able to get a vinyl decal to put on the back of the Teardrop at some point in the future.  The next question is what should it 'look like?'

When in doubt, simplicity rules.  That rules out all of the designs at the top of the page.  I am much more inclined to choose something much more basic such as:



Or, even something simpler:

capre diem


 
 
 



1 comment:

  1. Today, I purchased a 1947 Tourette Teardrop Trailer. My name is John Keating. Oddly enough, "John Keating" was Robin Williams character name in Dead Poet's Society. I also have a son name Jack. I hope to enjoy many wonderful trips with him after restoring the trailer. I hope mine turns out half as nice as Carpe Diem!

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