I played my Martin acoustic guitar during song practice for the last of a four session stretch.
I weighed 87.5 kilos before breakfast, which is the heaviest I’ve been in the morning since March 2.
I worked on research for my final essay.
I weighed 87.5 kilos before lunch.
I took a siesta and woke up at 15:20 to find it dark and yellowish outside. The eclipse was happening. It was pretty cloudy but the sun was showing through a bit as a crescent. I took a few pictures from my window without looking right at it.
I took a bike ride and took a few more shots but the Moon was only a bit over the sun by that time. I rode downtown and on the way back I stopped at Freshco where I bought five bags of grapes. The cashier Jeremy must have done a price match for me because otherwise five bags wouldn’t have been only $27.85.
I weighed 86.8 kilos at 17:30.
I was caught up on my journal at 18:15.
I continued to research references in the novel Pearl and came across the Medieval ballad “Tam Lin”:
O I forbid you, maidens a',
That wear gowd on your hair,
To come or gae by Carterhaugh,
For young Tam Lin is there.
There's nane that gaes by Carterhaugh
But they leave him a wad,
Either their rings, or green mantles,
Or else their maidenhead.
Janet has kilted her green kirtle
A little aboon her knee,
And she has broded her yellow hair
A little aboon her bree,
And she's awa to Carterhaugh
As fast as she can hie.
When she came to carterhaugh
Tam Lin was at the well,
And there she fand his steed standing,
But away was himsel.
She had na pu'd a double rose,
A rose but only twa,
Till upon then started young Tam Lin,
Says, Lady, thou's pu nae mae.
Why pu's thou the rose, Janet,
And why breaks thou the wand?
Or why comes thou to Carterhaugh
Withoutten my command?
"Carterhaugh, it is my own,
My daddy gave it me,
I'll come and gang by Carterhaugh,
And ask nae leave at thee."
Janet has kilted her green kirtle
A little aboon her knee,
And she has broded her yellow hair
A little aboon her bree,
And she is to her father's ha,
As fast as she can hie.
Four and twenty ladies fair
Were playing at the ba,
And out then came the fair Janet,
The flower among them a'.
Four and twenty ladies fair
Were playing at the chess,
And out then came the fair Janet,
As green as onie glass.
Out then spake an auld grey knight,
Lay oer the castle wa,
And says, Alas, fair Janet, for thee,
But we'll be blamed a'.
"Haud your tongue, ye auld fac'd knight,
Some ill death may ye die!
Father my bairn on whom I will,
I'll father none on thee."
Out then spak her father dear,
And he spak meek and mild,
"And ever alas, sweet Janet," he says,
"I think thou gaest wi child."
"If that I gae wi child, father,
Mysel maun bear the blame,
There's neer a laird about your ha,
Shall get the bairn's name.
"If my love were an earthly knight,
As he's an elfin grey,
I wad na gie my ain true-love
For nae lord that ye hae.
"The steed that my true love rides on
Is lighter than the wind,
Wi siller he is shod before,
Wi burning gowd behind."
Janet has kilted her green kirtle
A little aboon her knee,
And she has broded her yellow hair
A little aboon her bree,
And she's awa to Carterhaugh
As fast as she can hie.
When she came to Carterhaugh,
Tam Lin was at the well,
And there she fand his steed standing,
But away was himsel.
She had na pu'd a double rose,
A rose but only twa,
Till up then started young Tam Lin,
Says, Lady, thou pu's nae mae.
"Why pu's thou the rose, Janet,
Amang the groves sae green,
And a' to kill the bonny babe
That we gat us between?"
"O tell me, tell me, Tam Lin," she says,
"For's sake that died on tree,
If eer ye was in holy chapel,
Or christendom did see?"
"Roxbrugh he was my grandfather,
Took me with him to bide
And ance it fell upon a day
That wae did me betide.
"And ance it fell upon a day
A cauld day and a snell,
When we were frae the hunting come,
That frae my horse I fell,
The Queen o' Fairies she caught me,
In yon green hill do dwell.
"And pleasant is the fairy land,
But, an eerie tale to tell,
Ay at the end of seven years,
We pay a tiend to hell,
I am sae fair and fu o flesh,
I'm feard it be mysel.
"But the night is Halloween, lady,
The morn is Hallowday,
Then win me, win me, an ye will,
For weel I wat ye may.
"Just at the mirk and midnight hour
The fairy folk will ride,
And they that wad their true-love win,
At Miles Cross they maun bide."
"But how shall I thee ken,
Tam Lin,
Or how my true-love know,
Amang sa mony unco knights,
The like I never saw?"
"O first let pass the black, lady,
And syne let pass the brown,
But quickly run to the milk-white steed,
Pu ye his rider down.
"For I'll ride on the milk-white steed,
And ay nearest the town,
Because I was an earthly knight
They gie me that renown.
"My right hand will be gloved, lady,
My left hand will be bare,
Cockt up shall my bonnet be,
And kaimed down shall my hair,
And thae's the takens I gie thee,
Nae doubt I will be there.
"They'll turn me in your arms, lady,
Into an esk and adder,
But hold me fast, and fear me not,
I am your bairn's father.
"They'll turn me to a bear sae grim,
And then a lion bold,
But hold me fast, and fear me not,
And ye shall love your child.
"Again they'll turn me in your arms
To a red het gand of airn,
But hold me fast, and fear me not,
I'll do you nae harm.
"And last they'll turn me in your arms
Into the burning gleed,
Then throw me into well water,
O throw me in with speed.
"And then I'll be your ain true-love,
I'll turn a naked knight,
Then cover me wi your green mantle,
And hide me out o sight."
Gloomy, gloomy was the night,
And eerie was the way,
As fair Jenny in her green mantle
To Miles Cross she did gae.
At the mirk and midnight hour
She heard the bridles sing,
She was as glad at that
As any earthly thing.
First she let the black pass by,
And syne she let the brown,
But quickly she ran to the milk-white steed,
And pu'd the rider down.
Sae weel she minded what he did say,
And young Tam Lin did win,
Syne covered him wi her green mantle,
As blythe's a bird in spring
Out then spak the Queen o Fairies,
Out of a bush o broom,
"Them that has gotten young Tam Lin
Has gotten a stately-groom."
Out then spak the Queen o Fairies,
And an angry woman was she,
"Shame betide her ill-far'd face,
And an ill death may she die,
For she's taen awa the bonniest knight
In a' my companie.
"But had I kend, Tam Lin,"
said she,
"What now this night I see,
I wad hae taen out thy twa grey een,
And put in twa een o tree."
The Fairies were the owners of the green wood, and a capricious lot. It was considered rude at least and dangerous at worst to intrude on their realm without asking permissions or giving something in return for what you might take. It was considered forbidden to take anything from areas strongly protected by the fairies, and even in those areas not directly under their protection, it was usually considered wise to at least ask permission first.
Tam Lin's specific demands were of particular significance. A ring was likely to be a sign of allegiance, such as a king might give a vassal or a husband to a wife. A mantle might symbolise kinship and protection, either by the specific colors present or by the symbolic covering they afforded. Gold was symbolic of wealth, particularly the wealth of nobility and aristocracy.
In another sense, all of these items are symbolically linked to the final demand he might make, a maiden's virginity. A stolen ring, like a broken circle, symbolizes the breaking of the hymen, and is also tied to notions of virginity through association with marriage and fidelity. A mantle is a cover that protects a woman's modesty, and gold as virginity was sometimes referred to as "maiden' wealth".
Roses are one of the most symbolically imbued items in mythology. They represent everything from passion and lust to the ideals of purity. In this story, roses are depicted as one of the flowers protected by faeries, and thus Janet's defiance in traveling to the forbidden wood is compounded by her plucking of a forbidden flower. By plucking it she has entered the world of magic and mystery. In another sense, by seizing a flower associated with romance, she initiates her interaction with Tam Lin by claiming the flower for her own, foreshadowing her coming 'deflowerment'. More specifically, the tightly folded petals of an opening rose are often used as symbols of a woman's sexual anatomy, a symbolism that goes back at least as far as "The Romance of the Rose". Finally, she is a maiden, and roses are the symbolic flower of the Virgin Mary in Catholic mythology. Mary was known as the "rose without thorns", and therefore the virgin Janet's seizing of the rose may be interpreted as laying claim to a saving grace.
Halloween, the Christian celebration of the eve of all saint's day, was originally the Celtic celebration of new year, Samhain, midway between the autumnal equinox and winter solstice. This is why Tam Lin refers to the night of Halloween as the end of seven years.
In the Celtic mythos it was a time to prepare for the coming winter, a festival to celebrate the completion on the year, and a magical night when the barriers between the realms of the living mortals, the past dead, and future unborn weakened, allowing transitions and change. It was considered the night that the dead were most likely to visit those still living, and when fortunes could be told of the coming year. Many cultures retain some of this belief in the "day of the dead" celebrations, which include feasts and visiting of gravesites to honor departed ancestors. In many Celtic cultures it was traditional to put out gifts of milk and barley for any wandering spirits, both as thanks and for good luck, which may tie in to the stand of milk Janet sometimes takes with her to Miles Cross.
In Christian imagery, Halloween is the night when the ghouls and demons have one last run at the world before being driven off on the morning of All Saints. Many of the pagan or pre-Christian beliefs were demonized or taken over by Christianity, and most likely the notion of the old power of the faeries being linked to hell arises from this view on the old Celtic beliefs. This Christian viewpoint would tie into the idea that the night of demons and ghouls was a time of sacrifices to hell.
The degree to which human sacrifice may have played a part in any pre-Christian Scottish culture is debatable; both early Roman invaders and later Christian ones accused the locals of it, but as both were also very prone to sensational propaganda, neither is a reliable source. Some areas of Scotland did have ritual slaughters of cattle near Halloween, but this served the practical purpose of reducing the herd size before winter as much as anything else.
As an additional note on the timing of events in Tam Lin by the solar calendar, several versions of Tam Lin have Janet returning to her family after her initial encounter with Tam Lin, and sometime thereafter showing what can be presumed to be the signs of morning sickness and early pregnancy (pale and wan, green as grass). If one presumes that the onset of morning sickness is usually several weeks after conception, it would place the timing of their initial encounter around the vernal equinox.
There are stories from pre-history and mythology of Sacred Kings and Year Kings. In these stories, the Queen or Goddess of the land would pick a consort in the spring. For the spring, summer, and early fall, the man would be given riches, the favor of the people, and share the Queen's bed. At the time of harvest, in fall, he would be sacrificed. He was symbolic of the fertility of the land, and his death was meant to ensure that the spring would return again after the winter was done. In some versions, the Sacred King ruled for a period of several years as a ruler in his own right.
One of the traditional explanations for the stories and legends about the faeries is that they are remnants of tales about and from the succession of invaders to the northern British Isles, such as Norse, Picts, and others. However, it is not an unreasonable supposition that the faerie mythology is also partly mixed with old fertility figure worship, as the faeries are also often portrayed as capricious creatures of old knowledge who may bless or curse mortals at their whim. The faerie land is described as green and fertile, the faeries as youthful and beautiful, and they are to be found in the deep woods. While the reasons for Tam Lin’s abduction is never positively stated in the telling of the tale, overtones of sexual activity run through many stories regarding faerie abduction. If Tam Lin was taken by the faeries to be the Queen's lover and he is being sacrificed in the fall, does he then represent a harvest figure? The faeries do not state why they must pay a tithe to hell, but if Tam Lin is a harvest figure then that situation provides an explanation.
Horses figure prominently in pre-Christian Celtic mythology as well, as some Goddesses were said to take the form of horses. Epona, worshipped in the British isles, was said to take the form of a white horse, and was considered a fertility goddess, which would tie in to the harvest imagery in this story.
The battle over Tam Lin is also a battle over the magic in the woods, and whose claim was greater.
The image of beasts and the faerie procession may originate in the celebration of Samhain, when the Celts would dress in costume to celebrate the end of the harvest and the coming of winter. It is this tradition on which Halloween costumes are also based, and both play with the idea of disguising a persons identity (and thus their soul) for ritual purposes.
At least one version has Tam Lin completing his transformations by passing through Janet's dress and coming out at the lower hem. One could compare the last transformation, into a burning object, to the sensation experienced by a woman when a baby's head passes through the vagina. It could be that Tam Lin is not so much being rescued by Janet as being born by her.
Green is the faerie color and it is considered unlucky for mortals to wear it in an place where the faeries might see them. Likewise, Janet refers to Tam Lin as "elfin grey" when speaking of him, since the root word for both colors was the same.
Green has other symbolic meanings though. One is that a woman who dresses in green is supposed to be sexually promiscuous, since green hides grass stains. The other is that a woman dressed in green has left or been left by her lover, a 'grass widow', from the days back before divorce was a possibility for most folks.
Janet specifically wears green into Carterhaugh woods despite the knowledge that faeries dwell there, which supports the earlier notion that she originally went there as an act of defiance, but it is noteworthy that Tam Lin specifically instructs her to wear the mantle when she comes to rescue him.
I made a new batch of gravy from pea meal bacon and pork rib drippings. I had some on oven fries with three pork ribs while watching season 1, episode 3 of Bewitched.
In this story Samantha is preparing dinner for Darrin’s bosses McMann and Tate as well as their wives and also their prospective client Rex Barker and his date.
At the party Barker shows himself to be extremely flirtatious towards Samantha to the point of behaving like a metaphorical wolf. He’s been trying to get her alone all night and when he does he suggests they take a little walk and get to know each other better and adds, “You know what I mean?” She says she knows exactly what he means. She gets away from him but later when she’s cleaning up on the patio Barker corners her. She warns him to back off but he won’t listen and so she turns him into an unclipped toy poodle. All the guests leave, including Barker’s date Babs who says it’s not the first time she’s been on a date with Rex and had to drive herself home. Once they are gone Samantha is looking for an opportunity to turn Barker back into himself but Darrin puts the dog outside and insists they go to bed. But Barker keeps Barking and Darrin goes outside to lead him out of the gate but Barker runs into the house and up into the bedroom. Samantha confesses to Darrin that she turned Barker into a dog and she explains why. Darrin is upset at what his wife has done to his important client and he accuses her of exaggerating her reasons. He says, “You’re just a wife. He’s a livelihood!” At that Samantha hands Darrin a blanket and kicks him out of the bedroom.
That night there is a cat making a lot of noise outside. Barker goes after it and there is a fight. Then the cat chases Barker into the alley. Samantha goes out to save him. The dog is cowering on top of a garbage can when she turns him back to a man. He doesn’t remember having been a dog and immediately becomes aggressive with Samantha again. Then a police car comes down the alley and since being in her nightgown in an alley with a dog is easier to explain than being in that same situation with a man, she changes Barker back to a dog. Barker runs away and the cops say they’ll look for him, but they tell her she can’t wander around the streets in her nightgown.
The next day she calls the police and they say Barker was found and dropped off at a vet. The vet gave him a shot, a bath, and a clipping, with a ribbon in his hair. Samantha picks him up and takes him to Darrin’s place of work. She puts him in a broom closet and changes him back to a man. He’s still got the ribbon in his hair and it’s all fluffy. He tells Darrin he needs a drink and so Darrin directs him to the bar in his office. In the office he finds Samantha waiting for Darrin. He immediately hits on her again and then Darrin walks in and immediately hits Barker. Darrin’s boss Larry Tate asks, “What am I gonna tell the stockholders?” Darrin says, “Tell them I quit!” Later Barker comes by Darrin’s house to tell him he’s signed a contract with his agency on the condition that Darrin handle the account. He admits he has a problem and says some of his best friends have knocked him out.
Barker’s abandoned date Babs was played by Grace Lee Whitney, who started as a singer for a local station in Detroit. This led to nightclub gigs, opening for Billie Holiday and Buddy Rich. She toured with Spike Jones and Fred Waring. She was the original Chicken of the Sea Mermaid character on the radio in 1952 and sang the jingle in costume for the studio audiences while appearing on the Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy Show. Her first movie role was an uncredited part in House of Wax. She debuted on Broadway in Top Banana and then reprised her role in the film version. She played Rosella the fiddle player of the all girl band in Some Like it Hot. She is best known for playing Yeoman Janice Rand, the personal assistant to Captain Kirk on the original Star Trek series and in the movies Star Trek the Motion Picture, Star Trek III, Star Trek IV, and Star Trek VI. She had a singing group called Star, which entertained at Star Trek conventions. She became depressed and alcoholic when her character was written out of the original series. Her autobiography was entitled The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy. In it she admitted to having had affairs with Buzz Aldrin and Harlan Ellison while she was married.
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