"Why Do We Hate the Aliens, Dad? Is It Because They Killed Grossbah?"

They discuss the proposed magic school, Morgs, and magic. From Episode 1. The title of this post is from an ancient silly joke only two people could understand.

 

Hap, by Thomas Hardy

Hap

By Thomas Hardy

If but some vengeful god would call to me

From up the sky, and laugh: “Thou suffering thing,

Know that thy sorrow is my ecstasy,

That thy love's loss is my hate's profiting!” 

 

Then would I bear it, clench myself, and die,

Steeled by the sense of ire unmerited;

Half-eased in that a Powerfuller than I

Had willed and meted me the tears I shed.

 

But not so.   How arrives it joy lies slain,

And why unblooms the best hope ever sown?

—Crass Casualty obstructs the sun and rain,

And dicing Time for gladness casts a moan. . . .

These purblind Doomsters had as readily strown

Blisses about my pilgrimage as pain.

This was one of the first poems I read in college, and one line was booming throughout my mind this morning: "dicing Time for gladness casts a moan." As I struggled trying to accomplish my most basic and necessary tasks for the day, anything that could go wrong did go wrong, and I couldn't help wondering everytime if Nature was really neutral, couldn't it just as easily turned up as heads as tails? Then I think, how do you know this wasn't the better outcome? What if this was the Mercy?

“Sometimes,” he said, “life does seem to be unfair. Do you know the story of Elijah and the Rabbi Jachanan?”

“No,” said the Wart.

He sat down resignedly upon the most comfortable part of the floor, perceiving that he was in for something like the parable of the looking-glass.

“This rabbi,” said Merlin, “went on a journey with the prophet Elijah. They walked all day, and at nightfall they came to the humble cottage of a poor man, whose only treasure was a cow. The poor man ran out of his cottage, and his wife ran too, to welcome the strangers for the night and to offer them all the simple hospitality which they were able to give in straitened circumstances. Elijah and the Rabbi were entertained with plenty of the cow’s milk, sustained by home-made bread and butter, and they were put to sleep in the bed while their kindly hosts lay down before the kitchen fire. But in the morning the poor man’s cow was dead.”

“Go on.”

“They walked all the next day, and came that evening to the house of a very wealthy merchant, whose hospitality they craved. The merchant was cold and proud and rich, and all that he would do for the prophet and his companion was to lodge them in a cowshed and feed them on bread and butter. In the morning, however, Elijah thanked him very much for what he had done, and sent for a mason to repair one of his walls, which happened to be falling down, in return for his kindness.

“The Rabbi Jachanan, unable to keep silence any longer, begged the holy man to explain the meaning of his dealings with human beings.

“‘In regard to the poor man who received us so hospitably,’ replied the prophet, ‘it was decreed that his wife was to die that night, but in reward for his goodness God took the cow instead of the wife. I repaired the wall of the rich miser because a chest of gold was concealed near the place, and if the miser had repaired the wall himself he would have discovered the treasure. Say not therefore to the Lord: What doest Thou? But say in thy heart: Must not the Lord of all the earth do right?’” 

- The Sword in the Stone, T. H. White

As a sidenote, Mike and I called a little clique that formed in the class the Purblind Doomsters, who always seemed to object to anything for no reason at all.
 

The Vision of the Magical School

The object of the quest proposed: The Vision of the Magical School.

First Meetings: Varnik, Moq, and Jeffid

Scene from Episode One of The Wizard, the Prince, the Warrior, and His Son. Seriously, I need to come up with a shorter title.

Explaining Fiction to Relatives

EXPLAINING FICTION TO RELATIVES

 

We were not them.

They were not there.

That name was used on another face.

That didn't happen.

We never did that.

I didn't ever go in that place.

 

She was not nice.

He was not bad.

That man was seldom so good and kind.

Things were better,

The days more dull.

Look for that and you'll never find.

 

It wasn't like that.

That wasn't the spot.

That certainly never happened then.

He was not killed;

She isn't dead;

But now, forever, they're who and when.

 

--August 31, 2016

 

August 1, 2000

You Make Me Sad

On the advice that maybe 'cheese crisps' would be a viable snack substitute. I searched to see what HEB, my local store of choice, had on offer. As with most 'health' foods, prices were huge in comparison to weight of product offered. The best compromise I could find was this in-store brand with almost 3 dollars for less than 2 ounces of product. The next best was 6 dollars for 3 ounces of product. And so this morning I began the great experiment.

It was somewhat less than a taste sensation, though I would not go so far as to say it was absolutely vile. I mean they could be choked down after a lot of chewing and softening. They are tiny tough discs. I cannot imagine anyone choosing it for anything other than necessity. It does give your mouth something to do, so to some degree it satisfies an oral fixation, and the taste does nothing to lure you to another bite if not absolutely killing your appetite. 

So the 'cheese crisp' experiment has so far had disappointing results. But it's early days yet. Perhaps after I have made my way through the bag I will have developed some sort of tolerance. Perhaps a more expensive brand will prove more appealing. But I'd feel rotten about sending good money after bad in a vain endeavor. But hey, you have to try something. 

I know that this is not riveting content, but I got to talk through this stuff somewhere. Hopefully I can get back to more creative efforts soon.

Update:

I'm afraid I have to proclaim the experiment an abject failure. At about 12:30 PM I experienced a sudden and horrifying vomit, of which 'cheese crisps' appeared as readily identifiable and undigestible elements. Perhaps if I had tried them under more normal circumstances they would have been tolerable; as it is, I can not face them again. Which begs the question of what to do with them: I cannot imagine even starving wild animals would accept them.