Ahhh, Catullus

Anyone who isn't familiar with Catullus should be. His stuff is super accessible, and he's been described as 'earthy,' and he's a whole lot of fun, which we don't usually think of the classics as being. For instance:

Wonder not, Rufus, why none of the opposite sex
wishes to place her dainty thighs beneath you,
not even if you undermine her virtue with gifts of choice
silk or the enticement of a pellucid gem.
You are being hurt by an ugly rumour which asserts
that beneath your armpits dwells a ferocious goat.
This they fear, and no wonder; for it's a right rank
beast that no pretty girl will go to bed with.
So either get rid of this painful affront to the nostrils
or cease to wonder why the ladies flee.

or

I will bugger you and face-fuck you,
Cock-sucker Aurelius and catamite Furius,
You who think, because my verses
Are delicate, that I am a sissy.
For it's right for the devoted poet to be chaste
Himself, but it's not necessary for his verses to be so.
Verses which then have taste and charm,
If they are delicate and sexy,
And can incite an itch,
And I don't mean in boys, but in those hairy old men
Who can't get their flaccid dicks up.
You, because you have read of my thousand kisses,
You think I'm a sissy?
I will bugger you and face-fuck you.


or

I stole from you, while you were playing, honey-sweet Juventius,
a kiss more sweet than sweet ambrosia.
But I did not get away with it: for such a long hour
I remember being crucified on the greatest cross,
and then I apologized to you, but I was not able to remove
with any tears even a little of your ferocity.
For at the same time it was done, you wiped clean
your lips, bathed by many tears, with all your fingers,
nor did anything remained received from my face,
just as if it were the filthy spit of a filthy prostitute.
Besides this, you did not hold back from making me miserable,
troubled by love, and tormented in every way,
so that to me that kiss changed from ambrosia
to a bitterer thing than a bitter herb.
Because you put forth such a punishment for miserable love,
never will I after this steal a kiss.

Slice of Life

We got across the border no problem-- usually they pull you over when there are thirty rats in the van. The guard told us to have fun at Rattapaloosa. Ha. Shows are not about fun. They're about toughing it out.

That said, there are a lot of cute rats here. Basically this is where all the major pacific northwest breeders show up- we don't see each other very often at all, we live everywhere from Idaho and Oregon to BC, and we get to trade some genes, and we get to catch up on all the gossip (animal folk are very dramatic, and I stay out of it online). There are over a hundred rats in the house right now, Lynn of http://www.worldofrats.com has a bunch, and Michelle of CWR and Krislyn of RMIS are sleeping here as well as me and my breeding partner.

After we've had dinner we'll start clipping, washing, tail-scrubbing (with a toohbrush) and generally prepping. We'll get an hour or two's sleep, then the marathon begins tomorrow.

Seattle is really beautiful. It feels like it has more raw edges than Van, but perhaps that's just the areas I spend time in. I will post a picture of the Last Supper couch to facebook in the morning when there's light. You'll love it.