I helped my youngest daughter finish her Valentine's box last night, and this morning I'm still finding bits of glitter on my face, my hands, my hair, my goatee. It won't wash off. I wear it like a badge of honor, a victory flag from some conquering army. I am happily vanquished.
Happy Valentine's Day.
I'll leave you with a quote about love (and regret, and transcendence), from the remarkable Bridge of Sighs, by Richard Russo, which I (finally) finished last night.
"...There is, despite our wildest imaginings, only one life. The ghostly others, no matter how real they seem, no matter how badly we need them, are phantoms. The one life we're left with is sufficient to fill and refill our imperfect hearts with joy, and then to shatter them. And it never, ever lets up.
Blame love."
8 comments:
Being a papa to a little girl is certainly an interesting trip, isn't it? Mine is 13 now and going on 35 but I still miss the days of going to work covered in glitter or smelling like nail polish and perfume.
Ooh Bridge of Sighs. I was just putting that in my To Buy list for books. I'm in the middle of three or so now, but when those are done. Yeah.
Don't worry, women love a man in glitter.
Makes me feel young to read this sort of thing. I'll have to look into Bridge, but mainly I wanted to comment on your great turns of phrase. "Happily vanquished." Very good.
Yes, Irr, it is an interesting trip. I'm trying to commit as much as possible to memory, so that when they turn into sullen, petulent teenagers, I'll have something pleasant to think about.
Maggie, I used to be able to read several books at once too, but these days I'm a one-book-at-a-time kinda guy. Gettin old, conserving my focus. Enjoy American Gods. Irr is right, Coraline is deliciously creepy too. I was less impressed by the Sandman books, but I don't connect with graphic novels as much as I do the old-fashioned words-only kind.
Thanks Eric. I've been enjoying your pix and descriptions. Great part of the country. You need to visit Canyonlands. Puts Monument Valley to shame.
I think we had to skip Canyonlands and went to Arches, but I don't believe you. Monument Valley beat out the Grand Canyon for me.
Amen.
Now I have to go get the book.
If daughters and glitter were involved, then I know you had a Happy Valentines. Good!
Scarlett & Viaggiatore (the lion)
Glitter is a force of nature.
THanks for the wonderful quote. I will copy it down on a slip of paper and stash it somewhere where it will know where to find me when I need it for reflection. (If Nancy Dancehall can do it, so can I -- maybe... though she does kind of have that magical thing going on, huh...)
Erik, you gotta trust me on this. I know Monument Valley has that iconic Glen Ford western tableau, but Canyonlands is like another planet. So strange it's hard to describe. So I won't. Just trust me and go.
It was a good one, Scarlett. Glad yours was too.
BB, when they break matter down to its smallest irreducible unit, they will not find quarks and gluons, but tiny bits of glitter. And yes, it is a wonderful quote. "...is sufficient to fill and refill our imperfect hearts with joy." Wow.
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