Poem for Saturday

Shawl
By Albert Goldbarth

Eight hours by bus, and night
was on them. He could see himself now
in the window, see his head there with the country
running through it like a long thought made of steel and wheat.
Darkness outside; darkness in the bus—as if the sea
were dark and the belly of the whale were dark to match it.
He was twenty: of course his eyes returned, repeatedly,
to the knee of the woman two rows up: positioned so
occasional headlights struck it into life.
But more reliable was the book; he was discovering himself
to be among the tribe that reads. Now his, the only
overhead turned on. Now nothing else existed:
only him, and the book, and the light thrown over his shoulders
as luxuriously as a cashmere shawl.

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I had a lovely lunch at Bertucci's with Tanya & Kurt, Adirith and Heather -- I had never met the first three so that was great fun, and since I'm geeking out over Star Trek: The Next Generation in a way I never did when it was on in the first place, it was nice to talk Star Trek with fans! And the Salmon Florentine was yummy. I dragged everyone to Borders because I needed to pick up the newest Spiderwick book for younger son. Then I convinced Heather to come back to my house and hang out for a while before she needed to get home ahead of rush hour and I needed to finish my review of "The Icarus Factor".

FridayFiver: ...turned into rainbow fish
1. What's your favorite shape? The Big O. Seriously, I have no idea, but I have a definite bias toward symmetry so it's probably not a scalene triangle. I like the number eight, so a regular octagon maybe?
2. Who is the craziest person you know? Many members of my family would be in competition for that title. *g*
3. Sweet, salty or savory? Completely depends on my mood, the time of day and the last thing I ate/drank.
4. Best ice cream topping? Whipped cream.
5. Do you ride horses? I haven't in years, but I did at camp growing up.

Fannish5: Name five characters who would make good supervillains (actual current supervillains excluded).
1. James Potter, Harry Potter
2. Seven of Nine, Star Trek: Voyager
3. Jack Harkness, Doctor Who (not Torchwood though, because what would be the fun of that?)
4. Rodney McKay, Stargate: Atlantis
5. Martha Kent, Smallville


A statue of a sailor at the Naval Heritage Center behind the National Archives in Washington, DC.


The compass at the base of the US Navy Memorial.


The Heritage Center's stained glass window.


A view of the National Archives through the US Navy Memorial.

We had dinner with my parents -- chicken soup with matzoh balls, lots of chicken and noodles in it, one of my favorite things -- then came home and watched Flash Gordon -- shut up, I love Baylin and I like Flash and Aura and maybe, like Smallville, they'll pair him with the nontraditional girl for a lot longer than the one who's supposed to be his destiny a while longer -- and Stargate: Atlantis. Which I really loved. Spoilers: John and Rodney are sweet together going out to dinner and all, but I must admit that I really woke up for Rodney's Pygmalion complex -- I am so sorry FRAN didn't stick around to give him guilt and totally misplaced lust -- and I'm very fond of John's girlfriend who ties him up and won't give him her phone number. I love Teyla being angry that John thinks she has to be taken off the team because she's pregnant, and Ronon being so pleased for her and suggesting that she name the baby after him whether it's a boy or a girl. And add Elizabeth to the supervillain meme above! I really love the women on SGA.