Book of Mercy #8-10

[Diane]

Thanks much for the postive feedback. It is much appreciated.

Simon, the word 'loneliness' first appears in 1.6, (and the theme of loneliness starts from the first line of the book).

Jack, thanks for your lovely and intriguing response to the question about how men feel in relation to women.

When we get close to women it is not the Goddess that we are meeting. Not the one who is concerned with the whole human race but we meet one who is concerned only with her very private needs which manifest as greed.

I think this is a crucial point. Both men and women have been raised by parents who cared for them imperfectly. Unconsciously, both sexes attempt to have their sex-partners give them what their parents never did. The majority of people remain with their 'dependency needs' unmet well into adulthood. That causes a lot of discord and disillusionment in relationships. If we can reach emotional maturity, then we become independent, and able to stop projecting our needs onto the other, and see the other as they are (love them rather than need them).

biologically women can get by without men and that this might be the preferred situation. I think that men have some gifts to offer

Feminism was necessary and achieved a great many things, but I think it does men a great disservice when it blames men for all of women's problems and tries to make men redundant. That's a whole load of that projection ("my problems are your fault and it is up to you to give me what I need"). Popular "wisdom" says that women wish men were more like them, and vice versa. But we don't really wish this of course, because that would mean we'd all simply become homosexual. What attracts me to a man is that he is not-me.

I like the line from a Dylan song that goes " I'll show you just how faithful and true a man can be" It seems like such a pure statement and the key word seems to be "can". That "can" might fall far short of what most women want a man to be for them but the best we can do as men is show them at least what it is and let them decide for themselves if it will do. The guide for that seems to be burning in our hearts. As Simon has pointed out this is reflected very well in the works of St. John of the Cross.

Your words remind me of the line, "I haven't shown you everything a man can do" (Billy Joel). That line always intrigues me when I hear it...

I've heard there is a common saying in a desert tribe in Africa. They refer to men as 'camels' and women as 'gazelles' and say: "A camel may get you through the desert, but a gazelle gets you through life." If this might be interpreted as meaning the moral superiority of a woman is more valuable than the superior physical strength of a man, then I can see how this fits in with what you are saying about wanting to return to the Godess. But women are profoundly attracted to the strength, the courage, the less-emotional-more-practical, the masculinity of a man.

I think biology always has the upper hand. For example, during the early stages of a relationship, when there is sexual rapture, brain chemistry keeps us 'in love', even the extent of changing men's perception of the world to be more like that of women, and vice versa. Biology doesn't 'care' whether we are ultimately disappointed in love, it cares only that the species is perpetuated.

Simon said:

Thanks For The Dance is a song of loneliness.

Yes, I just looked through the lyrics to Blue Alert, and each song could be said to be about separateness. Maybe it all comes back around to being 'alone together'. But I don't like to be pessimistic about love. Real honest deep communication between a man and a woman happens!

Tchoc said:

As for myself I just don't believe in romantic love which is the kind most in fashion in our culture - so unconsciously carved in our minds that we can not see all other meanings.

So, when you become fascinated by a man and communicate with him and desire him, and he reciprocates, what do you call it? And even if you don't believe in it, how can you stop it from happening?

Mat said:

These observations are clarifying for me Diane, with regard to the relationships Leonard "does not develop" with women.
You could say that his incapacity to love is almost reptilian.
We are all capable of this "distance" but you seem to be pointing out that it is the "norm" for Leonard. And it is this distance from the ability to love that perhaps disgusts Leonard himself.

One could suggest a degree of autism here?

I would guess it was the "norm", maybe, for Leonard in his younger days. But I think it is the norm for many men and women to be emotionally distant (because of 'fear of intimacy'), and to suffer from being that way, and from the relationships they form as a result.

Also, clearly, men do not express emotion as readily as women. That is an entirely natural (biological not cultural) difference. And that's why I said I didn't want to overstate things, becuase maybe he was at least partly exploring the vaccuum caused by men's and women's different ways of relating.

I'm enjoying all the posts, but this observation, for me, is the high point so far. It really makes me wonder about what it is that lures us to his work.

Indeed. I have been wondering that since I wrote my post earlier today. I think I know partly why I have been lured: I used to be the solitudinous woman in his songs, who secretly hoped a man would come to 'win' me and extract me from my exile. Ha, it's turned out to be a lot more complicated than that, but that's another story.

This is such a vast subject we could never get back BoM! So, what about 1.9:

Simon said:

The loneliness evoqued now in psalm I.9 could point to the narrator's relation to the feminine. But maybe not. The first thing that crossed my mind upon reading the psalm the first time was that it may relate to the mystic's retreat from the world leading to direct contact with the divine.

Diane

[DBCohen]

Psalm I.9

Blessed are you who has given each man a shield of loneliness so that he cannot forget you. You are the truth of loneliness, and only your name addresses it. Strengthen my loneliness that I may be healed in your name, which is behond all consolations that are uttered on this earth. Only in your name can I stand in the rush of time, only when this loneliness is yours can I lift my sins toward you mercy.

So we have reached number 9, John Lennon's mystical number...

Yes, let's talk about Lennon too sometime.

This is a very short but very poignant psalm on the theme of existential loneliness and the wish to overcome it through the contact with the divine. And the sins also come up here, never forgotten, hardly forgiven.

It is interesting that this short psalm includes the two words that were considered for the title of this book, “shield” and “name”, as well as the one that was chosen, “mercy”. In I.4 it were the shields of bitterness and hope, here it is the shield of loneliness which is praised. The shield comes first, and mercy comes last, and in between there is the name, mentioned three times.

… your name, which is beyond all consolations that are uttered on this earth.

This verse is based on one of the most famous Jewish prayers, the Kadish, which is part of every daily prayer when recited in public, and is well known also as a prayer for the dead, recited at funerals and in commemoration of dead relatives (some of you may know Leonard Bernstein's Symphony No. 3 of the same name, dedicated to the memory of JFK). The prayer itself says nothing of the dead, in fact, and mainly exalts God’s name and glory. The “original” verse – which is in Aramaic, and varies according to translation – is:

May his great name be blessed […] beyond all the blessings and hymns, praises and consolations that are spoken in this world.

I guess that as for many other Jews, for LC too this prayer has the connotation of mourning, especially over parents, and this connotation intensifies the acute feeling of loneliness and being deserted.

[lizzytysh]

Computerfrozeagain... hope I make it through my second attempt here. Have precious little time here to begin with, so will be exceedingly short, with regard to my first 'word' .

BRIEFLY... for me, there are nearly as many varieties of love as there are couplings. For discussion efficiency, however, there are objectively multiple varieties. Romantic love is one of them and is as legitimate as the others and the next. As Diane has well noted, it serves a great purpose... for one, getting and keeping people together, so other discoveries can be made and evolutions of other varieties of love evolve. Some become so disenchanted when it begins to 'wane' or move toward changing, they disappear. Some are seeking only the highs and have little or no tolerance for the lows, where the real growth takes place. The rewards are great for those who can make it through varying stages and experience and live in other kinds of love.

With regard to Leonard, my most basic feeling as to why we love him as we do is that he prefers speaking truth over pretending the perfection that we 'all' seek and precious few come close to achieving. As Diane has also noted, we are the products of our parenting... we are also products of our socialization and our culture and our many, other things. It helps to look at it this way, if we want to withhold blame. We are all perpetrators and we are all victims of all the external forces that make us who we are. Oh dear , my computer almost froze... will continue this through the editing process.

Leonard's truth is the admission of his lack of perfection. He does not set himself up as having it all together, of knowing how to love a woman perfectly... he gives great detail to his failings in this quest. We can [as man or woman... for the principle remains the same, in my mind... as Jack noted how what he himself wrote can be viewed from male or female perspective... so can the principles of imperfect love] relate ~ honestly ~ to what Leonard has written... "I lit a thin, green candle... to make you jealous of me. But the room just filled up with mosquitoes... they heard that my body was free... " ~ Leonard sets himself to be knocked down, if that's all that people choose to do with what he's written... they can pretend... as in "Please Don't Pass Me By" that:

Now I know that you're sitting there deep in your velvet seats and you're
thinking "Uh, he's up there saying something that he thinks about, but I'll
never have to sing that song." But I promise you friends, that you're going
to be singing this song: it may not be tonight, it may not be tomorrow, but
one day you'll be on your knees and I want you to know the words when the
time comes. Because you're going to have to sing it to yourself, or to another,
or to your brother. You're going to have to learn to sing this song, it goes:

Please don't pass me by,
ah you don't have to sing this .. not for you.
Please don't pass me by,
for I am blind, but you can see,
yes, I've been blinded totally,
oh please don't pass me by.

Well I sing this for the Jews and the Gypsies and the smoke that they made.
And I sing this for the children of England, their faces so grave. And I sing
this for a saviour with no one to save. Hey, won't you be naked for me? Hey,
won't you be naked for me? It goes:

Please don't pass me by,
oh please don't pass me by,
for I am blind, but you can see,
yes, I've been blinded totally,
oh now, please don't pass me by.

Now there's nothing that I tell you that will help you connect the blood
tortured night with the day that comes next. But I want it to hurt you, I
want it to end. Oh, won't you be naked for me? Oh now:

Please don't pass me by,
oh please don't pass me by,
for I am blind, but you can see,
but I've been blinded totally,
oh, please don't pass me by.

Well I sing this song for you Blonde Beasts, I sing this song for you Venuses
upon your shells on the foam of the sea. And I sing this for the freaks and
the cripples, and the hunchback, and the burned, and the burning, and the
maimed, and the broken, and the torn, and all of those that you talk about at
the coffee tables, at the meetings, and the demonstrations, on the streets,
in your music, in my songs. I mean the real ones are burning, I mean the
real ones are burning

I say, please don't pass me by,
oh now, please don't pass me by,
for I am blind, yeah but you can see,
ah now, I've been blinded totally,
oh no, please don't pass me by.

I know that you still think that its me. I know that you think that there's
somebody else. I know that these words aren't yours. But I tell you friends
that one day

You're going to get down on your knees,
you're going to get down on your knees,
you're going to get down on your knees,
you're going to get down on your knees,
you're going to get down on your knees,
you're going to get down on your knees,
you're going to get down on your knees,
you're going to get down on your knees,
you're going to get down ..

Oh, please don't pass me by,
oh, please don't pass me by,
for I am blind, yeah but you can see,
yes, I've been blinded totally,
oh, please don't pass me by.

Well you know I have my songs and I have my poems. I have my book and I have
the army, and sometimes I have your applause. I make some money, but you know
what my friends, I'm still out there on the corner. I'm with the freaks, I'm
with the hunted, I'm with the maimed, yes I'm with the torn, I'm with the down,
I'm with the poor. Come on now ...

Ah, please don't pass me by,
well I've got to go now friends,
but, please don't pass me by,
for I am blind, yeah but you can see,
oh, I've been blinded, I've been blinded totally,
oh now, please don't pass me by.

Now I want to take away my dignity, yes take my dignity. My friends, take my
dignity, take my form, take my style, take my honour, take my courage, take
my time, take my time, .. time .. 'Cause you know I'm with you singing this
song. And I wish you would, I wish you would, I wish you would go home with
someone else. Wish you'd go home with someone else. I wish you'd go home with
someone else. Don't be the person that you came with. Oh, don't be the person
that you came with, Oh don't be the person that you came with. Ah, I'm not
going to be. I can't stand him. I can't stand who I am. That's why I've got to
get down on my knees. Because I can't make it by myself. I'm not by myself
anymore because the man I was before he was a tyrant, he was a slave, he was
in chains, he was broken and then he sang:

Oh, please don't pass me by,
oh, please don't pass me by,
for I am blind, yes I am blind, Oh but you can see,
yes, I've been blinded totally,
oh, please don't pass me by.

Well I hope I see you out there on the corner. Yeah I hope as I go by that I
hear you whisper with the breeze. Because I'm going to leave you now, I'm
going to find me someone new. Find someone new.

And please don't pass me by.

The world isn't perfect and neither are people and neither are the relationships between people. Leonard knows this and makes it perfectly clear and uses himself as the 'fall guy.' So many of us, for so many reasons, are at least conflicted, if not deeply conflicted... our parents, our religion, our society, our humanness, our... have made it so. We can act superior and pretend that we're not like that, or we can identify with the weaknesses and the faults and false expectations and whatever else and be grateful to hear what we know to be the truth. For me, Leonard brings that perspective in Spades... and this song is the Ace of it. We recognize the truth in ourselves through Leonard's words, and we love him for his courage and honesty. Love to everyone like a refugee will come... if we're humble enough.

Loneliness isn't a theme reserved for man-woman relationships and how each contributes to their own by the way they behave within the relationship. People are lonely, in varying degrees. Loneliness is a theme of life. Some account it to a lack of proper relationship with G~d or another deity... others to a lack of proper relationship with each other... still others to a lack of proper relationship with self.

With regard to sexual exchange, without becoming overly personal in all of this, when I read what Diane wrote so well in expressing herself in this, I felt differently regarding the oral sex in "Light as a Breeze" [whew... itfrozerighthere]... for me, it is the most intimate. Heart may not be to heart, missionary or 'missionary-reversed'... yet, it is the ultimate of a different level of trust and expression. It is not a given form of exchange. So, comparing it to a form of heaven and a blessing from above... figuratively and literally; yes, I can relate to that... man with woman, or woman with man.


~ Lizzy

[DBCohen]

Diane,

First let me say how grateful I am for your wisdom, and also for your concise and accurate style. And what you say indeed raises a very serious question. I must be very brief, but I’ll try to relate to a few points now. From your earlier posting:

Take that other oral sex song, Light as the Breeze…

Your point can be strengthened further by another “oral sex song”, “Coming Back To You”:

Even in your arms I know
I’ll never get it right;
even when you bend
to give me comfort in the night.
I’ve got to have your word on this
or none of it is true,
and all I’ve said was just instead of
coming back to you.

Stephen Scobie said in his 1993 lecture on LC:

…and his treatment of women has been a persistent embarrassment, or outright offence, to feminist critics.

I can see why (although I haven’t read that criticism), but I also think that his attitude needs to be qualified: he is rarely “Tarzan”, more often the tormented lover longing for love. And also: his sensitivity, his struggles with loneliness and pain, his spiritual struggle – these and more relate to the general human condition, regardless of sex, and I guess that this is part of his appeal to both men and women (or perhaps a certain kind of men and women; after all, there are many who can’t stand him, unfortunately).

From your later posting:

I've heard there is a common saying in a desert tribe in Africa. They refer to men as 'camels' and women as 'gazelles' and say: "A camel may get you through the desert, but a gazelle gets you through life." If this might be interpreted as meaning the moral superiority of a woman is more valuable than the superior physical strength of a man, then I can see how this fits in with what you are saying about wanting to return to the Godess. But women are profoundly attracted to the strength, the courage, the less-emotional-more-practical, the masculinity of a man.

In Middle Eastern culture (which in certain periods spread as far as Spain) the gazelle is a symbol of beauty, not moral superiority, and I have a feeling that this is the meaning in this saying too.

Also, clearly, men do not express emotion as readily as women.

This is a bit too general, don’t you think? Perhaps “some men” would be more accurate.

Thanks again for your wonderful contributions. I hope you’ll keep them coming.

[Joe Way]

Before I would go personally patting him on the shoulder I would want to know why he used that word "up" in the poem. It's starting to really bother me. Does any one have an idea that makes any sense?

Jack

Jack, despite all my talk about the Axis Mundi and straight lines, it is apparent to me that human life is not about straight lines, but about cycles. We "fall" asleep at night and we get "up" in the morning.

It also occured to me that my reply to you sounded slightly rude and that wasn't my intention at all. You are obviously a very 21st century man using imagery from Einstein and 3 dimensional models and I certainly appreciate your bringing this to bear on our understanding. I do, though, believe that Leonard had a very classical education that is perhaps, more two dimensional in its imagery. After all, Dante went out of his way to include the classical into his model of Christian redemption to "save" Homer, Virgil and all of his heroes. The least we can do is let them have some minor equal footing with the scientific elite who now dominate the modern landscape.

Doron, I confess to a very rudimentary introduction to Kabbalistic thought, but this quote from Sepher Yetzirah intrigues me:

Set the Word at its origin and put the Maker in his place

We have spoken briefly about the creation myths, but what seems significant is not how nature came into being, but how the sense of nature as an order comes to the conscious mind.

With this in mind, I wonder now, about the imagery that LC uses in 1-8 of being intercepted in his fall and how that might imply some sort of divine initiative. Prayer is most commonly conceived as prayer of invocation-the ego-bound request for special favors. When the fall is intercepted without having invoked this cause/result, isn't the natural response, "Blessed are you..." An old Monsignor once said to me, "You know people are always telling me, 'I didn't get anything out of going to church today'-I tell them, 'You don't go to church to get something out of it-you go to give some thanks back to God'".

Dear Diane, your wonderful analysis was very enlightening. I point you back to what Leonard wrote in "Boogie Street."

And O my love, I still recall
The pleasures that we knew;
The rivers and the waterfall,
Wherein I bathed with you.
Bewildered by your beauty there,
I’d kneel to dry your feet.
By such instructions you prepare
A man for Boogie Street.

I think Leonard is finally bathing with his love. It is a significant change in his view of women and perhaps his "Happy at Last" lies therein. Speaking as a man much in love with his wife and happy with the life given to him-two wonderful daughters and a closeness with my 89 year old mother-men still need a little time away from all the nuturing of women-and our sexual nature will always respond to the suggestion of a breast like a red flag to a bull.

There is much I still want to write about Milton's depictions, but I need to save it for another time.

Joe

[lizzytysh]

I think Leonard is finally bathing with his love.

I very much agree with this, Joe. I feel it's to the credit of a woman willing to remain standing until the mist cleared and he finally saw the woman and the person standing there.


~ Lizzy

[Joe Way]

I've forgotten to mention again that significant connection between "Thanks For The Dance" and "Beautiful Losers."

Turn up the music
Pour out the wine
Stop at the surface
The surface is fine
We don’t need to go any deeper

My friend F. used to say in his hopped up fashion: We've got to learn to stop bravely at the surface. We've got learn to love appearances.

When you also take "A Thousand Kisses Deep" into consideration, one begins to marvel at both the simplicity and complexity of LC's world.

One last quote from "Beautiful Losers."

This is my mental comfort in the snow of March the 6th. And I recall a line from the Jew Cabala (Sixth Part of the Beard of Macroprosopus), "that every work existeth in order that it may procure increase for Mercy..." Move closer, corpse of Catherine Tekawitha, it is 20 below, I do not know how to hug you.

Joe

[lazariuk]

We "fall" asleep at night and we get "up" in the morning.

Surely a poet would say "we sleep at night and wake in the morning" Maybe fall to sleep would be ok

I was very pleased that he never used the word down in "A thousand kisses deep" though when I saw the title I feared he would.

[lizzytysh]

Hi Jack ~

For example I see that she seems to be concerned equally for all and so that is why it seemed so important for me when in this discussion to have you be a part of it because you seemed to manifest that aspect of the Goddess. You seem to find it easy to be accepting of all who come.

Thank you for this, Jack. It's gratifying to know that you appreciate my voice.

In other places where I am in dealings with women who are not so open I try in my own little way to awaken that concern for all rather than her concern for me especially. I hope by taking these small little steps that eventually I will be trusted with larger ones.

I hope that your quest in this goes well for you. My thoughts on it are that taking small steps is wise, and that good things are worth waiting for... being in a rush creates misperceptions that can lead to unnecessary missteps that can abort the whole process. Taking your time is good.

I like the line from a Dylan song that goes "I'll show you just how faithful and true a man can be" It seems like such a pure statement and the key word seems to be "can".

It also seems to me that societal expectations of what to be a "man" [from negative presumptions and assumptions about his actions and 'predictable' behaviours to 'expectations' of what he should be doing to maintain his 'manliness'... carousing, infidelity, lying, dismissive and false communication with his woman, and whatever else] means can interfere with a man being all that he can be, too.

That "can" might fall far short of what most women want a man to be for them but the best we can do as men is show them at least what it is and let them decide for themselves if it will do.

It's wonderful that you're willing to do this. Your Dylan lyric also reminds me as being related [in my own mind, at least ] of a favourite one of mine from Billy Joel... "I am an innocent man... oh, yes, I am... ," where the man more willing to be true is discounted and discarded because, well, he's a man and presumed to be otherwise .

There is no reason that I should, because I seemed to have failed love so often, but I am just starting to feel like I am in love and it is a love that hasen't failed even though all the signs of failure are there.
Does that make any sense?

Yes, it does make sense... and I wish you well in your quest and venture in the direction of love. Signs of 'failure' can be deceiving. I hope yours turn out to be just that, as you are not walking this path with frivolity, but with a genuine sense of purpose. You deserve the finer destination.


My very best to you, Jack,
Lizzy

[lizzytysh]

Hi Tchocolatl ~

I haven't had time 'til now to go to your link on love. That kind of time is quite the luxury when you're trying to get to bed and get certain things written before you do, and are in a steady race against time with afreezingcomputer. So, now I'm seeing that what I said regarding the many varieties of love is quite substantiated there. Thanks, even though it was unintentional .

[Oh, dear... computer making odd noises... hope I make it through this.]

I liked very much what you wrote:

Indians poetry uses a lot the image of the desired woman for the man to reach his "God" (or whatever it is called), just like Leonard Cohen.

For me, this seems so natural, when one considers the presumed, life-giving properties of G~d [relies only on the belief in G~d and the rest follows] and the clearly obvious, life-giving [creator] properties of woman. Woman being a form of G~d on earth and perceived as an avenue to the Almighty Creator... just makes perfect sense to me.

I'd be very interested if someone follows up on this:

1) mystical numbers - I remember having read an Isaac Asimov's (very) short story about numerology which I think, like kabala, has Jewish roots? Am I right or wrong?

I know of and a small amount about numerology, but I believe in it... and would love to see its application here.


~ Lizzy

[Joe Way]

Jack wrote:

Surely a poet would say "we sleep at night and wake in the morning" Maybe fall to sleep would be ok

We may "wake"-but we still need to get "up."

Joe

[lazariuk]

We may "wake"-but we still need to get "up."

Joe

The words are in and out. We go in to bed and get out of bed. we go in to sleep and come out of sleep. We go out to the sky and come back in to earth. There is no identifible direction that is up. Out is mutli directional and in is unidirectional. Gravity is comprehensively embracing and unidirectional. The more we fall in love the more we are falling in together. Just as the closer we come to earth's center of gravity the closer we will be to each other.

Jack

" Love is the integral of gravity and radiation. Energy as either radiation or matter is the summa frequency, local-in-Universe, aberrational palpitation of comprehensive gravity embracement. Energy manifests itself as the palpitating, gravity- tolerated, aberrational pulsings-through of the plurality of exact centers of pure principles. This plurality of principles, being inherently different one from the other, have ever- varying interdomain proximities that produce varying push-pulls of the plurality of generalized principles influencing the locally-tuned-in event, which proximity variations depend on which set of principles are most informationally relevant in comprehending both the local and cosmic significance of any given local experience event." Bucky Fuller

[DBCohen]

It’s becoming more and more difficult to follow everything on this thread. So apologies all around for brief and partial responses.

Tchocolatl,

1) mystical numbers - I remember having read an Isaac Asimov's (very) short story about numerology which I think, like kabala, has Jewish roots? Am I right or wrong?

I believe I know the story you are talking about. And no, Numerology is not Jewish in origin, although it is often confused with Kabbalah. Its roots are in ancient Babylonia and with Pythagoras. In Hebrew the letters have numerical value, and this was used as a tool of interpretation for at least 2000 years, but it has nothing to do with Kabbalah per se.

Joe,

Doron, I confess to a very rudimentary introduction to Kabbalistic thought, but this quote from Sepher Yetzirah intrigues me:

Quote:
Set the Word at its origin and put the Maker in his place


We have spoken briefly about the creation myths, but what seems significant is not how nature came into being, but how the sense of nature as an order comes to the conscious mind.

Sefer Yetzirah is also not a part of Kabbalah per se; it’s a unique book, standing mysteriously for itself. Where did you find the quote? I’m not sure I recognize it. And I agree with your observation.

Now, any observations on BoM, anyone?

[tomsakic]

Two full pages of your enormously interesting writings, people. I am amazed. Still, I guess I shall stop on Diane's "twopenneth" and read it about dozen times. And then all respones, which're, at first glance, wide and deep. I will not give up;-)

Diane, thank you very much, it seems it all stands rightly, but does not mean, again, that our poet can be see as mysogin, as some critics have stated. I like that variation of Hallelujah line, from shows, "I learned to touch", "learned" instead of "tried". As woman in Death of a Ladies' Man says "I'll show you solitude" while in Death of a Lady's Man she says "I'll teach you solitude." Also, Leonard's statement about these matters was the same as in matters of politics and 9-11 etc., he's, like in Zen koan, going beyond dialectial oppositions, beyond all divisions, "neither left of right, just staying home tonight", "just holding the fort". Remember: Over the last five or ten thousand years, men have been asking the question "What does a woman want?" And for the last few hundred years even women have been asking the question "What does a woman want?" And now men are asking the question "What does a man want?" And I just want to notify you that if these thoughts interest you for even a moment, you are lost. I have abandoned this type of question and I stand ready to signify my intention to do anything at all that she wants in order to deserve her caress. And therefore I declare I am your man. And Oh thank you sons and daughters of Iceland. It is a great honour for us to play before you this evening. Even at the begining of your country men were asking the question:"What does a woman want?". The only change through millenium has been that now women are asking "What does a woman want?" And now even men are asking "What does a man want?" Nobody knows what they want. If these thoughts interest you, even for a moment, You are lost. I myself am ready to surrender to the obvious.....I'm ready to do anything to deserve a woman's caress. All I want to say to the one I love is "I'm your man".

[lizzytysh]

Still, I guess I shall stop on Diane's "twopenneth" and read it about dozen times.

Came back in early this morning to add this, and here is Tom's perfect segue for my reiteration on the quality of Diane's two postings. Agreeing with every conclusion isn't necessary for recognizing the excellence of her analysis... clear and fresh like the air that comes in through a just-opened window, raised for that very purpose. I made a brief, but absolute, comment to her on it privately, in tandem with one on the excellence of a photograph; however, saying something there does nothing to reenforce here . Her lens in her comments was focused and refined. The uniqueness of your thoughts and chosen details came together with wonderful clarity, and it was a pleasure to read, Diane. Thanks.


~ Lizzy