Odes and the Weather

So the weather has finally reflected the turning towards the autumnal equinox - and the very first day post-fair, too, which shows a little more taste than is usually seen on behalf of the usual Pacific Northwestern weather.

Unfortunately, that also meant that this morning I had to clothe myself in not only sweats-and-tee-shirt garb, but also don my fleece bathrobe... neither of which has made me particularly happy. So unhappy, in fact, that I deemed it appropriate to compose a poem, an ode to Summer - and had the indecency to attempt to make it rhyme as well; please forgive me. At least it is not a long poem.

Ode to Summer

O where is the fine heat of Summer?
The warmth of bright sunshine, hot on the skin,
Burning, to match the fires within.
O where is the sunshine of Summer?

O where are the blue skies of Summer?
Crystalline skies, cloudless and bright,
To make the earth seem so close to the light:
O, bring back the bright days of Summer!

O where are the soft smells of Summer?
Of quiet and shade, where breezes can play,
And flowers bloom, away from the heat of the day -
O, where are the soft places of Summer?

O where are the brisk sounds of Summer?
Of rivers and brooks, of swift-flowing streams,
Of dragonflies' flight through sunshiny beams,
O, where are the lazy energies of Summer?

O, speed the return of distant days of Summer,
That again may flow the golden heat
And that every morning we can greet
The sun, in those lovely warm days of Summer.

Hopefully by now you're not thoroughly tired of the rhyming and of the repetition of the capitalized "Summer". Though, it must be admitted, if I am sick of Washington's infamous ill-weathered winters inside a single day, I am not going to last very long this season.

Fortunately I have my sewing, crocheting, and tea to fall back on.

Admittedly Not Good

This has practically been my mantra lately. Hint: Not a good thing.

Anyone can do any amount of work provided it isn't the work he is supposed to be doing at the moment.
-- Robert Benchley

Shake the Dust

I haven't written for a while, and still can't.

Have this instead.


Quote from a friend:
"you know, theres a time for words and then, then theres a time for sitting back and asking yourself... wtf". - Tracy

Shockingly apt statement, I'd say.

They're Going Down

I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it.
- Jack Handey

Tricky Questions

A quote my dad sent me:

German General to Swiss General: "You have only 500,000 men in your army; what would you do if I invaded with 1 million men?"

Swiss General: "Well, I suppose every one of my soldiers would need to fire twice."

To My Passengers

Okay. So this last week has been a bit... busy.

Firstly, in my classes I am doing quite well. Art History is interesting, though certainly not riveting; Creative Writing Poetry I'm actually enjoying, and may post the fruits of my latest labors here before long, though as an actual "class" it is woefully lacking in instruction; Spanish is good to sink my teeth into, and it's cool to learn languages as well as find that I love doing so; Ceramics is not only fun, it's challenging, and I'm completely enjoying myself in creating these clay pots, sculptures, and whatnot. The problems come when I get too involved in the detail of a single pot when the class has been assigned to complete a certain number of objects by class' end. That aspect is rather frustrating to an artist like myself.

Secondly, spending five full hours with a person of the opposite gender who you have no will or desire to cultivate a personal relationship with, or, really, any relationship at all, is really rather stupid. On the one hand, yes, I learned a bit from him, and sketched a very nice full portrait of his character, but on the other hand five hours really wasn't necessary, thank you.

Thirdly, spending enough time talking with the person of the opposite gender, who you did have a very good interest in cultivating a personal relationship with, enough to find out that you really can't see spending your life with them, seems to be rather... disappointing, to say the least. Mentally, I'm already beginning to speak my goodbyes, and can even discern the beginning of relief; emotionally and physically, however, I can feel the palpable desire to take this relationship a lot further. It doesn't help that I really like and respect the guy.

Fourthly, I'm sick, and being sick sucks. I want to go to classes, and I HATE knowing that I'm not there and I'm going to MISS OUT ON SOMETHING! but alas, there is not really anything I can do besides sleep... and there's not much chance of that if I go to classes today.

So. In summary, there's been a little bit of frustration. I really wish... well. Several things. But the most important is definitely that I weren't feeling sick.

Also, read the book Darkly Dreaming Dexter (by Jeff Lindsay) the other day, which was the basis for the series Dexter on Showtime. Completely fascinating and amusing novel, sadly very short and not enough to truly get myself involved with... but I'm onto the second novel now, which will hopefully be a bit better in that respect.

Novel Advice

Also:
hamburger . ubuntu . labyrinth . rejection . de-noted . grimm . virus

Today's Composition

So I had poetry class today. I like what I wrote, but I didn't fulfill the assignment (to stay away from abstract concepts and depict only representational visuals), so oh well.

Concepts: Order, War, Solitude, Peace, Hunger

A lily resting on a glassy lake
Is nothing to the placid contentment within.
Alone, I am crowded by my country -
Its turmoil palpable, its quest for justice
Irresistible; hungry as an avalanche
And twice as destructive.
But here in my solitary self, I rest
My soul ordered within me
And I am at peace.

On a completely different note, while I was walking to my Art History class, I passed a bush, and heard these strange high-pitched chirping noises. I looked through the bush and saw this tiny little hummingbird, perched on a tiny little branch, expanding its teensy tiny little red throat and squeak-chirping like I wasn't two feet away and looking right at it. It was fantastic!

Loneliness

I went with my dad to his office so that he could take the carpool lane. While waiting for him to return from his meeting, I finished my book... and so, thinking of my poetry class, wrote the following two poems.

Visit To an Office

An unknown street,
A mystery house,
An alien town.
Wandering through doorways
Down hallways, alleys,
Wandering without purpose
Without meaning
In an unknown land.
Strange pale colours,
Bizarre carpeted floor;
Strangers populate its roads.
These inhabitants do not smile.
Escape is a meaningless word,
And discourse an empty option.
These aliens do not notice the alien
Wandering in their midst,
Do not stop to ask questions -
They stare, and then move about their tasks;
And I, the alien among them,
Don't know what to do with myself.

I hope I don't get lost.

And poem the second:

The Stranded Poet

Single, solitary light -
The others flicker,
But you, faithfully, stay
Lit
A beacon to those
Wandering these halls
And to I, who sits
Pen in hand
Scribbling these thoughts.
You are the one
Who allows me to write
For you are
Both
My inspiration
And my vision;
My enabler
And my guide.
I am lost without you.

Collegiate

Here's a poem I wrote during my poetry class while the teacher rambled on about inconsequential things. I was looking around the room and wondering if I could compose an entire poem about a random object:

Projector

Fine, sleek silver box
Instrument under teacher's hand
Presenting words and images
Meant for guidance

Whirring instructional box
Your eye doesn't absorb, but reflects
For the benefit of all
Who could not learn from you?

Suspended electric box
A source of light and knowledge
Quiet and unassuming -
The projector.

But this poem is my favorite so far. Based on the writing assignment of, "Imagine someone, standing in a doorway, somewhere", I wrote it in its entirety in less than ten minutes, and was the first to finish. Still needs a title, though.

To step through the door
And freeze upon the threshold -
Frozen by the sight before your eyes.
What rare beauty, what fine garment,
What musical speech hath this girl!
Her soft laughter perfumes the air with sound,
And breaks your heart as it does your stride.
Beautiful girl! Grey, ocean-filled eyes,
Watery cascade of sand-golden hair;
She is fluid in motion as the seagull's flight,
Graceful as the lines of the wind-curved dunes.
There is no breath that does not taste
Of her sweet tang whilst she is near,
And when she is absent the mouth is flooded
With the bitter salt of sadness.
Wonderful girl! Whose talents and grace
Break like caressing waves
Upon those fortunate enough
To drown themselves... in you.

Flash Fiction-ating

As I don't really like posting entire compositions here, I'll try something new and just give you the first few lines:

I ran down the corridor, breathing heavily. I had lost her. My chest heaved, and a sob cracked its way through my chest and up my throat. I thought furiously through the desperation that threatened to consume me. There was no way to regain her. She was too far away, they would know exactly where I went, and I would lose her again, whatever I did. They knew me too well.

... and then give you the link to the rest: My Life - Gone, With One Click.

Wrote it in a flash of inspiration based on a six-word story I wrote, now serving as the title, on projectsidewalk.com. You should go look at that, too.

Arabic Poetry

Love Compared

I do not resemble your other lovers, my lady

Should another give you a cloud

I give you rain

Should he give you a lantern, I

will give you the moon

Should he give you a branch

I will give you the trees

And if another gives you a ship

I shall give you the journey.

- Nizar Qabbani

Quotes of Many Colors

Here are selections from a site of quotes from sub-English signs.

Advertisement for donkey rides in Thailand:
Would you like to ride on your own ass?

In the office of a Roman doctor:
Specialist in women and other diseases.

In a Japanese hotel:
You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid.

In a Hong Kong supermarket:
For your convenience, we recommend courteous, efficient self-service.

Two signs from a Majorcan shop entrance:
- English well talking.
- Here speeching American.

From a brochure of a car rental firm in Tokyo:

When passenger of foot heave in sight, tootle the horn. Trumpet him melodiously at first, but if he still obstacles your passage then tootle him with vigor.

A sign posted in Germany's Black Forest:

It is strictly forbidden on our black forest camping site that people of different sex, for instance, men and women, live together in one tent unless they are married with each other for that purpose.

Prophecy

Whilst sun and moon endure, America shall remain a city of refuge for the whole earth, until she herself shall play the tyrant, forget her destiny, disgrace her freedom, and provoke her God.

- George Duffield II (1732-1790)

Cravings

Fascinating site. I think I may continue to use this as a reference.

Reduce Your Food Cravings

XKCD

This stuff always manages to make me laugh. I'm a nerd like that.

http://xkcd.com/

Another One Bites the Dust

Click to read:


I utterly agree. Shotgun entrances even manage to completely beat out grenade entrances, if you can believe that.

In other news, I have now discovered the Firefox Facebook toolbar add-on, which is completely convenient, as well as Firefox's NASA Night Launch theme, which finally works for Firefox 3.0. This makes me very happy.

In addition to these, Mozilla is apparently working in tandem with Adaptive Path (the designers of MySpace's revamp/relaunch) in order to develop Aurora, a very interesting web browsing application. You should go see the concept videos, episodes one and two (more are on their way).

The Skillfully Employed

My new favorite quote, which I found while reading The Art of War:

The skillful employer of men will employ the wise man, the brave man, the covetous man, and the stupid man. For the wise man delights in establishing his merit, the brave man likes to show his courage in action, the covetous man is quick at seizing advantages, and the stupid man has no fear of death. - Qtd. by Tu Mu

One Billion: Perspective

Found the following in a bulletin posted on MySpace. I really like it. You should read it.

The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR tax money.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.

A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.

While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let's take a look at New Orleans. It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division.

Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu (D) is presently asking Congress for 250 BILLION DOLLARS to rebuild New Orleans. Interesting number... what does it mean?

A. Well... if you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, and child) you each get $516,528.

B. Or... if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your home gets 1,329,787.

C. Or... if you are a family of four...your family gets $2,066,012.

Washington, D.

C, HELLO!
Are all your calculators broken??

Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Marriage License Tax
Medica re Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago... and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.

We had absolutely no national debt... We had the largest middle class in the world...
and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What happened?
Can you spell 'politicians!'

And I still have to press '1' for English.

I hope this goes around the USA at least 100 times.

What the heck happened?

Puts things in perspective, doesn't it?

Technological Advancement

I have new laptop! Bweee, go me!

I am now the proud owner of a Gateway M-6309. While apparently not a very popular notebook, it is actually very nice quality. Good resolution, lightweight, thin, a gig of ram, and some great media capability. Wifi, of course. I'm really enjoying having a laptop of my own... now all I have to do is remember that I don't own it, and it's not really mine, and I'll be fine. *sigh*

(Image will go here when I take a picture of it, as there are no images to be found online! Jeez...)

In other news, I had a singing lesson today. Recently, I've felt really frustrated in my singing. There are some places where I know I need to get better, but I don't know how to fix it, or even if I'm really hearing it right in the first place. And it's especially hard to hear some advanced people on all sides of me with wonderful volume and better pitch than I've got, and here I am feeling totally inadequate in an advanced singing class. Not good.

I didn't realize the intensity of emotion I felt about this until I started crying about it in front of the teacher. It really was hard to try and contain the emotion and listen to what he was telling me. Once he saw the source of my frustration he assured me that the advanced skills I have are totally usable, the places where I'm failing completely fixable, and my quieter singing voice utterly understandable.

So apparently, I have some pretty advanced techniques as a singer, especially considering my young age. But because I don't have some of the more basic skills, I am incapable of using the advances ones effectively. Thus all the frustration I've been feeling about my singing. So now I've established with my teacher that I need to work on a) correct breathing (which is a helluva lot harder than it sounds), b) pitch finding on the keyboard, and c) relative pitches (the distance between pitches).

It's a really good thing I've a passion for singing, and that I'm stubborn. Otherwise I'd be dropping out.

Currently reading: The Lair of the White Worm.