William Blake Month: She who burns with youth and knows no fixed lot; is bound / In spells of law to one she loathes

Some thoughts from Mr. Blake on free love, fidelity, procreative pressure, and the institution of marriage as it functioned (and did not) for ladies during his lifetime:

Jane Birikin and the dread Serge G.

… She who burns with youth and knows no fixed lot;
is bound
In spells of law to one she loathes:
and must she drag the chain
Of life, in weary lust!

Must chilling murderous thoughts obscure
The clear heaven of her eternal spring?
to bear the wintry rage
Of a harsh terror driv’n to madness, bound to hold a rod
Over her shrinking shoulders all the day;

Marilyn and Arthur on their wedding day. Marilyn’s dress was ivory but her veil arrived white, so rather than freak out or buy a new one she soaked it in tea overnight. She was an orphan and imminently practical.

& All the night
To turn the wheel of false desire: and longings
that wake her womb
To the abhorred birth of cherubs in the human form
That live a pestilence & die a meteor & are no more.

(William Blake, excerpt from Visions of the Daughters of Albion. 1793. Shockingly self-published.)

The Graduate (Kubrick, 1967).EDIT: It was directed by Mike Nichols, not Stanley Kubrick. Jesus-christ-bananas. How that got past me is a mystery. Mucho mas mucho thanks to Peteski for the heads-up!

Happy bride month, am I right? Goin’ to the chapel…

In all seriousness, William Blake was a sort of pre-feminist and a great admirer of Mary Wollstonecraft but for all his forward-thinking, he could behave curiously backwardly and contemporarily to the times in his personal life, almost as if his own wife, Catherine, did not count in his reckoning of the equalities of the opposite sex.

Audrey and Mel. She looks terribly unhappy and trapped. I do not believe this was their wedding day but rather shortly before their breakup in an ad for Givenchy’s L’Interdit, the first celebrity fragrance. I wear Givenchy Amarige when I am Really Me. But that is very rare. So often it is best to be Other Me-s, so I roll with Michael by Michael Kors.

As an example, when they had trouble conceiving, Blake openly advocated bringing another, younger woman into their marriage and relegating Catherine to second-class status in a different bedroom. My guess is he backed up his proposal by citing the timeless, good ol’ Rachel/Leah biblical argument, which reminds me that I get to hit Handmaid’s Tale next month.

Humbert and Lo’s toes. Lolita (Kubrick, 1962).

Okay, I went in to more insomnia-fueled bookfoolery and this entry is now uncomfortably longer than I’d prefer a Blake one to be. I’m going to split it up. Meet me in the next post. More Kubrick, even (I didn’t intend for that to happen but now that it has I’m on board). (edit: again, The Graduate is directed by Mike Nichols. Not Stanley Kubrick.)

Got hot sauce and rose petals in place of my blood

Showered, shotgunning some diet cokes, and am just about all ready steady to take this day to the moon! OW!!!

“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” –Buddha

“The best thing to hold on to in life is each other.” –Audrey Hepburn

Totally getting right on both those things. My favorite things about weddings are almost innumerable; weird, I know, what with my own separation going on and all — people keep asking me worriedly, “How are you doing with this?” and for a second I’m like, “What? Are they talking to me? Why would anyone not be awesome with this!” then I remember and twitch a little. But I am doing fine with it, in fact I’m over the moon with excitement, I barely slept the last few nights. Two of my best friends are getting married, TO EACH OTHER. Pretty huge day for me! Like, aces and green lights and pretty ponies and chinese lanterns and sparklers and shooting stars, that is how I feel. I don’t have blood in my veins right now, I got hot sauce and rose petals. Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…….!

One of my favoritest of favorite things, anyway, about weddings, is that everyone has come with so much love and grace in their heart. It really is a happy occasion, and so much fun is had I think because of that. It provides you a glimpse into how your life would be if your eyes were open to miracles every single day, instead of just on ones where you have deliberately thrust your cares aside to focus on other people’s happiness because they invited you and you get to dress up and chisel free food out of their folks. (This is how it begins when you are driving on your way, you’re thinking about where to sit and whether the sides with the tri-tip are going to be good or have too many carrots, but on the way home you are simply flush with the ancient thrill of wishing people in love well…it is so beautiful!)

So I am sending you an emotional invitation to this wedding. Be down with the extraordinary today, seek out chances to dance and laugh and smile sincerely at strangers, because we are all in on this big secret of getting to be alive and that’s actually really something special. … send great vibes for this crazy beautiful magical day and I’ll catch you guys on the flip side!

The future is now

ME: Feels like there’s something happening this weekend, but I just can’t remember what.
MISS D: It’s probably in my phone. Whatev’. I got a dress just in case.
ME: There’s an idea. Big poofy white one?
MISS D: Thought it’d be nice.

MY FATHER: What are the men wearing to this wedding? Have any of your friends mentioned?
ME: [the Gentleman] is wearing a suit, [Gorgeous George] I’m not sure, and Paul is going all out; he’s wearing a tux.
(total showboater!)

In less than twelve hours, Paolo and Miss D will be married!

It’s all happening.