(no subject)

[fajrdrako]

Suddenly it's cold. I wished I had worn gloves today. Looks as if the shortsleeve weather is over: it's jackets, sweaters and mufflers for me tomorrow.

A busy day. especially at work. I woke up at 5.30 this morning and read the rest of Rubicon by Steven Saylor, finishing it just before my alarm went off at 7. I think Rubicon is his best plot yet. I had to make a trip to the Main Branch of the library up on Metcalfe Street to get the next in the series, but I was too impatient to wait for it to be delivered to me at the Rideau Branch. Just don't want to stop reading. I love the way Caesar is a presence elsewhere, occasionally swooping in for a page or so, all energy and intelligence. Wonderful characterization - and not just of Caesar. Through most of Rubicon I was wondering what on earth Gordianus was up to, what he intended, what the hell he thought he was doing. Then I found out... Loved it.

I talked to Sheila on the phone after work. She watched Smallville "Crusade", but she'd missed "Covenant", and phoned to ask me what had happened to Lex that he needed to have his blood refreshed. I must have her over to see "Covenant" - I like having the excuse to see it again with someone I haven't watched it with before.

At Lynne's, we taked about families, and how ours shaped us. One of the exercises is to list twenty assets we got from our families - in terms of personality, physical attributes, and so on. That was interesting! Making up fantasy families was good, too. (My fantasy family had Charles Dickens as my father, while my mother was either Mary Shelley, Louise Brooks, Dorothy Parker or Dorothy Dunnett. My chosen siblings (in no particular order) were Keanu Reeves, Patti Smith, Viggo Mortensen, Sting and Supergirl.

The more often the three of us meet, the more we find we have things in common. Not just personality and interests (we already knew that) but strange unrelated things that aren't in our control, like cultural ancestry.

At lunchtime, I was reading the Bhagavad-Gita. I was embarrassed to find it somewhat difficult conceptually. It makes me feel very Western. I will persevere.

Comments

[widget-alley.livejournal.com]

I like the Baghavad-Gita, but I have an excellently translated version and I grew up with Eastern philosophy so that probably makes a big difference.

Dude, my dream mother is so totally DD. That's brilliant. ^_^

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

So what is the Bhagavad-Gita translation you would recommend? I find that there is a huge difference in ambience and reading quality from one edition to another. I chose one I thought looked poetic and aesthetically pleasing - it's the translation by Barbara Stoller Miller.

Dorothy Dunnett was not overtly maternal, but she was a terrific person - and actually none of the names on my list are as maternal as my real mother was. The fantasy-family exercise turned out to be fun.

[widget-alley.livejournal.com]

I would tell you which translation I have of the Bhagavad-Gita, except I just loaned it to a friend and cannot for the life of me remember who the translator was. Augh. But I think it's out of print now anyway, it's about twenty years old. (Ah, the joys of ex-hippie parents.) I've never read the Miller one, but poetic is always good.

Dunnett seems like she would be an awesome mom (and, empirically speaking, the non-overtly maternal mothers are often the best). Plus.. I mean... Dunnett! I'll have to try that fantasy family thing sometime. For some reason I think Neil Gaiman would make an awesome dad.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I got a variety of translations from the library and may read another one when I've finished this. I think I'm getting into it more, but I forgot to bring it with me to read at lunchtime. That's okay, thugh - turns out I'm going for a walk with a friend at lunchtime anyway.

Yes, Neil Gaiman would be a terrific dad - all that storytelling talent! I was just re-reading his story... um... the one about Mrs. Whittaker and Galaad. "Chalice", I think. Lovely!

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

My chosen siblings (in no particular order) were Keanu Reeves, Patti Smith, Viggo Mortensen, Sting and Supergirl.

Oh. I didn't know you liked Patti Smith. Did I have anything to do with that, or did I never get around to sharing the music with you as I've been intending to do for... well, years?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Don't take my comment too seriously - it isn't so much that I'm a Patti Smith fan (since I really don't know her music) as a fan of the idea of Patti Smith.

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

Oh. Well, there's nothing wrong with that. I concur, actually -- probably much more difficult actually to interact with Patti Smith than just to notice the parts she's played in popular culture, parts no one else could have played. I liked it that you listed her name.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It was a bit of a mischievous choice, but sincere all the same....

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

Hee. How very Patti-Smith-ian of you.

In a recent magazine (the magazine being Bitch, which is a very open-minded feminist magazine that does not see a reason to "bash" anyone), there was an interview with Diane Dimassa, the creator of the comic character Hothead Paisan, Lesbian Feminist Terrorist. The photo of Dimassa was wonderful -- because she was sitting in her living room, in front of a painted portrait hung on the wall behind her, a portrait clearly of Patti Smith in a very Blakean mood -- stark, staring, all that. I must show you sometime.