March 2011

On Happiness #22

Quotation
"…Elizabeth, agitated and confused, rather knew that she was happy, than felt herself to be so…" -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

Dreams and Dreaming #8

Quotation
"…what splendid dreams young people build upon a word, and how bitter is the pain when the bright bubbles burst." -Louisa May Alcott, Jo's Boys

A Dash of Romance

Quotations
"Elizabeth's spirit's soon rising to playfulness again, she wanted Mr. Darcy to account for his having ever fallen in love with her. 'How could you begin?' said she. 'I can comprehend your going on charmingly, when you had once made a beginning; but what could set you off in the first place?'
'I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.'" -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

"'I am happier than Jane; she only smiles, I laugh. Mr. Darcy sends you all the love in the world that he can spare from me.'" -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

"My mother then said she wished she knew why she had married him, and would like still more to know why he had married her.
My father said, 'You were so lovely — you've no idea.'" -Elizabeth Bowen, "Songs My Father Sang Me"

"'I have given my heart to another,' he repeated over and over again to himself." -Edward Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes

"They fell in love for no reason at all, in the park, on a bench…" -Graham Greene, "When Greek Meets Greek"

"'Forgive me. Don't love me any more. Yes. Love me. Love me.'" -Katherine Mansfield, "Je ne parle pas français"

"For they might be parted for hundreds of years, she and Peter; she never wrote a letter and his were dry sticks; but suddenly it would come over her, If he were with me now what would he say? — some days, some sights bringing him back to her calmly, without the old bitterness; which perhaps was the reward of having cared for people…" -Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway

"'You've destroyed my loneliness.'" -Virginia Woolf, Night and Day

Vesper: I can't resist waking you. Every time I do you look at me as if you hadn't seen me in years. Makes me feel reborn.
-Casino Royale

Ashley: She's the only dream I ever had that didn't die in the face of reality.
-Gone With the Wind

Mr. Darcy: If, however, your feelings have changed. I would have to tell you, you have bewitched me body and soul, and I love— I love— I love you.
-Pride & Prejudice

Harry: I love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend a day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes, and I love that you are the last person I wanna talk to before I go to sleep at night.
-When Harry Met Sally…

Harry: I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody you want the rest of you life to start as soon as possible.
-When Harry Met Sally…

Happy Birthday Erica Teevens

Quotation
"…possessed of that indescribable charm called grace." -Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

Random Musing
She would have been 20 years old today.

This Is Hamlet

Random Musing
My sister Namira bought a duckling to cheer me up since the past month has been pretty rough. Together we decided to name him Hamlet. He's pretty adorable. And a lot less messy/work than an actual live ducky. Not that I wouldn't want a live ducky - it'd be even fuzzier. And who says "no" to fuzzier?

Good News (for a change)

Random Musing
"When the World Gets Wise" was published in The Michigan Daily's annual Literary Issue today. And while there were some formatting issues with how they printed it - some of the spacing wasn't exactly what I intended - it's nonetheless exciting to see a poem in print. Especially when it got it's own full page.

Rest in Peace Diane Wells

Random Musing
I found out today that one of my supervisors from work passed away on Friday, March 4th. And while I love all of my supervisors - they honestly make going to work much less of a chore than otherwise - Diane was my favorite. She would schedule you for the south circulation desk if you had a lot of homework to do (it's very quiet there during late night shifts) or keep you at the north desk so you could talk to your friends. She was so incredibly accommodating. I mean, one semester I used to always take my 15 minutes break right as my friend Sahrish was getting off her shift. Diane let us work it out that way so me and Sahrish could go get pizza together every week. Not everyone you work with is that nice.

She'd been on medical leave since maybe October but I had no idea she was seriously sick. I'd actually heard that she was coming back to the library in January. When that didn't happen though, me and Sahrish talked a bit about visiting her. Unfortunately we never got around to it. The closest we'll get to saying anything to her now is the memorial site made in her honor. She was a really wonderful person.

This has been a really awful month.

Irreconcilable?

Quotations
"'Thank goodness, we can choose our friends. We have to take our relatives as they are, and be thankful…'" -L.M. Montgomery, Anne's House of Dreams

"'…but ye don't be choosing frinds after all. They come to ye…or they don't. Just that. Ye get the ones meant for you, be they minny or few, in the time appinted for their coming.'" -L.M. Montgomery, Pat of Silver Bush

Sylvia Plath Audio

Random Musing
I love Sylvia Plath. That's probably not news. As is also probably common knowledge, she committed suicide at the age of 30. What might be a little less well known is that upon her death she left behind the manuscript of Ariel, her most famous collection of poetry.

While the volume wasn't published until two years after her death, there are some existing recordings of her reading poems from the collection. These recordings include a reading of my favorite poem ever "Lady Lazarus," as well as what is probably Plath's most famous poem "Daddy." In addition to those two, I'm also adding the recording for "Fever 103" - just to highlight a poem of hers that is a tad less mainstream. So here is Sylvia Plath for your listening pleasure:

"Lady Lazarus" (fyi: The recorded version of the poem is actually a bit different from the officially published version)


"Daddy"


"Fever 103"

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