(no subject)
a_d_medievalist would like me to expound on these words.
Books:
What can I say? I love books (if you've ever been to my house you'll know this). I'm a librarian. I'm married to another book lover. I have too many books for the space I live in, but it's so hard to cull. I love books for the ideas they contain, the wonderful stories, the poems and all the worlds they have opened for me. I love the feel and the smell and the shape of them...stop me now, I can on like this for days.
Academe I wish. Sometimes I wish I could just research something nice and obscure (preferably involving Shakespeare or Chaucer) for the rest of my life. Sadly, I need to earn a living, because I also like to eat. Being a librarian is a nice compromise. I can to research (mostly) interesting stuff and I (mostly) get paid for it.
Australia I hope a_d_medievalist is not asking about the film, becaus I haven't seen it. Australia is a strange place. The dominant culture is so young and the indigeous culture so old, and they don't always understand each other. The land itself is so beautiful, but so harsh. The best line about Australia is from Dorothea MacKellar's A Sunburnt Country. "The beauty and the terror" That pretty much sums it up for me.
Genji I came to know Prince Genji the way I came to know most Asian culture, via art. At around fourteen, I saw my first exhibition of Chines Art, was amazed, and that lead to Japanese art (and the rest of Asia). The Tale of Genji is one of the most popular subjects in Japanese art, and so, to try and understand the art I read my first version of the book. It was hard going. Now I have the new translation and it is a much easier read. Genji is still a spoilt brat though.
Storms I love storms. I love thunder and rain,so long as I am safe indoors. "Wild nights are my glory" as Mrs Who said in A Wrinkle in Time. I must read that book again.