Poem for Saturday

Of the Shop
By Constantine P. Cavafy
Translated by Rae Dalven

He wrapped them carefully, neatly
in costly green silk.

Roses of ruby, lilies of pearl,
violets of amethyst. As he himself judged,

as he wanted them, they look beautiful to him; not as he saw
or studied them in nature. He will leave them in the safe,

a sample of his daring and skillful craft.
When a buyer enters the shop

he takes from the cases other wares and sells -- superb jewels --
bracelets, chains, necklaces, and rings.

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I spent the afternoon with Gblvr and her new (imaginary) boyfriend, Chris Pine. First we watched Bottle Shock, which, as you all know, I already loved because of Alan Rickman all those beautiful shots of Napa Valley and all the poetic talk about wine. Then we watched Blind Dating, which I was surprised how much I enjoyed given that it's primarily a romantic comedy and the women's roles leave quite a bit to be desired (which I expect is why it has so many bad reviews; it has sufficient Seth Rogen-type jokes to piss off people who hate that kind of humor, yet it's about a blind guy trying to find true love while at the same time deciding whether to have dangerous experimental surgery that would allow him to see. Pine is quite good in it, and Anjali Jay is likeable though her role is too small (and Jane Seymour has a totally nutty role and Sendhil Ramamurthy plays the romantic competition which is just fun).

From McCrillis Gardens:

















Before Gblvr left, I decided I had to show her George Lucas in Love, which I hadn't watched in years and it really made me snicker. Then I tried all evening to write a Next Gen review, but kept getting interrupted by kids over various matters both mundane and profound -- and "Darmok" deserves better than that level of distraction -- so it will not get posted until Saturday morning (it's already Saturday morning in Europe, anyway, so it was going to be late no matter what). As usual I'm completely behind on comments and e-mail and we are supposed to meet my in-laws in Baltimore on Saturday afternoon, so I may need to beg another weekend's indulgence!