Here we are, and Wednesday will mark five years since the US invaded Iraq for President Asshole, for big business and oil and lies of nonexistent weapons of mass destruction. Five years. I only have estimates of the dead. 3,987 American soldiers (the most recent number I could find confirmed by the Department of "Defense"). 1,189,800 or so Iraqis. The cost in US dollars has exceeded $512 billion (and Nobel-prize winning economists are talking of the cost rising into the trillions of dollars). No end in sight, unless we're talking about the war's ever-diminishing visibility on American television screens. And here we are.
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And here it is St. Patrick's Day. Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig agat. I hung my Irish flag on the porch this morning, but somehow, this year, my heart just isn't in it.
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Yesterday was spent reading, revisiting old favorites. First Arthur Machen's "The Great God Pan" (1890). And then some early Lord Dunsany, a number of pieces from The Gods of Pegãna (1905). It's very hard to read these stories and not see Dunsany as the literary precursor of Tolkien, which, of course, raises interesting questions about Tolkien's place in the "weird" tradition.
There's a rather wonderful quote from Dunsany that I'd entirely forgotten, which nicely sums up my feelings about the need for any belief in a "life after death": "There is an eternity behind thee as well as one before. Hast thou bewailed the aeons that passed without thee, who are so much afraid of the aeons that shall pass?"
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Spooky's off to the doctor's office this morning, with what we hope is not an ear infection. This week is going to be hectic enough without her being sick. We need to leave here on Thursday for my appearance at the O'Neil Literary House in Chesterton, Maryland, which begins Friday night. Byron's going with us, to help with the drive. Oh. Here's the schedule I have been given. I have a reading Friday night, beginning at 6 p.m. (EST), running for an hour or so, and followed by a Q & A. Then, on Saturday, Joshi and I will be doing some sort of panel/talk from 5 p.m. until 6. I have absolutely no idea what I'll be reading. As of right now, I still have nothing to wear. And I'm still coughing (a month now), which is going to make the reading all sorts of fun.
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As for yesterday, well, there was all the reading. We watched two more episodes from Season Four of Angel ("Players" and "Inside Out"), and then I was up much too late rping with the Omegas in Toxia. I think I got to sleep about 4 ayem. Blegh. Good stuff, though, well worth a little sleep deprivation. Special thanks to
omegamorningsta.
And now, here, it is today. And the platypus, well, hesheit and I need to have a few choice words....
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And here it is St. Patrick's Day. Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig agat. I hung my Irish flag on the porch this morning, but somehow, this year, my heart just isn't in it.
---
Yesterday was spent reading, revisiting old favorites. First Arthur Machen's "The Great God Pan" (1890). And then some early Lord Dunsany, a number of pieces from The Gods of Pegãna (1905). It's very hard to read these stories and not see Dunsany as the literary precursor of Tolkien, which, of course, raises interesting questions about Tolkien's place in the "weird" tradition.
There's a rather wonderful quote from Dunsany that I'd entirely forgotten, which nicely sums up my feelings about the need for any belief in a "life after death": "There is an eternity behind thee as well as one before. Hast thou bewailed the aeons that passed without thee, who are so much afraid of the aeons that shall pass?"
---
Spooky's off to the doctor's office this morning, with what we hope is not an ear infection. This week is going to be hectic enough without her being sick. We need to leave here on Thursday for my appearance at the O'Neil Literary House in Chesterton, Maryland, which begins Friday night. Byron's going with us, to help with the drive. Oh. Here's the schedule I have been given. I have a reading Friday night, beginning at 6 p.m. (EST), running for an hour or so, and followed by a Q & A. Then, on Saturday, Joshi and I will be doing some sort of panel/talk from 5 p.m. until 6. I have absolutely no idea what I'll be reading. As of right now, I still have nothing to wear. And I'm still coughing (a month now), which is going to make the reading all sorts of fun.
---
As for yesterday, well, there was all the reading. We watched two more episodes from Season Four of Angel ("Players" and "Inside Out"), and then I was up much too late rping with the Omegas in Toxia. I think I got to sleep about 4 ayem. Blegh. Good stuff, though, well worth a little sleep deprivation. Special thanks to
omegamorningsta.And now, here, it is today. And the platypus, well, hesheit and I need to have a few choice words....
- Current Location:Chasma Boreale
- Current Mood:
awake - Current Music:Tori Amos, "Scarlet's Walk"
Comments
Said, and well-said, decades and decades before "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life..."
I need to read more Lord Dunsany. I've only read The Charwoman's Shadow, which I appreciated, and of course I appreciate his influence on Arthur C. Clarke (who I re-read a bit of this weekend, and it felt so comfortable; Clarke was one of my first "favorite authors"). I should read more to see Dunsany's influence on you (another one of my favorites)...
Peace.
You could always celebrate Evacuation Day, which I didn't even know existed until this afternoon. It's weird enough to be worth a toast.
May you not have an ear infection, and may the O'Neill appearance go well!
You could always celebrate Evacuation Day, which I didn't even know existed until this afternoon. It's weird enough to be worth a toast.
Nah, but thanks.
May you not have an ear infection
Not me. Spooky.
Man. I really am tired. May she not have an ear infection, either!
feh. It has been declared infected by the nice doctor.
I have three different editions of that, and its just gorgeous and sad and beautiful. Best read out loud too.
Taz was there too hooking up with Neri.. I was cracking up.
Whoa. Yummy screencap.
Taz was there too hooking up with Neri.. I was cracking up.
Ain't it precious?
http://www.wildclawtheatre.com/index.html
While I am here are you interested in a free copy of Machenalia one of the journals of the Friends of Arthur Machen? I am the editor. Message me with a snail mail address
if you do.
This Machenalia includes a full set of the recently discovered Little Fables by the mysterious M. First published in the late twenties in the literary magazine John O’ London’s Weekly, a periodical which frequently published Machen. Are the Fables a lost work by Machen? Much furious debate on the matter is underway by Machen scholars.
There is more news on the Angels of Mons saga, a new stage adaptation of Machen’s The Great God Pan in Chicago, news on a strange rite to summon Pan involving Frank Baker and Crowley which led to a terrible death, details on the terrifying Caerleon catacombs, and another article on music inspired by Machen, alongside the usual reviews of Machen related works. Plus it contains a cryptic numerological inscription written by Machen, found in a collector’s library. Now known as The Machen Code it is already arousing much interest from cryptoanalysts - proffered solutions to the code have connected it to Aztec sacrifice, Scottish use of occult rituals to destroy the English, a clue that finally reveals the location of the Sang Graal, or Machen's record of the results of a drinking game.
Always good idea to remember such a fine Cymric Saint as Padrig.
While I am here are you interested in a free copy of Machenalia one of the journals of the Friends of Arthur Machen? I am the editor. Message me with a snail mail address
I would love a copy. Thank you. Please send it to:
Caitlín R. Kiernan
P.O. Box 5381
Atlanta, GA 31107