May’s poem

My precious History of Art by H. W. Janson remained intact for one month. Samuel climbed the bookcase yesterday and hauled it down, ripping off its cover.

Our superglues have all dried out.

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Our household, minus kitties, went to the zoo with Karin’s mom, who is making the most of her grandparental season-pass (she went again the next day). In the African section, the wild dogs were in fine form, running laps, in contrast to our by-then-unenthused children. Lions, gators, snakes, and sloths practiced immobility. Kangaroos stirred more than usual.

My favorites are the huge animals: the bison, the rhino, the giraffes. The latter, in zoos, often languish down in some ditch, on the same eye-level as their observers; but at our zoo, one can walk up to their feet and let oneself be towered over.

This month’s poem, in honor of Mother Karin’s Day and our wedding anniversary (May 21), is “Pharaoh Story”; the lyrics are by Tim Rice. I’ve come, reluctantly, during our marriage, to like it.

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Pharoah, he was a powerful man

With the ancient world in the palm of his hand

To all intents and purposes he

Was Egypt with a capital “E”

Whatever he did, he was showered with praise

If he cracked a joke, then you chortled for days

No one had rights or a vote but the king

In fact you might say he was fairly right-wing

When Pharoah’s around

Then you get down on the ground

If you ever find yourself near Rameses

Get down on your knees

Down at the other end of the scale

Joseph is still doing time in jail

For even though he’s in with the guards

A lifetime in prison seems quite on the cards

But if my analyis of the position is right

At the end of the tunnel is a glimmer of light

For all of a sudden indescribable things

Have shattered the sleep of both peasants and kings

Strange as it seems

There’s been a run of crazy dreams

And a man who can interpret could go far

Could become a star

Strange as it seems

There’s been a run of crazy dreams

And a man who can interpret could go far

Could become a star!

Could be a star!

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The end of camp-time

Brianna is quite the little Queen Bee. She has so many friends at Brown City Camp that they have to compete for her attention. Sometimes she and just one or two of her friends come into our cabin; but then the others locate her, and our cabin is filled with teen-aged girls (the boys are too polite, or too shy, to join us).

Inevitably, feelings get hurt. There’s only so much of Brianna to go around, and she doesn’t always distribute herself most equitably and lovingly.

This is a difficult thing to manage. It’s difficult for adults. It’s even harder for the young. They’re only beginning to grasp that personal relationships come with duties as well as benefits – that more is expected than a spontaneous reaction of the heart. It’s painful to watch Brianna charm people but not fully embrace all who are charmed.

Still, her uninhibitedness serves her well during a Q&A session about creation vs. evolution.

“Good Christians disagree about this subject,” begins the pastor, and then he spends the rest of his time explaining why Young Earth creationism is clearly the right – the righteous – option.

Brianna is his sole dissenter.

“My name is Brianna,” she says, “and my grandparents are _____ and _____, who have been coming to this camp for many years” (there is a murmur of approval). “And I just want to say that I don’t believe in Young Earth. But when I get to heaven and see Jesus, if he says, ‘The world was created in six days,’ I’ll say, ‘Praise God!’ And if he says, ‘The world was created through evolution,’ I’ll say, ‘Praise God!’” (The pastor glares.)

Her mother and Karin & I are very pleased. I’m reminded of myself, of my own youthful outspokenness. (Whether I was equitable and loving, I don’t recall.)

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The next day, Karin & I return to South Bend. We listen to the Twin Peaks soundtrack, to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and to my playlist-in-progress, “Stalker Songs,” which has melodic, soft music and vaguely unsettling lyrics. (And not all of its songs are about stalking: some are about mugging, or about being mugged.)

When we go into our house, Jasper is very happy to see us. He meows and meows and eats half of Karin’s sandwich and dashes around the house for about an hour.

Karin goes to the Social Security office and changes her last name. It’s her decision. I’m glad she’s doing what she wants, not what I want.

I love Karin better all the time. It’s a delight to wake up next to her.

And I love Jasper, who this morning did the waking up.

Jacob & sons

One month after our wedding, Karin is getting me to listen to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Way way back many centuries ago
Not long after the Bible began
Jacob lived in the land of Canaan
A fine example of a family man
Jacob!
Jacob and sons
Depended on farming to earn their keep
Jacob!
Jacob and sons
Spent all of his days in the fields with sheep

Jacob was the founder of a whole new nation
Thanks to the number of children he had
He was also known as Israel, but most of the time
His sons and his wives used to call him “Dad”
Jacob!
Jacob and sons
Men of the soil, of the sheaf and crook
Jacob!
Jacob and sons
A remarkable family in anyone’s book …

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The Argentinians, weary of their title drought, are profoundly interested in winning this Copa América. Without any nonsense, they defeated the USA 4–0 in the first semifinal.

The reigning-champion Chileans obviously don’t wish to relinquish their title to the Argentinians, their sworn enemies. They beat Colombia 2–0 in last night’s semifinal.

This second semifinal, in Chicago, was interrupted for a couple of hours by a t-storm that stretched across Illinois and Indiana. Due to this storm South Bend was briefly under a tornado watch. Karin & I huddled together in our apartment and prayed not to lose our lives or our property or our cat. (It would’ve been all right, though, if our rickety outdoor staircase had been blown away. We wouldn’t have minded being given a new staircase.)

Here is a video of the game and of the storm, and here is a decent write-up.

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The group stage of the Euros has ended with some upsets. The new 24-team format ensures that most of the penultimate-placed teams qualify for the knockout stage. This, in turn, has resulted in guaranteed safety, after just two games, for many of the leading nations, which has caused them to switch off their brains during their closing group games, which has caused them to draw or to lose those games. And so now we have a very lopsided knockout bracket.

One one side are Germany, Slovakia, Italy, Spain, France, Eire, England, and Iceland. This is the strong side of the bracket. All of the favorites, minus Belgium, are on this side (and the Belgians have given a lackluster performance so far).

On the other side of the bracket are Belgium, Hungary, Ulster, Wales, Portugal, Croatia, Poland, and Switzerland. Most of these teams didn’t even qualify for the 2012 Euros. (The Portuguese got to the semifinals then, but now they look awful.)

I admit I’m enjoying this.

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Do you ever wonder how the characters of Good Will Hunting turned out? Here Ben Affleck shows what happened to Chuckie after he grew up.