(no subject)

[cleolinda]

Stealing this from alpheratz: the "something you own that no one else on your friends list owns" meme, because I haven't memed in a good long time.

A book you own that no one on your friends list does: Just looking at my bookshelf, I am thinking that none of you have Suits Me--I forget the precise subtitle, but it's the true story of Billy Tipton, a jazz musician who married several women and had several adopted children and yet managed to hide until his death the fact that... "he" was a woman.

A CD you own that no one on your friends list does: I am fairly sure none of you own Tish Hinojosa's Aquella Noche, but I could be wrong.

A DVD/VHS tape you own that no one on your friends list does: I would be willing to bet that none of you own The Guns of Religion, a Nun-Clown movie that Eric made, and the prospect of which terrifies me so much I haven't been able to make myself watch it yet.

P.S. Speaking of Eric: He's now at the University of Aberdeen taking a class from... Gilderoy Lockhart.

A place you've been that no one on your friends list has been: I haven't been many places. Havana? On a more local level, I'm willing to bet that most of you have never been to Chewbacca Chewacla State Park.


Another meme I've seen going around: When you see this, post some poetry to your own journal. (PoemHunter.com was very helpful, if you want to use that.)

Two from Philip Larkin, as they're short:

This be the Verse

They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.

But they were fucked up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another's throats.

Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don't have any kids yourself.



This Is the First Thing

This is the first thing
I have understood:
Time is the echo of an axe
Within a wood.

Comments

[thursby.livejournal.com]

I've always liked that Philip Larkin poem, even though its a bit morbid. a good counterpoint to "This Be The Verse" is "Resume" by Dorothy Parker:

Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.

[xanimagusblackx.livejournal.com]

NotLockhart likes to show us pictures of ancient pots and pans and say "UNTOUCHED" very dramatically, then close his eyes and observe a moment of silence for how untouched they are. As if the sheer power of how untouched they are has just rendered him incapable of speech. In fact, he's very fond of moments of silence, but usually they're in honor of a "charming" "witticism" he has just made.

That made me cackle out loud. Good times.

[jonnorthwood.livejournal.com]

Suits Me: The Double Life of Billy Tipton.

I agree: Middlebrook did a wonderfully sensitive job of portraying the struggles that Dorothy/Billy went through.

[fuchsoid.livejournal.com]

Good grief. Nuns and clowns! That film sounds far to scary for anyone ever to watch.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

No, no, no, it's much worse than that--it's a clown who IS a nun. Or a nun who is a clown. Or something that haunts my dreams.

[decor-noctis.livejournal.com]

*cowers*

[canonball13.livejournal.com]

I have fun doing these....

A book you own that no one else does: Ella Enchanted? (and yes, they completely, totally ruined it with the movie)

A CD you own that no one else does: *looking* The Monkees Greatest Hits (used to watch the reruns on Nick at Nite)

A DVD/VHS you own that no one else does: Swingers

A place you've been that no one else has been: Vancouver? Baltimore? Puerto Vallarta?

I'm not very good at poems, nor finding one, but I have a saying that I very much like:
But you will survive, if you are willing to define your goals, to work for them, and yes, to suffer for them. (Jim Pierce)

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

I have Ella Enchanted. In fact, because I live with a children's librarian (and we collect YA and children's books), I have three copies.

Um, yeah. Gonna get rid of two of 'em at some point.

[canonball13.livejournal.com]

May I ask if you saw the movie? Did you like it? I saw from the previews that they had butchered it beyond recognition from the book...

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

I flatly refused to see the movie, because I saw the trailer and it made me want to kick something. I didn't want to find out what seeing the whole hideous travesty would do to my none-too-steady temperament, frankly.

So, no, I didn't see the movie, and I won't be seeing it, because, yes, the preview made it clear that they'd butchered a fabulous book and then ground it up into hamburger.

And now let's pause a moment to think angry thoughts about the entertainment industry, shall we?

Grrr.

[marialima.livejournal.com]

Okay - so I had to say - I do own that Tish Hinojosa CD, as well as several others. Love her music!

Plus, I've been to Havana (born in Matanzas, just a few miles down the road). OKay, so I haven't been there since I was three...::g:: (hmm, might I be channeling?...nah)

Nice poetry picks, btw.

[kohler.livejournal.com]

I own Suits Me: The Double Life of Billy Tipton.

[elbiesee.livejournal.com]

As do I. As a female sax player, I found it interesting that a woman had to dress as a man to get into the music biz, way back when. And she used to live in the same town I live in.

Oooh, Harry Connick Jr's on TV...

P.S.

[elbiesee.livejournal.com]

I did the same thing you did, so if anybody wants to check out my LJ and read a great Shel Silverstien poem...

[edda.livejournal.com]

I never bought Suits Me but I was intrigued by what I read of it. Genderbending stuff is kind of intriguing to me. I long to be adopted by a herd of wild drag queens.

What?

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Ooo! I don't have a meme-friendly LJ, so I've been waiting and waiting for someone to post a Philip Larkin, and you posted one of my favorites by him. So now I love you.

Because I love Philip Larkin. He is one of my favorite more recent poets (also on that list: the incomparable James Fenton, who you should really read if you like Larkin).

[maverickgirl.livejournal.com]

Totally own that Tish CD, but my personal favorite is Homeland. Am stunned that y'all have Tish all the way out there! I thought she was a South Texas thing, lol. (Homeland, by the way, is one of her best, if you don't already have it!)

[saint-kat.livejournal.com]

I put the answers of the first meme in my journal, but I'll share a poem by Emily Dickinson that my seventh-grade teacher picked out for me. He gave me a book which was a collection of her greatest poems, which I still have in my bookcase to this day.

Because I could not stop for Death

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility.

We passed the school where children played,
Their lessons scarcely done;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.

We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.

Since then 't is centuries; but each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity.

Keep in mind that I was a moody and anti-social character back in the seventh grade who loved to write poems about death and suicide. Maybe that's why he chose that particular poem for me...

[terrierhead.livejournal.com]

Am I the only one out there who responds to insanely old LJ posts? :)

Just wanted to say that I do have a copy of Suits Me and have been reading it off and on for a few months. It's pretty good, but I keep getting distracted by fanfic.