poetry

Reading Stephen Fry's "An Ode Less Travelled" again to prepare choosing and explaining the poems I will be told to learn by heart.

Random things that came up: wrenched rhyming, as perfectly shown by Arlo Guthrie's "The Motorcycle Song"

And amazing poetry by Kim Addonizio and e e cummings:

What Do Women Want?
by Kim Addonizio

I want a red dress.
I want it flimsy and cheap,
I want it too tight, I want to wear it
until someone tears it off me.
I want it sleeveless and backless,
this dress, so no one has to guess
what's underneath. I want to walk down
the street past Thrifty's and the hardware store
with all those keys glittering in the window,
past Mr. and Mrs. Wong selling day-old
donuts in their café, past the Guerra brothers
slinging pigs from the truck and onto the dolly,
hoisting the slick snouts over their shoulders.
I want to walk like I'm the only
woman on earth and I can have my pick.
I want that red dress bad.
I want it to confirm
your worst fears about me,
to show you how little I care about you
or anything except what
I want. When I find it, I'll pull that garment
from its hanger like I'm choosing a body
to carry me into this world, through
the birth-cries and the love-cries too,
and I'll wear it like bones, like skin,
it'll be the goddamned
dress they bury me in.


may i feel said he
by e.e. cummings

may i feel said he
(i'll squeal said she
just once said he)
it's fun said she

(may i touch said he
how much said she
a lot said he)
why not said she

(let's go said he
not too far said she
what's too far said he
where you are said she)

may i stay said he
(which way said she
like this said he
if you kiss said she

may i move said he
is it love said she)
if you're willing said he
(but you're killing said she

but it's life said he
but your wife said she
now said he)
ow said she

(tiptop said he
don't stop said she
oh no said he)
go slow said she

(cccome?said he
ummm said she)
you're divine!said he
(you are Mine said she)

the Forty Immortals

The French Academy, or the Institut National de France, has "forty immortals", created by Richelieu, who decide which words are added to the French language.

They have no legal authority, but their opinion weighs heavily.

This has been going on for more than 400 years. As Stephen Fry puts it, "a very strange, and very French system."

(from the 2nd episode of Fry's Planet Word)

Stephen Fry Kinetic Typography - on language

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7E-aoXLZGY

Wonderful.

Stephen Fry in America

Wonderful documentary (it is pretty difficult for me not to like anything he has done or written, and this is both written and presented by him) where in he traverses through the United States. Big cities, small moments, it is a random collection of this vast country.

It doesn't show everything, but how could it? It shows enough to love this country, to be mesmerized by its size, people and differences.

Plus, of course, living here right now puts things in such a different light.

One more disc, three more episodes to go...

And every next disc as lovely as the previous.

Stephen Fry - "The Life of a Manic Depressant"

touching and wonderful document about people with the bipolar syndrome. He is a wonderful interviewer, who doesn't shun showing his own emotions.

"would you press a button that would erase your syndrome completely?" Only one would. The rest love their manic moments too much. 

Lithium: "I don't want to be part of the lithium generation." Symptoms come back and *worse* after taking lithium compared to the symptoms before lithium was used. Wow.

QI - random facts

Love QI at the moment. Watching all kind of old episodes, reading websites, etc.

A standard crayon  (potlood) will draw a line of 35 miles. How about that!

"Last Chance To See" (BBC series)

Beautiful animals and landscapes. Exotic cities teeming with colourfull people. I want to travel again. I want to do something worthwhile with my life. IT is not "worthwhile" at all.

Stephen Fry - "The ode less travelled"

ti tum, ti tum, ti tum, ti tum, ti tum, ti tum

Now you, and read it out loud!

That's how he describes a iambic pentameter.

Gotta love the guy, if just for his grant love of, amongst a thousand other things, language, words and poetry.

Had to write 10 iambic pentameters as an exercise.

This book will reside rather long in the "started" phase because you don't just browse over it every moment. But it is wonderful. I already know three people I'll recommend it to.