Fragmentica
Jan. 11th, 2005 12:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smokingbootToday I feel like Picasso drew me.
And the rest of this is entirely pointless, so I'll spare everyone and use the cut.
I shouldn't be here. I should be backpacking in Spain or wandering the Amazon; strange how things change. The subject of Venice re-emerges - I am reading A History of Venice by John Julius Norwich, a magnificent book, beautifully written and fueled by an abiding love for the city;
('For you live like sea-birds, with your homes dispersed, like the Cyclades, across the surface of the water. The solidity of the earth on which they rest is secured only by osier and wattle; yet you do not hesitate to oppose so frail a bulwark to the wildness of the sea.' - Praetorian Prefect Cassiodorus 523 a.d)
It occurs to me that my earlier trips have just skimmed the surface, and though it was wonderful fun, I have barely begun to understand the city. But then understanding it might get in the way. Wandering by the canals at night, imagining the doings behind palazzo walls, watching the people go by. What more do I need? And yet...
I like unknown lands, views I have never seen before. Some part of my head's playground has changed. I do not know the Serenissima well, but I know her well enough to leave for a while, doubtless to return to her later, grateful and still enthralled. I need kingdoms by the sea and jungles, cities I have never known, coral reefs and deserts. Before I have seen them they are stories in my head. Doubtless once I have travelled the highways of Yucatan and the wilds of Argentina they will become too solid in themselves for me to impose my dreams upon. I will explore the landscape, delighted to find it real, and then having written it out of my system, move on to something else.
I want Egypt again. Scotland. Australia. Florence, Vienna. The moon. It's all good.
What's not good are doctor's appointments, aching backs, mole autopsies that seem to take forever, humdrum house-type stuff and customers who want to hear what they want to hear.
The good news is that tonight I'll be taking a trip to the Underdark. That will satisfy my imagination. And today I need to get off my arse and move stuff around. That'll rouse my senses and get me going.
Yeah right.
And the rest of this is entirely pointless, so I'll spare everyone and use the cut.
I shouldn't be here. I should be backpacking in Spain or wandering the Amazon; strange how things change. The subject of Venice re-emerges - I am reading A History of Venice by John Julius Norwich, a magnificent book, beautifully written and fueled by an abiding love for the city;
('For you live like sea-birds, with your homes dispersed, like the Cyclades, across the surface of the water. The solidity of the earth on which they rest is secured only by osier and wattle; yet you do not hesitate to oppose so frail a bulwark to the wildness of the sea.' - Praetorian Prefect Cassiodorus 523 a.d)
It occurs to me that my earlier trips have just skimmed the surface, and though it was wonderful fun, I have barely begun to understand the city. But then understanding it might get in the way. Wandering by the canals at night, imagining the doings behind palazzo walls, watching the people go by. What more do I need? And yet...
I like unknown lands, views I have never seen before. Some part of my head's playground has changed. I do not know the Serenissima well, but I know her well enough to leave for a while, doubtless to return to her later, grateful and still enthralled. I need kingdoms by the sea and jungles, cities I have never known, coral reefs and deserts. Before I have seen them they are stories in my head. Doubtless once I have travelled the highways of Yucatan and the wilds of Argentina they will become too solid in themselves for me to impose my dreams upon. I will explore the landscape, delighted to find it real, and then having written it out of my system, move on to something else.
I want Egypt again. Scotland. Australia. Florence, Vienna. The moon. It's all good.
What's not good are doctor's appointments, aching backs, mole autopsies that seem to take forever, humdrum house-type stuff and customers who want to hear what they want to hear.
The good news is that tonight I'll be taking a trip to the Underdark. That will satisfy my imagination. And today I need to get off my arse and move stuff around. That'll rouse my senses and get me going.
Yeah right.
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no subject
Date: 2005-01-11 01:41 pm (UTC)*smiles*
Date: 2005-01-11 01:57 pm (UTC)Re: *smiles*
Date: 2005-01-11 04:38 pm (UTC)