Best laid plans

Did you realise I live in the most gorgeous fucking city in the world? To tell the truth, even I had forgotten; it's easy when one day after another brings nothing but thunderclouds or muggy air. Today, however, the high is supposed to be around 61 (16 C), the humidity is moderate (~70%), and there's only a few wisps of clouds in the sky. The sun is warm and the breeze refreshing; everything that can be in leaf is and many of them are blooming--late irises cuddling up next to early roses, columbine under crabapples. I slept well and feel great, I got my laundry and all my errands done last night. Now only nine hours of work time separates me from a reunion with my man and the kickoff to Bear Pride weekend.

Kurz gefasst, Life is good.

I've cleaned the pipes a couple times so, hopefully, I won't simply leap all over him when he walks through the door. He's going to be exhausted and will need plenty of rest if we're going to stake out a table for the afternoon at Buck's tomorrow. Probably dinner in Boystown that evening. Sunday day, I'm not sure, but I want to hit the dance at Metro that night--then Sidetrack for sure on Monday.

A day of unnecessary posting

That's what today will be. Suck it up.

Thanks to the frightening link supplied by chastmastr in aadroma's journal, my theme song for the day is a Finnish polka cover of Midnight Oil's "Beds are burning". Something tells me, though, the translation might be a little loose. At least, I don't remember the word Jägermeister appearing in the original song, but who can be sure what with the funny way those Antipodeans talk?

The t-shirt I'm wearing today is so tight it makes my back hurt. On the plus side, though, everyone can see my nipples!

Why everyone should read the Kalevala

Selection from a bear-hunter's charm in Runo 46 (English translation by J.M. Crawford)

"Mighty Bear*, much beloved,
Honey-eater of the mountains,
Settle on the rocks in slumber,
On the turf and in thy caverns;
Let the aspen wave above thee,
Let the merry birch-tree rustle
O'er thy head for thy protection.
Rest in peace, thou much-loved Bear,
Turn about within thy thickets,
Like the partridge at her brooding,
In the spring-time like the wild-goose."

*In the original translation, otso, a Karelian dialect word for "bear" (standard Finnish karhu) is left untranslated.

The Return of the Great White One

Damn, it's lovely when things go according to plan!

At 4:40, I fairly sailed out of work.
At 5:25, I strolled into Blue Hydrangea to pick up the flowers: five stems of snowy white dendrobiums with two branches of eucalyptus leaves.
At 5:35, I let myself into monshu's apartment. I immediately turned on the AC (he's got immense west-facing windows which, in best 50's architectual style, barely open) and then set about trimming the stems and arranging them in a vase.
At 5:45, I headed over to the convenient next door. On the way, I ran into monshu's NAH (Neighbour Across the Hall) who I haven't seen since Passport Day. He invited us out to dinner to meet his new boyfriend.
At 6:05, I returned with milk (for morning coffee), crumpets, soda, ice cream (black walnut! who knew?), and cheese.
At 6:10, I rang up Calo and order a large stuffed special. Then I sliced the cheese and set it out on a plate with crackers.
At 6:15, monshu arrived.

Everything else fell into place after that.

That's not to say that everything was perfect. The AC was underperforming, so monshu finally broke down and cracked the windows. He filled me on what he couldn't tell me over the phone and, if anything, his family was worse than anticipated. I'll say this for them: They certainly make me appreciate mine all the more. I mean, my older brother might be critically undersocialised, but even he has some idea what proper behaviour looks like and does his best to practice it if reminded to do so. So, no, no one did squat for his birthday.

But he vented and we moved on. We made plans for the weekend. We took stabs at examing our friends' relatonships. We relearned how to pray the rosary. We got sticky. We ate the ice cream. We snuggled. And, yes, at about 10:30, he got up from bed and devoured the leftover crackers and cheese--which I had purposely left out on the dinner table.