Rule Brittania!
I'm really not bringing up old arguments, cos who needs that shit. But still. Just gonna point out that it's St George's day today and LJ has absolutely nothing to recognise this holiday, despite the fact that it has a large amount of English users. Not to mention the fact that Irish and Mexican holidays were celebrated here.
I'm sorry. We've been over this already. And I stand by my "if LJ are going to recognise holidays they should recognise every country's major holidays, not just a select few (that are celebrated in America)".
It's just upsetting to start my patron saint's day by realising that most people couldn't give a shit.
:(
Ok, to cheer myself up I shall post a NICE BIG ENGLAND FLAG WOOHOO!
And one of my favourite poems, as you guys are having poetry month (see, I recognise other countries' stuff :P). This is Not My Best Side by U. A. Fanthorpe, a brilliant poet. With this poem, she retells the George and the Dragon story from all three parties' POV. The Dragon's is my fave. Give it a read! It's funny, insightful and feminist! Oh, and you may want to have a look at this painting, as this is what it's based on.
Not my Best Side
Not my best side, I'm afraid.
The artist didn't give me a chance to
Pose properly, and as you can see,
Poor chap, he had this obsession with
Triangles, so he left off two of my
Feet. I didn't comment at the time
(What, after all, are two feet
To a monster?) but afterwards
I was sorry for the bad publicity.
Why, I said to myself, should my conqueror
Be so ostentatiously beardless, and ride
A horse with a deformed neck and square hoofs?
Why should my victim be so
Unattractive as to be inedible,
And why should she have me literally
On a string? I don't mind dying
Ritually, since I always rise again,
But I should have liked a little more blood
To show they were taking me seriously.
II
It's hard for a girl to be sure if
She wants to be rescued. I mean, I quite
Took to the dragon. It's nice to be
Liked, if you know what I mean. He was
So nicely physical, with his claws
And lovely green skin, and that sexy tail,
And the way he looked at me,
He made me feel he was all ready to
Eat me. And any girl enjoys that.
So when this boy turned up, wearing machinery,
On a really dangerous horse, to be honest
I didn't much fancy him. I mean,
What was he like underneath the hardware?
He might have acne, blackheads or even
Bad breath for all I could tell, but the dragon--
Well, you could see all his equipment
At a glance. Still, what could I do?
The dragon got himself beaten by the boy,
And a girl's got to think of her future.
III
I have diplomas in Dragon
Management and Virgin Reclamation.
My horse is the latest model, with
Automatic transmission and built-in
Obsolescence. My spear is custom-built,
And my prototype armour
Still on the secret list. You can't
Do better than me at the moment.
I'm qualified and equipped to the
Eyebrow. So why be difficult?
Don't you want to be killed and/or rescued
In the most contemporary way? Don't
You want to carry out the roles
That sociology and myth have designed for you?
Don't you realize that, by being choosy,
You are endangering job prospects
In the spear- and horse-building industries?
What, in any case, does it matter what
You want? You're in my way.
At least Google loves us :D
RULE BRITTANIA!!
Patriotically yours,
~Lili
I'm sorry. We've been over this already. And I stand by my "if LJ are going to recognise holidays they should recognise every country's major holidays, not just a select few (that are celebrated in America)".
It's just upsetting to start my patron saint's day by realising that most people couldn't give a shit.
:(
Ok, to cheer myself up I shall post a NICE BIG ENGLAND FLAG WOOHOO!
And one of my favourite poems, as you guys are having poetry month (see, I recognise other countries' stuff :P). This is Not My Best Side by U. A. Fanthorpe, a brilliant poet. With this poem, she retells the George and the Dragon story from all three parties' POV. The Dragon's is my fave. Give it a read! It's funny, insightful and feminist! Oh, and you may want to have a look at this painting, as this is what it's based on.
Not my Best Side
Not my best side, I'm afraid.
The artist didn't give me a chance to
Pose properly, and as you can see,
Poor chap, he had this obsession with
Triangles, so he left off two of my
Feet. I didn't comment at the time
(What, after all, are two feet
To a monster?) but afterwards
I was sorry for the bad publicity.
Why, I said to myself, should my conqueror
Be so ostentatiously beardless, and ride
A horse with a deformed neck and square hoofs?
Why should my victim be so
Unattractive as to be inedible,
And why should she have me literally
On a string? I don't mind dying
Ritually, since I always rise again,
But I should have liked a little more blood
To show they were taking me seriously.
II
It's hard for a girl to be sure if
She wants to be rescued. I mean, I quite
Took to the dragon. It's nice to be
Liked, if you know what I mean. He was
So nicely physical, with his claws
And lovely green skin, and that sexy tail,
And the way he looked at me,
He made me feel he was all ready to
Eat me. And any girl enjoys that.
So when this boy turned up, wearing machinery,
On a really dangerous horse, to be honest
I didn't much fancy him. I mean,
What was he like underneath the hardware?
He might have acne, blackheads or even
Bad breath for all I could tell, but the dragon--
Well, you could see all his equipment
At a glance. Still, what could I do?
The dragon got himself beaten by the boy,
And a girl's got to think of her future.
III
I have diplomas in Dragon
Management and Virgin Reclamation.
My horse is the latest model, with
Automatic transmission and built-in
Obsolescence. My spear is custom-built,
And my prototype armour
Still on the secret list. You can't
Do better than me at the moment.
I'm qualified and equipped to the
Eyebrow. So why be difficult?
Don't you want to be killed and/or rescued
In the most contemporary way? Don't
You want to carry out the roles
That sociology and myth have designed for you?
Don't you realize that, by being choosy,
You are endangering job prospects
In the spear- and horse-building industries?
What, in any case, does it matter what
You want? You're in my way.
At least Google loves us :D
RULE BRITTANIA!!
Patriotically yours,
~Lili