goddess of clarity: a blog about politics, culture, and serenity
Archive: April 16 - April 30, 2007
April 30, 2007 —10:35 EDT
April is National Poetry Month. At this point I suppose it would be more accurate to say April was National Poetry Month, but hey -- there's no minute like the last minute.
So in honor of the month that was, here's a poem I've always liked. It's even better set to the music of Gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello, who'll be playing at Bonnaroo this summer. (Woo hoo! Bonnaroo!) Check out their video, or skip straight to the poetry:
Warning
by Jenny Joseph
When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit
You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
—lori.
April 26, 2007 —12:34 EDT
Happy Birthday, Roger!
Today is Duran Duran drummer Roger Taylor's birthday. He's 47, and he's changed a little bit since my 14-year-old self first lusted after him. But haven't we all?
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| Roger Taylor Then | Roger Taylor Now |
Today is also Hug an Australian Day, so any Australians in the audience, please be on alert. Roger Taylor isn't Australian, but if you bump into him in your travels today you can give him a hug, too.
—lori.
April 24, 2007 —19:03 EDT
Tra-la, tra-lay, oh frabulous day! There's a new Harry Potter trailer out today. (Hey, that kinda rhymes.)
Check it out below, or visit Yahoo! to view the original.
I'm much happier than any 35-year-old woman has a right to be over this summer's impending Potter-ness. Order of the Phoenix takes over the box office on July 13th. The seventh and final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, hits the shelves a week later on July 21st. I'm as happy as a house elf with socks!
—lori.
April 23, 2007 —22:13 EDT
This weekend, I felt like I went to sleep and woke up on holiday in another country. This time last week, it was 38 degrees out and slush was falling from the sky. This past Sunday, it was 76 degrees with not a cloud in sight.
I've never seen an entire city so happy as Rochester was this weekend. It was the kind of weather that makes strangers talk to each other.
"Isn't it beautiful outside?"
"Yes! I thought we'd never see the sun again!"
"I know! I'm so happy!
"ME TOO!
I even tried my hand at some gardening for the first time. Here's the little patch of earth just outside my side door, before:
And here it is after three hours of digging, tilling, and pulling:
OK, so it's not much of transformation. No one will mistake me for Alan Titchmarsh, let alone Charlie Dimmock. But there are herb seeds in the barrel there, which in theory should sprout into herb plants. And I planted some heather in the next patch over, see.
You see, all those Ground Force marathons weren't a waste of time after all.
—lori.
April 20, 2007 —16:40 EDT
Today this blog is wearing orange and maroon in memory of the students and faculty who lost thier lives at Virginia Tech this week, and in hope that someone in the U.S. Congress will grow enough of a backbone to point out to his or her colleagues that nobody needs to own a Glock 19, ever.
And whatever the heck a Hokie is, Go Hokies!
—lori.
April 16, 2007 —10:20 EDT
Live images from the university's Web cam, 10:20 a.m. on Monday, APRIL 16th:
For the love of God, make it stop! Please, just make it stop ... [whimper] ... please, stop.
—lori.
