chaucer chaucer chaucer

Here's fun - let's read hundreds and hundreds of pages of middle english!

Pour me a drink, little man 

Would this be weird? This would be weird.

I was posting an ad on craigslist to sell my bass guitar (the end of a beautiful, short lived era...) when I happened across this. Normally I skip over these things, but ...

INTELLIGENT EGG DONOR NEEDED - $10K+ for right match

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Loving San Francisco area couple seeks your help in having a child. If you academically gifted (SAT above 1200 - Verifiable SAT scores required), involved with regular extra curricular activities, are 21-29, naturally blond, blue/green eyes, 5’10” or less, small/medium build, healthy family medical history, with Irish, English or Scandinavian ancestry, and would like to help this couple, please call
Jacquelyne XXX Nurse Attorney, (XXX) XXX-XXXX. $10k plus expenses for the donor
who is a good fit!

It would be totally weird to finance a wedding by selling one's eggs. (Right? Right?!?) But how uncanny the description! The ads in the Berkeley rag are always looking for Asians!

Now a surrogate mother can get $25-30K - that's where the real money is.

Asian Bling

My hundreds of rabid readers have all asked me - what is Asian bling? Well, readers, it means that Matt's friend Jing offered to let me wear her wedding dress, which she designed herself and had made in Thailand out of the highest quality Thai silk, and had hand-beaded by the smallest of little brown fingers...


Indeed.

It's lovely, and it would have saved me, but it's not really my style... and I think my parents might object to the one-shoulder look. In a church. Just maybe.

PS Notice I'm standing next to a column.


 

exams

honestly, how's a girl supposed to plan a wedding when she is required by her program to read a hundred books by May? I mean, really.

My study buddy, Jamie, has apparently already started having panic attacks. Um, was I supposed to be reading over the break? I'm sorry, I was trying on crazy Asian-bling wedding dresses and finding Italian photographers. Should I have written that paper for my incomplete? I'm sorry, I was looking at stationery at the Crane store and, incidentally, playing Burnout Revenge on Matt's friend's Xbox. As Matt and the game can attest, I acheived a "Maniac" rating and my best scores come from "Traffic Attack," in which one attempts to use one's racecar as a battering ram against the regular "innocent" traffic flow in any number of CGI-rendered global cities.

More points if you can get them to crash into that oncoming semi.

What's that you say? The wedding is more than a year away, and exams are scheduled-ish for May? Pish posh. Details.

a teaser...

Where is this church?

 
 

Merry Christmas!

I'm in NY! This after a stint in Boston, again. I'm at the new york public library at an internet terminal. NY library is displaying its medieval mss right now. Is it a bad sign that I found it dull??

still on about the dresses

talking now to Anna -- check the comments, everyone -- so yes, I had been thinking pink would be fun (since I *like* pink) but that may not pan out.

And about the bodice bit - yes, seeing the pink dress standing up leads me to believe something a bit more, ah, slimming, might be called for. So, this caught my eye early in the running. It is supposedly a Melissa Sweet dress called Pearl, as spotted in the Fall 2005 Martha Stewart Weddings ("In Full Bloom" article). Catch - can't find it on the Melissa Sweet website, therefore don't know if its still around. And also tres expensive pour moi.


pretty! 

Merry Christmas everyone!!! I'm in Maine! Last night we went sledding.

Goat Couture II

OK I saved you the trouble and got a screen capture thing.

Yikes!

Goat Couture

I only wish I could get this picture, but it's in a flash video, so I can't. But, thanks to the sleuthing skills of my soon-to-be mother-in-law, Connie, I have come across a picture of the Drew Dress on a model who is standing up! Yes, with only the tiny bit of information contained on this blog, Connie gets us here:

http://www.christianlacroix.com/english/archives/pe05/cdsom.htm

You then must click on "Haute Couture" and then "Collection Haute Couture 2005" and then wait for the video to load and THEN you might have to hit "play" and then keep hitting "suivante" until you get to number 43.

Unfortunately, the dress looks hideous.

So... we're back to the proverbial drawing board. I think I'm going to sketch out what I *thought* the dress looked like based on the Drew picture, and work from there.

PS I'm in Boston!

A Disney World Wedding

Some of you may have heard that Matt and I attended a wedding at Disney World recently... well, it's true. And in fact, it was truly disney magical-riffic. So magical-riffic, in fact, that Matt wants me to order the Disney Wedding Guide just so we can explore the magical-riffic-ness a little more. I told him *he* could order it.

But there was one element of the wedding which I want to share with you today (the pictures of me with Mickey at the reception will come later, when Matt emails them to me). That is -- the Cinderella Princess Coach.

o lusty princess!
(this isn't Matt's friend; I just got it off the internet)

No kidding - you, YOU TOO can arrive at your ceremony in a Cinderella Pumpkin coach, pulled by 6 white Welsh ponies, one driver and 2 footmen in full regalia. You too can achieve the dream of millions of pre-adolescent girls and gay men all over the US and for one moment be a princess in the most magical place on earth!

Tickets for two to Orlando: $700

Cinderella Coach: $2,500

Being Princess for a day at the most Magical Place on Earth (TM): Friggin' expensive!!!

 

The Drew Barrymore Dress

OK Everyone... it's finally happened.

I've updated my blog. AND - I'll be posting wedding things here. I would appreciate everyone's feedback!

Soooooo... I love this dress. Love Love Love.

love.

The backstory - this dress appeared in the April 2005 Vogue with Drew Barrymore on the cover, featured in a "Beauty and the Beast" spread. So I, loving fairy tale dresses and also Drew Barrymore, bought it. And kept it. And thought, one day, just maybe one day, I might need a fluffy pink princess dress.

Well and now I'm engaged. :)

The sitch - I ran this picture by my professor-slash-dressmaker. She said A) that it was very easy to make - just a lot of piece work and finishing, but basically big rectangles, and that B) I would have to use very high quality fabric (silk organza with a satin core) in just the right colors, or else it would go from gorgeous to gaudy.

The problem - She estimated a cost of $2,000. (one for the fabric and the other for the dressmaker.)

Heart Broken. Thoughts?

AFFIANCED!!!

Saturday, in a fit of passion no doubt induced by the known aphrodisiacal qualities of the chef's tasting menu at a restaurant called Jardiniere, Mr. Matthew Sargent - longtime boyfriend and all around good guy - took a knee at my side and pulled out a three-stone diamond and platinum ring, which I allowed him to place on my finger. Blinded by the brilliance of what can only be described as "quite arock!", I was unable to finish my maple cream tart and Hungarian Tokay. I will no doubt be dazzled for weeks.

My bling!

 

What I ate for dinner

Two recent events have convinced me that there are big bucks to be had in chronicling my dinner habits on my blog. The first is Tucker Shaw's Everything I Ate: A Year in the Life of My Mouth, in which he documents every bite to pass his lips for 2004. A book deal from that! The second is the realization on Saturday, after saving a month's worth of receipts, that Matt and I spend the GNP of a small, developping country (or maybe Rhode Island) on - wait for it - eating out. I mean, we spend some poor graduate student's entire stipend at our local eateries. Now, I heart Cesar (and E&O, and A Cote...), but at some point we've got to go to the Berkeley Bowl and buy our own goddam jamon serrano - where half a pound costs THE SAME as the 3 dressed-up slices at Cesar.

Oh Cesar, when will you be affordable for graduate students?

So. On Saturday I decided to made Seared Ahi Tuna on a bed of sliced potatoes with a blackberry-cabernet sauce. But guess what? Ahi tuna is $22.90/lb! Dammit - shouldn't this be cheaper? Oh well, it was quite good.

On the menu for tonight: Pasta and Pesto with Potatoes and Green Beans (pg. 177 of Marcella's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking). I will keep my public posted!

my legacy

a couple of fun links -- first -- my baby is all grown up! *sniff*

and I just spent 3 hours of my life reading all the back entries... I didn't know you could BE a Restaurant Whore. (sure didn't make my trader joe's frozen quiche any better...)

Bad Blog Mommy

I am a bad blog mommy -- not having posted anything in almost an entire month. Incidentally, I am also a bad bike mommy and a bad tomato mommy. Good thing there aren't social workers for these types of things.

Classes have started, and after several discussions with my french professor about "mon niveau" of French, I am finally settled in an upper division undergraduate class -- fine by me, because I can switch to pass fail at the last minute - mwahahaha... (me = bad French mommy)

But I am doing very well at taking on hobbies -- I am enrolled in 2 classes at Berkeley's Jazz School -- beginning bass guitar and vocal technique, which should be SUPER AWESOME FUN. Incidentally, before any of these classes began, my reputation spread around the history department -- I was asked to be in a band last week! OOOH! Contest for band names!

And I went to Boston this past weekend for a We Heart Reggie Reunion -- it was great to see everyone who came.

And this week I am going to 3 funk concerts.

AAACK!!!

AACK! Last trips, London, homecomings, my mom meeting Matt's parents!!, birthdays, backpacking! Too much!

And it's dinnertime...

a play for Reggie

On Tuesday we performed a play written in honor of Reggie. I would post some of it up here but Eric stole my copy because I'd added in a few lines and he wanted to type it up 'as it was performed' but he never gave it back to me. However, I may be able to recall a bit of the first scene (since I wrote it) to pass on to you...

Scena 1: Habemus Papam!

Reginaldus - (sedet, scribit, bibit) semper eadem historia est ... aliquid de ecclesia... aliquid de Pontifice decessore... bi beh bo bugggghhhhh ...(bibit)

Iohannes - (pulsat portam) Reginalde! Reginalde!

R. - ... aliquid de parvulis ... aliquid de pace...

I. - Reginalde! Ecquid audis!

R. - Au! Adsum, quid tum!?

I. - Reginalde! Conclavus TE elegit PONTIFICEM!

R. - Quid?? Stercus tauri! Tu es plenus stercoris, Iohanne. Semper joculator es.

I. - Non, non Reginalde - re vera! Conclavus elegit - (R. grunnit)
nominavit (R. grunnit)
declaravit (R. grunnit)
creavit (R. grunnit)
fecit (R. grunnit)
TE ... PONTIFICEM! (R. grunnit magna voce)

R. - Jocus est? vel error? Conclavus non elegit alterum Reginaldum?

I. - Non, Reginalde. Tu es Pontifex et Papa Noster. (osculat annulam)

R. - Ego Pontifex. (bibit) Bene, bene. Si Deus vult, et conclavus, fiat.

I. - Quid nomen tibi imponam?

R. - Quid nomen mihi impono? (bibit) ... Pius non sum... Clemens esse nolo... Leo ero!

I. - (audientibus) Habemus Papam! Cuius nomen est Pontifex Leo Decimus Quartus! (Reginaldo) Veni, Papa Leo, ad cardinales adloquendos.

(If you can't read this, learn Latin!) Reggie absolutely loved it. When Eric (who was playing Reggie) said 'Leo ero!' Reggie started cheering... it was really glorious. Once Reggie becomes pope, he sends all the cardinals to the airport for not knowing Latin, makes his 'amicas' at termini into new cardinals, changes the wednesdsay general audiences into Latin sessions, and issues encyclicals with titles like 'Boni Estote Tacetoteque' (Be good and shut up), 'Stercore Abundans' (Full of shit), and 'Nisi Fallor' (unless I'm wrong...). In the last one he declares that Popes cannot speak infallibly, and the last scene is a reporter (me) reporting on all of this and marvelling whether the decree is spoken infallibly or not.

It was really great.

Scooter Ride!

My first scooter ride ever! Wheeeeeeee!! A pair of brothers on my program has rented a scooter for the month and I got to take a ride around the block (no, I was not “taken around the block” nor have I “been around the block a few times” thank you very much) but it was AWESOME! I totally want one now – it’s like an overpowered bike. Jessie said I could have a longer ride tomorrow. So FUN!

Meanwhile, this past week has been INSANE! I have literally gone out every night this week and then some – half the time having to get up really early the next day. It all started with going to buy Harry Potter at 1am before I had to meet the group at Termini at 7am. Anyway, on Tuesday I saw George Clinton in concert, which was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!! It was four hours straight of non-stop high-energy funkadelic soul music; the whole crowd was up on their feet and the musicians just kept switching out and kept the music going. I didn’t stop dancing for a minute. There were old original members there too – it was crazy! And the incredibly hot woman with the piercing electric violin – Bev kept saying over and over again that she wished she were a lesbian because she was in love – she and every member of the audience, male and female.

The next day I got up early and met with Eric, who was/is a member of St. Paul’s Within the Walls, the church at which my grandparents Nona and Papa were married. (funny, I guess it’s Nonna, Italian for grandmother…) Anyway, we went to the parish office and I got the book and looked them up – March 22, 1946 – and there they were, Edward C. Borrego and Mary A. Morhbacher. He: “widower” age 40. She: “maiden” age 22. How about that?

And Anna was here to visit! Yay!!! But now she’s gone (boo…). Yesterday we went to Ostia Antica and then to the beach – the beach was so great! The waves were fairly large and crashing around us, the water was cool and the sand and sun were hot. We jumped over and into the waves like a couple of giggly twelve-year-olds.

And just so you know that I’m still doing Latin – here’s the bit we read today, Minucius Felix concerning the beach at Ostia!

Ibi harenas extimas, velut sterneret ambulacro, perfundens lenis unda tendebat; et, ut semper mare etiam positis flatibus inquietum est, etsi non canis spumosisque fluctibus exibat ad terram, tamen crispis tortuosisque ibidem erroribus delectati perquam sumus, cum in ipso aequoris limine plantas tingueremus, quod vicissim nunc adpulsum nostris pedibus adluderet fluctus, nunc relabens ac vestigia retrahens in sese resorberet.

Meaning: Here the pouring soft wave stretched out to the final sands just as it was paving a walkway; and, as the sea was always unquiet (the winds having been put down), even if it did not go out to the land with white and foamy waves, nevertheless we were completely delighted in that same place by the curly and twisted meanderings of the sea, since we were dipping the soles of our feet in that threshold of the water, because in turn now the wave played out a pulse to our feet, then gliding and drawing back, it absorbed our footprints back into itself.

How perfect is that?? Anna, nos exilientes natantesque, delectatae perquam sumus canis spumosisque fluctibus.

And Matt is now in Indonesia, where he is going to buy me coffee and clove cigarettes. :)

crazy busy!

Oh my goodness, where do I begin?!?

Matt's visit, a trip to Formia to see Cicero's sea villa and the beach on which he was killed (as well as the possibly spurious 'Cicero's Tomb'), tons of class, a John Scopfield concert at Casa del Jazz, then a trip to locations connected to Thomas Aquinas (Rocca Secca and Fossanova), and this week Anna is here! and we went out to dinner last night, and tonight I'm going to see George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars, tomorrow I'm visiting the church my grandparents were married in and then that evening is a secret play meeting, thursday is a thievery corporation concert, friday is a party on the top of the school, and saturday we're going to see Aida. Whew!

So -- Thomas Aquinas was born in a castle on the top of Rocca Secca, which I climbed (Reggie, thankfully, did not) and we saw the tower and the room his biographer describes in which his sister was struck by lightning and killed. The sun was hot and the air smelled of wild mint and fennel, and the path was rough and rocky. The castle was totally ruined, with crumbling walls and precarious drops, which we clambered over like goats in flipflops. A fig tree was growing in Thomas's room.

A few transit changes and several hours later (after pizza and a bus in Monte Cassino, another famous TA locale, but we didn't stop there because it was totally destroyed by the Allies and is now rebuilt), we arrived at Fossanova, at the abbey at which Thomas Aquinas died. We came early, as Reggie waited for those who had decided to swim for a bit in Formia. Incidentally, Eric, who had missed the train in the morning, was waiting for the group asleep under a tree by the church. The abbey is Cistertian, at least it was, and the church is white stone and very austere, early gothic-late romanesque. There were not one but TWO weddings going on at the time. The chapel where Thomas died is in the back, through the cloister, the garden busy with flowers and vines, florists, photographers, and brides. We sat up in the small room and read the inscriptions, admired the relief, and read about Thomas and his brother REGINALDUS, who was by his side...

Back in the church we sang some of Thomas's hymns, which tunes flowed back to us for a full seven second echo...

After a filling dinner at the restaurant on the highway, we made our way back walking to the train station, steeled against the swerving traffic by singing (thanks Jezzie Joe!) and Eric's purchase of Honey Grappa.

(All this on two and a half hours of sleep for yours truly, who had stayed up the night before to purchase HARRY POTTER at 1am in Trastevere!!!!)

Palio fever!

Last weekend, Matt and I went to Siena to see il Palio, the horse race in which each neighborhood (contrada) races for glory, bragging rights, and a large banner (called il Palio). We met up with Ron Herzman, professor friend extraordinaire, who runs an NEH seminar on Dante in Siena all summer. Siena was out in full colors, with each contrada displaying flags, marching through the streets with drums and costumes -- of which I hope Matt will post some pictures here when he has a moment:


The Palio itself was dedicated to PIUS II! Whom Reggie can't stop talking about, incidentally. I hope to have some pictures up of the banner.


The contrada dinner (cena) was the night before. Since naturally we are all fans of ONDA (though our favorite restaurant is in the enemy contrada of Torre), we went to their dinner, which was AMAZING -- 1,100 people were served in the streets of ONDA alone (there are about 17 contrade). Bresaola with cheese started us off, followed by saffron risotto and then ravioli, then beef filet with chianti sauce and something that was like mashed potatoes, finally torte and prosecco. So good!

The next day we awoke to drums (drums in the deep) and watched the parade and went to stand in the square with 60,000 of our closest Sienese friends and wait for the race. The race itself is documented sporatically from the 13th century, and documented well from the 17th century on. It takes place in the main square, which is relatively small for 10 horses and sort of the shape of a croissant. If you spread your fingers of your right hand out, imagine that the Palazzo is at your wrist and that we are standing in the center, with the horses running clockwise around the edges of your fingers for three laps. Notice that your pinky is therefore a very dangerous acute angle of which we had a fabulous view, as we were standing where your thumb is and the square dips down in the center.

And what a race! It was brutal. First of all, it is extremely dangerous from just about every angle -- there are no stalls or lanes for the horses, the jockeys are sardinian mercenaries who have been paid off (by other contradas) to knock other jockeys off the horses, and they're riding according to tradition: bareback, no stirrups, and goading the horse with a lengthened dried calf's penis. There are enemy contradas who would give just about anything to make sure their opponent doesn't win. And this year, it was extra excruciating. First, there were 2 false starts (the canon goes off to tell everyone to come back) -- so everyone was extra pumped up and impatient. The Torre horse threw a shoe in the first false start and so it had to be put back on (to which Matt said, 'Too bad - someone paid good money to have it put on wrong in the first place'). Then, at that dangerous pinky corner, there were 3 crashes in the three laps of the race. Three jockeys went down, two of whom lost conciousness on the track and of those one was trampled and dragged about 10 feet. (The papers the next day said he was alive, with broken limbs and 'facial trauma'...) Bruco won - the catepillar.

Anyway, it was pretty awesome all in all. It can seem really brutal to tourists who come visit, because it's not meant for tourists at all -- but I think that's why I like it, because it's not 'put on' for show - they're playing for keeps.