Mahjong

An old monk remembering his novice days: "And she kissed me with the kisses of her mouth, and her loves were more delicious than wine and her ointments had a goodly fragrance, and her neck was beautiful among pearls and her cheek among earrings, behold thou art fair, my beloved, behold thou art fair; thine eyes are as doves (I said), and let me see thy face, let me hear thy voice, for thy voice is harmonious and thy face enchanting, thou has ravaged my heart, o sister, thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck, thy lips drop as the honeycomb, honey and milk are under thy tongue, the smell of thy breath is of apples, thy two breasts are clusters of grapes, thy palate a head wine that goes straight to my love and flows over my lips and teeth....  A fountain sealed, spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, myrrh and aloes, I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey, I have drunk my wine with my milk.  Who was she, who was she who rose like the dawn, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, terrible as an army with banners?"--The Name of the Rose

Terry-Thomas (about to confront Stuart Whitman): "Are you sure that he's smaller than me?"--Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines

I've started playing Mahjong online, at the suggestion of a friend. (They say that Chinese people are the best players because they watch their opponents' moves!) I started playing the simple Hong Kong version, but I learned it to the point where I was winning every game.  So now I'm doing it by the more challenging international rules, and I'm winning about one game in four.

We have most of the garden planted.  Last week we went to Fiesta Farms and found most of what we were looking for. (Couldn't find cauliflower.) I couldn't find our hoe so Moira went out and bought another.  Friday I noticed a few snowflakes!

I'm reading some old Classics Illustrated comics I bought last year but didn't get around to reading before.  I've read Don Quixote and Food of the Gods, and Journey to the Center of the Earth is next.

I ran out of Cipralex last week and had to go to the drugstore and get some more. (That night I couldn't find the new pills, only to find out that I'd left them in the fridge--ah, the ludicrousness of getting old!) Before getting around to replenishment, I went without it for a few days and my dreams got vivid again.  One night I was dreaming about visiting England, as I often do.  Then I dreamed about meeting Giuseppe Macina, who ten years ago was directing the choir I was in.  In this dream he told me that I'd been missing rehearsals (which I rarely did), and in the logic of the dream world I decided this was because of my visiting England!  Then I woke up and remembered this wasn't real...

Friday night my historical movie watch party showed Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, with the cad's cad Terry-Thomas! (I was seeing it for the second or third time). The following night I saw the sequel Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies (a.k.a. Monte Carlo or Bust!), which was less successful but did also have Terry-Thomas, one of those actors who can make any movie worth seeing.  I originally saw it (in a cinema!) fifty years ago, but the only parts I remembered were the Italian men watching the French women bathing and Terry-Thomas in the inn rearranging everyone's shoes outside their doors.

The Name of the Rose is even better on second reading!