By Petrarch
Translated by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey
Set me where as the sun doth parch the green,
Or where his beams do not dissolve the ice;
In temperate heat where he is felt and seen;
With proud people, in presence sad and wise;
Set me in base, or yet in high degree,
In the long night, or in the shortest day,
In clear weather, or where mists thickest be,
In lost youth, or when my hairs be grey;
Set me in earth, in heaven, or yet in hell,
In hill, in dale, or in the foaming flood;
Thrall, or at large, alive where so I dwell,
Sick, or in health, in ill fame or good:
Yours will I be, and with that only thought
Comfort myself when that my hope is nought.
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A wedding sonnet translated by the Earl of Surrey, whom The Tudors spent so much time ridiculing, for my 20th anniversary. I am going out to dinner and to a concert with Paul -- my parents are taking the kids -- but first I am going out for Thai food and to see that epic love story *snerk* Eclipse with Gblvr and Hufflepants plus Adam and his friend. The latter came over today and watched Twilight, since he had never seen it. This is my third time through, and all I can say is that while I'd never try to claim that it's remotely original or well scripted or well acted or in any way clever, I'd much rather watch it than The Dark Knight, Iron Man or the Trek reboot.
Otherwise, it was a fairly uneventful day. I had to have bloodwork done in the morning, and I mistakenly thought fasting meant no water after midnight, so I felt extra-horrible and it took a lot longer to find a vein since I was dehydrated. Fortunately I got a really good phlebotomist and it was over quickly. At lunchtime I went to the mall with the kids to look for a camera bag for Adam's new camcorder, an anniversary card for Paul, and Greenberry frozen yogurt for everyone, so it was a successful trip. I read about the baby red panda born at the National Zoo and the ridiculous questions at Elena Kagan's confirmation hearings (though she's generally pretty funny -- I loved her comment about spending Christmas at a Chinese restaurant like all Jews).
A black bear is as possessive of a toy at Durham's Museum of Life & Science as our cats are of their toys.
The farm area has goats...
...sharing territory with a donkey, plus nearby sheep, ducks, a calf, and pigs.
This photo was taken in the butterfly house...
...which is also home to caterpillars, birds, some amphibians...
...and this goliath bird-eating tarantula, which fortunately is nowhere near the aforementioned birds.
The exhibit on North Carolina wildlife has young alligators. It used to have adult alligators, but they got too big for the enclosure, so the museum exchanged them with a sanctuary for these babies.
And the regional exhibit has adorable sleepy opossums.
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