Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Song of Solomon Chapters 1 - 4

Chapter 1

The song of songs, which is Solomon's.

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.

Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.

Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.

I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.

Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.

Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?

If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents.

I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots.

Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold.

We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver.

While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.

A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.

My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi.

Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes.

Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green.

The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir.


Chapter 2

I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.

As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.

As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.

He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.

Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.

His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.

I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.

The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.
My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.

My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.

For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;

The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;

The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell.

Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.

Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.

My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.

Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.


Chapter 3

By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.

I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.

The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?

It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.

I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.

Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?

Behold his bed, which is Solomon's; threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel.

They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night.

King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon.

He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple, the midst thereof being paved with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem.

Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.


Chapter 4

Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.

Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them.

Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks.

Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.

Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies.

Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.

Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.

Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards.

Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck.

How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices!

Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.

A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.

Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard,
Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:

A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.

Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out.

Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.

Song of Solomon - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

  1. Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.
  2. Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them.
  3. Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks.
  4. Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.
  5. Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies.
  6. Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.
  7. Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.
  8. Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards.
  9. Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck.
  10. How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices!
  11. Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.
  12. A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.
  13. Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard,
  14. Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:
  15. A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.
  16. Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.

Sunday, November 4, 2007

forwarded to me in an email

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too.
Cna yuo raed tihs?
Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.
i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg.
The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae.
The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm.
Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

COULD YOU UNDERSTAND THIS? I COULD.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

astrology: Mercury goes direct

Good news for my fellow stargazers. Mercury Retrograde is over! The bugger goes direct from this weekend. ere is a quote from Jonathon Cainer's website -

Mercury, this week, completes the phase of retrograde motion that it began back in early October. Neptune, too, 'changes direction.' It has been retrograde since late May. No matter what sign you are, this has an exciting implication for you if you're dreaming a big dream, nurturing a great hope or trying to strike an important deal. Where, of late, there has been a lot of to-ing and fro-ing, humming and hah-ing, waiting and wondering, there's soon going to be a time for sleeve-rolling, doubt-dropping and shoulder-to-the-wheeling!
http://www.cainer.com/

Apparently Neptune has been retrograde too. I don't car about Neptune so much, because I have Neptune retrograde in my natal chart so I reckon I am used to this vibe.

words: 'also'

"The origins of the word 'also' (all so) dates back to the 11th century and means 'wholly'."
(Taken from the president's introduction to tthe ALSO Foundation's 2007 Directory).

Also comes to us from the old english ealswa.

Background / why I chose this word: From June 2003 - February 2007 I was working for a student service organisation connected to a University. This organisation underwent a massive downsizing due to funding cuts at the end of last year / beginning of this year. Sadly the downsizing process was handled very, very badly. Staff felt uninformed, misinformed, unheard and eventually disempowered and disrespected. The whole ghastly process took 2 years. (After 5 hideous months on the dole I am now back working for this organisation).

Now that the dust is settling I am starting to bump into the odd ex co-worker on the street and we exchange gossip. The few people I have seen look healthier - they are standing straighter, their eyes are brighter and frown lines are easing. Each conversation begins with us scrutinising each other and saying: "You look better!" They are conversations of people who have survived some kind of calamity to find, against all expectations, that limbs are all attached, senses are functioning, and we are not receiving messages from the mothership.

I have heard during one of these encounters that a friend of mine had managed to get a great new job with something called The Also Foundation. I had heard of this foundation but had no idea as to what it did. Then I saw a directory put out by this foundation in the State Library. In the introduction it told me that ALSO is an acronym for Alternative Life Styles Organisation, and is an organisation that supports the gay and lesbian community. My friend, who has a legal and social work background, will love working here as she is passionate about social justice.
Also is such a common place word that I had never given it a second thought. But it always enchants me when I find that words we bandy about as part of modern day English have survived from such ancient beginnings.

Friday, November 2, 2007

The Circus Animals Desertion by WB Yeats

I love this poem because the lines "I sought a theme and sought for it in vain, / I sought it daily for six weeks or so. / Maybe at last, being but a broken man (or woman in my case), / I must be satisfied with my heart" often sum up how I feel when I start on a creative project. The lines "Now that my ladder's gone, / I must lie down where all the ladders start / In the foul rag and bone shop of the heart" remain an inspiration to me.

The Circus Animals' Desertion

I
I sought a theme and sought for it in vain,
I sought it daily for six weeks or so.
Maybe at last, being but a broken man,
I must be satisfied with my heart,
althoughWinter and summer till old age began
My circus animals were all on show,
Those stilted boys, that burnished chariot,
Lion and woman and the Lord knows what.


II
What can I but enumerate old themes,
First that sea-rider Oisin led by the nose
Through three enchanted islands, allegorical dreams,
Vain gaiety, vain battle, vain repose,
Themes of the embittered heart, or so it seems,
That might adorn old songs or courtly shows;
But what cared I that set him on to ride,
I, starved for the bosom of his faery bride.

And then a counter-truth filled out its play,
'The Countess Cathleen' was the name I gave it;
She, pity-crazed, had given her soul away,
But masterful Heaven had intervened to save it.
I thought my dear must her own soul destroy
So did fanaticism and hate enslave it,
And this brought forth a dream and soon enough
This dream itself had all my thought and love.

And when the Fool and Blind Man stole the bread
Cuchulain fought the ungovernable sea;
Heart-mysteries there, and yet when all is said
It was the dream itself enchanted me:
Character isolated by a deed
To engross the present and dominate memory.
Players and painted stage took all my love,
And not those things that they were emblems of.

III
Those masterful images because complete
Grew in pure mind, but out of what began?
A mound of refuse or the sweepings of a street,
Old kettles, old bottles, and a broken can,
Old iron, old bones, old rags, that raving slut
Who keeps the till. Now that my ladder's gone,
I must lie down where all the ladders start
In the foul rag and bone shop of the heart.

William Butler Yeats

5 random questions

The following blog has been directly cut and pasted from my blog on 360 blog. We have a regular theme every Friday called Friday Five, where 5 questions are posed and bloggers respond:

You're walking along when suddenly . . . you accidently fall into an interdimensional portal that transports you into the electronic information streams zig zaging through the atmosphere . . .

1. You're trapped in a movie channel stream - what movie are you trapped in?

Lord of the Rings. See answer 2.

2. What character are you?

I did a quiz once – ‘What Lord of the Rings character are you?’ All my friends and my sister and Mum did it and they all got either Galadriel or Arwen or Miranda Otto’s character. I got Gimli the dwarf. Apparently if you are facing down a few thousand orcs, according to this quiz, then I am the sort of person you want watching your back.

Nice idea, but it’s not true. Next time you watch The Lord of The Rings have a look at the grubby extras running, squealing, away from the orcs. The ones with matted hair, grimy faces and grubby clothes watching their houses being burnt down or the city bombed. That’s me, and, in fact, most human beings on the planet.

3. Next you're thrown into an online game world - which one?

I have played a little bit of Tibia, which involves medievalesque characters trudging around trying to kill various creatures. I am hopeless at this game. I am always dying. So I wouldn’t be in this online game for long.

4. You're then thrown into a video channel - which video do you get stuck into?

What’s a video channel? Isn’t this covered in Question 1?

5. Lastly you are thrown onto the television schedule - which show do you end up in?
In the weeks following her stroke my Mum said that the only TV show she could bear to watch was the Teletubbies. She said that she was operating on their level of intellectual and emotional intelligence and she found it comforting. At the moment I must admit that I feel much the same way. My Mum had just had a major stroke, I have no good excuse for feeling like this.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Words: Ruly

ruly \ROO-lee\ adjective : obedient, orderly
Example sentence:
Concert organizers worried that rambunctious fans might get out of hand, but the crowd was surprisingly ruly.

Did you know?
You're probably familiar with “unruly,” meaning “not readily controlled or disciplined.” Have you ever wondered, “Is there a 'ruly' too?” If so, did it seem to you that such a word should exist? A little over 150 years ago, someone apparently followed that same thought process, creating “ruly” by dropping the prefix from “unruly.” Whoever did so probably thought the coinage was a new one, but that’s not quite the case. There had once been another “ruly” with much the same meaning as the modern term, but it had been out of use for over 200 years. Ultimately, “ruly” and “unruly” come from “reuly,” a Middle English word meaning “disciplined.” “Reuly” in turn comes from Middle English “reule,” a predecessor of “rule.”

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

(From Merriam-Webster website)


We are all familiar with the word unruly, which, of course, means the opposite of the above word. But I was delighted when I cam across the word ‘ruly’. Of course I knew that it must have been word in its own right once upon a time but you never hear it used nowadays, whereas its evil twin ‘unruly’ sweeps all before it.

I have been reflecting a lot lately on how degrees of ruliness are within the eye of the beholder. I work in the Arts Industry and mix with a lot of artists and arts administrators / managers. It has been quite confusing for me over the last couple of months. I have realised that in the eyes of some of the people I know I appear to be extremely ruly – quiet, orderly, organised, careful, perhaps a little anal retentive. And yet in the eyes of others I think I come across as unruly, if not downright chaotic. Some people I deal with always seem to be trying to check my behaviour or ideas and I get the impression that they find my thinking and proposals to be extravagant, wild, irresponsible, and something to be KEPT UNDER CONTROL. I know that my behaviour does not vary much from person to person, so the fact that I am viewed in such different ways, sometimes in the same day, is genuinely puzzling and even disquieting. I have always thought of myself as a creative thinker who enjoys dealing with the unorthodox but is still very practical. I have had to live hand to mouth as a professional bohemian for about 20 years now, and have seen so many projects fall over both because of a lack of creative vision and a lack of pragmatism and strategy. I guess I would describe myself as a calculated risk taker who is interested in results rather than either shocking or sticking with process just for its own sake. I would just like to know how to communicate to the people around me who seem to define me as anarchist of the year or bureaucrat in the making.