The Week That Was...

I've had a wild and zany few days away from my (quickly becoming) safe-haven blogspot, so I'll just jot down some errant thoughts to recap, lest I forget...err, frogget!

I went with P.C. (see The Elderly Files) and a gal named Kim on Friday to see Romeo et Juliette. Twas a marvelous experience, one I'd love to duplicate so I can once again be mesmerized by the dazzling display of matchless romantic love...ahh, the French language is a perfect vehicle for passionate expressions! (Now, if I could just learn more than Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?) The zaniest moment of the night was when I asked P.C. how to score an opera babe (I actually said that to a nonagenarian!). He said, as only he can, something like this: "Well, look at what's different between you and me. I'm wearing a tuxedo, and I have the look of one going to the opera. You, on the other hand, look as though you might be off to a basketball game (I was wearing dress slacks, a rather dapper Tommy Hilfiger multi-colored shirt and a sport coat, thank you very much!). The secret is in dressing for success." Well, I'll have to remember that one. I did find, curiously enough, that Kim was born on precisely the same DAY I was back in '75...neat.

Over the weekend I did finish (finally) Volume 32 of The Harvard Classics. The book closes with Immanuel Kant's Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals. Kant was, curiously enough once again, born on my birthdate, albeit 251 years prior! I must admit I'd have to delve deeper to fully appreciate his work, seeing that at times I can be quite the superficial reader. I did read several items of interest to me, one of which I'll leave for you to ponder:

We cannot therefore act on any definite principles

to secure happiness, but only on empirical counsels,

ex. gr., of regimen, frugality, courtesy, reserve, &c.,

which experience teaches do, on the average, most

promote well-being.
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After Kant was the small work by Giuseppe Mazzini on Byron and Goethe. For me this was a very pleasant read, and not a few of his lines are noteworthy. For sake of brevity, though, I'll offer a few without comment:

Human judgment, like Luther's drunken peasant,

when saved from falling on one side, too

often topples over on the other.

One very much overrated critic writes that

"Byron makes man after his own image,

and woman after his own heart: the one

is a capricious tyrant, the other a

yielding slave.

...love is no more, desire

has taken its place...

It seems as if they were doomed to drag the

broken links of the chain they have burst

asunder, riveted to their feet.

They fall unwept, like a withered leaf

into the stream of time.

Goethe's altar is spread with the choicest

flowers, the most exquisite perfumes, teh

first-fruits of nature: but the Priest is wanting.

I then moved on to Volume 33, Voyages And Travels: Ancient And Modern. The first segment is by Herodotus and is his An Account of Egypt. I'll just say this, its interesting to see how much sex played a role in the Egypt he wrote about. Let's just say it would seem to rival, or outstrip even our day!

Saturday night I ventured out to another good ol' time at the Downtown Tavern for a bit o' fun with the Junk boys. The costume party was wild and crazy (nothing new for DT) and the band was exceptional, as always. For the record I went as a doctor, fully decked out in scrubs and a lab coat...but no patients were willing to have a diagnosis or exam! What was nuts was when I went into Wal-mart just prior to going to the club. It's a damn shame to watch how differently people treat you when they think you're an M.D.! I swear half the people in the place didn't even realize it was so close to Halloween, therefore they had no clue it was just a get-up...and I played along. Seriously, you should try it sometime. (I think next time I'll go as drag-queen...that'd liven 'em up in my town, for sure!).

Yesterday and today has been spent in work, work, work...30 hours between the two, so I must say I'm exhausted and a bit brain-warped. At the office we're just about ready to occupy our gargantuan new building, so a lot of preparation is going into that. We've been plugging away in anticipation of this week for a loooooong time, and now that it's here, it all seems surreal. I hate to have to move into the snazzy new digs, but hey, it's a tough job, but somefroggy's gotta do it!