dotinthesky: (Default)
Dot in the Sky ([personal profile] dotinthesky) wrote2005-04-27 02:21 pm

Alexander the Great is Welcome in My Tub

I`ve started reading Fire From Heaven, the first novel in a trilogy about Alexander the Great, written by Mary Renault. I lay down in the living room`s couch after breakfast, turned on the radio on BBC3 (which was playing some kind of medieval music) and read the first chapter. I`m now in the mood for reading a history book on the side, to accompany it. I get in these (ambitious) moods sometimes when I`m reading a historical novel, a biography or a history text; I feel the need to add to the story by joining it with other writings which are related to it. I remember how after reading Marie Antoinette`s biography by Antonia Fraser I wanted to go around London`s museums looking for anything which might have belonged to her, or to others from the same period in France.

At 11:13, I went swimming. The water was as cold as yesterday, but my body felt less lethargic and less tired by the end of it. While I`m unemployed, I might as well make use of my free time to swim. I came home, went splat on the couch for half an hour, then made myself a ham & cheese sandwich. To drink, I brewed a mug of brasilian tea (Cha Matte Leao.)

I`m washing the bathrooms this afternoon, calling my temp agency, then running a bath. I`m thinking of ways into bringing the stereo into the bathroom, lighting some candles, and laying in the water for a good solid hour. I like it when there`s only one candle lit and the bathroom is covered in shadows. You can barely see yourself reflected in the steamed mirror, your toes floating by the water taps, the ceiling ending somewhere by the air exhaust. There are no windows in our bathroom so the candle becomes the focal point as it flickers away from the water. I have a glass of cold water by the side of the tub, in case I get too drained by the heat. I lie there and forget the hour. When I come out, I`m wrinkled like a prune but happy wrinkled like a happy prune!

It`s raining, cold and grey outside. Even more of a reason for me to disappear down the bathtub`s drain.

[identity profile] steer.livejournal.com 2005-04-27 01:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Wrinkled like a happy prune!

[identity profile] commonpeople.livejournal.com 2005-04-27 02:06 pm (UTC)(link)
hehe! Will go change that sentence right now. :)

[identity profile] lala-jones.livejournal.com 2005-04-27 08:30 pm (UTC)(link)
You too, Ollie! A good writer takes good criticism well (and credits the lowly copy editor who helped)...

[identity profile] commonpeople.livejournal.com 2005-04-28 11:04 am (UTC)(link)
But it wasn`t criticism, luv.

:-)

[identity profile] lala-jones.livejournal.com 2005-04-27 08:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Well done! A logician with a sense of humour...

[identity profile] desayuno-ingles.livejournal.com 2005-04-27 02:29 pm (UTC)(link)
it's cold and rainy here, too. I wouldn't dare take a bath in our tub, but I would like to just curl up in bed or on the couch all day and do nothing. Unfortunately, I have to go to work.

[identity profile] commonpeople.livejournal.com 2005-04-27 04:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Is your bath tub skanky? Make a plan for a nice bath after work then! Or how about a nice murder-mystery novel, a mug with hot chocolate and yourself underneath the covers? That`s always a nice alternative if the bath is unavailable.

[identity profile] desayuno-ingles.livejournal.com 2005-04-27 05:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, mega skanky bath. It backs up when you take a shower...just gross. The new place might have a nicer bathtub. Oooh...hot chocolate! I'll have to get some for that. I like snuggling under an afghan on the couch with a beverage.

[identity profile] commonpeople.livejournal.com 2005-04-27 05:24 pm (UTC)(link)
What`s your house arrangement in terms of cleaning? It was my turn today so I did a megajob on pulling hair out of the drain, scrubbing away grease, etc.

[identity profile] desayuno-ingles.livejournal.com 2005-04-27 06:32 pm (UTC)(link)
not at this place, doesn't seem like there will be any formalized setup at the new place, either.

[identity profile] commonpeople.livejournal.com 2005-04-28 10:49 am (UTC)(link)
I don`t like that. I think when you are living in a group there have to be some rules.

[identity profile] desayuno-ingles.livejournal.com 2005-04-28 02:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, I think I'd prefer that, too. I may broach the subject when they have me over to dinner.

[identity profile] 13thofnever.livejournal.com 2005-04-27 02:33 pm (UTC)(link)
you make bathtime sound like a religious experience...I love it.

[identity profile] commonpeople.livejournal.com 2005-04-27 04:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh it is! I have plenty of good memories from baths. :)

What a lovely way to burn

[identity profile] lala-jones.livejournal.com 2005-04-27 08:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Teach me, Oliver, the art of hedonism...

My own unemployed, delinquent ass has taken to hefting large pieces of furniture around to kill the guilt of procrastination. Cooking is too ephemeral, and not nearly painful enough, to justify avoiding my paper.

(Mind you, I haven't contacted any temp agency, or applied for any job, or done anything I'm supposed to be doing to further my survival on earth. I guess those activities might help. And I'm not saying you ought to feel guilty, by any means. I just wish I were capable of enjoying a bath, in the best of times... Could you write a primer for those bodies wracked by inner strife???)

Re: What a lovely way to burn

[identity profile] commonpeople.livejournal.com 2005-04-28 11:06 am (UTC)(link)
Hey, I`m also avoiding calling the temp agency. I did call them this morning (when I was supposed to yesterday) and there was no work for me. Will have to try again tomorrow.

I think my ability to relax stems from a great ability to avoid reality. I should be freaking out that I don`t have enough money to pay the next rent, but I`m somehow numb to it and more interested in what I can do for fun during the weekend. So I`m not the best person out there to write a book on how to calm your inner strife!

[identity profile] twinner.livejournal.com 2005-04-27 08:56 pm (UTC)(link)
When you're finished Mary Renault's Alexander trilogy & you feel up to it, try her novel, THE CHARIOTEER --- a more modern story about being gay --- it's most excellent; It's nice to see you're staying so squeekily & romanticly clean.....

[identity profile] commonpeople.livejournal.com 2005-04-28 11:07 am (UTC)(link)
Will definetly check it out. I`m loving Fire from Heaven so far. Her language is very beautiful.

[identity profile] hunterjr.livejournal.com 2005-04-27 09:25 pm (UTC)(link)
relax pra vida, rs
que engraçado... aqui em Sampa tb tá tudo cold, grey e raining. mas aqui é outono né.

[identity profile] commonpeople.livejournal.com 2005-04-28 11:08 am (UTC)(link)
Outono e inverno em Sampa fica tudo bem cinza.

[identity profile] stupid-wanker06.livejournal.com 2005-04-29 04:54 am (UTC)(link)
now i'm curious...what were you listening to?

[identity profile] stupid-wanker06.livejournal.com 2005-04-29 01:51 pm (UTC)(link)
hahaha...you haven't gone all new agey on us, have you?

[identity profile] commonpeople.livejournal.com 2005-04-29 01:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Just a *little* bit. But not very much.

[identity profile] stupid-wanker06.livejournal.com 2005-04-29 04:06 pm (UTC)(link)
as long as you don't develop a liking for John Tesh...

[identity profile] commonpeople.livejournal.com 2005-04-29 06:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Have no clue who he is, so no danger of that.