Poem for Friday

To Autumn
By William Blake

O Autumn, laden with fruit, and stain'd
With the blood of the grape, pass not, but sit
Beneath my shady roof; there thou may'st rest,
And tune thy jolly voice to my fresh pipe,
And all the daughters of the year shall dance!
Sing now the lusty song of fruits and flowers.

The narrow bud opens her beauties to
The sun, and love runs in her thrilling veins;
Blossoms hang round the brows of Morning, and
Flourish down the bright cheek of modest Eve,
Till clust'ring Summer breaks forth into singing,
And feather'd clouds strew flowers round her head.

The spirits of the air live in the smells
Of fruit; and Joy, with pinions light, roves round
The gardens, or sits singing in the trees."
Thus sang the jolly Autumn as he sat,
Then rose, girded himself, and o'er the bleak
Hills fled from our sight; but left his golden load.

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I've posted this one, before too, but as with Keats, there can never be too much Blake.

Coughed all night, felt like crap all morning, stayed in bed till 10. Realized that whatever is being done to the neighbors' house -- they moved two weeks ago and are apparently replacing everything, paint, floors, etc. before putting it on the market -- may be exacerbating my symptoms, since I still don't feel sick really; my sinuses are clear and my lungs, knock wood, seem to be as well, it's all a very dry, painful throat. Even my headache went away once the storm front hit. So I didn't get out much today except to the drugstore, where I forgot Nyquil! Is that one of the things whose ingredients are changing as of this weekend, or one of the ones that I'm going to have to sign an agreement when I purchase that I won't use it to make crystal meth?

Watching the news is just an exercise in stress, but I better not talk about it or I might be arrested by a secret military tribunal and tortured interrogated. Also I shouldn't take my kids shopping with me as there were two separate molestation incidents in big local chain stores. At least we get the Democrats' hilarious ads against Michael Steele, in which they explain that he may like puppies but he loves George Bush, with a picture of Bush and Steele with a big heart around them. Ah well, at least the Maryland senatorial candidates are not having one another's friends call the news to tell them which racial epithets they've each been heard using, which is what's going on in Virginia. (And, you know, I'd rather vote for a man who's pro-choice and pro-gay rights even if he's said stupid things about women in the past than a man who's been verbally respectful but has voted against women's rights!)

had a link to this column on fan fiction, criticism and the law in Henry Jenkins' blog and then pointed out that LJ has an RSS feed, . Sweet! I met him once when he was in DC doing research, after having known him (and debated with him quite fiercely) on the old ACAFEN-L mailing list, the Academic Study of Fandom.

Watched the season premiere of Smallville, which was not terribly impressive but did have several aspects that I liked a lot. Like that big hug between Martha and Lionel, my het OTP for the season. Like Clark and Lex flying through the air together and landing on the ground together (replayed in opening credits this season, no less!) in the most homoerotic shot EVER. And then the last scene between Clark and Lex -- oops, the little El and the big Z -- best summarized by : "Kneel before me! Suck my Kryptonian dick! Kiss my hand, you know you want to!" And then, as if that isn't enough, Jimmy Olsen -- about whom I had no real feelings as a romantic interest for Chloe, since it would make me happy if Clark and Chloe had their day to avoid any more of Kristin Kreuk's excruciating acting in scenes with Tom Welling -- shows up and not only has very nice chemistry with Chloe but is instantly hot for Clark! Suddenly he wants to be a MAN! There needs to be Clark/Chloe/Jimmy fic ASAP. Oh, and Lex can come too. Or he can walk in on Dad and Martha doing it...okay, I'll stop now. *g*

Also watched Shark, again was far more impressed with the acting than the dialogue, though was really only half paying attention as I had delightful Evil Distraction going on. The girl playing the daughter is pretty good but her scenes are pretty painful, and Woods can only do so much snarling and barking on the job. Trek news was more How Star Trek Changed the World, and we all watched "For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky" so I can review it tomorrow...suggestions about anything nice to say besides how lovely Spock is letting McCoy know that he's worried about him will be gratefully accepted.


Glassblowing at the RenFaire. I love the way this photo came out even though the foreground's so overexposed; I expected either the glass or the blower to end up more blurred.

And look, I rule a planet. It's even the planet that rules over ME, since I'm a Sagittarius:

You Should Rule Jupiter

Huge and hot, Jupiter is a quickly turning planet with short days and intense gravity. You are perfect to rule Jupiter, because you are both dominant and kind. You have great strength and confidence, but you never abuse your power. You are always right. Even if you make mistakes, you compensate for them... before anyone knows it. Headstrong and ambitious, you always have a goal in mind. You are optimistic and believe thing things will always work out.

What Planet Should You Rule?

Will talk more about my poll tomorrow, but I'm curious: People who thought I had one true fandom, or even three to six main fandoms, which are they? (I consider original Trek, DS9, Voyager, Space: 1999, Smallville, LOTR, M&C and HP all to have been "my fandoms" and that's not even counting things like Equilibrium and lotrips, let alone things I have rarely written like POTC and The West Wing, and I always wonder what I sound fannish about to other people!)