Monday, May 01, 2006

• Reading:  Harry Potter and Jew Girl (not the same title - that would be a terrifying hybrid)

  Wish Mike a happy birthday!  More blog to come later.

  Happy Beltane, also, to pagans and Christians, all!

  Beltane was originally a Gaelic "pagan" holiday named after the month of May itself.  The word also signifies "fire" in old Scottish and Irish languages.  Since I'm a pseudo-Christian and don't know much about paganism or my Irish roots, I can't say that I know an awful lot about it, but I'll try some of the basics and let you fill in the rest.  The day falls between the vernal equinox and the summer solstice and is marked by bonfires, in celebration and hope for a good crop and harvest.  The fires also have an element of purification about them (and the Christians readily stole the idea).  Germanic cultures have a similar and intertwined holiday called May Day, which calls for more frolicking and dancing around a Maypole.  Basically, the holiday is the beginning of summer.  Some Wiccans and other "pagans" celebrate fertility rituals and the Lord and Lady of the festival have a ceremonial coupling to signify the fertility, of plant and animal, that is so vital to the culture's survival.  Other cultures have similar festivals corresponding to this part of the year.  Cinqo de Mayo is coming up!  (And Daytonites are going nuts with their kwe-suh-dih-luz and their kuh-ro-nuhs.)  I'm sorry if I butchered the holiday.  It's a time for frolicking and for awe and wonder of the natural world.  Enjoy it in whatever way you see fit.

  I had a dream last night featuring Mr. Birthday Boy above.  I was walking around this apartment complex in the springtime.  It wasn't really a complex, actually, just a group of old houses whose compartments had been converted into individual apartments.  Most of them had basement components and a few upstairs places.  I lived upstairs, next door to this guy Hondo (a real-life middle-aged rockabilly stoner whose apartment was above mine in Cleveland's Little Italy).  I was walking around the basement part of my place and the place next door trying to figure out where Mike lived.  I really didn't know why, but I guess my subconscious recognized that it was his birthday today.  I came across several women, probably in their 40s and 50s.  They all had cozy, artsy places and seemed to know one another.  Their places blended seamlessly, with corridors and passageways between them but no doors.  It was vaguely reminiscent of the setup of dreams I had years ago (the way my dreams have recurring aspects over a span of 20 years is kind of cool.  There are dreams I still remember vividly from when I was four years old, and bits of places I created in my eight-year old mind sometimes popped up at ages 16 and 17).  A couple of the women in the apartments looked at me funnily as I peeked through their non-existent doors.  They didn't say anything, though.  I guess I didn't look threatening, just curious.  I finally walked upstairs to go to my place and Hondo's door was open.  He looked unkempt and very very stoned, with a lascivious grin on his face (ah yes, I know this grin well).  I asked him if he knew Mike and where he lived.  He said he did, but I probably didn't want to visit because of Joe.  I sort of agreed in an "a-ha" moment and went on my way to my apartment.  Then I woke up. 

  P.S.  Why are Lascivious, Lecherous, and Salacious such incredibly fun and delicious words? 

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