Auckland Ramblings
Mar. 26th, 2007 09:10 pmSome sundry impressions:
- Auckland drivers and the traffic get more abominable every time I come here. Unless I lived (somewhere sufficiently aesthetic) within walking distance or a direct <1/2 hour busride to work, I wouldn't live here. Mind you, that's my criteria with just about any city, after London.
- There have been some interesting blasts from the past. I found a cocktail bar called Mo's, on the corner of Federal and Wolfe Sts, which is open to 3am. Makes a change from the dive that used to be there which the sailors and protties used to frequent. It's a wee hole in the wall, and the cocktail list is only the "classics". A mai tai was not on the list, but who on earth puts raspberry syrup in it????? So, nice place, but perhaps I should have stuck to what was on the (limited) menu.
- After Mo's, I walked up to St Paddy's Cathedral, through the park were Tania was gay- or Maori-bashed (or both) in the late 80s. It's a nice wee park though. The waterfall with big rough-hewn slabs of stone is still there splashing away, nicely lit-up at night.
- The Formule 1 hotel here in Wyndham St is nice. I am only staying here as a last resort (cos the three in which I've stayed in Oz were horrendous), but for $75 a night, I've got a kitchenette, nice bedding (not the flashest sheets, but they're clean), no bunks, a good shower and, get this, sea views right off Queen St in Auckland. I gather that Formule 1 didn't build this particular place and only took it on in the last 6 months. I thoroughly recommend it for budget accommodation, before it gets grotty. I'll post up pics tomorrow, possibly.
- The Women's Bookshop is hardly worth the name, these days. Between the books by blokes, and "self-help" and "spiritual" twaddle, there were about a dozen different authors in the lesbian section. I think there are probably more at Borders. Let all us Alison Bechdel fans reflect on the irony. Two (small) paperback books cost me over $70. One of which is Bechdel's Fun Home, which was a fascinating read, on a number of levels.
- After talking to my friend D at great length about the need for an anthology of NZ nature poetry, I found a book published last year that is exactly that, complete with nice photos. It's called Nature of Things. Here's the first one, by Ruth Dallas:
Deep in the Hills
Once I thought the land I had loved and known
Lay curled up in my inmost self: musing alone
In the quiet room I unfolded the folded sea,
Unlocked the forest and the lonely tree,
Hill and mountain valley beach and stone,
All these, I said, are here and exist in me.
But now I know it is I who exist in the land:
My inmost self is blown like a grain of sand
Along the windy beach, and is only free
To wander among the mountains, enter the tree,
To turn again a sea-worn stone in the hand,
Because these things exist outside of me.
O far from the quiet room my spirit fills
The familar valleys, is folded deep in the hills.
- And the anthology is even better because it has my favourite ever NZ nature poem, as I go on about here.
- My friends are absolute treasures. Thank christ for their input and wonderful selves.
- I've needed this break, and to return to my turangawaewae (resting-place for feet, which metaphorically means the place where you have the right to stand up, and where you always return to).
- Off to the museum tomorrow to see an exhibition on the Pacific explorers... the original ones.
- The new titchy coins here are hilarious. Since they're completely different weights and sizes, I'll have to start feeding my old coins (still at home) into those Aussie parking meters. I'm so bad.
- Home to Canberra Wednesday night. When are they going to invent that goddamned matter transporter so that I can see all my loved ones anywhere when I feel like it?
Ganked from
ataniell93
It's evidently obvious I'm poly. Another fave:
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
It's evidently obvious I'm poly. Another fave:
man woman vs
woman all overlap and
all so i am
woman all overlap and
all so i am
An elegy by David Slack:
BWAH!So farewell
Then
Milton FriedmanTaken from us by
The invisible
Hand.Now that you and
Ronnie are
Gone,Maggie is the
Only one from the old gang
LeftUnless you count
Pinochet.As you arrive in
The luxury wing of
HeavenI wonder if
Ron will
Remember youAnd if you will have to pay for
Lunch.
( Since I'm in a slightly turgid mood, something from Neruda )
And Poemhunter.com have a Neruda ebook available for download (PDF).
I should be studying... computer shit, not poetry. Oh well.
And Poemhunter.com have a Neruda ebook available for download (PDF).
I should be studying... computer shit, not poetry. Oh well.
Oh bugger!
Sep. 26th, 2005 10:46 pmOh, poo, I kind of missed
commodorified's contribution since I was not using my computer much for frivolity over the weekend, but I just got tagged by someone else (for a) quoting Shakespeare when you see him; and b) quoting a poem when you see one). So, I kill two birds with one stone.
Shakespeare, here 'tis:
Horribly horribly apposite at the moment.
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
Shakespeare, here 'tis:
Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed,
The dear repose for limbs with travel tired;
But then begins a journey in my head,
To work my mind, when body's work's expired:
For then my thoughts, from far where I abide,
Intend a zealous pilgrimage to thee,
And keep my drooping eyelids open wide,
Looking on darkness which the blind do see
Save that my soul's imaginary sight
Presents thy shadow to my sightless view,
Which, like a jewel hung in ghastly night,
Makes black night beauteous and her old face new.
Lo! thus, by day my limbs, by night my mind,
For thee and for myself no quiet find.
Horribly horribly apposite at the moment.
The fate of the English lit grad
Jul. 23rd, 2005 06:47 pmI was telling
damned_colonial last week about a job I once had proofreading legal commentary (yes, it is utterly as boring as it sounds). Most of the editors who worked there had their doctorates and masters in English literature, although though there were a few, like my friend Rachel, who'd snuck in with other similar degrees (masters in French lit, in her instance).
And, if I was bored, my friends, they were bored out of their tiny trees. Thus mad outbreaks of feyness happened at intervals. One of the best was sparked by one of the editors who was from England, who innocently asked what a choko was. Very quickly, he was provided with history ("Let them eat chokos!" cried Marie Antoinette), recipes (self-saucing choko pudding) and literature. And here's one of the best examples from literature:
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
And, if I was bored, my friends, they were bored out of their tiny trees. Thus mad outbreaks of feyness happened at intervals. One of the best was sparked by one of the editors who was from England, who innocently asked what a choko was. Very quickly, he was provided with history ("Let them eat chokos!" cried Marie Antoinette), recipes (self-saucing choko pudding) and literature. And here's one of the best examples from literature:
Greenish blues - WH Audit
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone
Shoot the pianist and with feelings glum,
Put away the coffee, don't let the diners come.
Let the waiters circle moaning all as one.
Scribble on the menu "It's all gone".
Put great bells around the red necks of rugby jocks.
Let traffic policemen wear white bobby socks.
It was my nosh, my spread, my feast, my boast,
My breakfast and my Sunday roast.
My lunch, my midnight snack, my feed, my scoff
I thought my choko frittata would last forever. It was off.
Pickles are not wanted now, put away every one.
Pack up the spoon and dismantle the bun.
Pour away the vinaigrette and sweep up the pud.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.
Poetry meme
Jun. 7th, 2005 11:05 am...that
commodorified has been clobbering people over the head with. I suppose I'll join this party. :-)
( Jabberwocky - Lewis Carroll )
Jabberwocky was the first poem I learned by heart, when I was 10, and I can still recite it, no problems. I attempted to memorise the Walrus and the Carpenter as well, but it was just a wee bit too long. With Jabberwocky, I loved the language--"galumphing" has always been one of my favourite words, and I think "mimsy" is perfect for expressing a certain frame of mind.
( Among School Children - WB Yeats (final stanza) )
Yeats is often overwrought for my taste, but this perfectly expresses one of my beliefs about how we can't separate our bodily health from our emotional or spiritual health. I memorised this when I was 16 -- I don't remember where I came across it originally -- and really, it's no wonder I studied homeopathy, with its emphasis on treating the whole person.
( Absence - Pablo Neruda )
I have spent too much time separated from people I love. And Neruda expresses exactly how that feels.
( My Lady Ain't No Lady - Pat Parker )
This poem always makes me laugh. And so expresses what I love about my lovers, even when they're being girly.
( High Country Weather - James K. Baxter )
One of James K. Baxter's quintessential New Zealand nature poems. There are a couple about the bush (forest) that I also love, but this one really expresses what nature/the earth/the universe gives to me.
( All day I am dreaming a forest - Caroline Griffin )
I flatted with Caroline when I first moved to London. The flatting situation didn't work out, but she is a damn fine poet. And it features forests and bees, two of my favourite things.
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
( Jabberwocky - Lewis Carroll )
Jabberwocky was the first poem I learned by heart, when I was 10, and I can still recite it, no problems. I attempted to memorise the Walrus and the Carpenter as well, but it was just a wee bit too long. With Jabberwocky, I loved the language--"galumphing" has always been one of my favourite words, and I think "mimsy" is perfect for expressing a certain frame of mind.
( Among School Children - WB Yeats (final stanza) )
Yeats is often overwrought for my taste, but this perfectly expresses one of my beliefs about how we can't separate our bodily health from our emotional or spiritual health. I memorised this when I was 16 -- I don't remember where I came across it originally -- and really, it's no wonder I studied homeopathy, with its emphasis on treating the whole person.
( Absence - Pablo Neruda )
I have spent too much time separated from people I love. And Neruda expresses exactly how that feels.
( My Lady Ain't No Lady - Pat Parker )
This poem always makes me laugh. And so expresses what I love about my lovers, even when they're being girly.
( High Country Weather - James K. Baxter )
One of James K. Baxter's quintessential New Zealand nature poems. There are a couple about the bush (forest) that I also love, but this one really expresses what nature/the earth/the universe gives to me.
( All day I am dreaming a forest - Caroline Griffin )
I flatted with Caroline when I first moved to London. The flatting situation didn't work out, but she is a damn fine poet. And it features forests and bees, two of my favourite things.