I saw the grotesque (grotto-esque) caryatid face in the corbel bracket as the light faded the other night. It is easy to see where the inspiration for those carvings came from - the indistinct faces of demi-gods which haunt underground places, trapped in the stone from which they are made.
Like those clever camera apps, we are programmed to see faces in the simple juxtaposition of four separate shapes, which is probably why cyclops are so shocking.
"Make any mark you like with this pencil on this paper," I once said to my brother, "and I will turn it into a fish." There is no mark that cannot be turned into a fish by the addition of one other. Give it a try.
I am shockingly hung-over today. I went to bed at 7.00 am this morning, after a dinner-party to wave goodbye to a friend who goes back home to the USA in a week or so, and it all went tits-up in the pub later.
I can hear the mournful strains of Albinoni's Adagio coming from the kitchen as I write this, and as I wait for H.I. to finish her breakfast so we can go out and have a fried one in a nearby cafe. I really need a fry-up.
Ok, I know Albinoni didn't actually write it, and I wish I didn't. It spoils it for me to know that it is a pastiche of the real thing, albeit a good one.
It's like the Desiderata that used to be pinned to everyone's wall in the late 1960s - 'Go placidly amidst the noise and haste...' etc. Written by a bloody Hippy, albeit well written.
My kingdom for a sausage - but not a Linda McCartney one.
May I recommend a hair of the dog.
ReplyDeleteIt was 6.30 when I opened the bottle of St Peter's Golden Ale which I am now drinking. It's brewed in Suffolk, you know.
DeleteThe fry-up took one hell of a long time then.
DeleteThat was the run-up to the fry-up.
DeleteNothing better than grease when you have a hangover......with a nice beer to wash it all down.
ReplyDeleteI have one of Linda's cookbooks.
There was a bit of a gap between the grease and the beer.
DeleteLike Rachel, I recommend a hair of the dog. According to The Mail, it has now been proven to be the best remedy.
ReplyDeleteIt's the best short-term remedy, but shouldn't be repeated more than 7 times a week.
Delete"Tits up" I love that expression and plan to use it often if for no other reason than to make my three grown sons blush.
ReplyDeleteTits up normally suggests that something went wrong; I am wondering what happened in the pub later Donna.
DeleteAll the old farts stayed up past bed time.
DeleteJoanne has got it right first time.
DeleteP.S. Donna, your out of kilter photo certainly catches the eye. The trouble is I keep trying to straighten it, like you do when you see a picture hanging badly on a wall.
DeleteHow do you know it's a woman gargoyle? We need a much better picture, even if only illustrating what happened in your mind at dusk.
ReplyDeleteAnd, I do wish you a speedy recovery.
(I am tempted to say Joanne, don't ask, because there is so much history about why they are always female, females condemned to hard labour for misdeeds etc. etc.)
DeleteDo you think a fry up will give the dear man the mental acuity to skewer me? I do like ripostes speeding back and forth.
DeleteYou've skewered yourself this time - it's not even a woman, it's an acanthus leaf with a roll top. It's now dusk again, so I can't take a better picture.
DeleteAnyway, when did I say it was a woman?
Caryatid is female.
DeleteThank you, Rachel, as that was my clue to sex the thing. Tom's grey cells must have been sloshing then, early as dusk is, as compared to 7 a.m.
DeleteYou would have thought I would have known that after all these years, but I didn't. I will now have to find out what the male equivalent is - like those slaves holding up doorways.
DeleteAtlas.
DeleteThat was the World. There were plenty of conquered slaves that held up doorways.
DeleteAlthough the hair of the dog is a proven remedy, a good old fry-up certainly helps.
ReplyDeleteDid you take that photograph Tom ? It's not the best photo that I've ever seen or is it meant to be like that and appropriate to the post and I've missed something ? { perhaps you took it whilst under the influence ? } XXXX
If it was a better photograph, you wouldn't see the face. I took it in the half dark, through a dirty window pane.
DeleteDoh !!! I get it now. I feel a right twat !! XXXX
DeleteSo do I - most of the time, but it depends if you know what a twat is...
DeleteI do know what it means …. the human vulva …. and that describes how silly I feel !! XXXX
DeleteWell, literally (literally literally) it is a hole in a hedge.
DeleteSounds very accurate.
DeleteWas Desiderate really written by a hippy? I am disillusioned now....
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid so. Sorry to spoil it for you. Well, it might have been a proto-hippy, but it was written in the 1960s I believe, and not found in some old monk's bedroom.
Delete7am??? What time are you having this so called fry up for heaven's sake? That kind of behaviour up here in deepest Yorkshire would be frowned on. Wish I had the opportunity!
ReplyDeleteThe fry up was had around 3 in the afternoon. I expect it is illegal to serve breakfast any later than 8.30 am up there in Yorkshire.
Delete