Poem for Saturday

Melancholia
By Robert Bridges

The sickness of desire, that in dark days
Looks on the imagination of despair,
Forgetteth man, and stinteth God his praise;
Nor but in sleep findeth a cure for care.
Incertainty that once gave scope to dream
Of laughing enterprise and glory untold,
Is now a blackness that no stars redeem,
A wall of terror in a night of cold.

Fool! thou that hast impossibly desired
And now impatiently despairest, see
How nought is changed: Joy's wisdom is attired
Splended (sic) for others' eyes if not for thee:
Not love or beauty or youth from earth is fled:
If they delite thee not, 'tis thou art dead.

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I did chores this morning, made a couple of phone calls and caught up on mail, then wrote a review of "The Defector". My family had a rushed dinner after the kids came home before driving with my mother to Daniel's high school for the spring chorus concert, where we met my in-laws and got an hour and a half of terrific music. My father wasn't feeling well (he has what I had two weeks ago) so he stayed home.


The chamber chorus performed Andre J. Thomas' "Fences," with accompaniment on the piano.


The boys' chorus sang Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl."


The girls' chorus sang Ella Fitzgerald's version of "A-Tisket, A-Tasket," complete with choreography.


The full chorus, with graduating seniors in front, performed "You Raise Me Up."


Student a cappella group InToneNation sang "Stand By Me" segueing into "Beautiful Girls"; they also did Justin Timberlake's "What Goes Around" and a hymn about having wide faith. The girl blurred in motion on the left is the musical director-conductor.


This graduating senior played Liszt's piano etude "La Campanella." Superbly.


Among the guitar ensemble's pieces were "All I Have To Do Is Dream," an adaptation of a Bach chorale, the tango classic "La Cumparsita," Casablanca's "As Time Goes By" and Lennon & McCartney's "Day Tripper."


And the combined groups did "Spirit Eternal" by Carl Strommen.

Friday Fiver: One more trip
1. Are you a good worker? If I feel that I'm being treated fairly and the work has some purpose, I'm a very good worker.
2. What do you carry? Almost no cash, my driver's license, photos of my kids, Imitrex, a tampon, a miniature labyrinth.
3. Do you know your neighbors? I live on a cul-de-sac of townhouses, so there are many and I don't know all of them. The ones on either side of my house, yes.
4. Where do you like to go for a day trip? Outdoors, either the mountains or the water. Indoors, either museums or someplace with animals.
5. What is at your feet? A computer wire, my son's shoes, a cat.

The Friday Five: TV Time!
1. What's your favourite TV network? BBC America, plus the BBC shows we get on Sci-Fi.
2. If you could create your own channel, what would it be? First-rate utopian fiction with fantastic women characters and some really hot relationships that aren't all between young attractive people.
3. What TV show did you watch as a child, that you wish they would bring back?
4. What show have you always hated, and wonder why they ever made such a dumb show? I never understood the popularity of either Seinfeld or Friends.
5. What TV show's seasons would you buy on DVD? I still need seasons 2-6 of Deep Space Nine and the entire run of Xena! And I wouldn't mind having X-Files and West Wing either. But the unreleased show I most want is VR.5.

Fannish 5: In what five fictional locations would you love to live?
1. Avalon from The Mists of Avalon.
2. Magical London from Harry Potter.
3. Starfleet Academy from Star Trek.
4. Rivendell from The Lord of the Rings.
5. Gallifrey from Doctor Who.

I had to miss Sarah Jane -- will make it up tomorrow -- and had already seen "The Sontaran Stratagem," so BSG was my only Sci-Fi Friday experience...and I must admit that as mad as the show makes me and as mediocre as I think it is, at least it isn't boring, which I thought it was the first few times I watched the reinvention, particularly the mini-series. I think Starbuck's relatively small role this week probably helped. *g*

Spoilers: So now Sharon is as batshit crazy as every single other woman on this show! At least she's in good company! I didn't know whether to laugh or whimper at the way Laura busted Tori for fucking Baltar, and Tori's earnest declaration that she has come to believe in his spiritual message but still values Laura's friendship and trust (to which Laura says, "Clearly my friendship and trust mean frak" and then adds that she doesn't care whether Tori has to spend the night on her knees praying or just on her knees, she still wants information about Baltar). Psychos and whores, that's our girls. So about that preview -- did Tigh get Six pregnant? Is that how they bust him? Wow! I see that Sarah Connor is coming back to Fox in the fall but New Amsterdam is not...ah well, the latter might not have gotten any good and maybe the former will!