Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Poem for Wednesday and Mormon Temple Lights

The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
By Christopher Marlowe


Come live with me and be my Love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
That hills and valleys, dale and field,
And all the craggy mountains yield.

There will we sit upon the rocks
And see the shepherds feed their flocks,
By shallow rivers, to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.

There will I make thee beds of roses
And a thousand fragrant posies,
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle
Embroider'd all with leaves of myrtle.

A gown made of the finest wool
Which from our pretty lambs we pull,
Fair linèd slippers for the cold,
With buckles of the purest gold.

A belt of straw and ivy buds
With coral clasps and amber studs:
And if these pleasures may thee move,
Come live with me and be my Love.

Thy silver dishes for thy meat
As precious as the gods do eat,
Shall on an ivory table be
Prepared each day for thee and me.

The shepherd swains shall dance and sing
For thy delight each May-morning:
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me and be my Love.

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I had to go have blood drawn on an empty stomach very early this morning, which left me with a bit of a headache for the rest of the morning. So I scrapped plans to go to various stores before Snowpocalypse 2011 arrived and stayed in; fortunately 1) Paul picked up milk and toilet paper, and 2) the snow turned north and east, so that at this writing we have less than an inch on the ground. Instead did a bunch of reading -- what? No of course it wasn't about George VI, whatever gave you that idea, hahahaha. And I recorded a Showtime movie preview special for a couple of people who asked for it -- no, I'm not telling you which one!

Okay, I fail, and after taking Adam to tennis, spending an hour in the mall while waiting for him since I didn't want to leave the car parked out in potentially falling snow, I spent the evening with my family watching Shakespeare in Love, the OTHER movie that has both Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush -- oh yeah and some other good actors, including Joseph Fiennes and Rupert Everett and Judi Dench, plus Gwyneth Paltrow as the least convincing male impersonator ever and Ben Affleck auditioning for the Kevin Costner Award for British Accent By An American.

Then Colin Firth was on Jon Stewart! With Jon being all fanboyish over him and over The King's Speech, and quite a serious discussion of how George VI's story has been overshadowed by towering figures like Churchill and Roosevelt even among the British. Plus, in a story about iPhone failure, Stewart sent Colbert a text message with XXOOs, so I am going to bed happy. Well, relatively happy in a world with floods in Australia and out-of-control gun violence, but I take what distractions I can get. Here are some photos from the Mormon Temple's winter light and Christmas display last month:


The visitor center of the LDS Temple in Kensington, Maryland.


Lights cover the trees surrounding the Temple, its paths, and the parking lot.


There is a life-size animatronic of the Nativity outdoors...


...and more artwork and sculpture indoors.


Downtown embassies and consulates send ornaments to decorate the indoor Christmas trees, including this one representing Europe...


...and this one representing North America.


It's hard to get a sense of the size of the Temple from the parking lot -- it's more impressive towering over the Capitol Beltway.

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