en

Monday, December 11, 2006


I have nothing further to add.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

I lost my Site Meter password and can't get it back. Now I can't even tell who, if anybody, is reading my blog. I'm totally blind.

Recently re-read: "Araby," by James Joyce.

At night in my bedroom and by day in the classroom her image came between me and the page I strove to read. The syllables of the word Araby were called to me through the silence in which my soul luxuriated and cast an Eastern enchantment over me.
Taken out of context, these sentences may not seem funny. But within the story they're brilliant and hilarious, as is the amazing ending.

Meanwhile, Roger Ebert's review of John Huston's film version of "The Dead" (a Joyce story with an even better ending) made me curious about the movie. It also reminds me of the song, "Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying", not because of the death connection, but because of the ending about endings.

"Haruki Murakami: On seeing the 100% perfect girl one beautiful April morning." A nice ending: "A sad story, don't you think?"

Madonna's "Live To Tell": Kinda creepy, cryptic and brilliant, don't you think? (What's she talking about? What's the secret? Is it a good thing or a bad thing?)

Finally, Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called To Say I Love You": You can't be blamed for switching it off by the time the first chorus start, but if you actually listen to the verses, something strange is happening.

No summer's high, no warm July,
No harvest moon to light
One tender August night.
No autumn breeze,
No falling leaves,
Not even time for birds
To fly to southern skies.


Lovely, but are these supposed to be a counterpoint to the commonplace (yet profound) "I love you"? Have you ever picked up the phone to say, "I just called to say the leaves are falling"? Or, "Hey! The birds flew south!" I have not.

Moreover, the Harvest Moon never appears in August. The full moon nearest to the autumnal equinox, the Harvest Moon usually falls in September, and can occur anywhere between September 8 and October 7.

Then again, that guy's totally blind.