dragonlady7

I'm just having one of those days, where things go around in circles and I almost wish I was high so I could explain the feeling. But I'm not.

So. Weird cycles of coincidence.

I had a line of a song in my head.
It may be for years, it may be forever.
I don't know the song. I know it's quoted in Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels; a group of friends singing it together at a party before half of them go off to fight for the Confederacy and half for the Union. I forget which character it is, but one of the Confederate officers is thinking of it as he goes up the hill with Pickett.
I finally resolved to Google it.

It's a line from the song Kathleen Mavourneen, written in 18thirtysomething. It was very popular in the US around the time of the Civil War.

O hast thou forgotten how soon we must sever?
O hast thou forgotten this day we must part?
It may be for years, and it may be forever
Oh, why art thou silent, thou voice of my heart?
It may be for years, and it may be forever
Then why art thou silent, Kathleen Mavourneen?

(Full lyrics and an inoffensive MIDI version [auto-plays; beware] at Contemplator's Tunebook.)

In my search, naturally, I inevitably stumbled across a lot of Civil War history pages. One of the pages referred, somewhat poetically, to the vast cemetary in Lee's backyard in Arlington. I thought perhaps the writer was being poetic, and thought no more of it, until I was, randomly, reading an interview linked from Booksquare. An interview, no less, about gay literature. But, there in the midst of it, was this quote, from the author being interviewed, about how he went to Washington DC.

I went to my favorite place in Washington, which is the Robert E. Lee mansion in Arlington, when you get above the city and look down on it. And it looks like a huge cemetery.

Somehow in all my military history geekery I had completely failed to realize that Lee's mansion was in Arlington, where the cenetery is.
How strange.

When I had googled enough to determine the name of the song, I then searched on the song's name. I found out that it had been made into a silent film, of all things, staring the early-film sexpot and Original Vamp Theda Bara, but the film didn't do well, and sparked vehement protests among Irish and Catholic groups because of its portrayal of Ireland, and also because the heroine was played by, well, a naked Jewish woman.
I'd never heard of Theda Bara before, but looked at the pictures and thought, well, you know, it's an interesting look. Then

frualeydis blogged about John Galliano's Fall 2007 Ready-to-Wear Collection.
It is not the sort of thing I would ever click on, but she seemed so excited that I did, and good heavens. The women looked like Aubrey Beardsley illustrations. (See #20 in the slideshow.) The women look like...
Theda Bara.

Maybe it's a sign that I should learn to do my makeup like that?

The idea of Sexpot was certainly much less-defined then. She mostly looks bored, sullen, or mildly peeved. But it's oddly affecting. I can see why modern goth-pinup-punk-types are all over her. I'd like to see one of her movies.

Maybe I should just learn to sing Kathleen Mavourneen.

In other news I had a zillion things I was going to get done today and somehow none of them are happening. Starting with calling my lawyer friend right at 9 like he told me to-- but he was on the phone then, and hasn't answered my voicemail. I think sitting around waiting for him to call back is going to be pointless, but it's very hard for me to convince myself to get off my ass and do anything else.

I bet you anything if I go take a shower now he'll call me back in the middle of it.
I hate phones.