Earthly Delights

Quite a rollercoaster of emotions going round lately huh? Well when I'm not in a *we're doooooooooomed* mood (and no, it's not about politics-mostly), I feel like this:


Yep, that's me. The one running around like a crazy person going "Qué vamos a hacer?!?!?!!?!?!?!" and scaring people with my long purple tongue. (Lucky you; my grumpy self is a lot more scary).

Even the universe as we know it is no longer...

Help!!!

::Time to get tragic::

Why not? My job[less]-stay-at-home-too-much panic does sometimes bring me down, with a little help from the black hole our world and country seem to be heading towards... and no, I am not feeling tragic at all at this moment but I found a sonnet, by the Bard, which reflects my feelings sometimes. Especially when things are not going my way.

LXVI.

Tired with all these, for restful death I cry,
As, to behold desert a beggar born,
And needy nothing trimm'd in jollity,
And purest faith unhappily forsworn,
And guilded honour shamefully misplaced,
And maiden virtue rudely strumpeted,
And right perfection wrongfully disgraced,
And strength by limping sway disabled,
And art made tongue-tied by authority,
And folly doctor-like controlling skill,
And simple truth miscall'd simplicity,
And captive good attending captain ill:
Tired with all these, from these would I be gone,
Save that, to die, I leave my love alone.

::Jobs::
(yikes!)

Am I an office person? (highly doubtful)
Am I a library person? (no idea, though I like libraries)
Am I a can-I-help-you person? (I guess I could, under certain circumstances)
Am I a desk person? (gulp)
Am I an academic? (maybe--but am I smart enough?)
Am I an international translator? (again, maybe)
Am I a writer? (not now, but maybe, like Milton, I'll start when I'm middle aged)
Am I a teacher? (I enjoy it, but it scares me)

Will my choice of today be my destiny of tomorrow?

I have applied for two jobs and am preparing a third application. The first one, which I thought had already discarded my application, called me today. Exam and interview to follow. (Should I study? I think I won't) Maybe the same will go for the others. Ironically, I'm more worried about being offered the jobs than about remaining a freelance translator. What if I get offers from all three (fat chance, I guess)? What if I have to decide on one job before I hear from the other, and I like the other better? Is it right to quit if you just got a job?

Can you tell that I have never done this before? (apply for jobs, not get a job)

On the other hand, should I continue my studies? I have a lovely GRE score going to waste; it will expire next year, I think. But no project. I have always lacked the decision to create a 'life project'.

My freedom!!!!!!!!!!!

On another note:



And this is for the scary mess the world is!!!!

And now, the grand finale: John Latham's Man Caught up with a Yellow Object. Both the man and the object are barely a man and an object. That black thing is about to jump out of the painting at you, right from the fog of your worst nightmares.

I can see that you can't take any more. You'd better take a look at The Calming Collection now. (No, I did not make that one up).

And now we come to David Hockney's The Third Love Painting. It looks like a blue monster is reaching over a chair. (Fortunately no one is in it.) I wonder why he would call it a "Love Painting". And the most scary part of all: you can't see it! There are no online images due to copyright restrictions, not even on the Tate Website. So now, for those who are scared of hard work, I have an unpleasant surprise. You will have to scroll down, find the pamphlet, and take a look at the very small reproduction of the painting. [Evil laugh]

This is the unsettling part. Joseph Wright of Derby's Vesuvius in Eruption... Do volcanoes count as monsters? In any case, that cloud looks like a dragon. Remember that monsters aren't always living animals... The painter might not have intended to paint a monster, but imagined monsters are twice as scary.

OK, time to rest for a bit. Here is Zuccarelli's A Landscape with the Story of Cadmus Killing the Dragon, once more of literary inspiration. This is not too bad. There's quite a fierce dragon to the right, and a couple of dead bodies, but at least there is a hero who is about to get rid of it. (Are you feeling sympathy for the poor beastie?)

Now here is an image straight from hell... Hogarth's Satan, Sin and Death (A Scene from Milton's Paradise Lost) [Room 6]. Of course, you all recognize the story... Sin is telling Satan that Death is their bastard child, and that she is his daughter (yes, that makes it incest!):

Nice, huh? Who do you think the "baby" takes after?

Here's a piece of it, in all its Miltonian splendor, in case you don't remember.

Sin speaks: (PL, Book II)

All on a sudden miserable pain
Surprised thee, dim thine eyes and dizzy swum
In darkness, while thy head flames thick and fast
Threw forth, till on the left side opening wide,
Likest to thee in shape and countenance bright,
Then shining heavenly fair, a goddess armed,
Out of thy head I sprung. Amazement seized
All th' host of Heaven; back they recoiled afraid
At first, and called me Sin, and for a sign
Portentous held me; but, familiar grown,
I pleased, and with attractive graces won
The most averse--thee chiefly, who, full oft
Thyself in me thy perfect image viewing,
Becam'st enamoured; and such joy thou took'st
With me in secret that my womb conceived
A growing burden.[...]

Pensive here I sat
Alone; but long I sat not, till my womb,
Pregnant by thee, and now excessive grown,
Prodigious motion felt and rueful throes.
At last this odious offspring whom thou seest,
Thine own begotten, breaking violent way,
Tore through my entrails, that, with fear and pain
Distorted, all my nether shape thus grew
Transformed: but he my inbred enemy
Forth issued, brandishing his fatal dart,
Made to destroy. I fled, and cried out Death!
Hell trembled at the hideous name, and sighed
From all her caves, and back resounded Death!


This is one of the scariest paintings in the whole museum. Guaranteed to give you nightmares for at least a week.

As promised, and in faithful imitation of the narrative style of Tate's Collections:

Welcome to the Scary Monsters Tour!!!

Well, you've seen the pamphlet. Are you sure you're not scared? All right then, let's take a look at the paintings one by one. Follow me.

This is Francis Bacon's Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion. The length of the name itself is a bit scary, isn't it?



The red background itself warns intruders to stay away, and no wonder. Look at those half-formed figures. That one on the right looks like it's about to bite. Don't get too close...

Is your spine tingly yet?

TATE

Yes, we visited a total of 3 TATE museums. At TATE Britain, we discovered a series of different, fun "Collections" (Take a look, and imagine them folded in three...). Of course, we couldn't resist making our own. This is mine:

I just wish the program had let me write my own reviews of each painting for my collection. I might do it on my own, though. (Click on the images to enlarge.)





So go ahead, make your own! (Too bad the pictures to choose from are somewhat small, so if you haven't seen them recently it's hard to choose. I also wish there was more to choose from...)

I have a feeling of impending doom.....