Chu Chuus

Somewhere over there, beyond the empty warehouses and the packed cemeteries and penitentiary, the train whistle calls to me. It always heads east and east is where I point my finger whenever someone asks me where 'home' is. The conductor blows his whistle 9 times before he leaves town perimeters - as if each whistle symbolized each hour it would take me to drive back to my doorstep.

The light is fading and so is my energy. Nothing, not even the pressure of tomorrow, can keep me from just. resting. my head. upon. the pillow. For a few short moments. It would mean the world to me. I will rest until the next train comes. Not a moment longer, I swear, mom.

Undecided Sources

"Only thoughtless people chatter about the low intelligence of the average filmgoer. There is no such person. There are several classes of public entertainment, including several classes of film. And there are several classes of film director, including some who are so illiterate that they cannot conceive anyone being interested in anything but crudely presented police and divorce court news, and adventures out of boys' journals.

They are usually ranked as infallible authorities on the suitability of scenarios. These gentlemen have never had any use for me; and I cannot pretend that I have any use for them."

- Bernard Shaw on motion pictures in general and the film of PYGMALION in particular.

Trial and Distraction

This is a week to end all weeks.

I would do a 'recap' of what has been accomplished... but I doubt my brain's capacity to remember everything!

Needless to say, I still have 'miles to go before I sleep.'

BIG accomplishment for the past three days is the conclusion of an 8 page thesis proposal due today. For the same hard-ass professor, I wrote a summary and prepared a chapter presentation for today as well. I can also take a note of pride in saying that I have been handing in Japanese homework reasonably close to 'on time.'

What has been keeping me sane for the past few days? I am riding off the high of a very good visit from my parents over the weekend. Friends, a guy friend in particular, are keeping me upbeat and in control. See, how lucky I am!

Early Tudor Poetry - Sir Thomas Wyatt

An excerpt from Egerton Ms. 2711

Tangled I was in love's snare,
Oppressed with pain, torment with
care,
Of grief right sure, of joy full
bare,
Clean in despair by cruelty, -
But ha! ha! ha! full well is me,
For I am now at liberty.

The woeful days so full of pain,
The weary night all spent in vain,
The labor lost for so small gain,
To write them all it will not
be.
But ha! ha! ha! full well is me,
For I am now at liberty.

...

Too great desire was my guide
And wanton will went by my
side;
Hope ruled still, and made me
bide
Of love's craft th' extremity.
But ha! ha! ha! full well is me,
For I am now at liberty...

snow time/ohio time

Church bells. They ring bright and early in the morning whenever I go to work - promptly at 9am. Technically, I should be at work by then but that is an idealized goal. I arrive habitually 5 minutes past the hour and I would like to blame my lateness on the church bells (this time).
The bells are too pretty. Too joyful. Too celebratory. ;) They make my mornings beautiful. I was an extra 3 minutes late today. Excuse: a light snow was falling and it succeeded in dampening all sounds except for the bells, which rang clearer and more eupeptic than ever.

Working Doldrums

Alice Kopp is taking over my life and I don't know who she is. Her body may be gone but her books remain and it is my esteemed job to sort through the 25 brown boxes of novels, periodicals, reference materials, travel guides, language books, dictionaries, and all other forms of WORD that she had collected over her seemingly long and venerated life.

I can smell her house. I can smell her cats and it's in my hair, in my nose, and in my clothes so much of every week that I feel like 'Alice Kopp.' Together we discovered 'The Gateway to France', 'World Religions', Portugal, France, Italy, Korea, Japan... Or rather, it is as if I were looking over her shoulder as she poured her life over these books and then over these whispered locales. In this red swivel chair, I've gone to more places than I ever thought to before. Through the pictures and the fingerprints I imagine staining every cover, I've touched, smelled, and tasted many spices.

The truth is, Alice Kopp is my job.

Test

Procrastination is a sin that I enjoy nearly the most.