Poem for Friday

I Feel As Lit By Fire
By Michelangelo Buonarroti
Translated by Michael Sullivan

I feel as lit by fire a cold countenance
That burns me from afar and keeps itself ice-chill;
A strength I feel two shapely arms to fill
Which without motion moves every balance.
Unique spirit and my minds sole tendance,
Who is undying yet others seeks to kill,
I find one binds my heart, unbound his will,
And for who gladdens only I feel grievance.
How can it be, lord, that a face so lovely
Should work on mine in contrary fashion,
For who has no ill can hardly others harm?
To the glad life that's taken from me,
It behaves, save you forbid it, like the sun,
It heats the world and yet itself's not warm.

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Poem snicked from , because she wrote Smallville fic that made me very happy. Read it here: "Front Porch".

I had a very nice Thursday, relatively calm, got all my work done, bought laundry detergent and new batteries for my son's camera, didn't overeat, and introduced my kids to the wonder that is The Star Wars Pants Page -- okay, the joke is kind of old but they'd never seen it before and we had hysterical laughter filling the house for hours, as they proceeded to pants The Wizard of Oz and Enterprise and other things that to the best of my knowledge had not yet been pantsed. (I know there is a Lord of the Rings pants page and thought there was a more complete one than this one, does anyone know where?) This all started because it was time to watch The Empire Strikes Back, so that tomorrow night we can watch Return of the Jedi and have done the six in two weeks. My children have announced that they prefer CGI Yoda to Puppet Yoda, which is a great disappointment to me, but otherwise it has been enormous fun sharing this with my kids.

Before all this I had lunch with , after which we walked around the lake near the multiplex to see the small creatures in the photos below -- in addition to the eight fluffy babies there were a whole gaggle of adolescent geese in the water, plus a great many ducks and grownup geese honking for food. I promised some photos for her kids so here they are. Weather does not get any more gorgeous in this area so it was a perfect day for this. We had the usual late Thursday craziness taking one son to violin while picking the other up from the late bus, then we had leftovers for dinner, but will make up for it later since it's my father's birthday Saturday and since we are going to be away, we are having a big dinner with my parents ( is cooking and making German chocolate cake, I so love being married to a man who likes to cook).

There is a lovely photo of Judi Dench and Maggie Smith from The Washington Post as well as this discussion on the subtext of their new film, Ladies In Lavender, by reporter Peter Marks, which totally cracked me up:

I innocently suggest that in the first few minutes of Ladies in Lavender, before we know they are sisters, the nature of the relationship between Dench's character and Smith's remains vague, and that "lavender" is a color suggestive of a certain type of love.

At the outset, the actresses are seen walking together on a beach. "The first scene," I point out, "ends with the two of you going up the stairs to bed."

The women stare back at me incredulously.

"Oh, please!" Dench declares. "You're filthy-minded!"

Smith chimes in, in her best Miss Jean Brodie voice: "You've got a dirty, filthy mind!"

A publicist, sitting with another publicist at a table in the room, cheerfully interjects that there is a magazine in Minnesota called Lavender, devoted to gay and lesbian issues.

"I tried to change the title," Dance says.

"Yes, you were told!" Smith says.

"No, Charlie!" Dench says.

That, anyway, is what my tape recorder claims was spoken. In an effort to steer the discussion in some direction, I ask, "Is it because of English lavender in the countryside?"

Smith replies, "It means ladies who are slightly past it."

Ah. I try, once more, to excuse my initial minutes of misapprehension about the film.

"I think it's the way your mind works!" Smith says. "What a squalid -- "

And yeah, I'm still behind on comments and stuff, and that probably isn't going to be remedied till next week because we're going out of town for the weekend. Hope everyone who celebrates Memorial Day has fun plans!














And a ladybug encounters her own reflection on a leaf.