You can count on Shakespeare

I enjoyed this quote today from Daily Literary Quote:

“Beauty is all very well at first sight; but whoever looks at it when it has been in the house three days?”

Stargazers - Part II

I’ve been meaning to go back to these two for a while after the comments I received the last time I wrote about them…..

It had been a very hot day and a very hot evening. Unfortunately, in her new sandals, a long walk was just what she didn’t need: Being slightly tipsy she didn’t feel her feet until it was too late. He had invited her to take a nightcap in the garden at the side of the pool. She knew that it had all been arranged in advance. He lived alone and there were two poolside seats arranged just so, patiently waiting for them.

He went off into the house to let out the dog and fetch the drinks. After making a fuss of the dog she decided that her feet were in need of refreshment, so she snatched a cushion from the nearest chair with exaggerated care and placed it so that she could lie comfortably on her back with her feet dangling into the cold water - just remembering at the last minute to remove the sandals. The cushion was placed with amazing accuracy, she realised that she had drunk more than she intended. When she was younger she always played darts and pool to kill after a few drinks.

He came out with two glasses of wine and the bottle. He placed her glass so that she could reach it with ease without knocking it over. He joined her at the side of the pool – with much aligning of the cushion she noted. And they lay quietly side by side looking up at the stars.

“This reminds me of Planck’s wall”
“Planck’s wall?”
“Yes, our feet in the water and our heads in the stars. I remember hearing on the radio years ago. Diving into a swimming pool was used as an example, the swimming pool could be close or miles away it could be as deep as an ocean or a shallow puddle - yesterday or today or tomorrow- am I making sense?
He risked an honest answer – “Not at all”
“Anyway, it’s to do with quantums”

At that moment the dog arrived and blew and snuffled into her ear. Which made her giggle and squirm, she continued:

“What they don’t tell you is that Planck had a dog which just added to the chaos of the universe”
“You mean by blowing into your ears?”
“Something like that.”

They continued to talk, drink and gaze at the stars until he realised that he was talking to himself. She had fallen asleep. He gently rescued her feet from the pool and swivelled her around so that she couldn’t roll herself into the water. He moved to a chair and settled comfortably to watch her sleeping.

After the night at the restaurant he’d realised how important she was to him. She was the first that he had contacted to let her know that he was getting a divorce at long last. Slowly she’d grown close to him again, but not quite as close as he’d have liked. He watched over her and realised how grateful he was that she was there - even if she had fallen asleep.

Leonard Norman Cohen

I’ve been listening to Leonard Cohen, a lot recently. I’d always been a fan of 'Suzanne' but thanks to Deezer, I’ve discovered a lot more of his music. I love the way he uses words and of course, the way he plays the guitar. I hope that his life hasn’t been as sad as some of his songs are. Checking on Wikipedia I see that he is Canadian which explains the French lyrics and words in some of his songs.

Some of the songs made me remember the poems of Edgar Allan Poe. I once wrote a poem about Edgar Allan Poe arriving in heaven only to meet all of the dead ladies he mourned in his poems – not much of a heaven in fact. I can’t find it anywhere, so you won’t be able to read it.

Anyway I really like this version of 'Lover, Lover, Lover', sorry there is no 'action'. I love the guitar and the beginning and the rhythm. I did find the older versions but they are too fast for my liking. Perhaps as we get older we learn to take our time and savour things?

Dreams

I’ve had several dreams recently, three that I remember and two which were in a tiny way prophetic. The first was about a not at all logical tandem. I don’t think that I was riding it. When we took Olivier to his friends the following morning, we passed the velodrome and above the entrance is a penny farthing!

The second dream struck me as odd a few hours after I got up. We were at the sea. I was with children – I think that they were mine. We were running along the beach towards the sea but the sea was chasing us; I could feel the spray on my back as I ran. I knew that we had to hurry but we weren’t frightened. I’ve visited this beach several times in my dreams and the sea is always very unpredictable.

We were in a car and Rob had a rat on his shoulder. He was driving and the rat jumped from his shoulder and I felt it run over my foot. I couldn’t see it because I was carrying a big box and it was in the way. Then the rat started to nibble one of my toes; it really hurt and I could feel the blood. Fortunately I woke up as the alarm went off.

Later I went to visit a few blogs and guess what I found

For quite a long time I kept the plans I drew of of a house we moved into in my dreams.

Lemon Meringue Pie

This one is dedicated to Nicky, who loves cakes of all kinds and needs cheering up at the moment…

My daughter is on a single woman mission to convert the entire population of France to the idea of carrot cake.


Last summer Dom and her friend held a birthday party for the younger brother of one of their group. In exchange he did a series of cartoons for them. This is one of his sketches of Dom presenting her famous carrot cake. ( I really can’t think why her eyes are green and twirly)

One of Rob’s colleagues, who was Dom’s colleague and is now Olivier’s colleague too, has already been converted and she put carrot cake as her favourite cake in the subject box of the email she sent me. I thought you’d like to join in. Here’s the email, Please let me know which cake you choose:

“No cheating.
If all of the eight puddings listed below were sitting in front of you, which would you choose (sorry, you can only pick one!)? Trust me...this is very accurate. Pick your dessert, and then look to see what psychiatrists think about you.
REMEMBER - No Cheating. Make your choice before you check the meaning.
After taking this dessert personality test, send this e-mail on to others, but when you do, be sure to put your choice of dessert in the subject box above.
ALSO, SEND IT TO THE PERSON WHO SENT IT TO YOU. DON'T FORGET TO CHANGE YOUR PUDDING CHOICE IN THE SUBJECT BOX
BEFORE YOU FORWARD IT.
Here are your choices:

1. Angel Food Cake
2. Brownies
3. Lemon Meringue Pie
4. Vanilla Cake With Chocolate Icing
5. Strawberry Shortcake
6. Chocolate Cake With Chocolate Icing
7. Ice Cream
8. Carrot Cake

No, you can't change your mind once you scroll down, so think carefully about what your choice will be.
OK - Now that you've made your choice, this is what the researchers say about you...


1. ANGEL FOOD CAKE -- Sweet, loving, cuddly. You love all warm and fuzzyitems. A little nutty at times. Sometimes you need an ice cream cone at the end of the day. Others perceive you as being childlike and immature at times.

2. BROWNIES -- You are adventurous, love new ideas, and are a champion of underdogs and a slayer of dragons. When tempers flare up you whip out your sabre. You are always the oddball with a unique sense of humour and direction. You tend to be very loyal.

3.. LEMON MERINGUE -- Smooth, sexy, & articulate with your hands, you are an excellent care-giver and a good teacher. But don't try to walk and chew gum at the same time. A bit of a diva at times, you set your own style because you do your own thing. You shine when it comes to helping others and have many friends.

4. VANILLA CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE ICING -- Fun-loving, sassy, humorous, not very grounded in life; very indecisive and lacking motivation. Everyone enjoys being around you, but you are a practical joker. Others should be cautious in making you mad. However, you are a friend for life.

5. STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE -- Romantic, warm, loving. You care about other people, can be counted on in a tight situation and expect the same in return. Intuitively keen. You can be very emotional at times but a true person in every way. You like to do things for yourself and help others learn about themselves.

6. CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE ICING -- Sexy; always ready to give and receive. Very creative, adventurous, ambitious, and passionate. You can appear to have a cold exterior but are warm on the inside. Not afraid to take chances. Will not settle for anything average in life. Love to laugh.

7. ICE CREAM -- You like sport, whether it's cricket, football, rugby, or tennis. If you could, you would like to participate, but you enjoy watching sport. You don't like to give up the remote control. You tend to be self-centred and high maintenance.

8. CARROT CAKE -- You are a very fun-loving person, who likes to laugh. You are fun to be with. People like to hang out with you. You are a very warm hearted person and a little quirky at times. You have many loyal friends. You were meant to lead and teach others. A wonderful role model.”

Question for passing Canadians

Just over 20 years ago I watched a Canadian production of a book, serialised for television. The story was about a young woman who had moved to a remote village in the forest as a school teacher. She fell in love ( There was a very erotic dream sequence with him rising naked from the water!! ) with a young man of the region and they married. Times were hard and children kept being born so the husband wanted to move to the city to find better paying work. She didn’t want to go. I remember she took her son to school and the teacher said that she’d put him with younger children because children from the country are slower. She knew that her son was exceptionally intelligent, she was a teacher after all. There was a lot of unhappiness. Then for some reason they were back in the forest. The husband was drinking heavily and there was snow everywhere so she set off to get help as she was about to give birth. She gave birth to a baby girl alone in the snow. The baby was called Blanche.

I seem to remember that Blanche died and she became depressed. I can’t remember the end of the story or any of the character’s names besides Blanche. I do remember that certain scenes were in the French dialect of the region, which I adored, though there were subtitles too. The French authorities didn’t like this idea much and the later episodes were dubbed into ‘proper’ French. Any ideas as to which book I’m thinking about. Does anyone remember the TV dramatisation? I’d love to find the book and read it.

I’d always hoped for Colette

Rob gets annoyed with me sometimes as I become involved in reading the backs of our postcards. In order to keep up with the higher and higher costs of eBay we have to present as many postcards as we can for auction – a lot of work. This postcard was easy to read and I recognised the signature at once; Pierre Loti, a French writer who lived very close to where I live now. I checked and double checked. I can’t prove that he was on that particular cruise ship but he did return from that direction at that time. The signature and the writing are his.

“For Mademoiselle Manuelle Chiappa, In memory of our crossing in the Ionie. – Sept 1913”

The young lady he dedicated the postcard to seems to have had a few admirers – I know because I’ve been reading the backs of her postcards….

One day I will find one written by Colette I am sure.