Damn, I wish I'd written that!

[Ferawyn]

It's colder than before
The seasons took all they had come for
Now winter dances here
It seems so fitting, don't you think
To dress the ground in white, and gray
- Start of Beloved, by VNV Nation. My favourite not-quite lovesong. Very melancholic.

 

[TheEarl]

I've been gone for weeks, I aint slept in days,
I can't find myself in this self-made maze.
It's been so long since I've been fine,
I'm just trying to see the bottom of this bottle of wine.

Uncle Kracker


The Babel Fish is such a useful thing that many people have used it to disprove the existence of God.

"I refuse to provide proof that I exist," says God. "For proof denies faith and without faith I am nothing."

"Ah," says Man. "But you messed up with the Babel Fish, didn't you? Something that useful couldn't possibly have evolved by chance and therefore proves you exist. Therefore, by your own logic, you don't."

"Oh," says God. "I didn't think of that," and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.

"That was easy," says Man and for an encore, goes on to prove that black equals white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing.

Douglas Adams

The Earl

 

[logophile]

Also, all the Indigo Girls lyrics -

"I don't want what's best for you, cause where will I be when you've found it."

"I said 'Love will come to you,' hoping just because I say the words that they're true."

"You've been the hole in my sky, you're my shrinking water supply."

"The politician locks my eyes and says to me, 'There is no crisis here, there's no conspiracy."

"I remember one occasion- you were drinking,-when you asked me to the coast, but I was hell bent on agony back then, so I missed the boat."

"I know you kids can stand the rain / I know the kids are still upsetters / 'Cause rock is cool but the struggle is better."

"The music whispers you in urgency hold fast to that languageless connection"

And so many more!

 

[Recidiva]

Also, all the Indigo Girls lyrics -

And so many more!

"Oh you set up your place in my thoughts, moved in and made my thinking crowded."

"You come regular like seasons, shadowing my dreams."

"But not everything is better spoken about, not when I'm talking to you."

"When it was up to you, you left it up to me."

 

[Stella_Omega]

Oh yes, and probably my vote for the most beautiful stanza in English:

all by all and deep by deep
and more by more they dream their sleep
noone and anyone earth by april
wish by spirit and if by yes.

cummings is indeed a master. The stanza takes its meaning from the whole poem ("anyone lived in a pretty how town" - below).

Shanglan

Oh, Shanglan!
Now I know we're friends.
I'd forgotten about that poem, for a while!

Back in High school we had a ceramics studio that was my refuge. I would ditch everything and go there. The teacher let me stay all day, and the truant officer learned to send a kid to the ceramics room first- since I was more likely to be there than out on the streets.

I did a three-foot square tile installation, using the words "Up so floating many bells down" and- it's still there. My sum total in the way of civic service...




The words I wish I'd written?

My lips may promise but my heart is a whore"

 

[BlackShanglan]

Oh, Shanglan!
Now I know we're friends.
I'd forgotten about that poem, for a while!
The words I wish I'd written?

Always a delight to meet another person who loves that poem. It's really something apart from other things.

Shanglan

 

[BlackShanglan]

Of course, on the "wish I'd written it" scale, Dowson's "Cynara" the one that makes me say, "If I'd written that, I wouldn't mind if I died at 33 as well."

(the last stanza)

I cried for madder music and stronger wine
But when the feast is finished and the lamps expire,
Then falls thy shadow, Cynara - the night is thine!
And I am desolate and sick of an old passion
Yea, hungry for the lips of my desire;
I have been faithful to thee, Cynara, in my fashion.

 

[Samandiriel]

I wish I wrote the Bible, boy would things be different.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

The Moment the Two Worlds Meet

That's the moment I always think of--when the
slick, whole body comes out of me,
when they pull it out, not pull it but steady it
and it pushes forth, not catch it but keep their
hands under it as it pulses out,
they are the first to touch it,
and it shines, it glistens with the thick liquid on it.
That's the moment, when it's sliding, the limbs
compressed close to the body, the arms
bent like a crab's rosy legs, the
thighs closely packed plums in heavy syrup, the
legs folded like the white wings of a chicken--
that is the center of life, that moment when the
juiced bluish sphere of the baby is
sliding between the two worlds,
wet, like sex, it is sex,
it is my life opening back and back
as you'd strip the reed from the bud, not strip it but
watch it thrust so it peels itself and the
flower is there, severely folded, and
then it begins to open and dry
but by then the moment is over,
they wipe off the grease and wrap the child in a blanket and
hand it to you entirely in this world.

--sharon olds

 

[yui]

"This evening, I sat by an open window
and read till the light was gone and the book
was no more than a part of the darkness.
I could easily have switched on a lamp,
but I wanted to ride this day down into the night,
to sit alone and smooth the unreadable page
with the pale gray ghost of my hand."

 

[hugo_sam]

"This evening, I sat by an open window
and read till the light was gone and the book
was no more than a part of the darkness.
I could easily have switched on a lamp,
but I wanted to ride this day down into the night,
to sit alone and smooth the unreadable page
with the pale gray ghost of my hand."

That's beautiful, Yui

 

[minsue]

The sword of time will pierce our skins
It doesn't hurt when it begins
But as it works its way on in
The pain grows stronger, watch it grin
~ John Mandel, Suicide is Painless

 

[elsol]

Me has enseñado tu
tu has sido mi maestra para hacer sufrir
si alguna vez fui malo
lo aprendí de ti
no digas que no entiendes
como puedo ser así
si te estoy haciendo daño niña
lo aprendí de ti

Me has enseñado tu
maldigo mi inocencia
y te maldigo a ti
maldita la maestra y maldito el aprendiz
maldigo lo que amo
te lo debo, te lo debo, te lo debo a tí


Roughly translates too..

You taught me,
You were my teacher for causing pain
If I've been bad
I learned it from you
Don't tell me you don't understand
how I could be like this
if I'm hurting you, baby
I learned how from you.

You taught me,
I damn my innonence
and I damn you
damn the teacher and damn the student
I damn what i love
I owe it, I owe it, I owe it to you.

--As with many language things, some of the sentiment is lost but you can probably get the message.

Sincerely,
ElSol

 

[yui]

That's beautiful, Yui

Isn't it, though? I only wish I had written it.

 

[EndCredits]

Well nuts. It could take a while to think of just one thing.

In terms of cleverness: anything in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or anything in any episode of Arrested Development.

Otherwise:
Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy bed of roses,
Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies,
Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten,
In folly ripe, in reason rotten.

(The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd by Sir Walter Raleigh)

Hell, I could fill a thread with this stuff.

 

[logophile]

"Oh you set up your place in my thoughts, moved in and made my thinking crowded."

"You come regular like seasons, shadowing my dreams."

"But not everything is better spoken about, not when I'm talking to you."

"When it was up to you, you left it up to me."

I love them! I'll do a few more of my favorites...

"I could paint you in the dark / Cause I’ve studied you with hunger like a work of art"

"You’re a land of secrets, its only citizen / And though I paid my dues I was never allowed in"

"When we last talked we were lying on our backs / looking up at the sky through the ceiling / I used to lie like that alone out on the driveway / trying to read the greek upon the stars, the alphabet of feeling"

"You told me of crashing cars, older brothers, and late night bars / I told you what i feel most and you kept it like a ghost forever"

 

[Kassiana]

I used to think love was something that just found you.
Nothing you could pick, nothing you could choose.
Well, I found out it's not that hard.
Yes is just as good as no if it comes from the heart.
--Sweetwater, Tres Chicas

 

[Kassiana]

And one of my favorites:

I'm so cool, too bad I'm a loser
I'm so smart, too bad I can't get anything figured out
I'm so brave, too bad I'm a baby
I'm so fly, that's probably why it
Feels just like I'm falling for the first time

I'm so green, it's really amazing
I'm so clean, too bad I can't get all the dirt off of me.
I'm so sane, it's driving me crazy
It's so strange, I can't believe it
Feels just like I'm falling for the first time

Anyone perfect must be lying, anything easy has its cost
Anyone plain can be lovely, anyone loved can be lost
What if I lost my direction? What if I lost sense of time?
What if I nursed this infection? Maybe the worst is behind
It feels just like I'm falling for the first time
It feels just like I'm falling for the first time

I'm so chill, no wonder it's freezing
I'm so still, I just can't keep my fingers out of anything
I'm so thrilled to finally be failing
I'm so done, turn me over cause it
Feels just like I'm falling for the first time

Anything plain can be lovely, anything loved can be lost
Maybe I lost my direction, what if our love is the cost?
Anyone perfect must be lying, anything easy has its cost
Anyone plain can be lovely, anyone loved can be lost
What if I lost my direction? What if I lost sense of time?
What if I nursed this infection? Maybe the worst is behind
--Barenaked Ladies, Falling for the First Time

 

[Colleen Thomas]

It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly...who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at best, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

 

[scheherazade_79]

Most of the script from the Max Payne video game. This part especially:

Michelle lying on the bed. Bullet holes like rubies on her chest.
Our baby's cry cut short, the absence of it heavy in the air. That
gunshot, like an exclamation mark to end it all, the answer to all
my questions, had already rung out a long time ago, even its echoes
gone. The gun was fused to my hand from that moment on. That room
inside me everywhere I go.

Especially now as the city presses close to the windows of the car,
its monstous heartbeat under the tires. My squinted eyes in the
rearview mirror. My hands numb and held awkwardly behind my back.
Everything that came after that room is a hopelessmess, a chaotic
swirl, rising nausea that tastes like rust in my mouth.

I still can't decide if there's something slightly kitsch about it... but I love the combination of the simple style combined with the powerful images. In the game, these lines are said by a guy with depression, who has this wonderful deadpan voice. The game itself is good, but what really makes it is the script.

 

[impressive]

It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly...who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at best, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

Amen.

 

[TheEarl]

If I had been so lucky as to have a steady brother,
Who could talk to me as we are talking now to one another,
Who could give me good advice when he saw that I was erring,
Which is just the very thing upon to you I am conferring,
My existence would've made a rather interesting idyll,
And I might've lived and died a very decent individual,
This particularly rapid unintelligable patter,
Isn't generally hear and if it is it doesn't matter.

Gilbert and Sullivan - "My eyes are fully open..." from Ruddigore


ANGEL
I'm weak. I've never been anything
else. It's not the demon in me that
needs killing, Buffy. It's the man.

BUFFY
You're weak. Everybody is.
Everybody fails. Maybe this evil
power did bring you back, but if it
did it's because it needs you. And
that means you can hurt it. You have
the power to do real good, Angel, to
make amends. But if you die now,
then all you ever were was a monster.

He does not respond. Is turned from her. Her frustration is mounting.

BUFFY
Angel... the sun is coming out...

ANGEL
Just go.

BUFFY
I won't.

ANGEL
You think this is simple. You think
there's an answer. You can never
understand what I've done. Now go!

BUFFY
You're not staying here! I won't let
you --

She grabs him. He throws her off.

ANGEL
Leave!

She punches him in the face. He throws her violently away -- she falls to the ground, the back of her head hitting a rock.

He rushes to her, dropping to his knees and pulling her up to him. Frustration sweeps over him and he grabs her arms hard enough to hurt.

ANGEL
(bitterly)
Am I a thing worth saving? Am I a
righteous man? The world wants
me gone.

Weakness overcomes her, tears finally spilling out as she implores:

BUFFY
What about me? What about -
Angel I love you so much --
(sobbing)
-- and I've tried to make you go
away, I killed you and it didn't
help...

She pulls away from him and stands, anger surfacing through her tears.

BUFFY
And I hate it. I hate that it's so
hard... that you can hurt me so
much... I know everything you've
done because you did it to me. I
wish I wished you dead. But I don't.
I can't.

He is also crying, wanting so badly to take comfort in her words...

ANGEL
Buffy, please... just this once...
let me be strong.

BUFFY
Strong is fighting. It's hard and
it's painful and it's every day.
It's what we have to do and we can do
it together, but if you're too much
of a coward for that then burn. If I can't
convince you you have a place in the
world, then I don't know what will.
So die. But don't expect me to
watch, and don't expect me to mourn
for you, 'cause, I don't have... I...

They've started about halfway through her speech. Light, just a few flakes at first, but by the time she stops they are all around. She looks about her. So does Angel. They look up at the sky, almost unable to comprehend the fact that it's snowing.

Slowly, they turn to look out on the town. The camera moves past them and arms up toward the vista. A thick and silent snow falls over the whole of Sunnydale.

Amends

The Earl

 

[Recidiva]

They've started about halfway through her speech. Light, just a few flakes at first, but by the time she stops they are all around. She looks about her. So does Angel. They look up at the sky, almost unable to comprehend the fact that it's snowing.

Slowly, they turn to look out on the town. The camera moves past them and arms up toward the vista. A thick and silent snow falls over the whole of Sunnydale.[/i]

Amends

The Earl

That was one of my favorites...until my daughter said "Why isn't he dead, where's the sun" and we had to throw things at her and say "IT'S SNOWING STUPID"

My favorite moment, though, was "It hurts, doesn't it"

Pull back and see the crucifix seared into his neck.

All time favorite Buffy Moment.

Okay, there's lots of naked bits of Spike, but that's a different kind of poetry.

 

[Guest]

And one of my favorites:

--Barenaked Ladies, Falling for the First Time

good reason. BNL ROCKS!

cant help it but im still in love with Gordon. However, they did a wonderful xmas cd last year which had the dreidle song and many others that made me LOL. brilliant group of guys.

 

[Recidiva]

good reason. BNL ROCKS!

cant help it but im still in love with Gordon. However, they did a wonderful xmas cd last year which had the dreidle song and many others that made me LOL. brilliant group of guys.

We put their music in for car trips all the time, two days ago in fact. It is a requirement of my children to know everything from Barenaked Ladies and sing along while I'm giggling at words I've heard thousands of times but they still crack me up or make me cry.

Nature provides for us a safety net
Whatever we do, we can never forget

I live with it every day
Even though we moved away
Our yesterdays are on a loop;
A marathon of heartbreaking moments
I live with it every day
For every step I have to pay
The only thing that they can't take:
The guild that spirals in my wake

Everyone falls through time and the funnel it makes
But I'm staying here inside my biggest mistake

The love I put away
Like games that children play
The hearts you choose to break
Like cars dumped in the lake
The laugh lines on your face
The life I won't embrace
The cold house I won't leave
The guests I won't receive"

And then of course...

What does it mean to wake out of a dream and be wearing someone else's shorts? I've been around the block, at least on my bike, I was prepared for the news, but not for a full scale war.