Poem for Saturday

Chair (A Dream)
By Adonis
Translated by Michael Beard and Adnan Haydar

Long ago I screamed at the city:
Husk of the world,
I'm holding you in my hand.
Long ago I muttered at the ship,
my song in a rose-red blaze:
all or nothing.

As for you, my grandchildren, I'm tired,
tired of myself, tired of the seas.
Bring me that chair.

--------

Not a very eventful Lughnasadh, though I did spend some time reading about the descent of the Goddess. Took the kids to the pool, kicked around some numbers for Adam's Bar Mitzvah next spring and stressed out about it, finally finished putting away my jewelry and little things from the trip (silly, since I have to pack a week from tonight for the trip to the beach), wrote a review of "The Offspring" (and speaking of Star Trek, PerkyPaduan sent me reasons to be worried about Abrams' upcoming reboot, which made me smile as I completely agree).

Watched Doctor Who's "Journey's End" on the widescreen TV -- the things I loathed about it the first time around still make me very unhappy, but I still adore Catherine Tate's performance and David Tennant is compulsively watchable too, and really, how many shows are there where there are five female characters I adore, even if I'm aggravated with things about how they're written in any given episode? Then watched Stargate Atlantis and realized I really must see the first few episodes of the season to follow what's been going on, though it was worth seeing just for the fact that when Rodney got the drive going, Paul and I were both making Han Solo hyperdrive jokes, and then Ronon had his tantrum and John said, "Easy, Chewie!" Hee!

And we received in the mail today something that I first saw when we were in a market across the country, then wrote when we got home to the woman who ran the stall to ask if she still had it and if she would ship it to me. It's a present for both Adam and the cats:


Daisy contemplates making herself comfortable in this penguin fishie cat bed by Jonah's Pet Beds.


I first discovered its existence at this stall at the Saturday Market in Salem on July 5th; we were afraid it would not survive a cross-country trip.


Cinnamon was first to come inspect it when it arrived...


...and she was contemplating going inside when Daisy arrived.


Daisy at first feigned disinterest...


...but as soon as Cinnamon left, she got in and flopped over, tipping the fishie.


She slept like that for quite a while.


And after she ate, she lay down in it upright!

Friday Fiver Catch-up:
The Friday Five August 1: Name One
1. Name one movie you wish everybody could watch. Jesus Christ Superstar
2. Name two books you wish everybody could read. Hamlet and The Tempest by William Shakespeare.
3. Name three goals you wish everybody could achieve. Health, happiness, leaving the world a better place.
4. Name four people you wish everybody could know. Their parents, soulmate and BFF.
5. Name five places you wish everybody could visit. The ocean, the mountains, the forest, the desert, the open plains.

The Friday Five July 25: Hair!
1. What type of hair do you have? (Thin, Normal, Thick, Frizzy, etc.) Very curly frizzy thinning hair.
2. What color is your hair currently? Dark brown turning gray.
3. What colors have you dyed/highlighted your hair? None, except for Halloween.
4. If you could dye your hair any color, what would it be? ...
5. What is your hair's length? Just past my shoulders when dry, halfway down my back when wet and straight.

The Friday Five July 17: Philosophical Stuff
1. If you could change one life-changing event in the life of someone important to you, would you? If I could run into traffic and save someone's kid, yes, but I don't believe in playing God and bringing back the dead or anything like that.
2. Which do you think is easier to do, being friends for many years, or being life partners for many years? Ideally, both.
3. Have you ever walked away from someone you considered a friend? Not by my own choice, but yes, when she made it clear that she didn't want me in her life.
4. If you had to choose between telling the truth and hurting a friend or lying and making them happy, which would you choose? That's much too vague a question -- are we talking about "Do you like my dress" or "Do you think I should apply for that Defense Department job"?
5. Which would you rather hear--the truth which will hurt, or the comforting lie? Again, it completely depends on the context. Usually the truth, but in life-or-death situations, who knows.

The Friday Five July 11: Charity
1. Do you have a favourite cause that you support? Both animal causes and ACLU/Planned Parenthood/NARAL.
2. If so, how do you support it? Donations and lots of running my mouth about the issues.
3. Have you been an active member of an organization (attending meetings, volunteering etc)? Yes.
4. Have you ever led any group? Not of that sort.
5. If so, how was your experience with it? Or if not, why, is it a conscious choice, of lack of opportunity? I haven't had great experiences in such groups in academia so I tend not to go looking for leadership situations like that.

The Friday Five July 4: Drinks
1. What drink wakes you up best in the morning? Hot tea.
2. During the day, what do you drink to keep going? Water or cranberry juice.
3. Do you drink the recommended 8 glasses of water per day? Why/why not? Probably some days I do, some days I don't. I drink when I'm thirsty.
4. What are the ingredients of your favorite mixed drink? (Doesn't have to be alcoholic!) Chocolate milk. Or virgin pina coladas -- I don't mind the rum but I also don't need it.
5. Are you a coffee drinker? How do you take your coffee, if so? My favorite is Thai iced coffee with lots of sweet cream. In general I prefer coffee with lots of milk and lots of sugar.

Fannish 5 July 25: Name five plot points/arcs you hated in fandoms you ordinarily love.
1. Deep Space Nine, Worf and Jadzia's rough Klingon sex as kink that can put you in the hospital or get someone killed.
2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy falling in love with the man (well, vampire) who tried to rape her.
3. Xena: Warrior Princess, pretty much the entire Bad Seed Hope arc.
4. Harry Potter, Tonks being turned into a brainless automaton to establish Remus Lupin's heterosexuality and provide him with a child.
5. Sharpe, marrying pathetic Jane and then getting jerked around by her.

Fannish 5 July 11: Name the 5 best pilot episodes of tv series.
1. "Caretaker," Star Trek Voyager
2. "In His Own Image," Heroes
3. "Emissary," Deep Space Nine
4. "Pie-lette," Pushing Daisies
5. "12:00 A.M.-1:00 A.M.," 24

Fannish 5 July 4: Crossover relationships: Match five characters with their soulmates - from another fandom.
1. Max Guevara/Mohinder Suresh (Dark Angel/Heroes)
2. Jack Harkness/Methos (Torchwood/Highlander)
3. Doctor/Elizabeth Swann (Doctor Who/Pirates of the Caribbean)
4. Fox Mulder/Sarah Jane Smith (X-Files/The Sarah Jane Adventures)
5. Alan Shore/James T. Kirk (Boston Legal/Star Trek)