Poem for Friday

The Trunk of the Olive Tree
By Homer
Translated by Robert Fitzgerald

        An old trunk of olive
grew like a pillar on the building plot,
and I laid out our bedroom round that tree,
lined up the stone walls, built the walls and roof,
gave it a doorway and smooth-fitting doors.
Then I lopped off the silvery leaves and branches,
hewed and shaped that stump from the roots up
into a bedpost, drilled it, let it serve
as model for the rest. I planed them all,
inlaid them all with silver, gold and ivory,
and stretched a bed between -- a pliant web
of oxhide thongs dyed crimson.

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Thursday is always my early day yet it always seems to be the day on which I get the least practical work done, like I never fully wake up and stay half in a dream state all day. I can write and edit fic, I can cry over anything I read, but I can't stay focused on anything for long. I did some research about places we want to see in England, and I read some Hornblower, and I tried to come up with a system for organizing all the cords for my cameras, Palm and other portable electronics...anyone know who makes a good case for that? It's also the craziest carpool day, with one son having violin at the same time the other has Hebrew school, so by dinner I am always sort of fuzzed out. (, we missed each other again! Next time we must specify who will call whom as I'd forgotten and by the time I remembered, it was nearly midnight here!)

Crossover perversion: Jolene Blalock, Star Trek: Enterprise's T'Pol, talked to Playboy about what her ultimate love scene would be like. "It would have to be a psychological thriller with Gary Oldman," she said. "The female would be the unwitting victim, much like the kind Michelle Pfeiffer usually plays. Oldman would play the guy you don't want to like but do anyway." Oh dear, Jolene and I have common Mary Sue fantasies!

But Prince Harry is a fucktard. I hope it's true that Prince Charles privately ordered both his sons to visit Auschwitz. I can't believe the royals are now acting outraged that people would put pressure on "the boy" for a real apology rather than a two line statement I am sure he did not write. He's 20 years old, he is not a child. He has inherited all the privileges of being a royal; he can accept some responsibility for having a public life.

Instead of photos today, my two new Harry Potter het OTPs! I am writing the first one for the FA "What's Your OTP" 2005 Valentine's Day Challenge. The second one just made me smile.

FredWeasley wants to give a Valentine to NarcissaMalfoy

DennisCreevey would become an Animagus for NymphadoraTonks

And this is one hell of a bunny; I got it one click too late to use, but I might try to work it in anyway...

DracoMalfoy studies with RodolphusLestrange

...but if only Harry and Sirius had known this, everything might have happened differently.

Buckbeak swore everlasting loyalty to Voldemort

What's Your OTP?
TheRogue.net & FictionAlley Valentine's Day Challenge

I'm feeling boring tonight, as I am apparently the only person in North America who does not watch Lost. Does anyone else boggle on Thursdays at the quantity of "OMGLOST!!!" posts? There are over thirty entries on my flist about it thus far this week, and those are just the ones I actually managed to see. Doesn't anyone still love Smallville even a little? And I'm starting to have BSG:TNG fear: I fell asleep during the miniseries. Ah well, GIP, because it's been my Wednesday night love off and on since long before the others were on that night. Sending out love to and and their kitties in mourning. And gacked from many people, the A to Z Meme.

A – Accent: Vaguely Brooklyn, unless you're actually from Brooklyn in which case you may tell me that I sound like a Southerner (has happened before). But I picked up a lot of my parents' phrases, like standing on line instead of in line.
B - Breast size: 38D.
C - Chore you hate: Cleaning the toilets.
D - Dad's name: Roy.
E - Essential make-up item: Sunblock, in summer. I almost never wear makeup. If I'm going to a wedding, it's likely to be eyeliner.
F - Favorite perfume: Some mix of vanilla, clove, patchouli and nag champa oils, used very sparingly.
G - Gold or silver: Silver.
H - Hometown: Washington, DC. Born in the city, raised in the suburbs.
I - Insomnia: Rarely.
J - Job title: Freelance journalist. Or just writer.
K - Kids: Two boys.
L - Living arrangements: Townhouse with husband, children, two cats, two gerbils.
M - Mum's birthplace: Brooklyn, New York.
N - Number of apples you've eaten: I have no idea! More than three. *g*
O - Overnight hospital stays: Two for childbirth, one for a hernia when I was nine months old.
P - Phobia: Nuclear holocaust.
Q - ?
R - Religious affiliation: Radical feminist Renewal movement Jew.
S - Siblings: One sister.
T - Time you wake up: As late as I can get away with. Would naturally sleep till 9:30 every day left to my own devices.
U - Unnatural hair colors you've worn: I have never put any color in my hair except the washable kind for Halloween.
V - Vegetable you refuse to eat: Broccoli and asparagus.
W - Worst habit: Losing my temper.
X - X-rays: Besides the dentist, I can't recall having had any. Ultrasounds, yes.
Y - Yummy foods you make: S'mores.
Z - Zodiac sign: Sagittarius, with Scorpio rising.