It is frustrating to try to sing along with Zemfira. I really have no idea how to imitate Russian. We are going to go to Crixa Cakes tomorrow, though, which doesn't solve the inability to sing in Russian problem, but makes me happy all the same.
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(4)
09:42:27 PM,
Friday 25 February 2005
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OMG! China Miéville thinks the same thing I do about the His Dark Materials trilogy! I feel so validated.
Yes, I am aware that it is completly stupid of me to continually worry that anything I think (especially in cases of disagreeing with large quantities of smart people) is probably not right/worth thinking, but I usually do anyway, so seeing people who write beautifully echo my own thoughts is a very happy-making thing.
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(12)
08:38:42 PM,
Thursday 17 February 2005
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*Call landlady Left message on machine. So, one cause of anxiety removed.
*Drink tea/eat something Well, water, but same end objective. And veggie lasagne. Mmmm.
*Return videos so that the "end of late fees" doesn't mean the "beginning of ownership"
*Send Gwen her books already. It's been two years now
*The dishes, Julia; if you don't do them today, Amnesty International will get on your case when you finally do try on account of the way you'll be destroying a primitive community Not nearly so scary as I thought it would be. Good.
*What about that CD you promised Kerndy? well, it's ready to send anyway.
*And the book?
*Very possibly some form of chocolate ingestion is necessary, for health reasons, of course Thank you, Tori, for reminding me that we have two big jars of nutella just waiting to be devoured.
*Bring the remaining shells in from the deck. They aren't going to dry there Not only did they not dry, they accumulated wet bits of tree droppings from the neighbor's shedding tree (dunno what kind of tree it is, but the droppings aren't even pretty. Boo), and the shells I turned over to try to catch rainwater didn't even manage that. So, now I've a pile of wet shells with bits of tree attached on the bathroom sink. But I did see a grey squirrel while I was out, so that was nice.
*Send Tanya's prize now that you have her address
*Take the trash out Scarier than I imagined as there was a mysterious black gooey sludge coating the bottom of the kitchen bin. Ick. Thank Australia for tea tree oil cleaner.
*Rip several CDs and prepare playlist for long car trip What I've done will be fine I think.
*Figure out what to pack and make a list so you don't forget things (like shampoo, remember how that sucked last week?)
*Cross this line out just for good measure Always fun to cross things off the list right off, don't you think?
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(2)
03:19:08 PM,
Thursday 17 February 2005
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So, the Grosse Pointe Blank DVD we got from Blockbuster has a "PLEASE REWIND TAPE" sticker on it. Moss says this is a fairly common occurrence. Is it stupidity, or Blockbuster employees having a laugh, do you think?
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(5)
01:21:19 AM,
Wednesday 16 February 2005
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Also, while checking to see if I remembered that parts of oak trees are poisonous, I stumbled across some pictures of baby llamas!
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(9)
09:09:09 PM,
Tuesday 15 February 2005
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It doesn't do much good to lay seashells out on the deck to dry if the weather is going to insist on being consistently wet. I thought of baking them, but that seems like a potentially Very Bad Idea. I may well try it anyway.
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(3)
08:56:35 PM,
Tuesday 15 February 2005
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Mail! From Libby! With mix CD! Eeeee!
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(2)
08:17:50 PM,
Tuesday 15 February 2005
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For those of you who are grumbly about VD, another gem by David:
(click for full card)
This has been a public service announcement.
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(10)
02:55:03 PM,
Monday 14 February 2005
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Sign # 897 that you are in fact a nerd:
At home of an evening you find yourself having a conversation with your domestic partner, which culminates in:
Partner: I really want to read Roe V. Wade.
You: Me too.
Partner: In fact, I think we should listen to the oral arguments and then read it.
You: That would be fun!
Partner: Yeah!
So, um, yeah. That just happened. I don't think I blogged about the argument over who would get to read Kant's Critique of Pure Reason first either, but we did have a brief tussle about that... while at a friend's house, as if it were perfectly normal social gathering talk. Hmmm.
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(11)
04:05:35 AM,
Friday 11 February 2005
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For all you non-believers, when was the last time YOUR GOD gave you $10,000? Yeah, that's what I thought.
That is rather compelling evidence...
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(2)
08:27:09 PM,
Tuesday 8 February 2005
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Awww! I just found a valentine in my mailbox. It's from my friend David, who is hot and gay and single and living in New York. He's also a graphic designer, and the card is clearly one of his own creations.
*On the front, a pair of lips and the words "Feel the pain."
*Inside, a suitably miserable message.
*On the back, a conversation heart that reads, "Fuck Valentine's Day".
Such an awesome valentine. Rather outdoes my Harry Potter [insert your own slash joke here] ones. Not that I've managed to remember to send those out. I wonder if I will.
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07:18:19 PM,
Tuesday 8 February 2005
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Spam o' the day today is from "Perfidiòus Hitchéd Womén" who "urgëntly wänt to obtain cômplaisant counterparts." It's really fun to stress the syllables as they're marked. Perfidiòus Hitchéd Womén indeed.
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05:58:58 PM,
Friday 4 February 2005
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There are a lot of things that make shopping at the Goodwill store a bit frightening, but I think the ominous atmosphere of the place is pretty well represented, generally speaking, by the sign on the inside of the dressing room door, which reads, "This is not a bathroom / No baño." ... Yeah, about that...
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(21)
07:16:51 PM,
Thursday 3 February 2005
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Ooh, I have just received identity theft e-mail spam! Clever clever, making it look like it was actually from my bank, but you can't catch me quite so easily. The bank has been informed.
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08:20:24 PM,
Wednesday 2 February 2005
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Guess the movie quotes is on over here if you're interested.
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(2)
10:40:30 PM,
Tuesday 1 February 2005
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Fondue and white wine and French radio!
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(2)
11:55:53 PM,
Monday 31 January 2005
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I think I want to practice sestinas. They are wicked hard, and thus appealing in a twisted way. Give me groups of six (different, to be used as ends of each line in each stanza) words, and I'll try to work with them.
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(1)
11:55:38 PM,
Friday 28 January 2005
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"You may know my name but you don't know who I am."
Incidentally, the C. was written over an S. by one of the people who found the note. Do we know any people named Liz S? (I think we do)
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(2)
09:51:04 PM,
Friday 28 January 2005
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I think it is time for a hot bath and some War and Peace.
Also, Koyaanispatsy: Lee Harvey Oswald.
(I thought putting "out of balance" on the end would just be redundant.)
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(1)
07:10:29 PM,
Friday 28 January 2005
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I hope everyone who might be worried about me will see this and be reassured that the livejournal entries that sound crazy are part of the whole Rabbit Hole Day stunt.
(See also Mira-Mira's goose-flesh inducing series.)
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(14)
12:52:28 AM,
Friday 28 January 2005
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1. Goth Quixote.
2. Ever since we watched Koyaanisqatsi, we haven't been able to stop coming up with other "out of balance" things. So far we've thought of "Koyaaniskitty: kittens out of balance", "Koyaaniscotty: small, plaid-wearing dogs out of balance", "Koyaanbiscotti: biscuits out of balance", and just now, when I thought of Goth Quixote, Moss immediately shot back, "Koyaanisgothy: goths out of balance".
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(7)
12:32:41 AM,
Thursday 27 January 2005
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I think this would be pretty funny to play at Croquet. Just take a minute to imagine it.
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(5)
08:54:47 PM,
Wednesday 26 January 2005
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Further musings about secrets (in my opendiary, soon to be posted to my livejournal as well).
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(1)
08:37:20 PM,
Wednesday 26 January 2005
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Tell me a secret.
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(21)
08:36:46 PM,
Tuesday 25 January 2005
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Oh yes, because m14m was down, I could not blog this last night when I first thought of it, so here it is now.
Dear Lars "Von" Trier,
Sincerely,
Julia
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(2)
08:00:13 PM,
Monday 24 January 2005
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Shower repertoire today included "Mon Coeur se Recommande a Vous". Nailing the "faites" is hella difficult, but I manged to do it once. Only once, but still. If I keep this up, perhaps I will actually have a passable voice in the public situations where I seem to be expected to sing, which would be nice. Of course, the nice thing about the shower is the illusion of being in a soundproof vacuum. When in public, I find that the throat constricts and the cheeks burn.
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06:00:06 PM,
Monday 24 January 2005
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Wow, I just counted the pieces of mail to send out today (all personal correspondence and not bills or something), and I've got ten. And that's before I've finished putting together two or three other things. So I expect the final count will be 12 or 13. Damn, that's some serious mail.
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04:40:43 PM,
Monday 24 January 2005
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Today is apparently a big link day in JuliaWorld. Fans of Office Space might find this interesting.
(via James)
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03:22:44 PM,
Monday 24 January 2005
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(via Kerndy)
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03:07:08 PM,
Monday 24 January 2005
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Last night: the short version.
"We have no choice but to watch Breaking the Waves now."
"We have a choice-"
"No, we don't."
"Okay."
heckling and general lamentation ensues.
"We have no choice but to watch Jeeves and Wooster and eat warm chocolate chip cookies now."
"Too right!"
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02:12:27 PM,
Monday 24 January 2005
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We have plane tickets for Croquet! Now we need a place to stay.
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(8)
12:41:34 AM,
Saturday 22 January 2005
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hellinda23 (5:38:17 pm): how bout that sleeping all day?
MossHamparts (5:38:25 pm): Wow, did you really?
hellinda23 (5:38:32 pm): I didn't mean to
MossHamparts (5:38:47 pm): That sounds awesome.
hellinda23 (5:38:53 pm): I wrote Mirabai a letter in bed because it was warmer
hellinda23 (5:39:02 pm): and the next thng I knew it was five thirty
hellinda23 (5:39:39 pm): I wonder if I will regret bad pun comment when I am more awake
MossHamparts (5:39:54 pm): Hee!
MossHamparts (6:13:39 pm): ...oh wow, that was a hell of a pun.
hellinda23 (6:15:08 pm): I was not yet truly wake and it was... just ... well... I wasn't yet awake.
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09:22:27 PM,
Thursday 20 January 2005
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Just ordered the Arcade Fire cd and a bundle of Dover Thrifts with the Barnes and Noble gift card my brother gave me for Christmas. At the end of my browsing, I had $22.00 worth of stuff, and needed to fill in three more in order to get free shipping (a nine dollar value!), so I ... well, the conversation speaks for itself, really.
Me: Moss, I have four possible choices, but I really only need one, so which should I go for? Pilgrim's Progress, Detection by Gaslight (Victorian detective stories), When I Was a Slave (slave narratives), or an anthology of poetry by American women?
Moss: well... um... will I sound really uncultured if I opt for the Victorian detective stories?
Me: Considering that we're ordering three Jane Austen novels, Jane Eyre and another classic of some variety, it would be pretty hard to call us uncultured...
Moss: Ah, right. Okay then.
I should have them all in three days. Yay! Moss swears he had the three Austen novels already (certainly he's read them all), but I've combed the apartment and can't find them and I really can't seem to go more than a few years without wanting to re-read all of them. Persuasion is my favorite, but I think I am most looking forward to Sense and Sensibility at the moment. I'm also looking forward to being able to make Jane Eyre-related jokes of the sort I've had to bite my tongue on up to now because Moss hasn't read it before.
In the meantime should I read War and peace, The Critique of Pure Reason, or Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell? Haven't read any of them (my experience with Kant has been with The Critique of Practical Reason) before, and would like to read all of them eventually. So, I'll take your votes, and read the most popular one first.
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(24)
03:10:09 AM,
Wednesday 19 January 2005
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My niece points out Amy Lowell as another example of an American woman who wrote poetry. While yesterday I was trying to help a friend with a university project, and mostly looking for older poets (and so didn't include her as she wasn't even born until 1874), I figure she is worth a shout out today.
The bio on the linked page claims that people look at her as an illustration of earlier lesbianism because in her later years she wrote erotic poetry to women. I have to say that really, as far as I can tell, she seems to have been bi-sexual, and that Sappho also wrote erotic poetry to women a hell of a lot earlier. Anyway, my favorite of her poems is Patterns, with this particularly choice bit of verse:
I shall go
Up and down,
In my gown.
Gorgeously arrayed,
Boned and stayed.
And the softness of my body will be guarded from embrace
By each button, hook, and lace.
The whole poem is much longer and well worth a read (I encourage you to read it out loud), but that bit is so wonderfully rhythmic and simple, yet elegant, that it always stays with me. I suppose I am revealing myself to be a romantic old sop who likes poetry a great deal more than one might first expect, amn't I?
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03:12:27 PM,
Tuesday 18 January 2005
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Five people have come to my blog this week looking for the Harry Potter Drinking Game. I am adding a link to my sidebar for easier visibility. Shine on, little Slashkaban game, shine on.
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04:13:03 AM,
Tuesday 18 January 2005
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Have spent the morning looking up e-texts of older poems by American women. Didn't realize it wasn't cool to like Anne Bradstreet. How can anyone who's ever written anything not love The Author to Her Book? In any case, here's a short list of female poets who lived and wrote before 1900 (the links will take you to indexes of selected poems by each):
Anne Bradstreet: a Puritan who lived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the seventeenth century. Not only does she angst about writing, she also writes love poems to her husband, misses her children after they grow up and leave, admires Queen Elizabeth I, explores spirituality, and recounts the sad tale of her house burning down in the year 1666 (among other things).
Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt: Born in 1836 in Kentucky, Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt started writing poetry early, and met with fairly substantial success. She got published in high profile journals like Harper's and the Atlantic Monthly, and she knew Walt Whitman and William Butler Yeats (among others) personally. She married John James Piatt, another poet (and journalist) in 1861, and together they ended up in Ireland (which is presumably where she hung out with Yeats, lucky girl), but she outlived him and died in New Jersey. Her rhythm and word choices often seem fanciful to me, even though the subjects of her poems aren't always. She can also be abrupt and rather blunt at times; I can't help but smile and wince at once whenever I read this.
Phillis Wheatley: Shipped over from Africa as a small child in the middle of the eighteenth century, Phillis was the companion to Susanna Wheatley of Boston (whose husband was kind enough to buy her). Susanna's daughter, Mary, taught Phillis to read and write, and then the poems came pouring out. People were naturally amazed that a slave could be so intelligent, and she even had a book of poetry published in England during her lifetime. After Susanna's death, John Wheatley freed Phillis, which is all well and good, but Phillis doesn't seem to have been terribly revolutionary in the first place. She rather might have gotten along with Rudyard Kipling if this is anything to go by.
Emily Dickinson: Of course you know all about dear Emily, the white-wearing recluse of Amherst (Massachusetts), who didn't seek to publish many poems at all in her lifetime, but who became wildly famous and popular after her death. She had a bit of a death-fixation, never married, and is the envy of many a goth girl today.
This list is meant only to convey a small sampling of poetry by pre-twentieth century American women. If you have particular favorites of your own, I do hope you'll share them in comments.
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(3)
08:28:17 PM,
Monday 17 January 2005
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site & script courtesy of Moss