Blue Heart

What an interesting set of reactions to my Poetry Monday post.

Several years ago I was bridesmaid to a close friend. I was the one who stayed with her her last night as a free woman. The morning of the ceremony the two other maids came and did an impromptu practice of their readings. Meanwhile the photographers were also present being artistic. So anyway the maid of honour had just been given her reading and started reciting it and I nearly leapt across the room when I recognized it.

"Is that the Song of Solomon?! What part are you reading?" ( I can be such a drama queen at times ;)

I have always loved the Song of Solomon. It is the first part of any bible I look for. Not all include it. It is a bit risque for literalists but amazingly allegorical for those willing to see the symbolism. The Song itself is actually a dialog between a bridegroom and his bride with a chorus, similar to older Greek plays.

I suppose I had heard the story of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba (Ethiopia) before discovering the Song of Songs, but I believe I would have found it lovely anyway. It is so image filled in a dreamlike way. Dreamlike in the way that dreams can repeat a certain set of objects without becoming monotonous by simply placing the same image in various perspectives and settings.

And it is sensorial: all that myrrh, frankincense and nard.

I think it a fitting end to Poetry Monday's month of love, both spiritual and other :)***CV

Solomon

Fourth Poem

I sleep but my heart is awake.

I hear my Beloved knocking.

"Open to me, my sister, my love,

my dove, my perfect one,

for my head is covered with dew,

my locks with the drops of night."

-" I have taken off my tunic,

am I to put it on again?

I have washed my feet,

am I to dirty them again?"

My Beloved thrust his hand

through the hole in the door;

I trembled to the core of my being.

Then I rose

to open to my Beloved,

myrrh ran off my hands,

pure myrrh off my fingers,

on to the handle of the bolt.

Song of Songs

***CV

Eternal Feedback

Hello New Zealand, Hello Italy and welcome India !

So yes I did finish my Knitlympics project at about 1:45 this morning. I then wove in the ends on the bus whilst delivering nests to the new finches.

Yes that's right we had a finch incident the day after President's weekend. *sigh* On the Monday before, as I was walking to get a very late lunch, about 4:30, there were flakes swirling from the sky. Not many mind you but in downtown Portland it was a snow flurry. Apparently one of the windows in the cottage opened and there was a dramatic decrease in temperature such that...well there was another service.

I never realized how use to birds in the enviroment I was. But the days after their loss were the saddest I have experienced. So we had a group meeting on Thursday in which all the community respected each others opinions - pro or con - and really made an effort to hear each other. It was amazing. We discussed the contributing factors to the birds passing: the draft and temperature drop, insufficient food was proposed; and how we could work to make these factors unlikely to reoccur.

So I made an executive decision to get more finches - little suspecting how soon they would manifest. I was planning on a week or so to prepare the environment and community, but no, the next morning - of course the same morning that SCA renactors came to visit - Surprise!

Can I get an OY VEY?!

They are so sweet though.

All weekend I kept thinking: the room is too cold, what if there are bird bodies on Monday, they don't have a nest, ahh did I leave the heat on, what if it goes off???? Thankfully I had three very chirpy prescences when I brought in the nests this afternoon.

Oh did I mention the grand escape one made during the inital transfer from one cage to another as the SCA'ers were holding forth? The posse to catch the escapee that then formed with the giant fish - not finch - net?

Oh Mr. Dalai Lama I'm ready for my meditation cell now. please?

So yeah in the afternoon while the combatants were trying on armor and boffing each other I stayed in and turned a heel with my sock knitter and at the same time started casting on and swatching with three beginners.

If you would like proof of Aiblinn's completion:

cascade 220 2 and 3/4 skeins
11 and 1/2 repeats before bind off

You'll have to contact the owner of Knit Purl 'cause I do not have a digital camera but she and seven witnesses saw my completed - with ends woven in thank you - project. I even modelled it. Oh and I also won one of the prizes they were giving :) Can you guess? can you guess?

Blue Moon sock yarn I chose colorway Prickly pear :) I got so involved that I missed Paheli :( I hope to catch it when it comes to the regular theaters. I heard it is really fun.

So I visited the music store instead and now have a Peter Murphy that plays! yes! Should the World Fail to Fall Apart. I also picked up two Massive Attacks: Massive attack vs the Mad Professor (1994) and 100th Window (2003) I already have Mezzanine; and a Bill Laswell, Lost the Translation.


Meanwhile Blogger is irritating me immensely with it's refusal to move faster than a thought across a (insert your own comparison)'s brain .*****CV

Goo

Moldova popped in for a visit today: Hi! (that would be the "Republic of" for those wondering)

So I finally special ordered Hikaru no Go. vol. 6. Even the book clerk seemed puzzled at how somethng could be listed as "In Stock in February" and not be in stock in February*sigh*; I also picked up a copy of Patterns for Guernseys, Jerseys, and Arans by Gladys Thompson as well as a TS Elliot collection, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.

12 more rounds + a bobble round + a bind off

UPDATE: Charles deLint has revamped his site!!! Ummm just in case you wanted to know......

***CV

Say say say

My Writhe and Shine T came today :)

I now own a collection of Borges poetry (and it ain't victor) ; )

There is a song refraining in my head:

"....66 round and rounds to go,

66 round and round.

slip one round pass it along

65 round and rounds to go...."

***CV

the Serpents Egg

Favela Rising a film in which we meet a recovered Quadraplegic who is the lead singer of Afro Reggae, encourages Capoeira, education, getting a job other than drug soldier, and is a believer in Shiva: what is not to like? Go see it if it comes near you ;)

caveat: favelas are the areas outside of Rio de Janero. They are where the drug lords and the police frequently battle it out. They are home to the poorest of the poor. The film is not pretty: it's real in many aspects.

I have seen another film about a Brazillian woman who is married to a successful hotelier and yet spends much of her time working in the favela communities providing medical services, education programs, you name it. And she is actully there working, not simply facilitating, but working.

Several years ago I read a semi autobiography of yet another Brazillian woman who grew up in a favela - words fail at adequate expression of what human beings are capable of doing and surviving.

So Sunday is the Indian ghost story Paheli- no more documentaries scheduled.

***

Before speaking ask yourself: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it helpful? -anon.

I like that person anon. :)****CV

vine vide

tidbits from today:

*telling someone their lunch stinks is not Okay

*turquoise converse are REALLY bright

*renacting environmental impact can be fun (especially if it involves sand and blue dyed water)

*when you get to the point of row countdown (72 , 70, 68.....) the tinking begins

*saudi arabia and australia visited on the same day - so....have you two met?

* a coconut time line can be fun

* timezone maps can be fun

*skeining is a work in progress, but two determined 6 year olds can perform miracles

***CV

ego tu nos tus

Pleasures of the Salton Sea. Wow. And I thought Mono lake had a situation. Salvation Mountain and sterile Tilapia and the last of the SoCal wetlands: Who'd a thought?

***

4 more rounds and I am half way done = 2 repeats a day = only bobble bind off on Saturday (oh now that sounds a little risque ;)

***

Great Stories Night on Wednesday (mad knitting before hand of course)
Favela Rising on Thursday ( a film about the favelas of Brazil)
Paheli on Sunday ( an Indian ghost story)

Leaving two solid days for mad knitting in between (I think I can I think I can....)

***CV

amo amas amat

Aside from some serious blocking and weaving in of tail ends le coif is done. I will save all swatches, including miters, until after skeining the yarn on the niddy noddy - that should be fun :) The niddy noddy in question is about 16 inches long.

Completed one round of Aibhlinn = 4 rounds or 1/3 done.

***

Last night it rained peppermint tea in my house - fortunately Sunshine survived.

***

Poetry Monday is love/affection. Since love was not strictly defined as romantic I submit the following two:

Listen dear girl: Does my Beloved live in my Self,

or does my Self live in my Beloved?

I don't know: What's my Self, what's my Beloved?

What's inside my body? My Beloved or my Self?

sunu sakhi pia mahi jiu basai; shalok 236

kabhir

Whoever knew

that It is body of body,

breath of breath

and feeling of feeling?

Thinking that it's far,

it's near

it's out here,

and in there,

they tire themselves out.

allama prabhu

***CV

Silent Hedges

3 completed rounds - yes! 'Course then I measured and 3 = 6" which means I need to do 12 not 10 rounds *sigh*

***

Hikaru no Go is still no go. What is up with this shop?

Lest you think I returned empty handed (from a bookstore? I don't think so) I did bring home Redwall by Brian Jaques, and Mistress Marsham's Repose by T.H. White.

Finished Writhe and Shine this afternoon. So much fun. I kept laughing aloud not only at the panels but the artist's comments regarding said panels. And as to the T from New Orleans: that is simply a Writhe and Shine shirt that I ordered along with the books.

Speaking of New Orleans, how incredible is it that Mardi Gras is going to happen? In W&S the lead character (Writhe) continually comments how much he hates Mardis Gras - and with good reason when you look at it from his perspective. Apparently there is no hesitaion among visitors to create their own facilities as needed - as recounted by Writhe's friends the police are rather creative in dealing with such offenders.

Complete nonsegue: there is a hilarious three strip series about persistant wrong number calls. Y'know the ones, where you have clearly stated that Monty Hall does not live here and yet the person insists on calling back every 5 minutes just in case Monty has moved in in that time. The response is blue so - like - I won't share here ;)

So I need to make a coif, a mitered square and a swatch or two or three by Monday evening; find pictures of various Medieval architectures (oh yes why I do teach little children how to speak good english - subjunctively speaking that is); and find my copy of WOTEOT.

Hi ho hi ho it's off..... I go :) ***CV

I'm a Lighthouse

Well, I do not think it is me. I have restarted Aibhlinn and spent most of the afternoon trying to modify my results enough to match the pattern's instructions. I ended up frogging both efforts. Third time in and I have modified the pattern to suit itself.

Bobble: make 5 in 1 stitch, turn; k5, turn; p6, turn; k6, slip 2nd-6th st off 1st, turn;k1

This left me with fewer rather than more stitches which was easily rectified by making 3 additional ones. Huzzah! I now have 144 in the places that the pattern dictates they should be. How many days left?.....uh, scratch that. I really don't want to know.

***

In other news I finished The Bridges of Madison County last night. If it hadn't been for the Jazz musician I would have been so depressed. A very good read :)

I want to stop by Powell's tomorrow and see if they have finally put the latest Hikaru no Go in stock. It has been in the warehouse for ages!

Oh and I received my compilation of Writhe and Shine in the mail today! Squeeee!! On the outside of the wrapper was a note that I would be receiving the T from New Orleans - double squeee!

Beautiful - and so's your face,

you're a revelation

you're a revelation

Wake up - Penelope dream girl

to days of wonder

to days of wonder

wild swans, magic hotel

***CV

Only a lad...

Oh my! I have just received my first *non creative use of explicative* commentary. I tried to backtrack and also encountered a warning page - about entering that particular site, placed by Blogger.

Golly!

To be fair I have been insulted far more creatively by eight year olds who possessed a greater facility in their use of vocabulary and did not rely upon olde english euphemisms to carry the message. Nor did they have difficulty in using pronouns properly.

*tsk* beauty school drop out.......

****

I have almost finished reading The Bridges of Madison County. Thank you Amanda for giving this to me. You were absolutely correct about the imagery. I finished Beast a few nights ago and while I enjoyed the premise and much of the carry through the ending felt a little flat to me.

There is a film festival going on right now so I may go to one or two of the films this weekend.

****

When Aunty Flo became a crow

She had her bed put in a tree.

And there she sat, and read all day

- of ornithology

mervyn peake

****CV

Aniseed Twist

for TS elliot

Obscurity, Obscurity, there's nothing like Obscurity
To obfuscate and baffle
the mild and the ....raffled? waffled? falafeled?

for E. Ionesco

Oh look! I am a neologist. I turned a noun into a verb: and a rather weird verb at that :) I am feeling rather tense, let us conjugate:

present Indicative
sing. I falafel; you falafel; he/she/it falafels
pl. we falafel; y'all falafel; they falafel

past Indicative
sing. I falafeled; you falafeled; he/she/it falafeled
pl. we falafeled; y'all falafeled; they falafeled

future Indicative
sing. I will falafel; you will falafel; he/ she/ it will falafel
pl. we will falafel; y'all will falafel; they will falafel

****

A play worth reading: Aria da Capo, Edna St. Vincent Millay

***

Is it the weekend yet? ***CV

Fun time

In the night there is a rustle, a skittering of taps that freeze into stillness when Someone rolls over and sighs back to sleep.

tap tap cliclicliclic.... *freeze* clicliclicliclic.....and then

Soft voices begin to whisper:

"144 is expected to begin..."

but....

"I see. However, 168 came instead."

but.....

"Do not concern yourself. Multiple 5 simply meant that the next one would be..... "

but.....

"Of course! It would be 6."

... no wait if I....

"Only if we make 1 first. That would of neccessity require us to eliminate the other....."

Someone sits up suddenly and shouts:

Ahblinn get out of my head!! I am a person not a pattern!

****CV

shallow then halo

St Valentine: Pope or martyr? Priest who married young men to their loves when the emperor wanted them to serve in his army or myth?

There are still calendars which list today as Saint Valentine's Day, it being a feast day until 1969.
I digress. Chris asked about the origami, shrinky dinks and glitter. When I worked with small children I had the rare priviledge of experiencing the chaos, emotional turbulence and stress that is present when children must give everyone a treat regardless of how one truly feels towards them.

No fuss no muss. We made one valentine card each, with or sans glitter; we used one shrinky dink sheet each, to make a gift of one's own design; we made one origami heart each. It was the most peaceful valentines day I have experienced with 18 children, ever.

Currently reading Beast by Donna Napoli. Abhlinn and I are still contemplating one another so I have returned to the Krsna sox --which is a relief to my wrists.

***

We were very tired, we were very merry -

We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry;

And you ate an apple, and I ate a pear,

From a dozen of each we had bought some where;

And the sky went wan, and the wind came cold,

And the sun rose dripping, a bucketful of gold.

recuerdo, v.2, ESVM

***CV

Peppermint Pig

Origami, glitter and shrinky dinks: tomorrow should be fun :)

I have added volumes of poetry, one by Edna St. Vincent Millay and one by WB Yeats, to my collection. I also picked up another Decemberists, Picaresque, and Sigur Ros' Taak tonight.

***

Contemplating my Abhlinn I may unravel it all and start again: curse you bobbles you tempt me not to; but fie! I may do so anyway!

And to you I say:

And if I loved you Wednesday,

Well what is that to you?

I do not love you Thursday -

So much is true.

And why you come complaining

Is more than I can see.

I loved you Wednesday, - yes- , but what

Is that to me?

Thursday, Edna St, Vincent Millay

***CV

Bitter Almond

Ever have one of those periods of time where everything that says up is down, identifies itself as left but is right and then all directions become a vertiginous ride on the Teacups?

That's how my weekend started - with a meeting arranged to discuss a specific set of issues and then those issues ignored for something pulled out of a hat -and I don't know how I feel about going in to next week. However, I did have an interesting conversation with a friend last night. She told me how she used to quit her job every June, go off for the summer to Europe or wherever, then return to a new job in September.

I am seriously considering doing something similar. That is, doing what I want - though it involves a risk, in order to persue that which I seek.

***

One pattern repeat completed equaling 2.5 inches. This means I need @ ten repeats for the entire 24 inches Aibhlinn specifies.

***

Fire can burn

but cannot move.

Wind can move

but cannot burn.

'Til fire joins wind

it cannot take a step.

Do men know

it's like that

with knowing and doing?

devara daismayya

****CV

Spectral Blue

Having completed three rounds of Abhlinn and been auctioned off I shall call it a day.

Sleep, great goddess sleep,

heroine of three worlds,

spins and sucks up

all, draws breath

and throws them down

sapless.

I know of no hero

who can stand before her.

Struck by her arrows,

people rise and fall.

allama prabhu

***CV

Immaculate

Amber is a jewel, a resin, a colour. It is something I have admired ever since all I knew was its name. Words have a power for me in that way. The sounds of letters in combination possess an enchantment.

Amber in colour ranges from lemon yellow to orange to deep rust red as well as green

Amber as resin is the incense for Hanuman.

Amber the jewel is considered a protection from the evil eye.

Yesterday, when I went looking for the final piece of my exchange gift, I found some amber blue moon - how could I resist?

Then I remembered this poem composed by a bhakti over a thousand years ago:

Every tree

in the forest was the All-Giving Tree,

every bush

the life-reviving herb,

every stone the Philosopher's Stone,

all the land a pilgrim's holy place,

all the water nectar against age,

every beast the golden deer,

every pebble I stumble on

the Wishing Crystal:

walking round

the Jamine Lord's favorite hill,

I happened

on the Plantain Grove.

Mahadeviyakka

***CV

A day for you

So next Tuesday is special for many, many reasons. Not least of which.....

*All dressed up with no where to go.
Walking with a dead man over my shoulder.

It's Mr. Benny's B-day!

Don't run away its only me.
Don't be afraid of what you can't see.

Yes. Jack will be celebrating his 74th 39th birthday.

Waiting for an invitation to arrive.
Going to a party where no one's still alive.

So the question is, Mary: what to get him? The man who has everything?

I was struck by lightning walking down the street;
I was hit by something last night in my sleep.

I am not sure that this http://www.chocolateskulls.com-would be appropriate. But it would be original, no? ;)

It's a dead mans party. Who could ask for more?
Everybody leave your body at the door -
Leave your body and soul at the door.
* all lyrics: Dead Man's Party, Oingo Boingo

***CV