When poets dreamed of angels.
2004-08-22 1:03 p.m.
"For Maie girls are Maie girls
Wherever they're found
In Air or in Water
Or In the ground."
--Written by Mary Shelley in a letter to T.J. Hogg April 25, 1814.
I've spent the better part of the morning trying to decipher the word Maie. I think it's in reference to the month of May or another word for Daisy. Mary and Shelley used pet names for each other in their correspondence and journals. Also referenced in this letter and attributed to one of P.B. Shelley's journals is "On her hind paws the Dormouse stood - In a wild and mingled mood - of Maieshness and Pecksietude." Pecksie and Dormouse were other pet names for Mary. In 1814 Shelley was trying to convince Mary to have an affair with his friend Hogg. In her letters we can see her trying to play along although I don't think the affair was ever consummated. Does anyone have access to the OMD online? I'd like to find where Maie came from.
But I digress.
Yesterday I went to see Shakespeare in the Park with Acronym and gimpy Rebecca. I got my free t-shirt (with a $20 contribution) and had a nice afternoon of laughter and mirth. A half an hour after the play ended the heavens opened up and it's been raining non stop ever since. It's a nice change. Maybe it will revive some of my dead plants.
Right now I'm curled up on the couch with my stacks of books, manuscripts, cats and my iBook. Today I'm going to read, write, study and dream of dead poets. Nothing more. Nothing less.
1 People have tried to sell me ViagraThat pounding noise is just my head.
2004-08-21 12:46 p.m.
Did I really spend seven hours last night drinking red wine? One look at my red eyes (is that bloodshot or cabernet?) and one listen to my pounding skull would confirm it. I was just going to meet my friend for a glass of wine which became a bottle of wine which evolved into some wine and appetizers which turned into dinner at another venue with more wine which transformed into long political discussions etc. etc. The night ended with some serious child play at the park at 1:00am. I even went down the tunnel slide backwards and head first. The only casualty of the night was getting a big piece of wood chip stuck in my foot. Ouch.
1 People have tried to sell me ViagraNot coming to a store near you.
2004-08-20 5:26 p.m.
Rejected pefume names:
* Desperate
* Easy
* Misohorny
* Affair
* French Whore
* Spank Me
* Cheap Thrill
* Frigid
* Sailor Nip
* Cathouse
Did I forget any???
4 People have tried to sell me ViagraSnerk trog reg!
2004-08-19 10:19 a.m.
I went to improv last night. It was fun but I didn�t get any stage time. Normally we have lots of chances to ham it up but last night I was on stage twice and both times were kind of lame. I did get to try my hand at doing sound which helped pass the time. Ken�s William Shatner and Matt�s Jack Nicholson in gibberish made the whole night worthwhile. Mandatory beers followed which is probably why I have a headache this morning. Too much beer and not enough sleep make kungfukitten something something.
2 People have tried to sell me ViagraLike putty in your hands.
2004-08-18 3:33 p.m.
Things that I�m a sucker for:
*Men who can make me laugh
*Black leather boots
*Anything related to The Damned
*Book sales
*Things that purr
*Movies with kung fu in them
*Black clothing
*Fangs
*Crisp new notebooks
*The story of how you met
*Chick flicks set in the 1800s
*Compliments
*Happy endings
Half assed.
2004-08-18 10:04 a.m.
I spent the evening reading. I bet you�re surprised. I then had horrible dreams about people dying and committing suicide. Weird. I�m not really sure what my subconscious is trying to tell me on that one.
I know I said I was going to put some effort into dating this summer before giving it all up, acquiring more cats, buying a bunch of mu-mus and begin talking to myself on the bus. Truthfully, I�ve only given dating a half-assed attempt. In other words, I�m not using my entire ass when trying to attract the opposite sex. Sure, I�ve got an ad on Match.com but I don�t respond the old strange men that try to contact me. Plus I haven�t been going out much � at all. I�ll stay at home and read, work on the novel or watch Law and Order reruns rather than go to bar or call all my girlfriends to see if any of them are free.
Part of this is classic avoidance. If I don�t try, I won�t get rejected and hurt. The other part is entitlement. I feel entitled to a man with a PhD, who is drop dead gorgeous and has a huge trust fund. I mean, don�t I deserve that? Basically my standards are too high and my self esteem is too low but don�t worry. I won�t buy any mu-mus. I�ll still wear high heels, short skirts, push up bras and too much eye-shadow. Maybe fall will blow something interesting my way.
4 People have tried to sell me ViagraLike I need a hole in my head.
2004-08-17 6:37 p.m.
I started feeling panicky when I got off work today because I am all out of non-fiction! There was only one thing to do. Grab the car and drive over to Powell's Books stat.
I picked up the four following titles and now feel much better:
"Shelley: the Man and the Poet" by Desmond King-Hele
"Shelley's Dream Women" by Margaret Crompton
"New Shelley Letters" by W.S. Scott
"Shelley's Jane Williams" by Joan Rees
What is the proper format for siting books online? I could go all MLA on your ass but 1) I'm lazy 2) I'm sure you don't really care. Whenever I underline titles I feel like a tease because they look like links.
You know what's freaky? (Besides my penchant for dead poets and the undead) I'm seriously considering selling my house and getting a bigger one because I'm out of space for my books. I'd try to count them but then you'd all know what a total book whore I really am. Hmmm. I think I have two more boxes on their way from Amazon.com as we speak.
1 People have tried to sell me ViagraConversations with the dead.
2004-08-17 9:35 a.m.
Another night of little sleep. Got to bed late then woke up at 3:00am way too fricking hot. My house was still around 85 degrees. So I soaked in an ice cold bath and finished off the two books of Byron and Clair Clairmont correspondence. The funny thing is she writes hundreds of letters to him but he can�t stand her so he never writes back. I really want to read Shelley�s correspondence but can�t find anything that other than this fabulous book that I can�t afford. Or can I???
Had strange dreams in the wee hours of the morning about being on top of a mountain with Shelley. We were walking in the dark along a cool lake talking. It was really quite nice. Of course when I woke up I realized I need to cultivate more friends that are actually alive and not dead poets and/or vampires. Le sigh.
0 People have tried to sell me ViagraWorking through the pain.
2004-08-16 2:33 p.m.
I went to the gym today because I�m tired of laying around whining about my back. To be honest, I didn�t do as badly as I thought I would. It�s been about two months of not doing anything aerobic. I did a 13 minute mile on the elliptical machine which is only a minute slower than average. My heart rate was higher by about 20 beats which is probably due to massive amounts of cholesterol blocking all of my major arteries. (If I don�t finish this entry you�ll know why). I lifted weights and danced around the gym to punk music, that was until some other fools decided to come downstairs and work out. I like it better when it�s my own personal gym. The goal this week is to run a mile before yoga class tomorrow and Thursday and to hit the gym again on Wednesday. I may even try kung fu again on Friday. I�ll get back to it, I swear.
2 People have tried to sell me ViagraGross coffee and 1822.
2004-08-16 9:40 a.m.
My house was 85 degrees last night and between the heat and my aching spine I could not get any sleep. This meant that coffee this morning (grande shot in the dark) was absolutely imperative. I waited in line at Starbucks for ten minutes to get my buzz in a cup only to find when I was half way back to the office there was some sort of noxious fumes coming from my coffee. I sniffed once. Ick. I sniffed again. Double ick. Someone had dumped in a shot of irish cream syrup rather than espresso. So I go to the espresso stand in my office that makes sub par coffee and try again. I ask sub par barista throw out my Starbucks and am now drinking Ritazzo. Blech. But at least there�s espresso in it.
The weekend was pretty quiet although I did get out of the house on Saturday night and watched some friends do improv at The Brody. Good times. The rest of the weekend was spent rewriting my novel and reading correspondence from 1818-1822. April through July 1822 are pretty horrifying as this is when Allegra (Lord Byron�s and Clair Clairmont�s love child) dies in a convent, Mary Shelley nearly dies from a miscarriage and Percy Shelley dies at sea during a storm. I don�t think any of Mary and Shelley�s children ever made it to adulthood. I�ve counted five pregnancies so far and she�s only 25 years old.
0 People have tried to sell me Viagra