Edwin Mar...

Edwin Markham:PreparednessFOR all your days prepare, And meet them ever alike: When you are the anvil, bear-- When you are the hammer, Strike. OutwittedHe drew a circle that shut me out-- Heretic, a rebel, a thing to flout. But Love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle that took him in

The Worl...

The World Is Too Much with UsWilliam WordsworthThe world is too much with us; late and soon,Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;Little we see in Nature that is ours;We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,The winds that will be howling at all hours,And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,For this, for everything, we are out of tune;It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather beA Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.

Classic Poem - The Leaden-Eyed

The Leaden-Eyed Let not young souls be smothered out beforeThey do quaint deeds and fully flaunt their pride.It is the world's one crime its babes grow dull,Its poor are ox-like, limp and leaden-eyed.Not that they starve, but starve so dreamlessly;Not that they sow, but that they seldom reap;Not that they serve, but have no gods to serve;Not that they die, but that they die like sheep. -- Vachel LindsayComemnt:Some poets experience moments of extreme AWAKEness and clarity...

Favorite Poetry

Little known to most of the folks on my friends list, though probably guessable, I have had various flirtations and even a long term relationship with the various Muses...(Go here if you have no idea what I'm talking about):http://lona-kinley.freeservers.com/Mnemosyne.htmI might eventually post some of my own work online, in some format or another. For the moment, however, I've decided to post some of my favorite classic (public domain) poems in my Journal.For me, it's appropriate, as these poems usually have meaning that resonate with themes or personal experiences in my life. If for some reason you prefer not to see these, drop me an email or a comment following any of the poems, or this post and I will filter you out from the LJ post. Thanks,Ben

LOTR SONG FILK

LOL!!!A filk for Sauron:http://www.amiright.com/parody/80s/bananarama3.shtml

Favorite Poem # 1 - Kubla Khan -- Coleridge

Samuel Taylor ColeridgeKubla KhanOR, A VISION IN A DREAM.A FRAGMENT. In Xanadu did Kubla KhanA stately pleasure-dome decree :Where Alph, the sacred river, ranThrough caverns measureless to manDown to a sunless sea.(Snipped for brevity).....So twice five miles of fertile groundWith walls and towers were girdled round :And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree ;And here were forests ancient as the hills,Enfolding sunny spots of greenery. But oh ! that deep romantic chasm which slantedDown the green hill athwart a cedarn cover !A savage place ! as holy and enchantedAs e'er beneath a waning moon was hauntedBy woman wailing for her demon-lover !And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,A mighty fountain momently was forced :Amid whose swift half-intermitted burstHuge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail :And 'mid these dancing rocks at once and everIt flung up momently the sacred river.Five miles meandering with a mazy motionThrough wood and dale the sacred river ran,Then reached the caverns measureless to man,And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean :And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard from farAncestral voices prophesying war !The shadow of the dome of pleasureFloated midway on the waves ;Where was heard the mingled measureFrom the fountain and the caves.It was a miracle of rare device,A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice ! A damsel with a dulcimerIn a vision once I saw :It was an Abyssinian maid,And on her dulcimer she played,Singing of Mount Abora.Could I revive within meHer symphony and song,To such a deep delight 'twould win me,That with music loud and long,I would build that dome in air,That sunny dome ! those caves of ice !And all who heard should see them there,.... [ Ben's Favorite Part ]And all should cry, Beware ! Beware !His flashing eyes, his floating hair !Weave a circle round him thrice,And close your eyes with holy dread,For he on honey-dew hath fed,And drunk the milk of Paradise. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Autumn of 1797 or (more likely) spring of 1798, published 1816, 1828, 1829, 1834 (proofed against E. H. Coleridge's 1927 edition of STC's poems and a ca. 1898 edition of STC's Poetical Works

Quiz

Actually, I think this thing measures luck....I did it in 5</big></b> seconds.I deserved an A++!!Take the How Dexterous Are You? Quiz!!

Quiz

Actually, I think this thing measures luck....I did it in 5</big></b> seconds.I deserved an A++!!Take the How Dexterous Are You? Quiz!!

Quiz

Actually, I think this thing measures luck....I did it in 5</big></b> seconds.I deserved an A++!!Take the How Dexterous Are You? Quiz!!

Religion

According to the SelectSmart.com Belief System Selector, my #1 belief match is Unitarian Universalism. </br> What do you believe?</b></a> Visit SelectSmart.com/RELIGION

Games

I spend too much time playing this while waiting for things to happen at work. It's a really good game, though. Amazing since it's technically an old DOS based game...Speaking of old odd games... have to get together a crew of folks to play the Filthy Rich board games... and maybe start a Mage game... hmm... I think I might not mind starting one on Sundays sometime in the near future...

IT Market sucks!

I met with my old boss yesterday ...we were pitching a consulting gig for a firm I used to work for...we did a good job, hopefully it will come through ... but the thing is.. he's been out of work for 2 years, except sporadically.. he used to manage 30 engineers at my level....great guy .. excellent background....no job... IT Market sucks!

British Scale....

So I went and took a bath and came back and stepped on my scale tonight...a Tanita digital scale... and the scale suddenly started showing multiple numbers, at the same time. I noticed a small st symbol next to the first one.... puzzled I thought about it ... then ... realized it was now displaying my weight in british stones !!!Insane... The scale does not even have a setting to change that.... a stone is equal to 14lbs...the stats check ...My scale has been possesed by something british ...how peculiar...LOL

Books & Escapism

I've been reading alot more sci-fi/Fantasy of late. After months of not really doing so, I've picked up the habit again. I suspect it's a built in reaction to having a steady job again, one quite so soaked in mundane reality. I am currently evaluating whether or not this might be a bad thing, beccause I could theoretically re-channel these energies into other non-ordinary realites, ones where I would interact with others.I'm not feeling very patient these days, though. This is unusual for me, in recent years. It might be due to a low energy state. I need to do some energy raising soon...I doubt I'll do it from a book ....

Certifiable

Finally got around to finishing another one of my Cisco certs last month. I think I've mostly been draggin my feet because the concept of certifications is evil... They don't really test the proper skill set, they cost money, and they give employers false impressions... But what can you do in the current job market... feh!Regardless, I now have a CCNP cert (Cisco Certified Network Professional), and I'm going to actually bother with the Security and IP Telephony versions next. After that CCIE.This would be merely amusing if not for the fact that I've already been doing the jobs covered by these certs for years, and considerably better than the test writers, at least judging from the quality of their exams. There is a good 10% margin of error in the way they phrase their questions... With required test scores in the 70-85% range... 10% can be a big deal !

Sinking Feelings

It occurs to me that a bunch of folks don't know that I had a minor incident in late August, just after Pennsic, where the elevator I was in decided to drop, free-fall style, and stop suddenly, thereby giving me a good dose of vertical whiplash. I was running around periodically doped up on Vicodin, Valium and Ibuprofen for a bit, but mostly am down to a normal level stiff back, which should hopefully go away after a while...

Sinking Feelings

It occurs to me that a bunch of folks don't know that I had a minor incident in late August, just after Pennsic, where the elevator I was in decided to drop, free-fall style, and stop suddenly, thereby giving me a good dose of vertical whiplash. I was running around periodically doped up on Vicodin, Valium and Ibuprofen for a bit, but mostly am down to a normal level stiff back, which should hopefully go away after a while...

IA! IA!

http://www.msnbc.com/news/933992.asp

Gah!

It seems I've been outed !I actually went through the trouble of getting a private livejournal account so I could actually customize it at my leisure and let people in on it when I was ready. Apparently, I've been dragging my feet and fate decided to kick me in the butt for it...Someone I mentioned I was working on this to decided to add me to their friends list, thus making this half hearted attempt at a journal more accessible than I had planned. Ah well...Welcome to those of you who have made their way here...Hmm.. I guess this could be an interesting experiment to see who makes it here...LOL