"A Problem Page For All!"

I'll have to put Sarah Brightman on my get-around-to-getting-one-of-her-CDs list. "Eden" sounds good!

England!

O, to be in England
Now that April's there,
And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwoodsheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
In England -- now!

And after April, when May follows,
And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows!
Hark, where my blossom'd pear-tree in the hedge
Leans to the field and scatters on the clover
Blossoms and dewdrops -- at the bent spray's edge --
That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,
Lest you should think he never could recapture
The first fine careless rapture!
And though the fields look rough with hoary dew,
All will be gay when noontide wakes anew
The buttercups, the little children's dower
-- Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower!

(Rather underrated these days, Browning.)

Esther is leaving for Stratford on Thursday, and I'm green green green with envy. Rachel and Esther and I were going to get together for the afternoon today, but Isaac (Esther's brother) went and traded in their shared car for one that he now owns, so she didn't have any wheels to get to our mini reunion. Rachel and I briefly considered driving all the way up to her house, but that's two hours and our week is crazy busy. I'm really mad at Esther's family. What right do they have to deny Esther and us the fun of visiting? Couldn't somebody have loaned her a freaking car?!

Yeah, "White America." (Have you been reading my web site? Hmmmmm?) I don't remember more than a line or two of the lyrics offhand, but I'll Google it and see what I can find. Thank you for your enthusiasm! I wish you could see us dance, too! This piece is so much fun! It's rather autobiographical, portraying how society tries to force girly-girls into ballet and "tomboys" into punk music; whereas, with Rachel and me, Rachel (the tough girl) has always been the one with an interest in ballet, and I've always been the one who's into street dancing, punk, etc. Rachel's getting into that stuff (and I do love ballet), so it's not that exact a portrayal -- but one must allow oneself artistic liberties.

Oooh! Ooh! Oooh! A pwesent, fow meeeeeee? You make my happy!

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