Dang you horsie!

She went and messed up her leg. So camping will be difficult. It has been decided that horses don't like camping.

Anyway, I went to work today and whatnot. Nothing exciting really. Things didn't work, and I'm dead tired from tying to fix them. But w/e. I didn't do much deep thinking while on shift. Or maybe I did. But I don't remember it. A hundred or so times a day I think of something and I'm like OOH BLOG! but then I forget it. Upsetting.

I'm in a wonky mood today. You know the feeling when you've got a mad crush on someone and you just want to tell them, but you don't know if they like you, and you laugh at yourself because it feels like grade 8, but at the same time it's still there; scary and tingly and hopeful. I'm kinda feeling that right now, but I don't know why. As far as I know, I don't like any particular guy in that way right now. I need a therapist some days. Gah.

Anyhow, I've been reading "The Idylls of the King" by Alfred Lord Tennyson. Interesting literature. Two points: a good metaphor never dies. Seriously. His writing is over a hundred years old and the images still are brilliant. Way to go Alfred!
Second: Everyone in the stories is so passionate. About anything. Just like emotional whack jobs. All over the place all the time. In one poem, a girl dies because she is in love with Lancelot, but he doesn't love her back. He's actually in love with the queen, who is married to king arthur, and he is totally clueless. Seriously buddy! They have secret rendezvous (is that plural?) all the time and just sit around making eyes at each other, and all this stuff. PAY ATTENTION! This girl who was in love with Lancelot and died was supposedly ridiculously beautiful, and he was like "Nope. I'm faithful." Which brings me to a nice new thought. I rather like it.

In this story, Guinevere and Lancelot are faithful in their love. Wonderful, congrats, happy for you. But Guinevere is kinda married. So now what? This sort of thing happens all the time in modern culture. People get married and then "fall in love" with someone else. The marriage ends poopily, and then the people in love can never truly trust each other, because hey, they cheated once before, why not again!

So what's more important? The "true love"? Or the commitment to be faithful to your spouse until death or worse? I'm actually on the side of commitment. And a lot of people will argue with me. Yah, I know, love is intensely awesome, and it makes one feel like rainbows and leprechauns, but it's still a feeling. One one hand. The other sort of love is a virtue, which is much better all around. That's the kind of love we can aquire and learn through careful examining and refining of our motives and goals. And I think that the feeling of love is like all the other feelings of anger and sadness and what not. It blows over, it goes away. You lose the energy for it. But love as a virtue is just like the other virtues of honesty and perseverence. You can work at them, and once instilled, they last. And everyone agrees that they're good.

So here's the summary: Guinevere was wrong to give into emotional pulls for Lancelot, and Lancelot was wrong to coax her out of her relationship with Arthur, because Arthur honoured him and trusted him. What kind of friend is that. Manskank. But Guinevere was worse.

All you need is love
But one should be very specific about the type of love.

Thanks to Bertrand Russel and Mr. Reid for some of that, and Alfred Lord Tennyson for some.

Oh! And here's my quote of the day from the Very Secret Diary of Gollum.
"V. cold on top of Caradhras. Everyone wants to carry Frodo up mountain. Nobody wants to carry me up mountain. Stowed away in Legolas’ backpack but excessive nancing was not good for stomach. Have been sick all over elf collection of hair care products. Hope he does not notice."

Follow the link from last post to read all of it. Just like Wonka's Whipplescrumptious Fudgemallow Delight!