Wonderful day--we drove up to Seattle from Portland, and the weather could not have been more excellent, the company sweeter or the music better...I burned a CD of Zevon tunes and we just let it all soak in--the certain knowledge that we were actually not performing this evening, and that we were here, under our own power, driving to wherever we wished. How often do most people get that kind of freedom, the feeling of release? Not often enough.
I'm at the in-laws--upstairs games are being played, and I'm filing this report from down below, as is my want. We've had a great dinner, the dog is running amuck, there was wine--it's just about perfect, that's what it is.
In closing, I offer a Latin translation of ICE, ICE, BABY.
GELU, O GELU CARA VANILLAE GELUS
doo doo doo, doo-doo-doo-doo
doo doo doo, doo-doo-doo-doo...
Etenim, siste, me iuva, auscultaque
(Indeed: Halt, aid me, and take heed)
Gelu redivit cum inventione novissima
(Frost has returned with a very new invention)
Nescioquid me constringit
(Something constrains me)
Fluo ceu hasta baleanarum necandarum noctu et quotidie
(I flow in the manner of a whale-killing spear daily and by night)
Umquam hoc desistetne? Ego dubito.
(Shall this ever cease? I myself doubt it.)
Lucernis restinctis luceam
(When the lamps are extinguished I shall shed light)
Ad ultimum flecto microphonem ut vandal
(I bend the microphone to the furthest point like a germanic tribesman)
Scenam illumino et ineptum incero etsi candelam faciam
(I brighten the stage and cover an inept man in wax as if I were making a taper)
Salta, rue ad originem sonituum resonantium
(Dance, hasten to the source of resounding noises)
Sic cerebrum tuum laedo quomodo Claudium Imperatorem Agrippina Neroque interfecrunt
(I am wounding your brain in the manner that Agrippina and Nero killed the Emperor Claudius)
Letalis sum, quando cantum validum modulor
(I am fatal when I warble a hearty tune)
Quicquid peius optimo nefas
(Anything worse than the best is blasphemy)
Aut id ama aut discede, gravitatem tuam augere oportet
(Either love it or leave, you ought to increase your weightiness)
Debes tendere sagittam ad volucrem traiecto in fune columbam – infans negat
(You ought to aim for the dove hoisted on the rope* – the child refuses)
Si quaestio exsisteret, solutionem offerem
(If there were a debate I should offer a solution)
Carmen meum probas dum discafer meus revolvit
(Evaluate my refrain while my disk-bearer revolves)
Gelu, O Gelu, Cara
(Frost. O, Frost, Darling!)
Mad props to the translator. Peace out.
12:34 AM