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bearshorty) wrote2015-06-02 09:27 pm
bearshorty) wrote2015-06-02 09:27 pm
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Today was a pretty quiet birthday but a nice one anyway. I didn't really go outside since it was 55F and rainy all day, so not a typical summer birthday weather. And we didn't get to go to the aquarium, as was the original plan. But I got to spend the day with Bear and Tanya, and my parents came over in the afternoon, and there were two cakes. And there were presents. I'm also celebrating more on Sunday. Part of me wanted to do more today but I also want to appreciate all the good things I have. Like every time I look at Tanya's face and she is just so adorable and perfect. Better than any present.
We woke up as usual at 7 something and I opened presents first thing, as was always the custom in my family. Bear got me a card and new bright yellow ducky socks to replace the ones that are falling apart (I love silly socks). (He also got me Broadway tickets to see Hedwig next week, but he didn't print those, since I knew about them already). My Dad left his present in my dresser a few days ago for me to open today. He got me two books: Kazuo Ishiguro's The Buried Giant (historical fiction from an author whom I wanted to read for a long time, I adore movies based on his books) and Oliver Sacks' On the Move: A Life (the new autobiography that was on my wishlist). And I got a cute card from Bear's parents.
Then after we got Tanya up and dressed, Bear made me birthday pancakes for breakfast while I made scrambled eggs. I watched more "Spartacus" - I have about half an episode to go to finish the series.
My parents came over in the afternoon with a lot of desert. A lot. Zefir, chocolate candy and a Lemur cake from Kiev Bakery are the least of it. They knew I made cheesecake but decided to get a layered cake too. My Mom also brought fish and salad for us to eat. She also brought my presents, which I knew about already, since I had to try them on a few months earlier to see if they fit. She got me a peach knitted dress and two pairs of shoes to match it. I got to put it on and one pair of shoes and did my hair all nice, so that we could take pictures. I don't like dress or shoe shopping, so I really appreciate getting them as presents so I don't have to shop.
The cheesecake was a success. My Mom loved it and she is a harsh critic who will tell you if she doesn't like something. She doesn't care about preserving feelings. Praise from her is high indeed. And my Dad already said that he wants me to make one for his birthday in November - so success! I had a piece of cheesecake and a piece of cake my parents brought, (and fish and salad), so I didn't really eat dinner. That was a lot of sugar. But so tasty.
Tanya just had a big sleep meltdown. She went to sleep ok in her crib at 7 30 but woke up really crying around nine. It took a while to calm her down and now she's next to me, grasping my hair. I have to finish writing this blog entry on my phone now. Ah, well. One day she will sleep like a normal person, in her bed the whole night. That day is not today.
Dante Project
Inferno. Canto III.
Dante reads the inscription of gates of Hell and see the fate of cowardly, those who did nothing in their live, neither good nor bad. At the river Acheron, Charon ferries the souls across to Hell proper. Dante faints at the end after an earthquake.
That inscription is pretty famous. This translator has a different than usual translation, probably more accurate, but the classic "abandon all hope, all ye who enter here" reads and sounds better than "abandon every hope, who enter here." The punishment itself for those who did nothing in their lives - being stung by insects as they race behind a banner - is not as creepy as the concept of these people just being stuck, not belonging anywhere. They can't even enter hell, much less go to Purgatory or Paradise. They are not remembered on Earth, they can't enter the official afterlife. They lived as though they didn't live. Is it really better then to be a sinner than to be unremarkable? Their fate is pretty hellish (heh) and we didn't even enter the first circle yet. No wonder Dante hears their terrible laments and cries of woe when Virgil leads him, and then cries. That imagery of terrible laments is pretty intense.
I didn't remember the details of this chapter at all. It didn't stick with me when I was younger. It's creepier now. Also Virgil comforting Dante while walking through the place: "And when, with gladness in his face, he placed his hand upon my own, to comfort me, he drew me in among the hidden things" pinges my slashy fannish brain now where it didn't before. I mean they are holding hands here, walking through hell. But as Bear pointed out, if he had to walk through hell, he would hold someone's hand too.
We woke up as usual at 7 something and I opened presents first thing, as was always the custom in my family. Bear got me a card and new bright yellow ducky socks to replace the ones that are falling apart (I love silly socks). (He also got me Broadway tickets to see Hedwig next week, but he didn't print those, since I knew about them already). My Dad left his present in my dresser a few days ago for me to open today. He got me two books: Kazuo Ishiguro's The Buried Giant (historical fiction from an author whom I wanted to read for a long time, I adore movies based on his books) and Oliver Sacks' On the Move: A Life (the new autobiography that was on my wishlist). And I got a cute card from Bear's parents.
Then after we got Tanya up and dressed, Bear made me birthday pancakes for breakfast while I made scrambled eggs. I watched more "Spartacus" - I have about half an episode to go to finish the series.
My parents came over in the afternoon with a lot of desert. A lot. Zefir, chocolate candy and a Lemur cake from Kiev Bakery are the least of it. They knew I made cheesecake but decided to get a layered cake too. My Mom also brought fish and salad for us to eat. She also brought my presents, which I knew about already, since I had to try them on a few months earlier to see if they fit. She got me a peach knitted dress and two pairs of shoes to match it. I got to put it on and one pair of shoes and did my hair all nice, so that we could take pictures. I don't like dress or shoe shopping, so I really appreciate getting them as presents so I don't have to shop.
The cheesecake was a success. My Mom loved it and she is a harsh critic who will tell you if she doesn't like something. She doesn't care about preserving feelings. Praise from her is high indeed. And my Dad already said that he wants me to make one for his birthday in November - so success! I had a piece of cheesecake and a piece of cake my parents brought, (and fish and salad), so I didn't really eat dinner. That was a lot of sugar. But so tasty.
Tanya just had a big sleep meltdown. She went to sleep ok in her crib at 7 30 but woke up really crying around nine. It took a while to calm her down and now she's next to me, grasping my hair. I have to finish writing this blog entry on my phone now. Ah, well. One day she will sleep like a normal person, in her bed the whole night. That day is not today.
Dante Project
Inferno. Canto III.
Dante reads the inscription of gates of Hell and see the fate of cowardly, those who did nothing in their live, neither good nor bad. At the river Acheron, Charon ferries the souls across to Hell proper. Dante faints at the end after an earthquake.
That inscription is pretty famous. This translator has a different than usual translation, probably more accurate, but the classic "abandon all hope, all ye who enter here" reads and sounds better than "abandon every hope, who enter here." The punishment itself for those who did nothing in their lives - being stung by insects as they race behind a banner - is not as creepy as the concept of these people just being stuck, not belonging anywhere. They can't even enter hell, much less go to Purgatory or Paradise. They are not remembered on Earth, they can't enter the official afterlife. They lived as though they didn't live. Is it really better then to be a sinner than to be unremarkable? Their fate is pretty hellish (heh) and we didn't even enter the first circle yet. No wonder Dante hears their terrible laments and cries of woe when Virgil leads him, and then cries. That imagery of terrible laments is pretty intense.
I didn't remember the details of this chapter at all. It didn't stick with me when I was younger. It's creepier now. Also Virgil comforting Dante while walking through the place: "And when, with gladness in his face, he placed his hand upon my own, to comfort me, he drew me in among the hidden things" pinges my slashy fannish brain now where it didn't before. I mean they are holding hands here, walking through hell. But as Bear pointed out, if he had to walk through hell, he would hold someone's hand too.
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