Idag, igjen: På dansk og ....

... på romantisk. For de som måtte mene at hvalper i underbuksen ikke gir et tilstrekkelig bilde på alle sider ved menneskelig kjærlighet. Og for de av oss som liker dansk.

Sommernatt

Tilsidst blev vi så stille,
at øjeblikket stod,
som skåret ud af natten,
vi læned os imod.

.

Et fyrtårns fine pensel
henover havet gled,
og milned fjerne bølgers
havøde ensomhed.

.

Vor kærlighed lå åben
og nyfødt, som et svar
på blæstens sagte kalden,
der toned øm og klar –

.

men vi var dødelige,
og øjeblikket svandt.
Nu ligger det og lyser
som sten i strandens kant.

Tove Ditlevsen (Kvindesind, 1955)


Takk til Wiking i Underskog for referansen. Om en viking greier å se forbi sentimentaliteten her ... så gjør jeg det også.

Also today: Ode to No Oomph

Adrian Mitchell also wrote this. (But read below post first.) Presumably when he was a bit older.

A Dog Called Elderly

And now I have a dog called Elderly
And all he ever wants to do
Is now and then be let out for a piss
But spend the rest of his lifetime
Sleeping on my lap in front of the fire

Today: Pubescent Poems

I read this charming poem yesterday, by Adrian Mitchell. Puppies...

A Puppy Called Puberty

It was like keeping a puppy in your underpants
A secret puppy you weren't allowed to show to anyone
Not even your best friend or your worst enemy

You wanted to pat him stroke him cuddle him
All the time but you weren't supposed to touch him

He only slept for five minutes at a time
Then he'd suddenly perk up his head
In the middle of school medical inspection
And always on bus rides

So you had to climb down from the upper deck
All bent double to smuggle the puppy off the bus
Without the buxom conductress spotting
Your wicked and ticketless stowaway.

Jumping up, wet-nosed, eagerly wagging -
He only stopped being a nuisance
When you were alone together
Pretending to be doing your homework
But really gazing at each other
Through hot and hazy daydreams

Of those beautiful schoolgirls on the bus
With kittens bouncing in their sweaters.

- Adrian Mitchell

Bloggingheads

Ever find yourself with too little to do, and an ISDN-connection? Want to hear two sharp-witted, deadpan and generally grumpy politicos argue about Borat, Pelosi, Iraq, evolutionary psychology, their own shortening lives, or see them award Newt Gingrich their Most Transparent Primate Award? I do.

I find this, and more, at bloggingheads.tv. The website is run by Mickey Kaus, one of the earliest political bloggers, and Robert Wright, the author of one popular book on evolutionary psychology, various well-regarded political articles, and a book to explain, to those of us who still haven't got it, the direction of human history. The website has been written up by the folks at the New York Times.

In Norway

OK -- Now I'm about here instead. (Soon: my plane leaves tomorrow.) Like Bimbo Boy, or the designer of this mug, I too am starting to like the place. Can't we all endure a sheep's head for dinner -- traditional Norwegian christmas dish -- for ... this?

In Oxford

In this place: Oxford, a bit to the left of this building, the Radcliffe Camera, part of the Bodleian. All Souls to the right, Oxford's only all-fellows college. My dear friend Alderik Blom, of Endlicher Glossary fame, also tells me that its fellows enjoy their own personal butlers, are far too self-satisfied (the butlers too!), and constitute a kind of ivory-tower-within-
an-ivory-tower. Other observations: Englishmen don't know whether to pass you on the right or the left, which means you tend to walk into them. On the positive side: There's a nightlife! Restaurants! Gorgeous streets which still don't feel like the aisle of a museum! Some cafes have free internet connection! In other words, it's Cambridge, but with amenities. Inspector Morse -- is there a free room in your house?

Cod Liver Oil -- Finally Exposed?

I just started taking cod liver oil again. This is the vilest substance known to man, and now British researchers claim Omega-3 has absolutely no health benefits. So no more cod liver oil. Hooray?

Veven & Veggen

Politikk handler om å prioritere mellom alternativer -- såpass har jeg fått med meg. Men politikere prioriterer mellom ti tusen alternativer. Skal gamlehjemmet på Røa få bevilgninger til neste år? Skal gamlehjemmet prioriteres foran nye pulter på skolen? Foran høyere lærerlønninger? Foran skatteinsentiver til det lokale næringslivet som kan forstørre kaka som politikerene deler ut? Dette er små, praktiske spørsmål, og folk definere seg politisk ut ifra de store, ideologiske tenkemåtene de bruker for å svare på alle disse spørsmålene.

Så hva er disse store, ideologiske alternativene? Det tradisjonelle svaret er venstre og høyre. Det ga meg alltid lyst til å definere meg på venstresida. I fjor kom Thomas Friedman med et annet svar: "web party" og "wall party". Veven og veggen. Litt flåsete: de som forsøker å få ting i gang og de som forsøker å stoppe de. De som forsøker å bringe folk sammen og de som forsøker å splitte de, gjennom å si Nei til EU, nei til globalisering, og gudene vet hva annet. Vel, den analysen gir meg iallfall mer smaken på det Klassekampen kaller "nyliberalisme" enn noe annet. Og stort sett bare gjennom en omformulering av alternativene, slik at frihet og solidaritet plutselig spiller på samme lag. Jeg mener, er du for frihet og solidaritet? Eller ikke?

Tip of the Day

Think I am a thrasonical bore with an inflated vocabulary & sense of myself? Want to tell me so in a word I'm guaranteed not to understand? Sign up for Mirriam-Webster's Word of the Day here.

Carl Joachim Hambro

Mannen til venstre er, meg bekjent, min eneste navnebror: Carl Joackim Hambro. Norges fremste parlamentariker, mest distingverte dobbelthake, og denne bloggens skytshelgen. Ave CJ.

Baluba!

Welcome to Baluba, a blog I've just set up. One day, I discovered I was never in the same city as any of my friends. So I've created Cyber-Carl, Internet-Joakim, with an address in the real city that never sleeps. Internet City.