By Walter de la Mare
Clouded with snow
The cold winds blow,
And shrill on leafless bough
The robin with its burning breast
Alone sings now.
The rayless sun,
Day's journey done,
Sheds its last ebbing light
On fields in leagues of beauty spread
Unearthly white.
Thick draws the dark,
And spark by spark,
The frost-fires kindle, and soon
Over that sea of frozen foam
Floats the white moon.
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Daniel had no school, being finished with finals, so when he finally woke up with a bit of urging from cats at nearly 11, I dragged him out to buy new pants -- he hates jeans, khakis and pretty much anything that aren't sweatpants, but he also hates sweatpants that have running stripes or anything, so it's really hard to dress him at present as he has men's legs but a boy's waist -- and to Bagel City for lunch. The lunch portion of the excursion (lox spread on rye, tuna on b&w) was far more successful than the clothes-shopping portion, which was about as I expected. At least the roads were entirely clear, with just a bit of ice right around the van where the sun hadn't gotten through to melt it. My review of "Q Who" was perhaps a bit rushed, but since it's pretty much unreservedly positive, hopefully no one will care.
When I got home I was clearing some books off my desk and realized that I had never finished The Expected One, a Mary-Magdalene-and-her-descendants novel that I liked in some ways (feminist theology, hippie Jesus, lots of stuff on the Cathars and the Languedoc) and disliked in others (royal bloodline/aristocracy-obsessed, invested in secret societies that would make even Dan Brown scoff, and a main character who's such a flagrant annoying Mary Sue that if any of my friends had sent me this manuscript I would have demanded many changes). I'd rate it on par with Labyrinth but below The Secret Supper and The Treasure of Montsegur, as alternate Grail legends/Cathar histories go, and well below The Moon Under Her Feet, as Mary Magdalene narration goes (lots of the same obvious source materials -- Holy Blood, Holy Grail, The Mists of Avalon, and in this case, amusingly enough, Jesus Christ Superstar). So I sat down to finish it, and two cats came and sat in my lap, and I was trapped until we left for dinner with my parents.
Friday Fiver: You just have to wait
1. What do you need? Sunlight and fresh water.
2. What won't you share? My toothbrush.
3. What do you hurry through? Airports, whenever possible.
4. Who is worth waiting for? My fairy godmother.
5. Friday fill-in: I can't bear to ______. I can't bear to leave the last M&M or pistachio or Hershey miniature or peanut or chocolate eclair all by itself on that plate.
The Friday Five: Hodgepodge
1. If you could do one thing in the world, what would you do? Cure cancer. (Yes, really, and my motives are mostly selfish: I don't ever want to get it or lose anyone else I love to it.)
2. If you could be any character from a book, movie, or television show, who would you be? Why? Rose Tyler from Doctor Who. I'd love to see the entire universe with someone who thinks I'm wonderful.
3. If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be? I'd reverse global warming. I know I should say removing the human capacity for prejudice or something, but I think that falls into the X-Files "never accept wishes from a genie" category.
4. If you could make out with one person of the same sex, who would it be? Not telling.
5. If you could make out with one person of the opposite sex, who would it be? Only one, forever? My husband. I wouldn't have married him if that wasn't the answer.
Discovered I had never posted my last batch of photos from the Sultana downrigging from last November.
A gull and some of the waterside houses of Chestertown.
Dogs waiting for their owners below one of the restaurants...
...and the "watchdog" on the Kalmar Nyckel. (The eye facing out to sea is open.)
A diamondback terrapin on the Mildred Belle, which is primarily an educational vessel these days rather than a fishing vessel.
The spectacular sunset driving home.
After dinner my evening consisted of Flash Gordon, Stargate: Atlantis and Torchwood (because Sci-Fi has that annoying schedule with a rerun in the middle of their all-new Friday schedule). The former is pure silliness, the latter a delight that I am very happy to have back, but I must admit that this week, at least, SGA was probably my favorite of the lot.
Spoilers: Flash is such an endearing dope...he tries to write off Aura as a bimbo, not realizing that he is the bimbo (okay, in that red outfit she was wearing it was an honest mistake), and then she out-thinks and out-plans him and saves his butt. Meanwhile, Dale, who has been written as a true bimbo thus far and played as badly, makes Lenu tell everyone on Mongo that Ming poisoned the water! And we find out about Aura's mother! I could have lived without the voodoo priestess but since I put up with Tia Dalma in POTC, I really can't complain.
SGA...where to start? With John being jealous of Rodney's plan to get married since he suspects Rodney has never gotten to second base? With Rodney's embarrassment that Katie named a cactus that gets BIGGER AND BIGGER after him? I did want to tell John that Batman would have had a rope to climb with and something to break windows with on the other end, but, you know, it was so Bugs Bunny anyway...Ronon and Keller's crazy flying oxygen tank even more so, and yes please they should do it ASAP. And Zelenka got to save the day. I still cannot believe Rodney trusted anyone with his password but I think he's proven who he should be marrying and it ain't Katie.
I saw "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" courtesy the wonders of the internet, though I don't crave Torchwood the way I do Doctor Who. When that show is good, it is perfectly wonderful, but there are still a couple of episodes from last season ("Countrycide" in particular) that I'm sorry I watched. But I had read James Marsters announce that John Barrowman is a better kisser than Sarah Michelle Gellar, and then I watched the online clip that came out in advance of the episode, so no way was I missing this episode even if people said it was violent or gruesome. It was more gruesome than I would have preferred -- I think as a matter of storytelling it was important to show Jack's body and John's reaction to it, but the thug from the beginning bleeding all over the pavement was really NOT necessary, and there are always moments like that. I loved Jack's being thrown by Gwen's being engaged, then awkwardly asking Ianto out (they're writing him much better now), and I've always loved Tosh. Plus, having been in Cardiff, it's a trip to see places I recognize.
Snow's mostly gone but it's supposed to be bitterly cold over the weekend. Will find indoor places to go!
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