Metaphors

I went camping this weekend, and Fall was there. In the crimson strokes on the poison oak, in the falling leaves, in the crisp air. The first day was clear and sunny and perfect for a hike over the changing landscapes of the Coastal Range.  On the second morning, we awoke to trees draped in mist like lace,* brides to the changing season, and were stilled, reverent.

There will be pictures soon.

In the meantime, and while we are in the mood to greet Fall with quiet and nostalgia, please go see and do this interactive video by Arcade Fire, The Wilderness Downtown. Discovered here.

You must use Google Chrome, and I suggest minimizing all windows but that one for the full effect. Let them dance for you, like Salome and her veils.

*Incidentally, I have had a hard time coming up with a better descriptor than the old standbys “shrouded in mist” and “veiled in mist.” They just seem more accurate than anything else. “Mist” is right; it was mist not fog. And though the mist turned a slow dance, like Salome and her veils, the trees were so still as to forbid a metaphor of their dancing. Same for swimming. “Enrobed,” perhaps, or “swathed;” “mist hushing the trees in a lullaby.” “Mist pouring over the trees as the ocean pours over a drowned man,” “like a baptism,” “like water from a baptismal font.” 




(tree picture from www.thewildernessdowntown.com)

I don't think Emily had much of a crew, though.

The XKCD mouseover today has tipped me off to something wonderful:  Because Emily Dickinson's "Death" is in ballad meter, it can be sung to the tune of "Gilligan's Island."  What other treasures are out there, waiting for just the right tune to bring them to life?!

Here are, for your singing pleasure, the lyrics.  You're welcome.

Death, Emily Dickinson

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility.

We passed the school, where children strove
At recess, in the ring;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.

Or rather, he passed us;
The dews grew quivering and chill,
For only gossamer my gown,
My tippet only tulle.

We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.

Since then 'tis centuries, and yet each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity.

Speaking of things ripening outside my back door...

My FIRST tomato of the season (sitting on what used to be a stop light lens) (or would that be a go light?).

There is Good, Part Deux

An addendum to the list of things that are good:

Willie Nelson


I love the chugging guitar at the beginning and the phrase "like a band of gypsies we go down the highway"!

Also, because of the title of this post*, Lloyd Bridges.  Lloyd Bridges is awesome.

*A reference to that cinematic marvel, the second film in the Hot Shots series

There is Good.

Listen to Sgt. Baker.  Girl knows what she's talking about.
A non-exhaustive list of good things* includes, in no particular order:
New iphone
Taking pictures on said device
Finding delightful things around the house to photograph with hipsta!matic! effects!

bunnies
bike rides with my baby
stretchy kitties
sweating a LAWT cuz yer running so! hard!
late summer tomaters
things ripening right outside my back door
strongbad
Shotwell's
shishters!!!
making decisions (being able to make decisions)
tart frozen yogurt
anticipating a weekend with my parents in Disco Bay
barbeques
swimming pools
knowing that people you love are happy
Quadrivial Quandry
country music
lots of other things.  Really.

I'll be volunteering in a middle school very soon.  My first job: talking about being a lawyer.  Hmm . . .

*not capitalized because I'm not Martha.  Hard to believe i know

Addendum to the above list: inconsistent capitalization

Down

Downs just pop up sometimes, unexpected, uninvited, unwanted, unwelcome.  I've had to entertain one for the last couple of weeks.  So I've spent quite a bit of time hiding under blankets and pretending to sleep, hoping it will get bored and leave.

Tahoe seems so long ago, and I don't feel like writing much.  Suffice it to say there were many gorgeous hikes, a glut of delicious food and drink, rafting and boozing, loving family (by blood and by luck).  I've been trying to relearn to use my nice film camera, with mixed results.

HOLY EFF RAWWWK!!!!!

The freedom to marry, beautifully argued.  It lit up a little long-dark love-spot in my brain for lawyers and had me fist pumping at the screen.  Why can't politicians just lay it out like this? Efffff.  A surprising thing, perhaps, but:  Fuck yeah Ted Olson!


From APW

Update:

from the comments at APW.  I guess this is a couple of years old, but I'd never heard it before.  Lovely.

On June 12, 2007, Mildred Loving issued a rare public statement, which commented on same-sex marriage, prepared for delivery on the fortieth anniversary of the Loving v. Virginia decision of the US Supreme Court.[12] The concluding paragraphs of her statement read as follows:
“ Surrounded as I am now by wonderful children and grandchildren, not a day goes by that I don’t think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the “wrong kind of person” for me to marry. I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people’s civil rights.
I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard’s and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving, and loving, are all about.

Alternate Wedding

Tahoe still prolly coming, but, dude, if I wasn't having the wedding I'm having, I would totally have an Elvis Wedding in Vegas.  And I don't even like Vegas, but I do love Elvis, and there is something immensely intriguing about a small wedding away away.

From A Practical Wedding.  And I would love to ride a roller coaster and screeeeeeeam the day before.  I really would.

Video Interlude

I still want to recap about my lovely week in Tahoe last week, but I want to get some photos developed first and take some time to sit for a bit.

In the interim, here are a couple of videos.

One, sent to me by Lizbeth D, about poker chips and children and self esteem.  I love the dude doing the talking.




The other, sent to me by Phil, is about being alone, and it is beautiful.

They flee from me

Words escape me.  I stuff them full with the meaning of my thoughts, but they thin, empty, dissipate like smoke over time or water on the way out of my mouth.  And, hanging there in mid-air, they bear such little resemblance to their former selves that I cannot believe them to be the same. 

I look around, wondering where they came from:  floating there, wearing my voice, dressed up for all the world like my thoughts.  But they are none of mine.

Changeling, perhaps.  Or child swapped by an envious nurse while I was sleeping.  Or maybe, having drunk too much, I passed out and was assaulted, deprived of my long-guarded meaning and left with this rape-child in my arms.

Can I disclaim it?  This partly-of-me thing?  There's nothing else now.  And much as I stare and strain to remember, I cannot say what happened.  No res ipsa here, for who would believe this outlandish story.  Better I intended it.  Better I claim the thing, monster or no.