Hi. I suck. I was going to start doing research for my essays today. And well, I did read one chapter of one book. But mostly I didn't do work. I'm still swooning over Billy Collins and y'all don't care! Today I finished Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon. Not quite as good as The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, it was, but nonetheless a really good book. Having noticed one relatively obscure literary reference, though, I couldn't help wondering how many others I was simply missing. Oh, well.
As you may have read in Fiona's journal, the war is fucking with our social lives. That's not all it's fucking with, obviously, but to be especially shallow about it, let's discuss. Weekly Thursday outing? Pre-empted due to war coverage. Nields sisters show I'd been looking forward to since December? Cancelled because someone didn't bring their passport with them, or some other inane border holdup. Is it any wonder I'm not doing much work? I was going to play hard and then work hard, and instead I had to work hard and now I have nothing to play with.
And can I just say? The wall is the biggest fucking BORE ever right now.
My mom's in the hospital. She wasn't feeling well the last day she was here, and when she got back to Ottawa my dad took her to emergency and it turned out she had appendicitis, so they took her appendix out without much incident. The strange thing about this is that for 3 days now my dad has been saying he's going to call me and give me the phone number for my mom's room so I can give her a call. And he keeps not calling me when he says he will. And when he does call me, he makes a point of not giving me the number. He left me two messages with no phone number. It's kind of infuriating, especially considering I'm pulling my usual I'm-a-horrible-daughter routine now that she's gone. I don't know what's wrong with me that being with certain other people makes me beat the shit out of myself. But anyway.
Posted by hKath at
8:16 PM ()
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Thursday, March 20
It's time for another non-Katherine entry. It's been a while, but I just got done with a presentation on an incredibly angry poet, so now I want to regale you and make your hearts flutter along with mine. So I give you Billy Collins:
Litany
You are the bread and the knife,
The crystal goblet and the wine...
-Jacques Crickillon
You are the bread and the knife,
the crystal goblet and the wine.
You are the dew on the morning grass
and the burning wheel of the sun.
You are the white apron of the baker,
and the marsh birds suddenly in flight.
However, you are not the wind in the orchard,
the plums on the counter,
or the house of cards.
And you are certainly not the pine-scented air.
There is just no way that you are the pine-scented air.
It is possible that you are the fish under the bridge,
maybe even the pigeon on the general's head,
but you are not even close
to being the field of cornflowers at dusk.
And a quick look in the mirror will show
that you are neither the boots in the corner
nor the boat asleep in its boathouse.
It might interest you to know,
speaking of the plentiful imagery of the world,
that I am the sound of rain on the roof.
I also happen to be the shooting star,
the evening paper blowing down an alley
and the basket of chestnuts on the kitchen table.
I am also the moon in the trees
and the blind woman's tea cup.
But don't worry, I'm not the bread and the knife.
You are still the bread and the knife.
You will always be the bread and the knife,
not to mention the crystal goblet and--somehow--the wine.
Posted by hKath at 7:05 PM ()
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I've been in layout hell for the last hour or so, working on a handout that'll be double-sided and folded like a flyer. Fiona, MC, Lauren and Jen are still out somewhere. I'm exhausted and don't want to join them. I wrote a really strange poem about abortion (my assignment, not by choice). My mom probably has appendicitis. There are people getting bombed by Americans right now. And all I can think is how tired I am.
Posted by hKath at
1:53 AM ()
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Monday, March 17
There is now a TROGDOR!!! arcade game at homestarrunner.com. I'm in love, although I'm phenomenally bad at it. Well, I don't know. I got to level 4 and then Trogdor's eyes turned to little X's. Maybe you can do better?
Posted by hKath at
8:47 AM ()
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Sunday, March 16
Cleaning like crazy. Mother coming in less than 21 hours, and I'm working for 8 of those and would like to sleep. My entire life has taken on a rushed, surreal quality. Have something like 10,000 words of research papers to write before the end of the month. Not gonna happen. Have stepped off a proverbial cliff. Hopefully will find out I am able to fly. More later. News at eleven.
Posted by hKath at
1:35 PM ()
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