Monday, October 23, 2006

A Glorious Medley of Song

To start the blog today, a poem by one of my favourite writers and a personal inspiration: Dorothy Parker. The last 'e' of the title should have an accent on the end, but heaven only knows (and apparently has more important things to tend to) how you do that on blogger.

Resume

Razors pain you; Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you; And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren't lawful; Nooses give;
Gas smells awful; You might as well live

Dorothy Parker

To answer the anonymous commenter who was also my host and a culinary genius last night, yes, it was late, and yes we had definitely had too much wine. I also seem to remember wearing a capful of 1974 armagnac that made me pass the last quarter of the night smelling like an alcoholic tramp with very expensive tastes, but the least said about that the better. It was just as well that I wrote the blog before I went out because I doubt I was coherent by the time I got home.

As for the foxes seen on the way home, well I looked those up in my animal cards this afternoon. I think we can learn a lot from animals (you all know by now my obsession with the windhover, for instance) and I am always interested in animal symbolism from other cultures. My animal cards have this to say about foxes:

"Like the coyote, the fox is strongly associated with magical supernatural power, and cunning. In the wild, it exists at the edges of field and forest, and in the mythical realm is a principal mediator between the human and spirit worlds. In shinese folklore, the fox may assume a human shape at the age of fifty, and at its hundredth birthday it becomes either a wizard or a lovely maiden."

With all those supernatural powers, at least I can stop worrying about the Countryside Alliance wiping them out.

Today has been a good day. Despite the amount of alcohol consumed last night, or possibly because of it, I had no time for the jitters before my morning meeting. I was due to meet one of my freelance bosses (I'm freelance, he's the boss, that is - he doesn't manage people as a freelance business of his own, that would be strange) to discuss the initial results of some research work I've been doing on his organisation's behalf. Although I've been working with him for many months, I had only ever met him once - until this morning, all our work has been carried on via emails and numerous (charming) telephone calls.

The meeting went exceptionally well and he was just as engaging, funny and insightful as he has been in all the time we've communicated 'electronically.' Oh yes, and he seemed quite pleased with the work, too. I'm not writing this boss' name because I don't really like to publish people without their permission, ever since an incident where I outed someone on the internet by mistake. I'm sure most people knew anyway........

I accidentally rang the Chief today when I was meant to be calling someone else (my mother - Freud, go figure) and was very confused when he answered the phone, as I'm sure he was when I had absolutely nothing to say. He, however, (as always) had something very interesting to say when I told him I'd called him by accident, "Oh, nothing is ever by accident, Sarah Cheverton."

I shall be thinking about that for the rest of the day.

Today's Beautiful Things

1. The rain, the rain, the rain (no, that's not the three things, I'm being poetic)

2. Discovering the verb 'to strump' meaning 'to tread heavily or pace about', which is probably the origin of the word 'strumpet' (one of my very favourite words of all time, along with elbow), a street walker

3. Remembering the bonobo ape, apropos of nothing, which I had forgotten and instantly makes me think of Howard and Simon (though not in terms of appearance), who I have not seen for far, far too long

And a big hallo and thank you to Miss Sally's husband, Alan, who has very kindly added me to their Favourites, where I shall happily take up residence. I was so happy when Miss Sally told me that Alan was reading the blog and even more happy when she told me that he is enjoying it! I should have known that Alan would have good taste though, since he is married to the TRULY glamorous Miss Sally, after all. Thank you!

But to close today's blog, another poem from Dorothy Parker:

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Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song,
A medley of extemporanea;
And love is a thing that can never go wrong;
And I am Marie of Roumania.

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