Day Moo Non

When I was in college, lo these many years ago, I took a play writing class.  There was this girl in the class whose first name was Elizabeth, middle name Lilith.  I found that second part out because I was talking about a book I had read that suggested your character names *mean* something.  It cited Cheers, and the character of Lilith Sternin Crane - Lilith means "Night Hag".  And that's when I learned Elizabeth's middle name.


Dr. Sternin-Crane, if you're nasty.


Suffice it to say, she didn't much like me, and the feeling was essentially mutual.  I had a handful of friends in the class, I started dating one of them, and as I was so close to graduation, I was phoning it in much of the time, but because I had friends who could sell my material when read aloud, it sounded better than it was.  She was super type-A, and not very creative, and it was just a clash of culture.  She also hated the kid who wrote about marijuana-smoking slackers (semi-autobiographical) and introduced me to the phrase "bong swat".  A phrase I never use, but makes me smile.

I mention this because one day in class, she was referring to the denouement of a plot, but she switched some letters and called it the demouenent.   I used that word with my boyfriend until we broke up two years later.  We just thought it was funny that Miss Prissypants got it wrong.

Going further, the word derives from French and literally means "un-knotting".   And that's essentially what plot resolution is - untangling all the knots and ending with straight rope.  Plot rope.
But then there's the whole aspect of "tying up loose ends", which seems to be counter to the idea of getting rid of knots.  So, the metaphors are locked in battle.  A turn-of-phrase cage match.

The way Elizabeth Lilith said it would loosely translate into "un-pouting".  Moue in French means pout.  See, aren't you learning some interesting shit today?

Anyway, I have some knots that definitely need to be untangled and some loose ends to tie up.

The biggest knots that need work are in my neck and shoulders.  Even before workday last weekend, my shoulders, wrists and hands were stiff.  After workday, it was painful to get up from the couch.  I could use a little time on the table getting that stuff worked out.  I have a friend who is currently doing acupuncture - totally different reasons - but she has been really pleased with the results.  I wonder if that would be useful to me.  Keep in mind, I haven't been getting my semi-frequent airport chair massages this year, so truth be told, I am a little behind on that maintenance.

One of the other knots I'm actively picking at is some minor (but time-sensitive) work that needs to happen at the cabin.  It's something that I can do, but I need time, tools and some help from other people.  It might also take money, and that's the one thing I can swing far easier than the others.  I've been thinking on it for several days now, and last night, I even dreamed about it, so clearly, it's on my mind.  Once I get some clarity, I'll let you know how it goes.

Other than that, I think things are pretty untangled.  Thanks to Aveda, big pharma, and people you can pay to listen to your problems.  Not Uber drivers, although...

I am still trying to shake off some serious fatigue from the weekend -  we're all waking up too early these days due to the plethora of daylight.  I can turn over and fall asleep again, but the dog - she gets up at 5:30 and needs out.  And to be fair, I don't mind taking her, bringing her back in and dozing off again.  The other big problem is the heat.  Even though we keep the house reasonably cool at night, I keep waking up covered in sweat.  So I throw off the covers and I'm cold and clammy until I pull the covers back on.  Lather, rinse, repeat.  Isn't hormonal imbalance a total joy ride?



So that's pretty well it from here.

Untie some knots, stop pouting and enjoy your weekend, folks.

ae






Comments

Christopher said…
What sort of parent names their child “Elizabeth Lilith”? That name itself is a bit of a tongue-twister. In Judaism Lilith was also the first wife of Adam. When she refused to be his subordinate she was cast out of the garden of Eden and went on to give birth to demons. Lilith on Cheers is also Jewish and that sitcom wove high and low humor like few others.