New covers

I finally decided on a book to pick up. My destination did not come easily.

After I finished "David Copperfield," I felt lost, as I do whenever I finish a good book. I thought of reading "Moby Dick," but couldn't find a copy about the house and I take so long to read material that the library was out of the question.

Chain of thought, or

Be afraid, be very afraid

So, I picked up "The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam." The volumne I have is from 1947, has beautiful illustrations and includes all five editions of the poem. A feast for mind, ear and eye.

A book of verses underneath the bough
A jug of wine, a loaf of bread -- and thou
Beside me singing in the wilderness --
Oh, wilderness were paradise enow!

Such beauty from a mathematician. I recall bastardizing the above verse in high school while partying on the beaches of Lake Erie. Something like

A book of verses beneath the bough
A case of Steg, a bottle opener -- and thou
Beside me drinking on the beach --
Oh, if I had another case now.

Or whatever. Steg was a reference to a cheap beer out of Wilkes-Barre, Penn., called Stegmeier.

I chose the poem because I was shaving one day (and that's all I tend to shave anyway) and started thinking of Victor Kiam, the man who used to own Norelco. Remember the commercials during Sunday football games? "I liked the product so much, I bought the company." Then my mind jumped to the short from Rocky and Bullwinkle, the mystery of "The Ruby Yacht of Omar Khayyam."

Well, there you have it.

Destination

So, after reading that, I did my usual and read some Upanishads, some Browning (I love "Fra Lippo Lippi") and some Yeats just the other day. For some reason, though, I heard the Roman Republic calling me (It was in Latin, so I couldn't return the call right away). Lots of good choices here. Last year or so I finished Tom Holland's "Rubicon." Good stuff, but I wanted to go farther back.

The History Channel then told me. The station had a special on Hannibal so I remembered the book by Adrian Goldsworthy on the Punic Wars. I started that last night.

Thought:

Whereat some one of the loquacious lot --
I think a Sufi pipkin -- waxing hot --
"All this of pot and potter -- Tell me, then,
"Who is the potter, pray, and who the pot?"