By Constantine P. Cavafy
Translated by George Barbanis
Said Myrtias (a Syrian student
in Alexandria; in the reign of
Augustus Constans and Augustus Constantius;
in part a Pagan, and in part a Christian);
"Fortified by theory and study,
I shall not fear my passions like a coward.
I shall give my body to sensual delights,
to enjoyments dreamt-of,
to the most daring amorous desires,
to the lustful impulses of my blood, without
any fear, for whenever I want --
and I shall have the will, fortified
as I shall be by theory and study --
at moments of crisis I shall find again
my spirit, as before, ascetic."
--------
I spent this morning writing a review of "Timescape", a much more enjoyable episode than I had remembered -- I am appreciating Next Gen's sixth season so much more this time around, I wonder whether it's because I'm not six months pregnant as I was the first time I watched it or whether it's because I'm not simultaneously watching Deep Space Nine's first season, which I absolutely adored when both were new. In other entertainment news, I don't have a lot to say about this year's Emmy nominations -- I don't watch enough television, so other than hoping that a couple of favorites from Doctor Who and The Tudors might get nods (they didn't), I didn't have a lot invested...but even though I don't always like Kurt on the show, I love Chris Colfer after reading what he said about how proud he was to be nominated alongside his TV father Mike O'Malley ("I honestly couldn’t do what I do without him...I'm more excited [about his nomination] than I am about mine").
We had a busier evening than afternoon, starting with an early dinner with my parents (eggplant parmesan, which was awesome) so we could take Daniel to work on his summer research project with my friend Kay's husband. So I got to see her and her family for a bit, then we stopped at Kohl's sale on the way home so I could get a black sleeveless blouse that I keep realizing I desperately need. When we got home, I was having a craving for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl -- really for the whole series, but one at a time is fine. It's funny, I remember how I enjoyed it a lot but didn't love it the first couple of times, either -- the intensity of the fandom confused me. Of course, a lot of that is because the fandom was all about Jack Sparrow then, and I didn't realize the franchise would end up being all about the education of Elizabeth Swann, Pirate King. She is one of my favorite film characters ever and I can overlook a lot of flaws and irritations because of her.
Fannish5: Name your five favorite foreign-language films/series. (Where foreign is foreign to you, no matter what languages you consider your own.)
1. Cinema Paradiso
2. Wo hu cang long (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)
3. Hauru no ugoku shiro (Howl's Moving Castle)
4. Le retour de Martin Guerre
5. Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown)
A costumed interpreter discusses life for poor Irish farmers at Staunton's Museum of Frontier Culture. Note the dirt floor and peat smoke-stained fireplace.
These chickens were running around inside the small area for tools; there isn't a full barn on the Irish farm.
Sparrows had made nests above the farm tools.
After a day of working with the crops and pigs, the Irish farmer would go to work weaving the thread spun by his family.
This is the Irish farmhouse and piggery.
By comparison the German farm's three buildings look large and almost luxurious.
I love the faces on these decorated jugs.
There is a well behind the farmhouse.
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