This is an English translation of a Chinese proverb which apparently translates as "Better to be a dog in a peaceful time than a human in a chaotic time." I think "chaotic time" could describe the situation the world finds itself in these days. The new president is busy signing his "lie detector" signature to a variety of different executive orders (have you seen his signature? his name isn't very long but his signature is huge and looks like the output of a lie detector machine -- all big lines and points) that have seemingly just occurred to him at the moment -- he doesn't appear to be asking anyone in government if the thing is going to work or how it's going to be accomplished.
Like many people, I'm worried about where this is going to take all of us. The United States has a lot of power and many countries depend on their economic relationship to it but I am thinking perhaps we, here in Canada, should think about building a wall along our border and seeing if the Americans would pay for it. (Just a joke -- I don't think walls are a good idea, although Robert Frost would tell us that "good fences make good neighbours" -- read the poem -- it's lovely.)
In order to keep up with all these interesting developments, I have taken out an online subscription to the New York Times and a paper subscription to the weekly Guardian newspaper (I can't wait to get my first copy!) And last night, while it was snowing so vigorously, I just sat in front of CNN and watched Don Lemon shake his head and Anderson Cooper squint (I think he does that when he's really trying to get his head around something complicated).
I also watched "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" which is a terrific little movie about two old sisters who have a very dysfunctional relationship. Bette Davis (one of my heroes) plays Baby Jane and she is terrific (as she always is). My fourteen year old son got interested in it against his will and, when Jane is saying "he hates me" after she terrifies the pianist that she thought was going to be her boyfriend (he wasn't -- she was just fooling herself), he said, "that's really sad". It is really sad, but of course, Jane is an awful person, too, and you can't feel completely sorry for her. Rickie and I always quote that line that Jane says to Blanche, "But y'are, Blanche, y'rare", meaning that when you wish you weren't stuck in a certain situation, you might well be actually stuck. And of course, "we all are" when it comes to these interesting times.
No comments:
Post a Comment