Borges y Yo

This is an audio file from one of the best literary "artifacts" I've ever come across -- a CD of Jorge Luis Borges reading/reciting his own works, mostly poetry and short essays, in his own voice. It's called "Borges por si mismo." The first time I listened to it in Buenos Aires was very emotional. There is something so personal about a writer reading his work--a transformation from the "image" or "myth" of the writer to an actual, real person. Being confronted with the reality of a writer whom you have read, loved, studied, dissected, spent hours getting acquainted with, and listening to the proximity of his voice, which traverses the temporal boundaries, is a nearly surreal experience in its reality (if that makes any sense whatsoever). Borges's voice is particularly amazing in its richness and depth.

I'll add more later about this piece in particular, and why it's one of my favorites. Mainly questions of identity.

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The Last Pin-Up

Pin-ups have traditionally been prominently featured in the chronicles of the lives of boys. However, not everyone who writes about youth pays attention to the fact that girls also feverishly collect pin-ups, clipping pictures of cute boys from teeny magazines and tacking them all over their bedroom walls, ceilings, closets, and mirrors. I didn't quite go all out, preferring instead to reserve my pin-up privileges for what I considered a select few. I particularly had a thing for the brooding artists, especially if they looked like they were brooding in the photograph.

A couple of months ago I went back home to spend the holidays with my parents, and as I rearranged myself back into my old room, I looked around and smiled as I noticed that although my mom has repainted the walls, changed the carpet to a wood floor and arranged the artwork on the walls in a more pleasing way, this particular photograph was still up on the wall. I just found out that it was apparently taken by Kwaku Alston. I remember when I tore it out of a magazine--it was featured in a photo shoot promoting Heath Ledger's new movie, A Knight's Tale. I loved the picture because of the pants. I already thought Heath was cool, but I couldn't get over the awesomeness of a young guy brave enough to wear those embroidered green pants for the world to see. They looked great, of course, because Heath had this particular style that absorbed what he put on and gave it some kind of magical cool aura.

Ever since we first saw him in 10 Things I Hate About You opposite Julia Stiles, my friends and I swooned over his Aussie accent and rebellious-but-sweet attitude. I've seen a lot of his movies since then, and gotten to watch his journey as a serious, talented, risk-taking actor. It was much too late in my life for me to be obsessive about movie-star-fandom, but I always retained a place of preference for the boy who was my last pin-up ever. He never disappointed over the years, always taking interesting and challenging roles. I just read that he had recently been working the role of the Joker in the next Batman movie. Now that he's gone, I have to say that it will be bittersweet. I am overjoyed that an actor I respect and enjoy is going to play such a difficult and well-defined role in one of my favorite superhero stories, and yet not looking forward to what I anticipate will be a feeling much like watching Brandon Lee in The Crow. The eerie capturing of life obliviously in its last moments.

I am so sorry about Heath Ledger. I am so sorry for his family, for his baby girl. I realize that I don't actually know him, that he was a person traveling within a different orbit. But one time, those many years ago, that orbit crossed mine through that photograph. He has made me smile, he has made me ponder, and he has probably made me cry. He was only 28, just around my age. He seemed like one of the good guys...just a decent man making a living doing what he loved and enjoying the company of those he loved. I won't speculate on what happened; I just feel sorry, no matter what, about this very young life, cut off. Here's to my last pin-up.

Heath Ledger, 1979-2008

Rain on the Peninsula

For the one or two of you who might read this post, I will point out needlessly the changes I have enacted to the end of making this blog more aesthetically agreeable, motivated mainly by the inferiority complex I am developing (yes, another one) while reading other people's fabulous blogs. "Like which?", you ask (btw, I am currently debating with myself on how to accomplish this interrogatory-quotation-to-continuing statement punctuation. Let me know if you know how it's done). Well, if you would merely consult the handy new links list to the left of this bloggerific block of text, you can easily navigate to a few of my pals' ongoing virtual narration experiments. They include a SoCal-ler who plays a human man in real life and a tiny female gnome warlock in World of Warcraft, and is king of all randomness-seekers in the world of crazy videos and outrageous links, as well as a graduate lit student-slash-knitting machine who sports a hip hairdo and posts pictures of delicious food, and a roaming English teacher and marathon runner currently adventuring in Turkey for two years with her cat and husband. I'll let you sort out who's whom. Although, chances are, you are one of those three people.

I know I promised a post on my last apartment as a single person, but I must uphold my tradition of letting down my readers and talk about other things that are nearly completely unrelated.

First, I will state my intent to start each post with a list of everyday meaninglessness, just to make sure that, right off the bat, you get some stereotypical "these are the everyday things I did today that you care nothing about and have no relevance to anything whatsoever" blog action. Once we get that out of the way, I am free to write about anything at all without feeling that I've somehow deprived you of some hidden benefit you may reap from knowing about my mundane activities.

THEREFORE...

Today in my everyday I:

1. Watched a hyperactive Catalonian TV personality explain the different Catalan words used particularly by gypsies.
2. Walked in the rain under an umbrella.
3. Was cold.
4. Sat in traffic with my husband (heretofore referred to as A). Twice.
5. Talked about WoW with A.
6. Nursed a headache
7. Went to Costco to find a Nintendo Wii. Didn't.
8. Ate a hot dog to console ourselves.
9. Read about poetry.
10. Worked on my blog.
    

Wow, I am already reaching my blogging limit. And here I had all these grand ideas about what I was going to write today (see labels). Well, maybe I'll get to it later. We'll just have to see, won't we?

To be continued...

Forget comebacks... they're overrated

WARNING: This blog is beginning under a certain amount of extreme annoyance, brought on by the fact that I've slacked off on writing in it for so long that I forgot ALL of the information needed to sign in. Yes, I spent most of the last hour trying to think of any possible combination of words I could have had in mind in April. But, the important thing is, here I am. Back again. With no fanfare.

I won't lie... I am still scared to death of this blog, and it's ability to repel me endlessly from the writing escapades lying sadly dormant in the inner, dark, cobwebby corners of my non-academic brain matter. A certain friend I will only name as "Emerys" has shoved me back into the blogosphere thanks to his heartless promotion of my non-existent verbage, thus forcing me to writing something here. Anything. All I care about at this point is to register dates on the left side-bar. So don't expect any kind of quality standards--I'm way past that now.

Needless to say (or is it?), large volumes of happenings have, well, happened since I last wrote an entry in the Buenos Aires humidity. Much too much to even attempt to narrate it in any kind of coherent way, but here are some highlights:

• Accepted University X's offer of admission, and started a doctorate in Comparative Literature
• Moved to the sunshine state, sitting in a new, totally packed Toyota Prius with my now ex-military sweetheart
• Got engaged
• Started school
• Planned a wedding
• Met some people
• Played some World of Warcraft
  
• Wrote some papers

And that brings us to last Saturday, when I got married. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am now officially to be referred to as "Mrs." At least for the next 4 1/2 years or so ;) (because of the degree, not the husband). Although that bulleted list doesn't look like much, it has probably been one of the most eventful years of my entire life. Go 2007!

That's all I can handle for now (I know... pathetic), but I will return with... drumroll... turning in the keys to my last single apartment!

To be continued...