Excerpt:
You shall therefore wit, that this gentleman above named the spurts that he was idle (which was the longer part of the year), did apply himself wholly to the reading of books of knighthood, and that with such gusts and delights, as he almost wholly neglected the excersie of hunting; yea, and the very administration of his household affairs. And his curiosity and folly came to that pass, that he made away many acres of arable land to buy him books of that kind, and therefore he brought to his house as many as ever he could get of that subject. And among them all, none pleased him better than those which famous Felician of Silva composed. For the smoothness of his prose, with now and then some intricate sentence meddled, seemed to him peerless; and principally when he did read the courtings, or letters of challenge, that knights sent to ladies, or on to another; where, in many places, he found written: 'The reason of the unreasonableness which against my reason is wrought, doth so weaken my reason, as with all reason I do justly complain on your beauty.' And also when he read: 'The high heavens, which with your divinity do fortify you divinely with the stars, and make you deserveress of the deserts which your greatness deserves, ' etc. With these and other such passages the poor gentleman grew distracted, and was breaking his brains day and night, to understand and unbowel their sense, an endless labour; for even Aristotle himself would not understand them, though he were again resuscitated only for that purpose.
(From: 'The Delightful History of the Most Ingenious Knight Don Quixote of the Mancha'
written by, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra translated by, Thomas Shelton.)
Poem:
Boy
I run into my old boyfriend's new boyfriend on Boylston Street and, as he talks, I fish around in my handbag, my pockets, for something sharp so I can stab him. He prattles insensitive circles: how my old boyfriend is impossible, but I already know that. I want to call him queer boy, a faggot: he keeps calling me "hun," twirling the fringe on my scarf. We have nothing in common until his goodbye: pink gums show between his teeth and upper lip. He has my goofy kind of smile, the kind my old boyfriend always made fun of. Boy, is this guy in for trouble.
(Found at http://capa.conncoll.edu/duhamel.smile.html#38 written by, Denise Duhamel)
Editor's Notes:
It's been a very long time since I have written a story about what has happened in the past week for me, and so I will assume that I will be a bit rusty. And like I said, things aren't as light hearted as they used to be, but I think I shall use this as a way to recount something amusing during the week. The first little story I would like to share involves my mom. Mom and Dad stories for me are usually a great source of amusement to myself and my friends. I love them and they make me shake my head. Recently I just came out to my mom. I assume people know what the term coming out means, yet I want to make sure. Let's see if I can find a definition of the term, ah yes this sums it up well. "Although the term "Coming Out" is generally used in the gay community to mean announcing your sexuality to your family and friends, in a broader sense it is a process whereby you say who you are and what you believe. All of us have had trouble finding the courage to express our true thoughts when those around us think differently." (found at http://www.fculittle.org/sermons/Coming_Out.htm) I grew up with a Pentecostal tradtion as a backbone of Christianity and a Mother who blindly followed the teachings of this tradtion and a father that should know better since he has been an amazing student of religion since he became born again in his twenties. So, even though my parents taught me compassion and open-mindedness it was, and still is, within the boundaries of bringing someone to salvation. My mom used to say things like, "I don't want you hanging around 'those' people they may rub off on you, " and " If you ever told me certain things (translation: that you are gay) it would be the last nail in the coffin on my life." So it was no surprise, though amusing in a sad kind of way, the conversation we had while walking to the dock at Lake Calhoun from Chino Latino where my mom had just spent an evening with her old friend from Soul's Harbor. These being the friends she would not say anything to, "so they will just look at you and not think about it." So many details I could be adding here...so many and really the gist of it is I told my mom, "So I have a new roommate Ben." "Really?" "Yea, he was an old roommate of a friend of mine...I really god lucky. And you'll be glad to know he is straight," said with an amused smile. "Well praise the Lord. At least some prayers are answered, " said with complete sincerity. Sad yet amusing.
posted by makeisweet @ 9:43 PM
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