ode to the martini

A jar of olives

Is the drink

A dash of vodka

And then, I think...

The crazy begins

And sip a sip

A love to sin

And then a slip

Into the place

I can't avoid

Too fast apace

Until annoyed

A crash and bang

Look up to scarce flee

that slippery clang

Escape to martini

With heavy feet light

I dance long away

And far into the night

Yet tempted to stay

"But then, I'm not

A darling, you see."

The one never caught

and thus ends me!

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.

-Edgar Allan Poe

jennifer johnson is sick of being single

"I'm going to look on the bright side, and I will, as soon as I find it."

(p 104)

"I check my online dating account. I'm signed up on ExplodingHearts.com, which is supposed to match you with people better than you could match yourself... When I filled out my profile I briefly considered just saying everything I know guys want to hear, that I'm a size zero and I like to barbecue steaks in a thong and sometimes I have secret lipstick-lesbian fantasies where I get into a pillow fight with my supermodel girlfriend and then we decide to have sex. But instead I opted to tell the truth, just ti minimize the disappointment factor, if nothing else. I listed my real age, my real weight, and my real hobbies, which include watching Golden Girls reruns while eating Taco Bell. Might as well cop to it now."

(pp 21-22)

--from the novel jennifer johnson is sick of being single by Heather McElhatton

"... it is ever to be borne in mind that though the outside of human life changes much, the inside changes little, and the lesson-book we cannot graduate from is human experience. Great literature, past or present, is the expression of great knowledge of the human heart; great art is the expression of a solution of the conflict between the demands of the world without and that within; and in the wisdom of either there would seem to be small progress."

--Edith Hamilton, taken from her book The Greek Way, 1930 & 1942

This is taken from the first chapter in this book which I found at Half Price Books (AAAHmazing store btw) which muses on the affects the Greek culture has had on writing and other areas of Western development. I read this passage though and just thought about the extreme impact the Greeks had on the development of art, religions, literature, drama, philosophy, the list goes on and on.... Sometimes it really is awe inspiring to just look back on the accomplishments of another culture in the history of the world. What if one thing was different about the culture? Maybe I'm being silly, but when I read passages of this nature, I just have such renewed respect for literature--especially when it makes me retreat somewhere and just think.

ps. I'm a huuge mythology buff, which is the main reason I even picked this book up... it turned out to be a reflection on the impact Ancient Greece had on the modern world as well as an exploration and analysis of various areas of ancient Greek culture. But really the reading is extremely intriguing.

Unlearned

There are things about my mother,
Ones I never understood,
Sometimes I hated
But always waited
Until a time I knew I could

Some things about my mother
I could never understand
when she cried
why she cried
my hand now rests upon her hand

Those things about my mother
Are now heavy on my mind
it's not enough
can't say too much
Those words my lips can't find.

The Apple

"I really don't see the point in it. Just think! Garden garden garden garden garden, two happy people, and it could have gone on forever! They knew, they'd been told, but they ate it anyway, and from there on out, family! Shame, fear, jobs, mortality, envy, murder..."

"Well," Willaim said brightly, "and sex... In fact, you could look at both family and mortality simply as byproducts of sexual reproduction."

--From the short story "Some Other, Better Otto" by Deborah Eisenberg

Clothing: Optional

"From the start, one is trained not to take off your clothes in front of complete strangers. Keeping one's clothes on is actually the number one rule for civilization. Even a duck or a bear looks civilized when clothed."
--From the short story "Something that Needs Nothing" by Miranda July

I dont know why... but this made me laugh out loud when I read it :)