Black Swan is a glimpse into a world where everything is strictly black and white: the rigidity of dance, the institution of a performance troupe, the brusque NYC, the stark white and black color schemes. There is no comprehension of emotion, no place for red in this world collapsing into itself with the realization of monochromatism.

But there is a meta pleasure, in viewing a committed vision into a narrow, tragic (indeed, tragically narrow) world. Like the realization that which color is irrelevant in a world where the revelant fact is the realizing the schismatic nature of the world, the film is simultaneously a part of and a culmination of the prior elements in Aronofsky’s canon.

The extra unused stove/oven sitting in the corner of the laundry room has been transfigured into an abandoned mini toaster oven in the opposite corner.

“I’ll be in the corner reading poetry and prose…”

Because it's 2am and I'm sufficiently impressed and before you go into hiding, I should probably tell you that “stop doing that” is said loudest and most often in first person, and thank you.

“…You can’t force a dance party…”

Diplomats and spies have motive and means to kill, yet the agency of demise is a crime of passion. The only elements missing are Assange’s corpse and Christie’s pen.

Even the ground under dragons wobbles.

Watched HP7.1, which, like every other HP film, diverges in feeling from its predecessors; but unlike the predecessors, that feeling is at most secondarily from technical reasons. Certainly the doubled length, the lengthy interval since reading the once-read source, or the filmmakers’ accumulation of experience contribute to the effect. But the setting is different: this is a quest into the real world, not against the backdrop of education. The characters are different: these aren’t shepherded schoolchildren, but mentorless new adults. The theme is different: this isn’t yet another progression step on the path to maturity, but with a defined endpoint visible.

“I can be alone, yeah / I can watch a sunset / On my own…”

Happiness is not needing to seek approval.

“…Make me very very happy…”

Another joyful return after a long hiatus, with a SI single into third place.

“The kisses of the sun were sweet / I didn’t blink / I let it in my eyes…”

Looking back and forward, and seeing familiar forgotten faces, who are recognizing, remembering, stating firmly and warmly: You are one of us. This is where you belong. Stay.

“…And now the night is gone / Still it goes on and on / So deep inside of me…”

Such familiar faces, with names that on the edge of recollection; such familiar names that have drifted away from the face; such familiar stories that are shared among such divergence. Everybody has a bright future ahead. Everybody speaks, everybody listens, everybody understands each other.

“…And everybody’s singing…”

For one night, everybody was the most popular kid in high school. For one night, Past and Present are balanced in joy.

“…La la la la la…”

“You'll remember me when the west wind moves…”

Misheard “I never make promises lightly” as “I never make promises I can’t keep”. Both convey the same idea, but there are underlying linguistic differences. For “can’t” is a definite binary, unlike the spectrum of capability implied by “lightly”, with a Venn diagram of promises that could be kept and promised that were. But the actual lyric is especially disappointing in the context of the following “And there have been some that I’ve broken”. For “can’t keep” modifies promise, but “lightly” modifies make. Thus what is expected to be a contrast, with an impersonal statement instead of the active subject, is instead a parallel.

“…Many years have passed since those summer days…”

I hear a different tune, and I look upon the same path.

“…When we walked in fields of gold…”

The worst Thanksgiving travel horrors are those which are self-imposed.
The best Thanksgiving travel graces are those which are gratefully given.

“If they had brought my luggage, but didn’t deliver it onto dry land- it would have been enough.”
“And if I had been picked up at the airport, but hadn’t gone to Nando’s- it would have been enough.”

“Speaking words of wisdom…”

"Take care" is unoptimistic, assuming a dreary miersable world which requires its occupants to focus lest they never see each other again, their planes not arriving properly unless they doublecheck the destination with a flight attendant. The care is wariness, not meticulousness. And yet, this also assumes a world in which occupants are in complete control over their outcomes: with enough care, anything is achievable.

Whereas "[god] be [with you, [wherever you may go]]": that has a freedom, and the opposite of determination. "[see you] later": clingy, certainly, but acknowledging a bond, by which some day the interaction will be resumed. Unlike "take care", which enjoins us with our own responsibility, these conclusions are passive, with a defined or undefined higher power in control of what will happen.

For I like being, not the overachievement of being. I do not listen to make; I hear be. Lack of control does not bother me; for there is a difference between external and internal control, and what I do not is being unable to control internals, and having to control externals. "Take care" is not my world.

“…Let it be…”

“What's your position on the Elgin Marbles controversy?”

As they say in Canada, that’s what she said.

“Some of my friends from LSE thought they could just hop a fence and wander around the Acropolis, the fools.”They might have been British.

“What are you doing? What- what- what are you doing?”

Neither the sassy nor the gay are what’s necessary for averting tragedy.

Last laugh: While lost, we’ll hide
Our lust inside
A long list of missed reasons why’d
Not knock, lest it be tried.

Midnight bacon is an amazing thing; but now for 2 reasons.

“Ok, I followed the instructions, but now my bacon is trapped within the microwave. Am I supposed to remove it? If so, how? Please help.”

“My only criticism is that it's too bad its a late night recipe only, my children have to be in bed early so they won't be ever able to try it. :( Please post one for early morning bacon. Thanks!”

“This recipe looks great! Could you please add the instructions on how to switch the oven on and off.”

“You didn't specify which brand of paper towel”

“Do you have any recipes for cereal? The kind in a box? I really like cereal, but it seems tricky- milk first? cereal? big spoon? little spoon?”

“Sounds yummy, but I'm a vegetarian. Do you have a way to make this without meat?”

“I've just realized I let the bacon overlap a bit on the center of the plate and my microwave has already been going for 2 1/2 minutes”

"You can follow logic or contest it all..."

Accomplish or experience is a dichotomy.

"...The element of progress that you mentioned's gone / And deevolved to something you were headed toward..."

Pyroclasty or spontaneity is a concern.

"...I don't want to regret what I did..."

Not now or special.

"...Like a cast shadow..."

With better tea and just us for aw.

“Too Much Memory” retells Antigone, but it is, as introduced, a metanarrative: a retelling of a translation. And so on the show’s final night, with the troubles of the previous night avenged, with the Bush administration deposed, with combat troops withdrawn, the play feels superfluous. The actors sit watching action as much as the audience they face; the chorus inserts herself among the audience and actors as necessary. The actual plot no longer seems necessary to the mirrored reactions.

<turns arounds, takes a quick look> Oh, All My Children.
“Busted.”
No, I don't watch it, I just know that it's not One Life to Live or General Hospital.
“Digging yourself deeper.”

As the world turns.

Sometimes I can’t stand how slowly the earth turns.
Hold on to the slowness. We will need it soon enough.
True, I suppose. But if it were so held now, then we wouldn’t need to save it for later.
The thing is, we always and only have now.