2021 Diary: A Day Early and $2 Short

2/9/2021: Mike’s 59^th birthday. Prayers, Bible. Wished Mike happy birthday on FB. Showered, dressed. Had some olive loaf and cheese sandwiches for breakfast. At 8 AM saw Kameron off to school. Cleaned the house up. At 11 AM went out to wait for John. He rolled up and we sat on the porch and talked about Mike and the world situation and Goldfire. After a bit Susan and Andy rolled up and they talked a bit. Later at 1 PM they were to take Kam for his Social Security appointment. John and I decided to go to town to the Dollar Store (got a couple of lobster eggrolls and some flatware and a spatula. Then we went into Walmart, and besides a few groceries I bought a $15 Robbie the Robot, which makes a good companion to my Lost in Space Robut. Back home by 1:30 PM, and John headed on home. About 3 PM started supper (sausages and cabbage etc.). At 4:30 PM went in. Heard them back about 5 PM. Posted on NOT about Mike. Went in and washed up at 7:30 PM. They’d had some of the birthday cake I made for Mike so that’s good. Made Kam some corndogs and taquitos. Came back and had my cake, watched GA. Ready for bed at 9 AM, I think. Found clipping from 1972 for SHS “The Hobbit” [play].

 

2/10/2021: Up about 5:30. Prayers, Bible. Got dressed, cartoons on METV. Had spring-rolls and a piece of cake for breakfast. Wrote about a page of AF, then went out a bit before 8 AM to start rosary. The weather’s gone cold again, in the 40’s. Waited with Kameron for bus. Came in, finished rosary. Now 8:30 AM.

Gee, what did I do all day? Posted on NOT, worked on a Tolkien Timeline for my personal interaction with Middle-earth over the years, ate fried eggs, sausage links, met Kam at 1 PM, made stuffed bell peppers and baked potatoes between 3 and 4:45 PM, went in at 8 PM and cleaned up. Weather got colder over the day and a light rain at evening. Watched a few episodes of “In Praise of Shadows” on YT; it is a bright, colorful experience if lacking in scholarship and understanding. It has a rather jackdaw way of taking the kitchen sink and throwing it at the wall to see what sticks. It seems to think that because Gandalf wears a pointy hat and does magic that he can be termed a witch, which is a rather superficial reading at best. Bed 10 PM.

 

2/11/2021: Woke up a little before 3 AM, with a pain in my leg up from my little toe to my hip. Washed dishes. Prayed, Bible, and rosary. Dropped off. Up at 6 AM to alarm. Cartoons. Got dressed.

Went out about 8 AM for Kam, but it was so cold that Andy waited with him in the truck so I didn’t have to.  Just a little later it got rainy with some lightning. I went out and waited for Kam at 1 PM. I shared some breaded shrimp with him that I had made for lunch, and also ate the leftover cabbage.

At 4 PM I made chili, noodles, and corn (none of which I ate), and fed the pets. Went in a little after 7 PM and supervised Kam making his own taquitos and cheese sticks, then washed up. An early bed a little after 9 PM.

 

2/12/2021: Woke up a little after 6 AM with a cramp. That started my prayers off with an unusual quickness and sincerity, as I thought it might be the first symptoms of the attack I’ve been kind of expecting along with the pains in my right leg. It passed though, and I finished my prayers a bit more calmly and read my Bible. Dressed, watched cartoons (all romance themed, since Valentines’ Day is near). Caught up diary; now 7 AM.

Well, shoot. I went looking for a picture of SHS to post with my blog and got distracted by finding Scott Bates’ blog. What with this and that it was after 9:20 AM that I realized I should have been out at 8 AM to wait with Kameron. I mean, probably Andy waited with him with the truck but darn, to not even have thought about it? Was it just the distraction or is my MIND going soft? I feel terrible.

As it turns out, Kam waited with Andy in his truck, so all was well. Very cold all day. Waited for Kam at 1 PM.  Started frying potatoes at 2:30 PM; finished a little after 5 PM. Also made fish. Cleaned up at 7:30 PM. Went to bed about 9 PM, after rosary.

 

2/14/2021: Valentine’s Day. Up at 6 AM. Prayers, Bible. Showered, got dressed in many layers, because in the twenties today! Left a little before 7 AM. Was doing fine until I got to the back of the bank, where the metal coverings of the water system proved to be iced over and I fell. Struggled a few minutes, then a passing Good Samaritan helped me to my feet, God bless him.

Was the first at church besides the ushers. Rosary. There were probably less than 30 people altogether, because of the weather, I guess. More later, possibly, though the weather and temps will be much the same.

Home again by 9:30 AM or so. Ate 2 cans of chicken noodle soup and a can of clam chowder, fortified with Itza crackers. Took a nap. About 1 PM called Susan and asked if we wanted to get Chicken Express. She said maybe for supper. She sent over broccoli salad and later got a piece of DQ cake.

I started making my order to HEB and it was just about 1:30 PM when the internet went out. Back on about 20 minutes later. Listened to “Babylon Bee Reads LOTR”, on Tom Bombadil.

About 4:30 PM Andy and I crawled out in the icy weather and got Chicken Express. Got back alive and had a good meal. Throughout the evening the new Sunday animations were pre-empted by an extended racing show. Hit the hay (feeling pretty sore).

 

2/15/2021: President’s Day. Electricity went out about 2 AM and on again 4 AM. Oh, ‘twas dark with primeval darkness and I barely made my way to the bathroom with my Kindle. When the lights came on again it was if the world had suddenly been created. It was snowing, and by morning there were about 3 or 4 inches or more everywhere, a winter wonderland. I looked on the computer and saw my HEB order was for Thursday; I hadn’t noticed how full the days were. It’s alright, I have plenty … plenty of ramen! Started my prayers. Also, my music library miraculously reappeared, so there’s that.

Andy came over about 11:45 AM (apparently, he and Susan are off work – snow day) and he brought me over the leftover chicken and a couple of bananas. The sky was clear and the sun was out, but still very cold. About 1 PM I gather up the trash, wrapped my feet, and hiked the bags through the snow to the garbage and recycle bins, using my brass-tipped staff.

Went in about 3:45 PM and made the cucumber salad, couscous, and fish cakes. Got the cup noodle and a jug of water. Spent some time trying to see if I could get the heating element of the AC going, but no dice. So concentrated on putting towels in front of the door and in the bathroom window, piling my bedclothes correctly, and having the little heater up higher than usual. It makes a metallic stink like burning electronics, so I don’t like to do it. Watched GP, GA, and drifted off to sleep. A little after midnight I woke up and prayed rosary.

Notes

Wow. The five-year anniversary of my fall on the ice. I remember struggling in the cold dim morning of a mostly deserted city like a tortoise on my back. I’m not sure if I had a phone at the time, or if I hadn’t brought it with me. I think I crushed my hip-bone a little; I swear I feel it yet. Bless my rescuer again.

Also the five-year anniversary of getting Robby the Robot. He sits next to my desk to this day, still in his box. I’m ‘afraid to cut the cake,’ as it were. Well, it protects his more fragile dealy-boppers. His batteries still work!

And snow and a malfunctioning wall unit. This winter has been much easier; still some cold and ice and below freezing temperatures, but right now – up in the 70’s and low 80’s!

Tune in tomorrow for a tribute to Mike’s 64^th Birthday.

 

The Sagas and Such Shelf

Only using primary sources here; no general works on Norse mythology or retellings or history, except maybe Christopher Tolkien's The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise. I don't have those copies of the Eddas anymore; I kind of wish I did, but I can always read them online; not technically sagas, but kind of contemporary background sources. Maybe I'll get Penguin editions of them.

John Gardner: His 'Shelf'

One of the perks (for me) of having this blog is the ease with which I can make a virtual 'shelf' of what must of necessity be in real life a scattered collection, whether because of format or subject matter. I mean, I knew I had quite a bit of Gardner, but seeing it all gathered in one spot really brings it home to me.

Into the Archive: For Better or Norse

The Saga of Grettir the Strong (Penguin Classics) Paperback (267 pages)

by Anonymous (Author), & Ornolfur Thorsson & Bernard Scudder

“Composed at the end of the fourteenth century by an unknown author, The Saga of Grettir the Strong is one of the last great Icelandic sagas. It relates the tale of Grettir, an eleventh-century warrior struggling to hold on to the values of a heroic age becoming eclipsed by Christianity and a more pastoral lifestyle. Unable to settle into a community of farmers, Grettir becomes the aggressive scourge of both honest men and evil monsters - until, following a battle with the sinister ghost Glam, he is cursed to endure a life of tortured loneliness away from civilisation, fighting giants, trolls and berserks. A mesmerising combination of pagan ideals and Christian faith, this is a profoundly moving conclusion to the Golden Age of the saga writing.” – Amazon

The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki (Penguin Classics) Paperback (99 pages)

by Anonymous (Author), Jesse L. Byock (Editor, Translator, Introduction)

“Composed in medieval Iceland, Hrolf's Saga is one of the greatest of all mythic-legendary sagas, relating half-fantastical events that were said to have occurred in fifth-century Denmark. It tells of the exploits of King Hrolf and of his famous champions, including Bodvar Bjarki, the 'bear-warrior': a powerful figure whose might and bear-like nature are inspired by the same legendary heritage as Beowulf. Depicting a world of wizards, sorceresses and 'berserker' fighters - originally members of a cult of Odin - this is a compelling tale of ancient magic. A work of timeless power and beauty, it offers both a treasury of Icelandic prose and a masterful gathering of epic, cultic memory, traditional folk tale and myths from the Viking age and far earlier.” – Amazon

 

The Sagas of Icelanders: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) Paperback  (782 pages)

by Robert  Kellogg (Introduction), Jane Smiley (Editor), and Various 

“A unique body of medieval literature, the Sagas rank with the world's greatest literary treasures--as epic as Homer, as deep in tragedy as Sophocles, as engagingly human as Shakespeare. Set around the turn of the last millennium, these stories depict with an astonishingly modern realism the lives and deeds of the Norse men and women who first settled Iceland and of their descendants, who ventured further west--to Greenland and, ultimately, the coast of North America itself.

“The ten Sagas and seven shorter tales in this volume include the celebrated "Vinland Sagas," which recount Leif Eiriksson's pioneering voyage to the New World and contain the oldest descriptions of the North American continent.” – Amazon

I was surprised; I was expecting only one of these books today, and I got all three. I don’t know why I’m suddenly so enthusiastic about the sagas again lately. Grettir is famously quoted everywhere, especially the weird tale of Grettir and Glam the disturbingly physical grave-ghost, a drauger, something like a barrow-wight. Hrolf Kraki has had a fantasy novelization of his saga done by Poul Anderson. Most unexpected to me was how big The Sagas of the Icelanders was; but what was I expecting? It contains several whole books, sagas I was looking into buying in several volumes. Well, I need worry about some of those no more. But there are others to be gotten, which I may get yet.

The Sagas of Icelanders has a Goodwill sticker on it proclaiming a price of $1.91 on it; I paid (with shipping) $10.07. Still, quite a bargain, considering some of the alternatives.

 

Into the Archive: Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh by John Gardner, John Maier (1985; 304 Pages; Softcover; Vintage)

“The story of Gilgamesh, an ancient epic poem written on clay tablets in a cuneiform alphabet, is as fascinating and moving as it is crucial to our ability to fathom the time and the place in which it was written. Gardner's version restores the poetry of the text and the lyricism that is lost in the earlier, almost scientific renderings. The principal theme of the poem is a familiar one: man's persistent and hopeless quest for immortality. It tells of the heroic exploits of an ancient ruler of the walled city of Uruk named Gilgamesh. Included in its story is an account of the Flood that predates the Biblical version by centuries. Gilgamesh and his companion, a wild man of the woods named Enkidu, fight monsters and demonic powers in search of honor and lasting fame. When Enkidu is put to death by the vengeful goddess Ishtar, Gilgamesh travels to the underworld to find an answer to his grief and confront the question of mortality.” – Amazon.

This is the first book I’ve got this February. It was a double whammy choice for me, as it is both an early epic (Maier contests that choice of category) and the last John Gardner book, published two years after his death. The fact that it was only $1.39 with $3.99 shipping didn’t hurt either. I had a paperback copy of Gilgamesh before (different translation) which I sold, but it is the sort of thing I feel I should have in the Archive, and I have sometimes felt a nagging absence.

It is a very scholarly edition, which I must confess put me off back in the day when I first tried to read it in a library copy. I was still grieving the loss of Gardner and looking for something more personal of him; the notes and apparatus (the John Maier side of things) were not what I was expecting. Perhaps I was looking for something like Grendel. I’ve come to more appreciate this kind of thing now.

Gardner left a completed typescript of his translation, which he had worked on for years in conjunction with Maier. So, it is more complete than, say, Tolkien’s translation of Beowulf, also published posthumously, but made for private use and never completed. This is the only John Gardner (for a certain value of Gardner) that I lacked. After a new reading it will go quietly onto my shelves. And that, as it were, will be that.

The Aisle of Misfit Toys: ‘Space: 1999.’

The year was 1975. I was twelve. A science fiction show, touted as the next Star Trek, had its American premiere. We approached it with some suspicion: we were jealous devotees of Star Trek and were wary of possible knockoffs and heresies. But it was a rather drab offering to start with and devolved more into Lost in Space in the second season. We never watched much of it. The show was soon washed away with the advent of Star Wars in 1977.

“Space: 1999 is a British science fiction television program that ran for two series from 1975 to 1977. The program, set in the year 1999 [that far-flung time!], follows the 311 inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha, which is hurtling uncontrollably into space due to an explosion of nuclear waste stored on the far side of the Moon. The runaway Moon, in effect, becomes the "spacecraft" on which the protagonists travel, searching for a new home. Several episodes of the first season (more scientific and serious) hinted that the Moon's journey was influenced (and perhaps initiated) by a "mysterious unknown force", which was guiding the Alphans toward an ultimate destiny. The second season used simpler action-oriented plots.” – Extracted from Wikipedia

Our one indulgence in its heyday was to get a Dr. Bergman ‘action figure’ doll. We liked the more scientific types; it may also have been deeply discounted by then. Hovering somewhere in size between the 12-inch GI Joes and the 8-inch MEGO dolls, it was never quite a good fit. It was soon dubbed ‘Sandman’ after the characters in Logan’s Run, which gave rise to the immortal satiric phrase ‘Sandman has a nice poo-poo.’ I think he’s still somewhere in the Toy Box, in relatively good condition as he was never used much in playings.

Years later, from a garage sale, we also bought the ship Eagle-1; there were also two primitive action figures which also didn’t fit any format. But the ship could be adaptable for playings with the Kenner figures until we could get REAL Star Wars ships. M-m-maybe we still have the battered hulk somewhere, somewhat the worse for wear from its years of storage out in the garage. We definitely have some mismatched remnants of the figures. So not quite completely 'Lost in the Toybox.'

Anyway, this was all brought to mind by watching an episode of Movies, Music and Monsters by Dan Monroe on Youtube, a peppy little show on pop culture with great production values. It strikes right in the sweet spot of my nostalgia, and considers phenomena themselves, the fate of their props, and their effects on the Zeitgeist of the genre. It amuses me because Robby the Robot and B-9 from Lost in Space are co-hosts and Dan himself looks kinda like my friend Alan Peschke. Check it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGj9GBKXYWE

 

Well, The Man Had His Priorities Straight