good drink, good meat, good god, let's eat!

i. over breakfast

my mother brought out some rustan's-brand crinkles someone had given her. they would've been alright, if not for the quarter-inch-thick layer of confectioner's sugar surrounding each cookie. we had to literally scrape off the sugar so we could eat the crinkles without our brains hemorrhaging. our conversation thus went as follows:

self: there are ants in the crinkles.
mother: don't worry - they can't get past the sugar.
self: it's a bad sign when insects can't eat what you're eating.

*after several minutes of silent scraping*

mother: i think it's a criminal act to be selling these.
self: well, it is our prerogative to buy them.
mother: yes, but they have to be actually edible.

by the end of breakfast, we had the sum total of about a half-cup of confectioner's sugar on our plates. i dunno if my mom kept the scrapings, though.

ii. over lunch

freud had this to say about one creature of greek mythology:

The terror of the Medusa is thus a terror of castration that is linked to the sight of something. The hair upon the Medusa's head is frequently represented in works of art in the form of snakes, and these once again are derived from the castration complex. It is a remarkable fact that however frightening they may be in themselves, they nevertheless serve as a mitigation of the horror, for they replace the penis, the absence of which is the cause of the horror. This is a confirmation of the technical rule according to which a multiplication of penis symbols signifies castration.

it makes perfect sense, though, that the medusa, a woman with a figurative army of penises at her disposal, should strike fear in the hearts of 'average' [you know what i mean] greek men. back then, the measures of power were more limited, and the sexual dominance of men over women was a standard, not necessarily a rule, and this only because it was for the most part unchallenged. the penis thus remained a symbol of aggression or rather assertion, and a woman who 'gains' one [or hundreds, even!] threatened to undo the very patriarchal norms of greek society.

or it could be that the medusa is actually a reference to ancient she-males, since the greeks were unabashadly gay anyway, and the turning to stone did not involve the entire body, but rather a singular yet significant portion of it. who knows?

iii. over dinner

we're all familiar with auld lang syne but very few actually know what the song entails. for your convenience [as well as because kimber may find them amusing] i'm posting the lyrics here:

Should old acquaintances be forgotten,
And never brought to mind
Should old acquaintances be forgotten,
And days of long ago

For old long ago, my dear
For old long ago,
We'll take a cup of kindness yet
For old long ago

We two have run about the hills
And pulled the daisies fine,
But we've wandered many a weary foot
For old long ago

We two have waded in the stream
From noon 'til dinner time,
But seas between us broad have roared
Since old long ago

And there's a hand, my trusty friend,
And give us a hand of yours,
And we'll take a goodwill draught of ale
For old long ago

And surely you'll pay for your pint,
And surely I'll pay for mine
And we'll take a cup of kindness yet
For old long ago

the last three verses are my personal favorites.

happy new year.

sige ingat.ü 
posted by stani at 2:02 AM