The Elder Edda

I'm so tired of reading and rereading and rerereading this book that I've decided to start judging it by its cover instead.

Michelle Charles (c.1960- )

More here.

Su Blackwell (1975- )

More here.

Zoophilia

These should all be fairly self-explanatory: the indeterminate russet blob in the first picture is a camera-shy red panda.

Jardin Botánico

We went to the Botanical Gardens on Sunday afternoon, and saw:
fungi;

gourds;

brassicae;

capisci;

and part of ex-President Felipe Gonzalez's collection of bonsai trees, before we were thrown out at closing time.

Sightseeing

We got the electricity back soon enough, after only a day or so of lighting candles, ordering in Chinese food, and snuggling early to bed. The internet's still a problem, so I haven't been as good at updating things here as I have wanted to be. So: My parents came to visit us last weekend. Michael had to go back on Sunday; Joanna was here till Tuesday. Saturday we walked around Madrid, a walk that included Calle Cervantes:


I wonder if Lope de Vega would be annoyed that Cervantes has given his name to the street they both lived on. After all, Lope wrote over 1500 plays, and Cervantes only one lousy novel. Productivity, it seems, isn't everything. We went to the Rembrandt exhibition in the Prado, queued for an hour or so and quite enjoyed it. In the queue we saw: sparrows eating the salt between the cracks in the bricks of the museum (which two Oxford colleges try to destroy each other by picking away at the mortar each time they visit? Merton and New?)

Also, the purveyors of tat.

Scenes from Bohemian Life; or Mehr Licht!

We were just boiling the kettle in order to defrost our lunch, when I noticed that the kettle wasn't heating up. The stove wasn't hot. The lights wouldn't turn on. No juice. We went down to the basement and found a label stuck on our electricity meter: "Cortado por F.P.: 28.10.08". We interpreted this as "Cut off for N.[on] P.[ayment]". We haven't yet received an electricity bill, so we were a little surprised about this, and called our landlady, who told us to call Iberdrolo, the provider. They confirmed that they had cut off our electricity for non-payment, and that they had allegedly sent us six letters reminding us to pay our bill. We told them that they hadn't, but neither side had convincing arguments either way (we had to call our landlady even to find out who our providers were, so I'm sure we're right). They eventually, with poor grace, agreed to turn us back on once we've paid. Within three to five days of our having paid. So we have no electricity until at least Friday, and probably Tuesday. Candles in the night. We bought a meringue as big as Marian's head to try to take our minds off it, but it's a bit of a bugger.

Cacao Sampaka

We went here. If anyone offers you one of their legendary anchovy and hazelnut truffles. just say no. Then run away.

Rogero's Song from The Rovers; or, The Double Arrangement

Whene’er with haggard eyes I view
  This dungeon, that I’m rotting in,
I think of those companions true
  Who studied with me in the U-
    -niversity of Gottingen—
    -niversity of Gottingen.
[Weeps, and pulls out a blue ’kerchief, with which he wipes his eyes; gazing tenderly at it, he proceeds]

Sweet ’kerchief check’d with heavenly blue,
  Which once my love sat knotting in,
Alas, Matilda then was true,
  At least I thought so at the U-
    -niversity of Gottingen—
    -niversity of Gottingen.
[At the repetition of this line Rogero clanks his chain in cadence]

Barbs! barbs! alas! how swift ye flew,
  Her neat post-waggon trotting in!
Ye bore Matilda from my view;
  Forlorn I languish’d at the U-
    -niversity of Gottingen—
    -niversity of Gottingen.

This faded form! this pallid hue!
  This blood my veins is clotting in,
My years are many— they were few
  When I first entered at the U-
    -niversity of Gottingen—
    -niversity of Gottingen.

There first for thee my passion grew,
  Sweet; sweet Matilda Pottingen!
Thou wast the daughter of my tutor,
  Law Professor at the U-
    -niversity of Gottingen—
    -niversity of Gottingen.

Sun, moon, and thou vain world, adieu,
  That kings and priests are plotting in;
Here doom’d to starve on water-gruel,
  never shall I see the U-
    -niversity of Gottingen!—
    -niversity of Gottingen!
[During the last stanza Rogero dashes his head repeatedly against the walls of his prison; and, finally, so hard as to produce a visible contusion. He then throws himself on the floor in an agony. The curtain drops— the music still continuing to play till it is wholly fallen]

George Canning (1770-1827) and George Ellis (1753-1815). I think George Canning is my current favorite Prime Minister. As opposed to my favorite current Prime Minister, who is of course Youssouf Saleh Abbas, Prime Minister of Chad.

Current Favourite Sentence

Dans l'armoire, pour tout vêtement, une veste en mouton retourné. Dans l'une des poches, je trouve un agenda écrit en allemand, langue que je ne pratique pas. Seule indication intelligible, à la date du 24 février, entre 15 et 17 heures: 'Nietzsche'.