By Bei Dao (Zhao Zhenkai)
We've seen in the mirror
things from a distant past:
a forest of steles, the surviving legs
of desks that were set on fire
and undried ink marks in the sky
The noise comes from the other side of the mirror
The upward path of the future
is a gigantic slippery slide
after knowing delirious joy
from the sage's position
we are born from the mirror
And stay here forever watching
the things from a distant past
--------
Hufflepants and I saw Bride and Prejudice, quite possibly my favorite romantic comedy ever. This is the first time I have really adored anything based on Jane Austen, despite a soft spot for the Rickman-Thompson Sense and Sensibility. Three undergraduate and two graduate courses in the literature of the period couldn't make me love Austen; a women's studies minor couldn't make me love Austen; Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier couldn't make me love Austen; Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle couldn't make me love Austen. Aishwarya Rai and Martin Henderson managed it, however, and I would like to believe that it is not solely because Aishwarya is so gorgeous (as is Namrata Shirodkar, who played her older sister). They were charming as the characters as well.
Okay, so everything that annoyed me in Austen the first time around continued to annoy me in the movie. Happy meetings and endings are contingent upon the wealth of the people involved, the younger generation all have many moments of seeming intolerable, the older generation all have even more moments of seeming intolerable. But in this case, the music, the costumes, the thoroughly likeable actors, the fact that I didn't secretly loathe the Darcy character all improved matters immeasurably. I have absolutely loved the Americanized Bollywood films I've seen, like The Guru, but I know nothing about films that are popular in India besides the titles of some of the most famous. Anyone have any recommendations?
I stopped in Target on the way home because my younger son has been begging for his own digital camera. I don't want to spend a lot of money on this, as he does not have the best track record for not losing/breaking electronics, though he has been very good with his Game Boy and other more recent acquisitions. Does anyone have recommendations for a good cheap digital camera, the under-$100 variety (Polaroid, Vivitar, etc.)? I want one that can use memory cards, that isn't limited by its built-in memory. Fortunately the kids went over to a friend's house between school and dinner, because I had to cram three articles in during the afternoon. I very nearly got another migraine but this time I overdosed on Advil and managed to stave it off. The key seems to be taking double the over-the-counter dose the minute my head starts to hurt (which I believe is the prescription strength of ibuprofen anyway, so as long as I don't do it every day, I ought to be all right, right?)
1. Men. As distinct from elves, hobbits, and other races of Middle-earth. And I have no really good answer why I'm drawn to the race as a whole, because we certainly see more reprehensive individuals from this race than from any other besides orcs, so far as I can recall -- perhaps it's that I identify with them, particularly the ones who have to deal with the most unpleasant of the lot.
2. Bajorans. Sometimes they're the Jews, sometimes they're the Palestinians. Sometimes they're Native Americans, sometimes they're Cathars. They're always complicated, though, never all good or all martyred, survivors by means that occasionally seem not worth the price. In many ways they're more human than the 24th century humans on Deep Space Nine.
3. Cardassians. Take what I just said about the Bajorans being complicated, redux. As a species, overall, we've seen a great deal of atrocious behavior from them. Then we've seen the political rebel who believed Kira to be his long-lost daughter; the man who pretended to be the architect of a concentration camp to make his people acknowledge their crimes; the legate who killed his friend and mentor's half-Bajoran daughter for being a traitor and ended up putting his planet's hopes in the hands of a Bajoran who hated him for it. I have never for one instant been bored by a Cardassian episode, even when I wanted to see Dukat flayed alive.
4. Narn. The parallels between this Babylon 5 race and the Jews seem even more obvious to me than the Bajorans -- the religious background, the occupation, the will to be free. And, sadly at times, the courage and self-sacrifice too.
5. The Supers. These are genetically modified humans from Nancy Kress' Beggars series, bred to be brilliant by parents who couldn't completely control the genome and ended up producing a generation of geniuses with major emotional and communication problems. The kids end up attempting to fix themselves, their parents (the Sleepless, also a group of genetically altered humans), and the human race as a whole, with extremely mixed results for individuals, cultures and global society.
1 thing that's on your mind right now. Getting my Imitrex prescription refilled before going to England at the end of the month.
2 songs you like. "Strangers in a Car" by Marc Cohn and "These Are Days" by 10,000 Maniacs.
3 things that make you angry. George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld.
4 things that make you happy. My husband, my kids, my extended family, my pets.
5 people who have made a big impact on your life. My mother, my mother's mother, my freshman English professor, my college roommate,
1. Do you tend to exaggerate or underestimate?
Exaggerate. I almost never underestimate. *g*
2. What is the last "white" lie that you told?
It involved how much I loved a piece of fan fiction. I didn't hate it, just didn't think it was as great as various other people seemed to think, but I had no specific concrit so I went with the gush.
3. Can you forgive a liar?
It depends on the lie. Over trivial things like how someone's hair looks, hell yes. Over big things like whether you have another secret online identity that you're using to spy on me? Hell no.
4. Do you hold a grudge?
No, but I don't tend to forget certain things. I certainly don't treat people nastily over things that happened quite awhile ago. But if you've treated me like shit, do not expect me to be your friend.
5. What's the biggest lie you've ever told?
I have no idea. I am a pretty honest person when it comes to things that matter. It was probably something to shirk responsibility when I had family obligations -- that I couldn't go in to work or something.
Tomorrow
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