A holiday....

Today is an important day for me. Not because it's a bank holiday - it's Civic Holiday, a holiday designation that means absolutely nothing, but it's nice to get the day off. I think the city has designated it "Colonel By Day" - a silly name, based on the founder of our city. He was a fine man who looked good in his uniform, but does he have anything to do with today? Not that I know.

He certainly doesn't make it an important day for me.

No, it's important because it's Shelley's birthday. He was born today, in 1792.

Why Shelley?

When I was about 11 years old my mother told me about the romance of Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning, and I thought it was a wonderful story. I then read the playscript of "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" and read a bunch of poetry by Browning, whose work I liked, and have always liked. Elizabeth's poems - not so much.

Then, because I get obsessive and tend to excess (I know none of you would guess that, given my normal restraint) I read a bunch of biographies of Robert Browning. I suppose by the time I got that far I was 13 or so.

Browning's biggest early influence was Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Well, I thought, I might as well read something about this person who influenced Browning so much. So I did, staring with "Ariel" by Andre Maurois, and "The Olympians" by Guy Bolton.

And I fell in love as only an adolescent can: with this man, his ideas, his inspirational qualities. I think he would like to know that so many years after his death (in 1822) he shaped the philosophical life of a Canadian anarchist/pantheist. Though I suppose also he would be shocked by my fondness for monarchism.

Today: his birthday. Sometimes I celebrate with a party. My friends ignore the Shelley part, and enjoy the party. This year... I will simply remember him fondly, and quote him:

A man, to be greatly good, must imagine intensely and comprehensively; he must put himself in the place of another and of many others; the pains and pleasures of his species must become his own. (from A Defence of Poetry)

Challenges...

I react well to challenges, sometimes.

walkingowl was telling me about using her rowing machine, so I decided to use the rowing machine at the fitness club today. I'd never used it before and it looked fearsome. I started at it a bit and finally figured out how to sit in it and which way to face. After that, it was easy.

I rowed for six minutes. I was tempted to go longer, but I didn't want to get sore muscles and I wasn't sure how long would be appropriate. I couldn't figure out how to read the distance meter, either. In six minutes, had I rowed six feet? six inches? Whatever.

I loved it.

And sarahcascade mentioned using the elliptical trainer for 30 minutes. I'd only been using it for 20. I set it for 30 minutes this time, and spent the time reading a Jo Beverley novel.

I felt great afterwards. It's always difficult to find the time, but worth it. Oh, yes.

Feeling good about this....

Reveling in revelry...

I went to see "Pirates of the Caribbean" again today. Fifth time.

It feels now like going to see "The Lord of the Rings" - not that the movies are particularly alike, but when I see LOTR I can sit back and bask in the music, the words, and the action, because they are so familiar and pleasurably.

I noticed another Jack Sparrow/Lymond parallel: nothing concrete, just that I find two speeches by the so-articulate heroes rather alike. Jack Sparrow, talking to Murtogg and Mullroy near the beginning of the movie, says:

...It is my intention to commandeer one of these ships, pick up a crew in Tortuga, raid, pillage, plunder and otherwise pilfer my weasley black guts out.

In the beginning of "The Game of Kings" Lymond says to his mother (and a roomful of women):

De los alamos vengo, madre. From the stews and alleyways of Europe with a taste for play acting - yes - and killing and treason and crimes, they say, nameless and enticingly erotic.

Just strikes me as the same kind of heroic bravado... done for similar strategic purposes.

I told this to Marcelle and she said, "Isn't this comparing the sublime to the ridiculous? You realize you are comparing Dunnett and Disney?" I guess she knows me enough to know how amazing that is.

I therupon started a commentary on the Romantic-heroic paradigm of heroes that is somewhat out of fashion in modern popular literature. My brain is somehow also working on a mini-essay on the heroic-Romantic pradigm of "hero as clown" but it's still pretty inchoate. It's probably better not to mention this aloud. For one thing, I'm not thinking of many clown-heroes to fit my thesis besides Lymond and Jack Sparrow - possibly Miles Vorkosigan. Possibly Indiana Jones.

Another challenge....

blackbyrde and I have issued each other story challenges. I'm recording it here because it would be wrong to forget. My challenge to her: "Write a piece in which Haldir has to choose between duty and desire."

She wouldn't tell me who she is slashing him with - I gave her the choice. I am itching with curiosity.

Her challenge to me: "Will finds a letter from his father, Bootstrap Bill, to Jack, and it's obvious that Bill and Jack had a relationship...what does Will do? confront him? hide the letter again? - oh, and i mean that the letter is in Jack's private possessions his "effects")."

Yes, I can do that.

We have to finish our stories by August 24-29.

Yes.

Will do.

A good Lymond link...

I just saw this: a good description of the Lymond novels by Dorothy Dunnett, by someone who clearly understood and appreciated the books.