Saturday, April 12, 2008

Poem for Saturday

Surreptitious Kissing
By Denis Johnson


I want to say that
forgiveness keeps on

dividing, that hope
gives issue to hope,

and more, but of course I
am saying what is

said when in this dark
hallway one encounters

you, and paws and
assaults you—love

affairs, fast lies—and you
say it back and we

blunder deeper, as would
any pair of loosed

marionettess, any couple
of cadavers cut lately

from the scaffold,
in the secluded hallways

of whatever is
holding us up now.

--------

I spent this morning with CiderCupcakes watching the BBC's Robin Hood -- I'd seen the first episode but not subsequent ones, and loved it -- then having hummus at California Pizza Kitchen and discussing BSG. I spent the afternoon writing a review of Next Gen's "The Bonding" -- a better episode than I had remembered, if rather scattered, and the episode that brought us all Ron Moore, who submitted the spec script that led to his hiring. After dinner with my parents, I watched Moore's latest, about which I have pretty much nothing to say except that it's pretty sad the Cylons and suspected Cylons are so much more interesting than the humans - particularly the women - and that BSG really suffers in comparison to The Sarah Jane Adventures, which I don't suppose it can help, having no one as thoroughly awesome as Sarah Jane Smith.


A spherical unguentarium with spikes, late 1st century, from Aleppo, Syria.


Serpent amulets from Beit She'an, likely created by the cult of Amun when it was a center of Egyptian occupation rule.


Fragments of goddess figurines, possibly representative of Asherah, traces of whose worship remain in the language of the Bible alongside that of Yahweh.


A wood statue of a nude man from ancient Egypt around 2100 BCE.


A panel from a false door in the tomb of Seneb-es, an acquaintance of the pharaoh, and Mer-ankh-ef, the ruler of the estate, showing the couple at a table heaped with offerings.


A limestone false door stela from the Sixth Dynasty tomb chapel of a priest of Ptah, showing the deceased with offerings to Osiris and Anubis.


Massive imperial guardian lions -- the male resting a paw on a globe representing the flower of life, the female on a baby lion -- stand on either side of the entrance to the Far East exhibits. Behind them is part of the Egyptian collection including the sarcophagus bottom through the doorway.


FridayFiver: Singing mighty protest songs
1. When were you born?
1966.
2. What's your favorite photograph? Probably Earthrise.
3. What's the longest distance you've run? A mile. I was the third-slowest person in my eighth grade gym class to run it, and I weighed 97 pounds then. I despise running.
4. What is familiar? Cats curled up against me in bed.
5. What do you count on? One hand if it's a multiplication table, both hands if it's addition.

TheFridayFive: Theme: Change
1. If you had the ability to legally change your name, would you? To what?
I've always had the ability and never wanted to change it. I didn't take my husband's only-very-slightly-less-common last name when I married him.
2. What do you do with change that you receive from banks/purchases/find on the ground? Usually put it in a metal toffee bank in the kitchen till there's enough to take to the bank, process through the machine and deposit.
3. If you could travel back in time to change the course of one historical event, what event would it be? I wouldn't. I learned that lesson from umpteen butterfly effect science fiction movies/shows.
4. Would you rather live a safe, stable, moderately interesting life or one where every day was dangerous, volatile, and different? Safe, stable, moderately interesting, as I am sure is obvious from this journal. *g*
5. What do you think you'll be remembered for when you die and, if you could, would you change it to something else? I hope my kids remember me as a good parent and some of the kids I taught remember me as a good teacher. I don't have delusions of being significant in politics, medicine, etc.

Fannish5: What are the five most depressing episodes/chapters/scenes?
1. "Night," Star Trek: Voyager
, the episode in which Kathryn Janeway, Star Trek's first female captain, locks herself in her quarters and refuses to command her ship. And no one even sees fit to offer her medical attention.
2. "Duet," Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the shattering Holocaust-themed episode in which Kira discovers that not all Cardassians are her enemies, but some Bajorans can never accept that.
3. "Damage," Star Trek: Enterprise, when Archer decides torture would be acceptable to discover Xindi secrets and T'Pol almost dies for her addiction to Trellium-D.
4. "Gridlock," Doctor Who, when the Doctor explains to Martha that his planet is gone and he's alone in the universe.
5. "Lover Come Back," Dallas, when Dusty throws Sue Ellen out after he's paralyzed because he doesn't believe she can ever truly love him in that damaged state. (Yes, I know this is dorky but I was 12 or 13 when I saw that episode and it made a big impact.)

Daniel is still coughing and complaining of sore throat, and between the pollen and barometer fluctuations before the current thunderstorm, I have a headache, so I am going to forego any further attempts at coherence!

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