"Adsis o placidusque iuves et sidera caelo
dextra feras."
Vergil's Aeneid, 4.578-9

"May you be present, O calm one, and may you serve and may you receive favorable stars in the sky."

Gratias ago vobis, Vergili Fortunaque

At vero Aeneas aspectu obmutuit amens,
arrectaeque horrore comae et vox faucibus haesit
~The Aeneid 4.279-80

But frantic Aeneas was made silent by the very sight,
and his hair was set upright by the horror and his voice stuck in his throat.

I just got back from dropping off my application to the JET Program. My way there was paved with good omens; light traffic, an unforseen toll road for which I had exact change, a white Plymouth Acclaim, and a tunnel through which I held my breath ( Read more... )