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jaeleslie at 03:46pm on 17/03/2003
jaeleslie at 03:46pm on 17/03/2003Have I mentioned here (no of course I haven't), well ranted, about how much I hate and despise the "Moment of Truth" language that I see front and center on every news outlet today. It betrays a smallmindedness that imagines Truth is something that can be contained in a soundbite. It leaves out all the Truth that might take a very long time to say. Then after this moment of apocalyptic crap we'll just get back to the usual lies, eh? what strange beast, its hour come round at last, slouches toward bethlehem*... Must find dictionary of idiomatic usages that will tell me where this nonsensical cowboy-showdown phrase came from originally.
Couple weeks ago when the ultimatum business was announced I said, but no! not the 17th! sir, at least consider what a slap in the face it will be to all of the Irish-American persuasion! But we seem to have gotten the seasonal parades out of the way yesterday, on Sunday. Nothing sacred, even the saints' days. I don't even want to know whether the Chicago River is green today, or green yesterday. With luck, I only trust it will be green tomorrow too. And St Patrick's Day has somewhere turned into a festival honoring our police and fire fighters (so many of the Oirish derivation). Soon we'll include the National Guard in that honor too I suppose, but they are all too many of them now thousands of miles away (exercising our second amendment rights to bear defensive arms???), young people who have not thought quite enough about it that when a microphone is thrust at them they might avoid saying something for the folks at home about "defending this country" as though they were still standing on American soil. Although the whole concept of national sovereignty has here on this continent been riddled with contradictions and betrayals.
And what is this "luck of the Irish" thing??? some kind of horrible joke? oh ha. Like the Irish in this country didn't have to make their own luck. "What we lack in brains we must make up for with our backs." Reminds me of the polished stone I bought for fifty cents at a tourist trading post in the wilds of New England when I was a small child, from a basket labeled "Mohawk Indian Luck Stones". What was dad going on about then, the luck of the Mohawks, right, just his usual grimness. I think I still have the rock around here somewhere, dark, shiny, unremarkable. While god waits for men to build his temple of love, men bring stones.
...mere anarchy is loosed upon the world; the best lack all conviction, while the worst are filled with passionate intensity*...
By God. (Smoke em if you got em.) Here is what has been good today: I went to the mall for a walk and as usual there were little children playing, today wearing silly green hats. Walking up and down, sometimes one catches a solemn innocent stare. Outside the import shop a trio of musicians sat singing quite beautifully, in that strange language, with celtic harp and drum, sad and cheerful and then sad again. The grocery store had asparagus on sale, not from around here obviously (not due until May) but we'll have a pound of that. With a French chardonnay and roast turkey (lemon and garlic).
No green gimlets, no green beers. I thought about how there will be more moments to come. That is the true nature of moments. It was a day like any other, so I'll have the usual.
*Here's to Mr Yeats.
Couple weeks ago when the ultimatum business was announced I said, but no! not the 17th! sir, at least consider what a slap in the face it will be to all of the Irish-American persuasion! But we seem to have gotten the seasonal parades out of the way yesterday, on Sunday. Nothing sacred, even the saints' days. I don't even want to know whether the Chicago River is green today, or green yesterday. With luck, I only trust it will be green tomorrow too. And St Patrick's Day has somewhere turned into a festival honoring our police and fire fighters (so many of the Oirish derivation). Soon we'll include the National Guard in that honor too I suppose, but they are all too many of them now thousands of miles away (exercising our second amendment rights to bear defensive arms???), young people who have not thought quite enough about it that when a microphone is thrust at them they might avoid saying something for the folks at home about "defending this country" as though they were still standing on American soil. Although the whole concept of national sovereignty has here on this continent been riddled with contradictions and betrayals.
And what is this "luck of the Irish" thing??? some kind of horrible joke? oh ha. Like the Irish in this country didn't have to make their own luck. "What we lack in brains we must make up for with our backs." Reminds me of the polished stone I bought for fifty cents at a tourist trading post in the wilds of New England when I was a small child, from a basket labeled "Mohawk Indian Luck Stones". What was dad going on about then, the luck of the Mohawks, right, just his usual grimness. I think I still have the rock around here somewhere, dark, shiny, unremarkable. While god waits for men to build his temple of love, men bring stones.
...mere anarchy is loosed upon the world; the best lack all conviction, while the worst are filled with passionate intensity*...
By God. (Smoke em if you got em.) Here is what has been good today: I went to the mall for a walk and as usual there were little children playing, today wearing silly green hats. Walking up and down, sometimes one catches a solemn innocent stare. Outside the import shop a trio of musicians sat singing quite beautifully, in that strange language, with celtic harp and drum, sad and cheerful and then sad again. The grocery store had asparagus on sale, not from around here obviously (not due until May) but we'll have a pound of that. With a French chardonnay and roast turkey (lemon and garlic).
No green gimlets, no green beers. I thought about how there will be more moments to come. That is the true nature of moments. It was a day like any other, so I'll have the usual.
*Here's to Mr Yeats.