tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1564859019305736550.post6421945838299354777..comments2023-07-22T15:44:42.859+01:00Comments on More about the song - rambling with Rachel Fox: Feeling like death?Rachel Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1564859019305736550.post-78689607124778426522009-02-16T20:28:00.000+00:002009-02-16T20:28:00.000+00:00If you ever want to try him again, may I recommend...If you ever want to try him again, may I recommend 'Amongst Women' or his collected short stories which are... (can't get the word) good. :)Ken Armstronghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07775956557261111127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1564859019305736550.post-64936234093894001632009-02-15T10:22:00.000+00:002009-02-15T10:22:00.000+00:00I did really like the book, Ken, and I'd never hea...I did really like the book, Ken, and I'd never heard of that writer before so thanks for the introduction.<BR/>xRachel Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1564859019305736550.post-55402621289299605852009-02-15T09:24:00.000+00:002009-02-15T09:24:00.000+00:00I'm so sorry about your dog - most people who have...I'm so sorry about your dog - most people who have lost their dog will emphatise, any one who hasn't might not get how very big a deal it is. I would be in the former group.<BR/><BR/>I'm glad you found something in the book - I think 'gentle with an impact' is a very good way of describing it. I hope you didn't feel, 'God, I have to read this thing' or at least, if you did, (and I think this is true) that is was worthwhile. :)<BR/><BR/>I suppose it'd be much worse if we didn't feel anything, right?Ken Armstronghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07775956557261111127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1564859019305736550.post-48316257491926593922009-02-14T23:27:00.000+00:002009-02-14T23:27:00.000+00:00VD means the same thing here. I have a dark sense...VD means the same thing here. I have a dark sense of humour today.<BR/><BR/>Will look forward to your post about home!Fantastic Forresthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08044290192610027408noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1564859019305736550.post-27301604217436518422009-02-14T20:23:00.000+00:002009-02-14T20:23:00.000+00:00An extra 'if' got itself into that comment. Obviou...An extra 'if' got itself into that comment. Obviously the ghost of Kipling or something...<BR/>xRachel Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1564859019305736550.post-8437828869104042722009-02-14T20:19:00.000+00:002009-02-14T20:19:00.000+00:00Happy VD confused me for a minute there, FF! But I...Happy VD confused me for a minute there, FF! But I got to the right solution in the end...(over here VD means venereal disease...though I know STD is more the term you see in leaflets etc. now).<BR/><BR/>But speaking of Valentines, mine has been hard at work today - he hoovered, made the tea, made a fire...but he is always pretty amazing and I am very lucky. I would post him a poem for today...but I did that for his birthday back in July so I think I might have used up that idea...('Oh great, hun, another online poem...').<BR/><BR/>I have started writing a post about home so I will put some details about places if I've lived seeing as you asked so nicely!<BR/><BR/>That post will make it out by Sun night or Monday (our time) maybe. So see you again soon perhaps.<BR/><BR/>xRachel Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1564859019305736550.post-34876045243259481172009-02-14T20:03:00.000+00:002009-02-14T20:03:00.000+00:00I see I shall have to catch up on your prior posts...I see I shall have to catch up on your prior posts and comments! Do you detail your former homes, especially the one abroad? If not, will you tell me where you lived?<BR/><BR/><I>Love, Actually </I>is one of my favorites. I feel so sad about Rickman's and Thompson's characters' marriage. What do you think happens after the movie is over? <BR/><BR/>I know what you mean about asking the x, y, z questions - that deeper thinking is evident in Alexander McCall Smith's Sunday Philosophers Club. I hope you'll check those books out. <BR/><BR/>I just saw Revolutionary Road and that leads me to a lot of heavy questions.<BR/><BR/>Always good to visit with you, Rachel! Happy VD.Fantastic Forresthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08044290192610027408noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1564859019305736550.post-46513046988664895592009-02-14T18:02:00.000+00:002009-02-14T18:02:00.000+00:00You may notice, FF, that Rickman snuck into this p...You may notice, FF, that Rickman snuck into this post too. I really like him as an actor. He is one of 'Love Actually's only saving graces too...(that's a bit of an ongoing topic with some of my longtime visitors here...).<BR/><BR/>As for the Frost - no, I don't think those two lines are cheery or comforting either! Frost liked to get to the heart of the real (I think) and that's something I like to try and do too so I do like his writing. The tag was just something that 'rings important' and this choice, as I say, has hung round in my head a long time. I am just interested in the subject of home...it's something people talk about all the time but it can be a very vague concept at times (for some people). Same with the looks issue re Rickman (and down on my author photos post)...these are just subjects I find interesting really...why do we say x, why do we think y, why do we so often do z...<BR/><BR/>Oh and I am a little cheerier today, thanks. And yes, plenty of love about. It needs cleaning too, I should think!<BR/><BR/>And Kat. Lovely girl you are. Into the bones indeed.<BR/><BR/>xRachel Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1564859019305736550.post-37540211392562289012009-02-14T18:00:00.000+00:002009-02-14T18:00:00.000+00:00I can't stop long, but will return later to write ...I can't stop long, but will return later to write more. <BR/>I will say this: Being a cat lover and having grown up with many of them - I've lost many too. It is gut-wrenching, isn't it? You don't really expect it too - these days you think, "I'm stronger than that. I'm not going to get all sentimental and weepy." It doesn't quite work out that way though, does it? Other seeminly inconsequential events conspire to draw out those tears -- all underlined by that small death, that means so much.<BR/>You have an animal in your life and it's work. You are constantly catering to their needs - feeding, cleaning up after them, walking them, taking them to vets when they are ill. It gets into your bones, not just your mind. That intangible love that reaches its acme after they are gone. I do understand and think even more of you for your sensitivity.<BR/><BR/>Tea and biscuits are available anytime you need a shoulder.<BR/><BR/>Kat<BR/><BR/>P.S. I've taken up the challenge of finding that poem.Kat Mortensenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16877694888419628533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1564859019305736550.post-82628151549784668022009-02-14T17:50:00.000+00:002009-02-14T17:50:00.000+00:00This is a dreary, saddish time of year, and you've...This is a dreary, saddish time of year, and you've had a number of things happen all at once to add to your sadness. I'm sorry to hear about them all.<BR/><BR/>The Frost snippet makes me depressed, not cheered up. The two "have"s add up to a big "hole." Or maybe just a "have not." If "You <B>have</B> to go" it's clearly saying you're acting unwillingly. Perhaps you've no other options. And there's no joy in the thought that "they have to take you in." So it's not that you're welcomed with opened arms, it's more a resigned sense of obligation. <BR/><BR/>Maybe I just possess a keen eye for the obvious. If so, I apologize for boring you with my response. But I think Frost meant it to be somehow comforting, especially, when you look at his next lines:<BR/><I><BR/>'I should have called it<BR/>Something you somehow haven't to deserve.' </I><BR/><BR/>That isn't how I took it. I wasn't comforted.<BR/><BR/>I hope that your Valentine's Day marks the start of some happier times for you, Rachel. I hope that there is lots of loving in your home as well as cleaning and caring.<BR/><BR/>PS I think your sad week clearly impacted your ability to see clearly when you commented at TTTaS. Rickman is not any of the things you wrote. Rrowr!!!!Fantastic Forresthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08044290192610027408noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1564859019305736550.post-54798329824615214022009-02-14T17:39:00.000+00:002009-02-14T17:39:00.000+00:00Yes...and passing they are! I am just a very up an...Yes...and passing they are! <BR/><BR/>I am just a very up and down person though too, Frances. Very high ups, very low downs...and very, very good at crying. I've stopped now...for a while at least...<BR/><BR/>xRachel Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1564859019305736550.post-6804529287321665102009-02-14T17:15:00.000+00:002009-02-14T17:15:00.000+00:00No wonder you're feeling down if you've lost your ...No wonder you're feeling down if you've lost your dog and your daughter's been unwell. As some poet sometime said, when winter comes can spring etc etc All things must pass.Franceshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12455584448055432913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1564859019305736550.post-84238970656832806712009-02-14T16:45:00.000+00:002009-02-14T16:45:00.000+00:00Yes there are times (quite a lot of times) when tu...Yes there are times (quite a lot of times) when turning the imagination off (or even just down) really would be a good idea. I never have managed to learn that skill though! Luckily our girl's Dad is a more pragmatic type. One ridiculously over-thinking parent is more than enough.<BR/>xRachel Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1564859019305736550.post-26086860687520272002009-02-14T12:10:00.000+00:002009-02-14T12:10:00.000+00:00Sorry, I never even mentioned your daughter! Yes, ...Sorry, I never even mentioned your daughter! <BR/><BR/>Yes, it is terrible when a child is unwell. My nephews, thankfully, have never been seriously ill. But when they have been sick it's quite intolerable. I remember a quote from somewhere else saying that the pain you feel for another is worse than the pain you feel yourself. Imagination amplifies it.<BR/><BR/>***<BR/><BR/>Ted Hughes is a sort of rites-of-passage thing for teenage boys. We like the blood and guts! And that poem has stuck with me since I first read it in the library when I should have been studying for a calculus exam. :)deemikayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01421704728979191339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1564859019305736550.post-89677536457447991292009-02-14T11:58:00.000+00:002009-02-14T11:58:00.000+00:00Oh, it's really not that terrible...just a bit sad...Oh, it's really not that terrible...just a bit sad...and weird...it's always weird when someone (or something) is suddenly not there any more. It reminds you how quickly death can happen...to anyone, any time! And when your child is ill that is not really the kind of thing you want in your mind...she is a little better though today...nibbling bread as I type.<BR/><BR/>Ted Hughes eh? Interesting...I was never very into Hughes until I did a little teaching (to 15 year olds) and found how interesting his poems were to teach. 'Go on looking'...yes...yes.<BR/><BR/>xRachel Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1564859019305736550.post-24552507500874516662009-02-14T11:49:00.000+00:002009-02-14T11:49:00.000+00:00That's terrible news about the dog. I hope you're ...That's terrible news about the dog. I hope you're all coping with the loss.<BR/><BR/>***<BR/><BR/>Your tag... I'd have to go for something from Wodwo by Ted Hughes (which I often call my "favourite poem in the whole wide world").<BR/><BR/>This line from the middle sums up my occasional amazement that I actually exist:<BR/><BR/>"me and doing that have coincided very queerly"<BR/><BR/>Or maybe at the end of it: <BR/><BR/>"... I suppose I am the exact centre / but there's all this what is it roots / roots roots roots and here's the water / again very queer but I'll go on looking"deemikayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01421704728979191339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1564859019305736550.post-85893112858655735362009-02-14T10:06:00.000+00:002009-02-14T10:06:00.000+00:00Thanks Colin. I'm not sure when I turned into a pe...Thanks Colin. I'm not sure when I turned into a person who cries about dogs but it does seem to have happened somewhere along the way! I know it is wrapped up with other feelings and concerns too. Some of which I can't really go into on here...<BR/><BR/>And Roxana...hello! And the point about this quote is that it says 'home' not 'family'. To some people 'home' is nothing to do with family (and this is exactly the case for the man who dies in the Frost poem). Home can be friends, a place, a family...or somewhere you never recognise...or, I suppose, nowhere at all. It can be a changing concept too. <BR/><BR/>xRachel Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1564859019305736550.post-2179761739889828462009-02-13T22:04:00.000+00:002009-02-13T22:04:00.000+00:00an interesting tag, isn't it? I like your choice t...an interesting tag, isn't it? I like your choice too, even if I am not always comfortable with the notion of 'family' and all that it implies.Roxanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05650840495095863057noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1564859019305736550.post-70103405362881575872009-02-13T21:58:00.000+00:002009-02-13T21:58:00.000+00:00Mark Doty has a wonderful poem about his aging dog...Mark Doty has a wonderful poem about his aging dog Arden - The Stairs, from the collection School of the Arts. Terribly poignant, and yet I've never shared his - or your - experience. Gerbils and hamsters don't work like that, and they were 30 years ago.Colin Willhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15627539650929533832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1564859019305736550.post-37472844661926526972009-02-13T19:22:00.000+00:002009-02-13T19:22:00.000+00:00And Weaver...yes this dog had been old and ill a l...And Weaver...yes this dog had been old and ill a long time so there had been much looking after her. It had got to that point where you think they will go on forever...and then they don't. <BR/>xRachel Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1564859019305736550.post-45203779553235898292009-02-13T19:03:00.000+00:002009-02-13T19:03:00.000+00:00I'm not sure I want to know what it says about me!...I'm not sure I want to know what it says about me!<BR/>xRachel Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1564859019305736550.post-38859489834117007622009-02-13T18:57:00.000+00:002009-02-13T18:57:00.000+00:00Hope your wee girl gets better soon. As for the do...Hope your wee girl gets better soon. As for the dog, we had to get two of our dogs put down in the last two years, people who don't have animals don't realise how upsetting it is. Both times we went straight from the vet's to the pub for a couple of shots. still miss the dogs :( <BR/><BR/>nice lines from Frost. I like this tag, it really says something about the person.Marion McCreadyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04657757253873577465noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1564859019305736550.post-14173278658454527862009-02-13T18:38:00.000+00:002009-02-13T18:38:00.000+00:00This comment has been removed by the author.Rachel Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1564859019305736550.post-12843270713086662902009-02-13T18:13:00.000+00:002009-02-13T18:13:00.000+00:00Sorry about the dog Rachel. I lost my darling Alg...Sorry about the dog Rachel. I lost my darling Algy Pug in 2000. He is buried close to home and i think of him often. Now he has been joined by Oscar the Pointer, who died last May - so sad again. But if you have a dog you have to accept that their life span is so much shorter than ours that we are bound to lose them. You don't realise how much you love them until they are gone. Hope we soong get some spring weather to cheer you up. Hope small girl is better too.The Weaver of Grasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13947971556343746883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1564859019305736550.post-63068635004860473952009-02-13T14:36:00.000+00:002009-02-13T14:36:00.000+00:00It's bizarre, Hope, I have been quite silly with s...It's bizarre, Hope, I have been quite silly with sadness over this! It doesn't help as I say that Small Girl has had a bad week with illness and stuff too. She is still laid-up and it could be just a bug but...there are other complications...oh I hate this bit of looking after people (and dogs)!<BR/><BR/>Benjamin Zephaniah wrote a lovely reply to 'If' called 'What if'. It starts like this:<BR/>'If you can keep your money when governments about you <BR/>Are losing theirs and blaming it on you.'<BR/>Topical...and worth looking out.<BR/><BR/>Thanks, Barbara. An Irish hug sounds grand! And you know I love Emily D.<BR/><BR/>xRachel Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.com