Tennysonyone?

            On Saturday morning I finished posting my translation of “Le velours des vierge" (The Velvet Virgins) by Serge Gainsbourg. Then I memorized the chorus of his “Classée X” (Rated X) and reworked some of my translation. This song is obviously about sex but he’s also playing with words that contain the letter “X”. It only has two verses and one chorus and it’s pretty simple so it shouldn’t take long to nail this one down. 

            In the late morning I headed out to pay for my phone service and then to go to the supermarket.

            At Freedom Mobile I was told that I had to pay online. I said I don’t have a credit card. He asked if I had debit and I said I do. He inquired about my bank and I said Montreal. He thought a second and concluded that he thought they’d accept BMO. I was doubtful and I told him that I have exact change but he said, "That's not the reason." But then the guy next to him said it was okay and so I was able to pay in cash. This pandemic is getting more depressing every day. 

            At No Frills there were no grapes. I bought two bags of oranges, seven avocadoes, a big bag of onions, a pint of grape tomatoes, three jars of apple sauce and some shaving gel. 

            I had crackers, peanut butter and chocolate soy milk for lunch. 

            I read chapter 18 of Adam Bede by George Eliot. It wasn’t required reading but I'd already read chapter 17 three times and it seemed silly to have no sense what the hell the book is about. Adam the carpenter is in love with Hattie but she’s enamoured with a young lord named Arthur who has shown her some romantic attention. But Hattie is very disappointed that Arthur doesn’t show up for the funeral service for Adam’s father even though she dressed all in pink just for him. 

            I read Ulysses by Tennyson another time. It's interesting that Ulysses applies the word "good" to his son's governing of his kingdom but "noble" to his own adventures. He seems to recognize that the right thing to do is to serve as a king but it’s just more in his son's nature than his. To be fair, Tennyson wrote this poem about adventurous old age when he was in his twenties. It’s just the kind of "I will go out with a bang when I get old" dream that twenty year olds have. Mature poets don't write things like that. They write more about being perceptive and calm in their old age. 

            I read Robert Browning’s "Fro Lippo Lippi" for another time. He certainly was a funnier and more naughty writer than his wife Elizabeth Barrett Browning. They probably got along fine. She died in his arms. One of the earliest Edison cylinder recordings in 1889 was made of Robert Browning. He seems so excited by the event that he forgets the words to his poem and just praises the wonderful invention. 

            I had a packet of organic beans with crackers and chocolate soy milk for dinner. These beans aren't as good as canned beans and canned beans aren't that great. I ate while watching Andy Griffith. 

            In this story Bee goes away to visit her aunt and leave Andy and Opie to fend for themselves. After Andy ruins their first meal his new girlfriend Peggy sweeps in to save the day. She cooks them a delicious meal and then she and Andy sing “Down in the Valley” together in harmony. But Floyd the barber starts to warn Andy that Peggy is trying to reel him in for marriage. Andy gets worried and tries to get by without Peggy’s help. But after a ruining another meal and having a boring evening together, the two bachelors are very happy when Peggy drops in to save them again and Andy swears he’s not going to listen to Floyd anymore. 

            Howard McNear, who plays Floyd kind of looks like Hitler.