Obituary

RIP Jack Kemp (1935-2009).

Demon squid

From the Magnificat prayer booklet, May 2009, p. 40 :

SAINT BRIEUC (BRIOCUS)
Abbot (6th century)

Brieuc, of Cardiganshire, Wales, is said to have been born to pagan parents who permitted him to be raised as a Catholic after being admonished to do so in a dream. Following Brieuc's ordination to the priesthood in France, he returned home and converted his parents. Attracting a large following of disciples, Brieuc set sail again for France to found a religious community for his followers. Their ship is said to have been halted at one point by demonic interference in the form of a large sea monster (it may have been the deep sea creature known as the giant squid). Brieuc's prayers made the creature vanish. [...]

Britain's new poet laureate

... is a woman, Carol Ann Duffy.

(A modified hat tip to TSO, who told me there was a new laureate in the UK, but didn't say who.)

"thicket and thorp are merry"

Dr McNamara blogs Hopkins' May Magnificat.

Seven quick takes

7.

I did not watch either the Sox or the Celtics last night, just checked on the scores occasionally. Sox got hammered, were on the losing end of a 13-0 one-hitter. The Rays pitcher carried a perfect game into the seventh. Celtics and Bulls went into overtime, yet again, double overtime, triple overtime, before the Bulls won by one.

:: :: :: :: ::

6.

I should start the coffee.

:: :: :: :: ::

5.

Still haven't gotten the haircut. Don't know if I'll have the chance today. I begin to look like a Beatle circa 1969.

:: :: :: :: ::

4.

Mary Oliver has a whole lot of books. One is a hardcover featuring photographs by her late partner. One book has aphorisms and "short takes" -- sort of like this, but shorter! -- called "sand dabs." And she has a new collection of poetry called Evidence.

:: :: :: :: ::

3.

In the basement of the Harvard Book Store, I saw Arthur Rimbaud's collection of prose poems Illuminations priced at $2. I didn't get it, in large part because my Rimbaud phase -- adolescence -- is long since over and done with. But Rimbaud's book was one of the first three books of poems I ever bought; the other two were T S Eliot's Four Quartets and, at the recommendation of an English teacher, Seamus Heaney's Field Work. 1984 or 1985.

:: :: :: :: ::

2.

Morning prayer. Doesn't happen, when it happens, until I've been awake for at least an hour. I need a little caffeine for the concentration that the Magnificat booklet requires.

Just got the June issue in the mail. It features artwork by Salvador Dalí! Update, 8 am: No, it's not the June issue that has the Dalí; it's the Holy Week issue.

:: :: :: :: ::

1.

Exspectans exspectavi! Eagerly awaiting the results of Enchiridion's sonnet contest.

==============

This meme originates at Conversion Diary.

"intellectual lint"

The line cracked me up.

Happy birthday and

happy blogoversary to the Trousered Ape, who celebrates with heroic couplets!