reaching a fever pitch that's bringing me out the dark
Without getting too much into it, February is a tough month to get through for me right now. It's not just the cold and my weekend classes going straight from now until May, but it's missing my students and having to start aaaaall over again and waiting on tenterhooks for grad schools and other job applications and just kind of losing my mind in general. Instead, I'd rather focus on, well, any of the following things.
And came to the place where she recognized herself without fear
mistranslation of "From Miscellaneous Poems of the Mountains" by Mu Yun (469-520)
Arriving, tired, forehead peaked, ribs bright. It was not in this
world,
but next to it, like a quiet wife, where tiredness did not hurt but
shone in like morning through the window.
She stood on top of it. She lifted the roof, startling the nesting
pigeons. The sky was flat there, inviting elaboration.
She stood inside the doorway. Her other half rippled as in water.
On the open roof, through the windowed sky: this world, her two
hearts laid across each other, deeply in love.
Everything about this poem kills me: the imagery; the stepping outside of oneself. But what particularly intrigues me here is the "mistranslation of" - is the title the mistranslation? The entire poem? Did the translator version the poem him/herself? Is that the "mistranslation"? Whatever it is, the whole thing works for me, beautifully.
I'm working some more on my Mistral translations, so if anyone's interested, I strongly recommend Reed and Heebner's Neruda: On the blue shore of silence. I've tried and failed time and time again to do anything with Neruda - for some reason, he won't let me translate him. I hate him for that, more than a little. Reed's translations and Heebner's paintings make me wish I could translate him, that I could get into his headspace because the images here are so beautiful, so calm and right, somehow, that I want to curl up in his words, visit his house and carve my name into the fence along the shore of his property.
Ana Teresa Fernandez Oil Paintings These are massively gorgeous. I read the blurb at the top, and at the time, was all "eh, I'll skim them, but I'm really not in the mood to *think*. Boy, was I wrong. I love her use of water, and the way the women disappear behind the sheets, the way the women use their own bodies to mop, to fall into roles. I need to see more of her work before I can form a real opinion, but this is a great taste.
Stunning Self-Portraits by a Seventeen-Year-Old (Alex Stoddard) and Beautiful Self-Portraits by a Seventeen-Year-Old (Alison Titus)
These separate photographers grew as artists via Flickr - they used the community there and the 365 challenge (one photo posted per day for a year) to get feedback and learn how to use their instruments to as full an effect as possible. My favorite of Stoddard's might be the one with all the newspapers - you'll know it when you see it - or it might be the yarn or the bench. Each one says something different about him, and while I find the crouching pose repetitive, it works in many of these photos. Titus, at times, can seem like more of a fashion model but there are a couple photos that hold a wonderful amount of whimsy and fancy. I'd recommend sticking around for those.
Sleepytime Bedtime Calculator I've been using this to figure out when to go to sleep every night (10:35 on school nights) and it's the greatest thing. I can credit this website with preserving my sanity.
Service Dog and Man I keep this tab open for whenever I need a fuzzy puppy face. Go ahead. Click it. You know you want to.
Super Mario Bros If you are over the age of 18 - and if you aren't, please do not tell me - you probably feel as fondly about Super Mario Bros as I do. And guess what - now you can play it online! Free! I really, really suck at it because of the lack of controller (I keep stabbing at the buttons yelling, "But I hit 'jump'! I hit it!), but god, is it fun to play again. Why the hell did I agree to sell the old Nintendo? Stupid "upgrades".
ETA: I cannot believe I forgot this. First Flight, by 13empress (lj) from the reboot Trek 'zine, Universal Constant. Pern AU, dragonriding!AU. ♥ Just go read the damn thing. (Link goes to 'zine mainpage. You can download it or read it online, your choice.)
This entry was originally posted at http://foursweatervests.dreamwidth.org/53074.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
And came to the place where she recognized herself without fear
mistranslation of "From Miscellaneous Poems of the Mountains" by Mu Yun (469-520)
Arriving, tired, forehead peaked, ribs bright. It was not in this
world,
but next to it, like a quiet wife, where tiredness did not hurt but
shone in like morning through the window.
She stood on top of it. She lifted the roof, startling the nesting
pigeons. The sky was flat there, inviting elaboration.
She stood inside the doorway. Her other half rippled as in water.
On the open roof, through the windowed sky: this world, her two
hearts laid across each other, deeply in love.
Everything about this poem kills me: the imagery; the stepping outside of oneself. But what particularly intrigues me here is the "mistranslation of" - is the title the mistranslation? The entire poem? Did the translator version the poem him/herself? Is that the "mistranslation"? Whatever it is, the whole thing works for me, beautifully.
I'm working some more on my Mistral translations, so if anyone's interested, I strongly recommend Reed and Heebner's Neruda: On the blue shore of silence. I've tried and failed time and time again to do anything with Neruda - for some reason, he won't let me translate him. I hate him for that, more than a little. Reed's translations and Heebner's paintings make me wish I could translate him, that I could get into his headspace because the images here are so beautiful, so calm and right, somehow, that I want to curl up in his words, visit his house and carve my name into the fence along the shore of his property.
Ana Teresa Fernandez Oil Paintings These are massively gorgeous. I read the blurb at the top, and at the time, was all "eh, I'll skim them, but I'm really not in the mood to *think*. Boy, was I wrong. I love her use of water, and the way the women disappear behind the sheets, the way the women use their own bodies to mop, to fall into roles. I need to see more of her work before I can form a real opinion, but this is a great taste.
Stunning Self-Portraits by a Seventeen-Year-Old (Alex Stoddard) and Beautiful Self-Portraits by a Seventeen-Year-Old (Alison Titus)
These separate photographers grew as artists via Flickr - they used the community there and the 365 challenge (one photo posted per day for a year) to get feedback and learn how to use their instruments to as full an effect as possible. My favorite of Stoddard's might be the one with all the newspapers - you'll know it when you see it - or it might be the yarn or the bench. Each one says something different about him, and while I find the crouching pose repetitive, it works in many of these photos. Titus, at times, can seem like more of a fashion model but there are a couple photos that hold a wonderful amount of whimsy and fancy. I'd recommend sticking around for those.
Sleepytime Bedtime Calculator I've been using this to figure out when to go to sleep every night (10:35 on school nights) and it's the greatest thing. I can credit this website with preserving my sanity.
Service Dog and Man I keep this tab open for whenever I need a fuzzy puppy face. Go ahead. Click it. You know you want to.
Super Mario Bros If you are over the age of 18 - and if you aren't, please do not tell me - you probably feel as fondly about Super Mario Bros as I do. And guess what - now you can play it online! Free! I really, really suck at it because of the lack of controller (I keep stabbing at the buttons yelling, "But I hit 'jump'! I hit it!), but god, is it fun to play again. Why the hell did I agree to sell the old Nintendo? Stupid "upgrades".
ETA: I cannot believe I forgot this. First Flight, by 13empress (lj) from the reboot Trek 'zine, Universal Constant. Pern AU, dragonriding!AU. ♥ Just go read the damn thing. (Link goes to 'zine mainpage. You can download it or read it online, your choice.)
This entry was originally posted at http://foursweatervests.dreamwidth.org/53074.html. Please comment there using OpenID.