The House-Top

Read this poem, Melville wrote it from the rooftop of his apartment during the 1863 NYC draft riots, as he watched most of Manhattan burn.

A Night Piece.

(July, 1863.)

No sleep. The sultriness pervades the air
And binds the brain--a dense oppression, such
As tawny tigers feel in matted shades,
Vexing their blood and making apt for ravage.
Beneath the stars the roofy desert spreads
Vacant as Libya. All is hushed near by.
Yet fitfully from far breaks a mixed surf
Of muffled sound, the Atheist roar of riot.
Yonder, where parching Sirius set in drought,
Balefully glares red Arson--there-and there.
The Town is taken by its rats--ship-rats.
And rats of the wharves. All civil charms
And priestly spells which late held hearts in awe--
Fear-bound, subjected to a better sway
Than sway of self; these like a dream dissolve,
And man rebounds whole æons back in nature.*
Hail to the low dull rumble, dull and dead,
And ponderous drag that shakes the wall.
Wise Draco comes, deep in the midnight roll
Of black artillery; he comes, though late;
In code corroborating Calvin's creed
And cynic tyrannies of honest kings;
He comes, nor parlies; and the Town redeemed,
Give thanks devout; nor, being thankful, heeds
The grimy slur on the Republic's faith implied,
Which holds that Man is naturally good,
And--more--is Nature's Roman, never to be scourged.

Discoveries

First, I'd like to apologize for my long hiatus. I hope I haven't lost my spatter of readers, at least not entirely. I haven't posted in a long, long time, because I have had some recent events that made me think, "Do I really want to do this anymore?"

The first is I discovered the website get off my internets (GOMI), where I discovered that the majority of popular blogs are all doing it for money/perks. I've always know that people blog for so many reasons beyond venting and ranting, but I guess I never quite realized the contrived nature of blogging. Think of this as a light bulb moment for me. I know, I know, I know, I was naive! And this discovery should not change that I enjoy sharing parts of my life with all of you, but it did make me reconsider my goals for the blog and my approach.

Following my GOMI discovery, I bumped in to (saw from a very safe distance at a Mexican airport) yet another popular blogger, someone who is written up on GOMI. This is the fourth time that this has happened to me (one blogger happens to live in my neighborhood). Run-ins with people who style and design their lives ruins the mystique (for me). You can't help but think that these people are ordinary people and that, really if you think about it, everyone poops, (i.e. does ordinary, everyday things) We don't all spend our days posing for photos on well-selected street corners. Or do we...grab the camera Ethel!

So all of that caused me to take this time out. In addition, the original idea for blog was to find my life's calling and I think maybe I found it. I'm not exactly ready to share, but you will see. For now, I'll continue to post, because, well...I like you.  I'll try to keep my posts honest, relevant, and informative.

Some other amazing discoveries during my hiatus include:

A French Designer, Roseanna, I'm obsessed.

An amazing sculpture festival in Australia. Featuring upcoming artist Nariyals.

A funny (I mean hysterical) Q&A between Jadakiss and Siri.

Post-boomer ideology

All the single ladies

Interesting article from the Atlantic.

Saturday song of the week: Wanna be by Dizzee Rascal

I got five on it

Do you know the words to this song? I do! This is hysterical to me. Hysterical!  In fact, I may have even considered this song for one of my wedding playlists. Now let me make something perfectly clear - I like to think of myself a relatively sophisticated person (I wear matching bra and panties, damn it! That's sophistication, isn't it?), but there are some truly random (and child like) things that make me laugh. As I write this I wonder if admitting these things to cyberspace is dangerous. Will you be offended cyberspace? Will you? Ok... I'll take the risk.

1. The fact that I know the words to Luniz's cult classic, I've got five on it.
2. Nicknames. My brother calls me Babs and for whatever reason - I always laugh. I don't mind taking on unflattering nicknames either. For example, I recently told a friend that she can call me Big Juicy. I really hope it sticks.
3. Old Lady names
4. Punching Eric in the arm and saying, "look a ginger" whenever I see a redhead. (disclaimer: I love redheads they are amazing and unusual, which is why I point them out.)
5.  Making fun of other Americans while abroad. This is a tough one, but come on... the loud American in white-tube socks and a fanny pack deserves a little chuckle. A little snobby of me? Perhaps. Ok, I'll own it.
6. Sending random pictures texts of my husband to my sister's way too generous boyfriend. I do this on a pretty regular basis. That reminds me, I like taking random photos of my husband for my amusement.
7. Reminiscing with my cousin about growing up. We thought that drunk people spoke in a British accent and said, "more to drink, more to drink."My British accent was so much more refined back then.
8. The fact that when I first met Mr. DID he really liked Jack Johnson. A LOT.
9. Listening to songs like this on my ipod, loudly, in the elevator. Well you got a, you got a way that your making me, feel I can, feel I can, do anything for you baby.
10. Posting romantic Celine Dion song lyrics on various friend's facebook page.
11. Cards that say Congratulations on your divorce.
12. Suggesting someone bathe in butter. Don't do it! It's a terrible idea!
13. Putting on DVD of Mariah Carey in concert when we have house guests.
14. Tiny Fey's book, Bossypants. This is not actually ironic or random. It's hysterical.
15. The names of the clothing in the jcrew catalogue. I'll take one cambridge cable chunky turtleneck sweater in heather aloe or a hacking jacket in double-serge wool in cool pine, please.

(Photo of me laughing. I forgot to mention touristy photos with law enforcement also make me laugh)