hearts and mermaids, like an old sailor's arm
Yeeeeah, it's an old photo I've shown here before, and as ever I'm a day late and a dollar short for it to actually be pertinent. But it looks like my heart feels, especially thinking of all that's passed since I pressed the shutter button on the mop and bucket, so I'ma gunna post it again anyway.
I had vague plans back several weeks ago to ask if anyone else in a similar position to me - single and cynical, but romantic nevertheless, valuing love in all its many manifestations,1 and deeply appreciative of demonstrations of affection - would be interested in setting up some sort of Secret Santa-ish thingo online for the purposes of furnishing one another with February 14th warm fuzzy glows via the wonder of the post. But obviously I never got round to it, because I'm rubbish and I suck. Well, I suck at the interpie at the moment, anyway. I still like the idea, anyway, and I daresay I'll still be a wistful spinster once the world's wheeled awound the sun once more, so someone remind me of it next January, okay? Thanks. Obviously referring to it as a 'Secret Santa' is well off the mark, but nothing appropriate rhymes with Cupid, and Clandestine Valentine (about the best I've been able to come up with) feels faintly sinister - stalkerish, even. Anyway, we've got a year to come up with something more fitting, and in any case I'll doubtless forget anyway, so, um, yeah.
I meant to do something tokenistically romantic or at least heart-shaped yesterday, but spent most of the morning asleep for no good reason, and the afternoon procrastinating about washing up/tidying up/reading &c. and which I should do first, and consequently doing nothing of anything. In the evening I went to my new evening class2 for two hours of mermaids, selkies, and other watery hybrid beasts and sprites, underwater worlds and drowned towns. Not very romantic, but subjects very close to my heart anyway. Came home longing to immediately re-read The Republic of Love by Carol Shields and Possession by A.S. Byatt, beautiful books, both, but had neither to hand, worst luck. I watched ER instead, then spent several hours reading about the Zennor mermaid, nixies, huldrer, the Rhine maidens, Melusine, Lorelei, &c., followed by several hours reading about '80s bondage (yes, there is a logical progression here - it turns out there's a bondage model/director going by the name of Lorelei, and my capacity for getting sidetracked and temporarily fascinated by areas I stumble across while cross-referencing is legend).
Damnit, now I'm running late for counselling.
I'm sorry for not having been around much lately. There's been quite a lot going on, on the quiet, and when there hasn't it's been as much as I can do to sit there, staring into space. I've missed you, though. Have some Arthur Rackham Rhine maidens:
1 Well... let's say, all the generous ones, anyway. Not so much love where it's jealous, selfish, self-serving. Though, of course, 1 Corinthians 13 would have it that that ain't love at all. No, I didn't know the reference off by heart, I had to look it up, but I've sung many a hymn and sat through many a school assembly based on those verses in my time, and they're kind of etched into my soul, somewhere.
2 It's not actually new at all, last night's was the third class, but I haven't written about it here or even talked about it with more than a few people, so I'll call it 'new' here for now, to differentiate it from the Sugarcraft class that I've been doing for several months but still haven't got around to writing about either, sighity sigh. Anyway, it's ace and it's free. Doubleplus good.