Happy weekend

I want these T-shirts!

Poem

Lana Turner has collapsed!
I was trotting along and suddenly
it started raining and snowing
and you said it was hailing
but hailing hits you on the head
hard so it was really snowing and
raining and I was in such a hurry
to meet you but the traffic
was acting exactly like the sky
and suddenly I see a headline
LANA TURNER HAS COLLAPSED!
there is no snow in Hollywood
there is no rain in California
I have been to lots of parties
and acted perfectly disgraceful
but I never actually collapsed
oh Lana Turner we love you get up

- - Frank O'Hara

Winterson and gay marriage

I always find something interesting when I go to Jeanette Winterson's web page. This time a column about gay marriage, written in 2002:

"For the first time in my life, I felt that there was genuine consensus in favour of a more equal and honest society, one where all our loves are treated with the dignity love deserves.

Yet, there is still a problem - or rather a moral debate, and it is an important one. What does marriage mean in the twenty first century? Does it deserve special status? Should marriage be reserved for heterosexuals? Shadow Home Secretary Oliver Letwin rather charmingly calls them mixed-sex couples, as though neither party can be quite sure of their gender.

Of course, if same sex couples could marry, we would have none of this legislative difficulty, but it seems that while society is ready to end discrimination against gays, it is largely hostile to any proposals for gay marriage." Read the rest, it's not very long. And still valid!

Tea and lazy dog

The cold is gone, fortunately! I didn't get as pampered as I hoped, because girlfriend had a cold too. And she had to work. So it was more:

HB: A cup of tea would be lovely.
GF: I know. It's your turn.

or in the morning:

HB: A cup of tea would be great.
GF: Yes. I made the last cup last night, so..
HB: It's my turn. How about this - you make tea now, and then I can make tea two times in a row later today?
GF: No.
HB: Or I could start the kettle, and then YOU make the tea? Or...
GF: How about this - you get your ass out of bed and make tea NOW, instead of getting a pillow in your mouth?
HB: On my way.


Remember this dog:


The same dog in winter:




Actually, the last two photos are lying. The dog was tearing through the snow like a tornado - but my camera got too cold, so it didn't work! But I'm sure you can imagine it: dry, powdery snow and a dog with A LOT of energy :-)

Cold

It is cold (-16 degrees this morning), and I have a cold. I don't even want whisky - so I guess I'm REALLY ill;-) So, plans for the day:

- make a bum imprint on the sofa
- read lots of comic books
- drink lots of tea
- the moment I feel a little better, drink whisky. I'm sure it will help.
- see the Harry Potter-movies again
- sleep
- when my girlfriend is back from work: feel a little worse again, and certainly way to weak to make my own tea. Or get my own chocolate. Or change the dvd in the dvd-player.

A perfect Monday poem

The Word

Down near the bottom
of the crossed-out list
of things you have to do today,

between "green thread"
and "broccoli" you find
that you have penciled "sunlight."

Resting on the page, the word
is as beautiful, it touches you
as if you had a friend

and sunlight were a present
he had sent you from some place distant
as this morning -- to cheer you up,

and to remind you that,
among your duties, pleasure
is a thing,

that also needs accomplishing
Do you remember?
that time and light are kinds

of love, and love
is no less practical
than a coffee grinder

or a safe spare tire?
Tomorrow you may be utterly
without a clue

but today you get a telegram,
from the heart in exile
proclaiming that the kingdom

still exists,
the king and queen alive,
still speaking to their children,

- to any one among them
who can find the time,
to sit out in the sun and listen.

Tony Hoagland