We ate the birds

We ate the birds. We ate them. We wanted their songs to flow up through our throats and burst out of our mouths and so we ate them. We wanted their feathers to bud from our flesh. We wanted their wings, we wanted to fly as they did, soar freely among the treetops and the clouds, and so we ate them. We speared them, we clubbed them, we tangled their feet in glue, we netted them, we spitted them, we threw them onto hot coals, and all for love, because we loved them. We wanted to be one with them. We wanted to hatch out of clean, smooth, beautiful eggs, as they did, back when we were young and agile and innocent of cause and effect, we did not want the mess of being born and so we crammed the birds into our gullets, feathers and all, but it was no use, we couldn’t sing, not effortlessly as they do, we can’t fly, not without smoke and metal, and as for the eggs we don’t stand a chance.

We’re mired in gravity, we’re earthbound. We’re ankle-deep in blood, and all because we ate the birds, we ate them a long time ago, when we still had the power to say no.

- Margaret Atwood

We're learning about reproduction in Animal Physiology and today the professor kept going on about the growing tissue and the wet mass of the extra tissue... I was really confused until I realized he was talking about the fetus. "Growing tissue"? Sometimes a fetus is just a fetus.

I can't believe how fast this semester has gone. It was just September... JUST. And for the first time ever... I don't want this semester to end. There are so many good things happening right now and as soon as I switch classes... all the good things will be over.

I am writing a research paper about Animal Wives. Yes, Animal Wives. It is a tale type and it is very dull to write about.

I wish it wasn't becoming winter so fast. I love Indian summers, when the summer seamlessly drifts into fall and the world glows gold. I want to wear linen dresses and green wellies by the pond, catching dragonflies in a gossamer net and licking honey from the comb. And then string paper hearts from all the trees.

I got a flu shot yesterday and I am having very awful side effects - while stuck at school. I'm never getting a flu shot ever again. I'm probably allergic to the flu or something.

I started making my Christmas list.... three months ago. I always know exactly what I want. Christmas used to be so fun as a child, because it was always a surprise. I loved that feeling I got while looking at piles of gifts - it was the anticipation of diving into the unknown and coming out with fantastic new things that I had never seen before. (There was no internet so my world was very small. I thought you could only get things from the holiday edition of the Sear's catalog) My parents were so good at finding gifts for me - I always loved them but I never expected them. I think that's the nature of children's toys though. They have mass appeal. Now we are more specifically targeted. Though my taste hasn't gotten any less broad. My choice in gifts ranges from vintage owl statues to My Little Pony's to $100 cocktail rings and fancy dresses. My parents still surprise me sometimes, with the little things, and I don't know if I would want to go back to a time when I didn't get exactly what I want...

I stopped making my Halloween costume. I got so frusterated with it. What else can I do with several yards of lamb fur?

Somewhere a Clock is Ticking

Instead of being lavished with gifts upon my arrival home from New York, I was introduced to my family's latest acquisition - a grandfather clock. My father adores the clock - it runs a few minutes fast and there is no known remedy, so he set the rest of the clocks in the house to sync up with it.

There is nothing subtle about a grandfather clock - it has the time and wants the world to know. Every 15 minutes it chimes 1/4 of a song and on the hour it not only plays the whole song but it will also gong a corresponding number of times.

Living with this clock has to be handled with care; important conversations have to be timed around the clock. And you must never make a phone call at 12:00.