The big day is almost here. If you don’t have everything picked out for International Talk Like a Pirate Day on Sept. 19th  by now, you’re running late! Here are a few online generators to help you catch up:
Name your pirate ship – ahem, The Evil Eel is now taken.

Name your parrot – very specific to species and some really great names

Name yourself:

• based on your current name
• based on a scientific quiz
• if you’re in a hurry

Language translators:

• Pirate Speak
• Official site

It’s a universal truth that pirates can make anything more interesting -  from getting a toddler to eat to studying economics (see the new book The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates) The career of legalized piracy known as privateering doesn’t get as much press but it’s still technically legal in the U.S. so if you always kinda wanted to try it out, you can still petition Congress.  If you don’t get their permission, it’s the frowned-on kind of piracy.  No promises on success but it’s there in section 8 of the Constitution: To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water.

If that fails, you can take the harder road of trying to become a Seafair Pirate, but you’ll have to live in the Seattle area for that one and quite frankly the odds are better with Congress. Like any career, there’s a job guide, Pirattitude!: So you Wanna Be a Pirate?: Here’s How!

If that all sounds like entirely too much work, buy some legos and practice talking like a pirate as a way of easing into it!

Complete with sound effects, it’s hard to beat a good pirate movie, particularly if you can pull it off in under four minutes. Note at the end there’s a materials list so no more excuses for not building your own fully animated Lego theater.

Just like Halloween I always leave preparing for this holiday until too late, but not this year.  Although September 19th will be here before you know it. So it’s time to start practicing pirate talk and making sure you have a good pirate name picked out.  (I think I’ll be sticking with Black Bess unless I can come up with something really inspired…)

Much, much more information, tips, and resources are available on the official International Talk Like a Pirate Day site.  From experience I can say that the abilility to email and text in pirate talk is more difficult than you may thing and may require extra practice.  Some suprisingly ‘normal’ individuals seem to have an inborn talent to type with extra r’s and apostraphes.