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

Movie Night Narratives

Yesterday was Movie Night again, so John picked us up at 4 PM (a couple of hours later than we’ve been leaving lately) and we picked up a box of 25 tenders at Chicken Express. Once settled in at Babeloth we began watching two DVDs of my choosing. They were a little quieter than our usual fare, perhaps, but I think they still engaged the boys. There was enough action and oddity for that.

First up was Big Fish (2003) directed by Tim Burton. Edward Bloom (Albert Finney) is dying, an outsize storyteller famous for spinning outlandish yarns about his life. His son William (Billy Crudup) who has grown disenchanted with his father’s tales (which has led to a falling out and a separation of three years) is soon to be a father himself. He and his wife return to Alabama, where Will hopes to finally learn the truth of his father’s life and come to some terms before he passes away.

Edward’s life is told in a series of fantastic flashbacks, involving witches, a giant, a lost town, a circus, a heroic army career, but most of all a romantic quest for the love of his life, Sandra (Jessica Lange). Will desperately struggles with trying to find the truth, but finds odd, ambiguous, conflicting accounts from various sources including his mother.

Edward has a final stroke and is lying near to death. Will takes up a final vigil in the hospital. When everyone leaves, Edward wakes up, obviously struggling. He has lived all his life by stories; now he requests his son to tell him a story to help him die, to ‘tell me how I go.’ In desperation Will weaves a final fantasy, a somehow joyous reunion of Edward with all the figures of his life story. In the end, he does not really perish. ‘You become what you always were, a really Big Fish.’ Edward breathes out his last word, ‘Exactly,’ and satisfied, passes away.

At the funeral, Will is astonished to see figures from his father’s tales turn up to pay tribute. There is a giant, but not as huge as Edward had him; there is a pair of twins from his army stories, but not conjoined. It seems there was truth in all his stories, mythicized, but true. Finally seeing that his father was not simply a liar, Bill becomes a happier man when his son is born, passing on Edward’s tales.  ‘A man tells his stories so many times that he becomes the stories. They live on after him, and in that way he becomes immortal.’

Our second movie was The Wind Rises (2013) from Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli.  It was one of Miyazaki's several farewell films. It tells the story of Jiro Horikoshi, who dreams of flying. Because of his nearsightedness he can never be a pilot, so he becomes an aeronautical engineer. He is spurred on by the thought of his idol, Count Caproni, an Italian airplane designer, whom he meets several times in his dreams. The dream Count tells him ‘The wind is rising. How will you live?’ Jiro knows that all his work on airplanes will be used by the government for military purposes, but what can he do? They are the only people who have the resources to fulfill his dream of beautiful flight.

Jiro is a student in Tokyo when he saves Nahoko Satomi from the Great Kanto Earthquake. But in the aftermath, he loses track of her. He struggles with designing planes after graduation; Japan’s ‘allies,’ the Germans, refuse to share technology. His project fails testing and is rejected. For a rest, Jiro goes to a summer resort, where he is accidentally reunited with Nahoko. She has been searching for him all these years. A German tourist, Castorp, witnesses their growing romance and warns Jiro of Hitler’s plans for another world war.  In the end, Castorp flees from the ‘Special Higher Police’. ‘The wind rises.’

Jiro wants to marry Nahoko, even though she has been diagnosed with tuberculosis. Their love is a beautiful dream, that, if undertaken in reality, comes with tragic consequences. ‘How will you live?’ Jiro accepts that love, and Nahoko goes to a sanitorium to try to recover a little, and Jiro, because he is wanted as an associate of Castorp, goes into hiding at his boss’s house. From there, he can still work on planes. When Nahoko suffers a ruptured lung, they decide to go ahead and get married and enjoy the fleeting time they have together.

As Jiro goes to the final test of his prototype, Nahoko quietly tries to return to the sanitorium. At the height of his plane’s success, his spirit is suddenly darkened by a premonition of Nahoko’s death, a rising wind.

After Japan has lost the war, Jiro again dreams of Caproni. He laments that his work was used for so much war and death; Caproni comforts him with the thought that at least he finally fulfilled his dream of a beautiful plane. Nahoko’s spirit also appears, urging him to live on. Jiro and Caproni walk off into their shared dream of beauty and flight.

Once again, a bonus feature of our viewing was Actor ID; in Big Fish, Ewan McGregor, Helena Bonham Carter, Robert Guillaume, Steve Buscemi, Danny DeVito, and Deep Roy; in The Wind Rises (English dub), Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Martin Short, Werner Herzog, Stanley Tucci, William H. Macy, and Mandy Patinkin. And (we learned later) Elijah Wood and Ronan Farrow, though we didn’t identify them while we were watching and only learned later.

I only thought later that there was a sort of connecting theme between such diverse films: the thought that dreams and narratives give shape and meaning to our lives, beyond mundane and observable facts, beyond compromises with the world. 

 

The Lord of the Rings: The Houses of Healing (Part One)

‘A mist was in Merry’s eyes of tears and weariness when they drew near the ruined Gate of Minas Tirith.’ Devastation is all around, fire and reeking smoke, dead bodies abound (some half-burned), even those of mumakil (‘shot through the eyes by the valiant archers of Morthond.’).  All the lower city is ‘wrapped in a smouldering reek.’

People are already trying to clear the way in, and a line of litters are bringing in the dead and wounded. Eowyn is brought on soft pillows, but Theden is covered in a great cloth of gold. These are brought in with extra respect and are shown due respect; but Merry follows on foot, treading the winding stony ascent in a sort of daze. ‘A meaningless journey in a hateful dream.’

To Merry the torches of the procession seem to flicker and go out and he walks in darkness. He imagines the road is a dark tunnel leading to a tomb, where they will stay forever. ‘But suddenly into his dream there fell a living voice.’

It is Pippin! They are alone. Merry rubs his eyes and asks where Theoden and Eowyn have gone and learns that they have been taken into the Citadel. Pippin says Merry must have fallen asleep on his feet and taken a wrong turn somewhere. When Gandalf saw that Merry was not with them, he sent Pippin to find him. Pippin asks if he is hurt.

Merry says his right arm is numb and useless ‘since I stabbed him.’ ‘And my sword burned all away like a piece of wood.’ Pippin said they should not have let him walk all the way back. But so many dreadful things have happened, one little hobbit on a great battlefield is easy to overlook. Merry says sometimes it’s a good thing to overlooked. He was overlooked just now by – but he can’t talk of it. Just the remembered thought of the Witch-King makes him grow colder and his mind darker.

Pippin wishes he could carry him, but all he can do is have Merry lean on him and head back. ‘Are you going to bury me?’ said Merry.’

‘No, indeed!,’ said Pippin, trying to sound cheerful, though is heart was wrung with fear and pity. ‘No, we are going to the Houses of Healing.’

They struggle along until they reach the main street. Pippin wonders if there can possibly be anyone to help them; they’ll never get there at the rate they’re going. Then suddenly as if in a moment of miracle Bergil, Beregond’s son and Pippin’s friend, comes running by. He is doing errands for the Healers. Pippin asks him to bear a message to the Healers and especially to Gandalf, that they have a wounded hobbit on their hands and need help. Bergil agrees and speeds on.

Pippin decides they’d better wait there and sits down with Merry in a patch of sunlight, his friend’s head in his lap. Merry’s right hand, the one that struck the blow to the Nazgul, is ice cold.  Before long Gandalf himself appears, checks Merry out, and lifts him carefully. He should have been borne into the city with great honor. Merry has well repaid the trust Gandalf had in him. He recalls how Elrond didn’t want the younger hobbits to come; if they hadn’t, the day could have been even more disastrous. ‘And yet here is another charge on my hands, while all the time the battle hangs in the balance.’

Bits and Bobs

A litter is a framework for carrying the wounded or dead; nowadays we would probably say stretcher.

Morthond (black + root) was a region in central Gondor, where the Morthond River runs near the southern entrance to the Paths of the Dead. It was a green valley carved by the river. Shooting an elephant in its eye, as its one vulnerable spot, is a classic motif.

I can’t help but think this section of nightmarish fatigue was informed by Tolkien’s war experiences, too.

2021 Diary: Dreaming Days

2/1/2021: First day of February. Woke up from dreams of magic dueling with vicious enemies.. It was in some larger context that I can’t remember and was followed by something I felt was significant but can’t remember either. So. Fully awake a little before 7 AM and remembered Kam goes back to school today. Prayers. Got dressed. 7:30 AM, and about to start Bible then ready to go see him on his way on the bus. Read some more “Herland” on the Kindle. On my way out the door at 8 AM when Kam calls me to remind me. I go out and meet him halfway up the driveway. I ask him if he has a mask, and he tells me he forgot. I loan him the spare mask I have in my pocket, crip back to the house, get the key, get in the garage, grab his mask, and crip back. We have a minute or two still, then the bus comes. I go back and as I already have the key, start my wash, and come in and start Perry Mason about halfway in. Now 8:30 AM and time to make breakfast.

Had a ramen with eggs, and a couple of turkey sandwiches. 11:30 AM, after getting wash in and folding it, lay down for a nap. About 12 Susan calls me and tells me (quite reasonably) that I forgot to boil eggs and make egg salad. D—n it! At 1 PM I go in to make cucumber salad, and Kam gets home. I let him in.

At 4 PM I go in to make couscous and fish rings. At 5:30 PM I lay down to nap, getting up and 7:30 PM and going in to clean up. Rosary, then bed again at 11 PM.

 

2/2/2021: Groundhog Day. Up at 6 AM. Prayers scattered over the morning. Shower. Catch up diary. Bible. Go out at 8 AM to wait with Kam. Bring in the bin. At 9 AM go in to boil eggs and make egg salad. My HEB order came in while I was boiling. Took it to the guest house, then finished cooking. Had 6 spring rolls for breakfast; they are pretty good, almost better than egg rolls, but smaller. Wrote a bit, then e-mailed John.

At 1 PM I went out to wait for Kam; started my rosary. Let him in and finished rosary. About 3 PM I went in to start cabbage etc.; Andy called at 4 PM and asked me to watch for the exterminator and let him in. Saw 3 strange cats while waiting, which explains the yowling: 2 are obviously male in quest of the 3^rd. I sat outside till 4:30 PM, then ran in to tinkle and turn off the oven. Got back just in time to meet the bugman. Afterwards I took my supper in and ate. Some TV and cleaning.

Back in at 7:30 PM to clean. Andy had just got home and was starting to eat. I made Kam some Tx Toast and a grilled cheese sandwich, then washed up. Came inside, watched GA, then to bed.

 

2/3/2021: Woke up at 5 AM from some extraordinary dreams. In one I was captain on a magic “pirate ship” galleon that could outrun and outmaneuver any modern ship, and that was just what I was doing, teasing any navy ship that was trying to stop me. It could even run on land, which I did and found myself in a field, a sort of Jurassic Park place, being chased by 3 T. Tex. Outran them, too, but the big one, infuriated by chasing me, jumped their barrier. In another I was browsing an enormous “Yesterday’s Warehouse” where there were plenty of interesting books but in rather incomplete and damaged condition, from comic digests to Penguin books to crumbling old obscure classics. I wanted to call John’s attention to a stack of multiple copies of “Witches, Witches, Witches” but he was elsewhere in the store. I began to wander the grounds which was bigger than I thought and the books only part of the enterprise with gardens, kitchens, etc. It was rather like a monastery, in fact. I passed Alec Guinness, and then Jean Stapleton, who was lost too. We seemed to recognize each other and be glad to see the other. We were out back where the utilitarian tin buildings turned into fields. I offered her a drink from my little flask of water, but she emptied the warm contents out and filled it from a nearby faucet.

Got up and wrote down dreams. Now I think I’ll do “prep” then lay down to see if I can sleep for a bit more.

Couldn’t. Up at 6 AM. Prayers, Bible. Watched some cartoons, then worked on HF (?) for a while. Made beef stroganoff for breakfast, then went out and waited with Kam till the bus came a little after 8 AM. Went in and ate and didn’t go in the Big House at all.

Didn’t take a nap all day; instead wrote on and off, reading Thomas Mann’s “Royal Highness”, snacking, and using my newly batteried clicker to search the TV. The writing on HF was fun and engaged much of my time. I sent it off to John later.

Started my rosary. Kam home a little after 1 PM. Made him cinnamon rolls, and myself some chicken nuggets. At 3 PM went in to start chicken breasts, rice, broccoli, and mushrooms. Made myself some chicken, cheese, flour taquitos. Back to the guest house about 4:20 PM. Wrote. Sent all I had written to John about 6 PM.

At 8:30 PM watched GA, then bed not long after 9 PM. Up about 11:30 PM, so cleaned a bit and caught up diary. Now 12:15 AM. Back to bed, I guess.

 

2/4/2021: Up at 7 AM. Prayers, Bible. Showered and dressed and took medicine and ate a can of fruit cocktail. “Destroy All Monsters” on in the background. Went out a little before 8 AM to wait with Kam. Oh, Lordy, I feel weak and my right leg hurts. Morning cloudy, windy, and in the 60’s.

Watched most of “5 Million Years to Earth”. For breakfast made a ramen with eggs. Finished off the cherry pies. At 1 PM went out and prayed my rosary, waiting for Kameron. Had some beef, cheese and flour taquitos for lunch. Watched a lot of Babylon Bee Reads the LOTR, then DW shows. I think I’m heading into the down cycle of my bipolarity. Sluggish and sleepy, anyway.

Went in at 4 PM and started supper (chili, corn, rotini). Finished and out at 4:30 PM. Ate. About 6 PM or so Susan came out and told me that there had been COVID shots at the Coliseum that were supposed to close at 5 PM, but as they had a surplus they had to use, they would be open until the shots were used up, and did I want to go? After hemming and hawing a bit, I said yes, and we bundled up quick and left. I was lucky enough to be in the last group let in, and after going through the rigamaroar I was out at 7:10 PM. Andy wasn’t home yet (had to do wheels; there’s crushing soon) but I made Kam chicken nuggets and cheese sticks. I went in after GA and cleaned up. Nothing much to do now until I go to bed. Probably read a bit.

 

2/5/2021: Wrote one page of HF. Everything else pretty rote for a Friday, except in the evening I felt fatigue and some pain in my right arm. Went to bed about 8 PM.

 

2/6/2021: After a night of up and down every hour or so, I got up at 7 AM and slowly got dressed. Some prayers. Went in at 8 AM and made omelet. About 9:20 AM Andy took me to HEB Pharmacy to pick up my medicine. Went back to bed about 10 AM, then woke up about 2 PM. Finished prayers, read Bible, washed dishes. Ready for supper (I guess you’d call it) at 4:30 PM, one of those cans of Wolf Brand Chili and Beans (beans mashed by me). We’ll see how that works. They were OK. Spent the rest of the evening kind of lurching around. Had some chicken nuggets for supper. No rosary. Bed when?

 

2/7/2021: Up at 6:50 AM. Had a bit of a struggle whether I should go to church today; finally reconciled myself to watching Mass on EWTN. Afterwards at 8 AM finished my prayers and acts (contrition, etc.) and read the Bible.

Feeling a bit brighter in spirit, took a shower, dressed, and had ramen for breakfast. It’s now 10 AM, and the day looks sunny and clear. Prayed a rosary at 1 PM.

Posted on NOT 4 times today, in an effort to catch up, using old diaries to fill the niches. For a meal about 2 PM I had the other can of Wolf Brand Chili with beans, then later for supper I ate the chicken pickings from the garippe Andy brought in with cocktail sauce, a banana, then the rest of the chicken nuggets. Had a few chocolate chip cookies through the evening.

Watched some Phineas & Ferb over the day, and other Disney shows. Made my WWF goal. Feeling less fatigued from my shot.

A real trip back through time with the diaries, especially as they are exactly 40 years ago, and through January and February. Only had to edit them slightly. Now 10:30 PM, and I think I’m ready to shut down for the day. Rosary at 11 PM.

 

2/8/2021: Woke up about 4 AM from a dream. It was like I was in an alternate history; the time was NOW, but the past was very different. A woman connected with the making of a big movie adaptation of “The Hobbit” (all the Jackson Tolkien movies hadn’t been made in this timeline) had gone to McQueeney as a child (let’s call her D’layne) and as a stunt was premiering the film at her old school. I was there as an old classmate. What she either doesn’t remember or doesn’t want to confess is that we saw the Hobbit play in 3^rd grade and that she didn’t like it but that I became an enthusiast for Tolkien. When we meet for a brief moment she realizes I know too much about her past and about Middle-Earth for her comfort. She doesn’t really know a lot about it and left it to her cohorts; she also doesn’t want me to show her up. I am hustled away for the premiere, which includes the actors putting on a short play/recreation before the film. There is an auditorium where the curtains part to show that the stage is actually on a real riverside out back. The actors are there, and Bilbo is fishing, or pretending to fish. He actually catches a little perch, but none of the actors known what to do or are too nervous. To their relief I actually come up and take it off the hook and throw it back. Applause, and the band starts playing a riff of hillbilly music as a tribute to my … rustic skills? But everyone is nervous as something still appears to be lurking in the water. Is it the real Gollum, or another water monster drawn by the activity?

Then later the action seems to drift back to Loop Drive. Apparently, I have secret mind powers that I have only used to enhance my life at home rather than trying to rule the world, and D’layne is amazed and annoyed that I don’t use them to greater scope. The Gollum-monster is creeping around in the dark and terrorizing everyone. We hear an awful howl in the dark as he kills a dog. D’Layne asks me: “You’ve got all these avatars; why don’t you do something?” And I do have tulpas of all kinds of characters, from LOTR, Marvel comics and Dragonball Z, and so on. I get Vegeta to send up an energy ball to light up the darkness and drive him away, but then we realize there are plenty of dark places for him to creep into and hide, so everyone must go and search for him, perhaps in hiding places that are even inside the house with us.

Up at 6 AM. Prayers, Bible. Then cartoons. Meh. Got dressed, fleshed out dream from notes. I realized that the “riverside danger” feeling sort of echoed the ancient Creature from the Black Lagoon dream. Monsters from the id?

Little before 8 AM went out, noticed package on porch. Kam came out and we waited for bus, which came at 8:10 AM. I brought the package over to the kitchen porch. Went in and prayed the rosary; done at 8:30 AM. Wrote a couple of paragraphs on American Fantasy. Now waiting for Susan to leave to start wash. Then groceries … cottage cheese fer breakfast!

So all that came to pass, along with fetching the postal packages as well. Boiled eggs and made egg salad. Groceries missing only Little Debbie Cherry Cordial Valentine Cakes and included 2 unordered bags of HEB Corn Chips and some Ritz Chips – which I am keeping, as per the store directives. Changed the wash at 11:15 AM (2 loads today) and was waiting on the porch when S&A drove up. Was listening to GGACP when the connection pooped out. Ate a can of ravioli.

E-mail to John: Tomorrow I am having a carrot cake for Mike’s birthday – his 59^th, I believe. I don’t think he was too fond of carrot cake, but I am, and he’s not getting any anyway. If you could, it would be nice to have a visit and talk and eat cake and such. If you can’t, a good phone talk would be nice as well.

At 12:30 PM started the cake. After Kam came home at one (and Andy ducked in to change clothes) I started making the broccoli salad, which I finished a little after 2 PM. My afternoon seemed kind of cursed: my green shirt ripped, the handle fell off my new water jug, I kept having to do everything the hardest way possible. I laid down a bit, but Kam called me at 3:30 PM to make him corn dogs and cheese sticks, and cinnamon rolls to boot (but there were none). I iced the cake and started supper (fish cakes and couscous). Fed the pets. Finally, all was done, and the garbage put away and I returned at 4:45 PM. Ate my couscous and broccoli salad, took my garbage out, and I’m ready for a nap. 

But I did not nap. Instead posted on NOT. John replied that yes, he would either come or call at 11 AM tomorrow. Washed up at 7:35 PM and made Kam supper. Had cheese and olive loaf sandwiches. Watched a little TV but couldn’t concentrate on any one program. A little after 9 PM and I think it’s off to bed now.

Notes

I was kind of surprised with how many things seemed to be recurring just now. Before I ever looked this entry up, I had ordered spring rolls again (I don’t often) and cottage cheese (I haven’t for months) and the stuff for a stew (not surprising, given the cold weather). Also, I’ve been having a series of vivid dreams, which I haven’t for months.

I haven’t yet figured out what HF is; His (Something?) or (Something) Fantasy? I couldn’t find anything in last week’s entry; hopefully I’ll eventually find out in later entries. WWF = Words With Friends (haven’t played that in a while); GA is Green Acres (I don’t think I could stand watching anymore for another 30 years).

D'Layne was the name of a girl I went to McQueeney with; the character in the dream was not her. I just plugged the name in as a likely stand-in when I was writing it up. The dream about the magic ship ties in strangely with my current project.