Sunday, August 10, 2008

On the Delights of Addictions



For I have known them all already, known them all:—
Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;

--TSE


Tossing yet another paper coffee cup into the trash can (curses on Slovakia!) to the great dismay of my recent green frenzy (the color, for me, actually has nothing to do with environmentalism--my parents raised us to be actually and not kitch-ily environmentally friend; i.e. don't buy things), I remembered Eliot's line, and tweaked it a little bit: "I have measured out my life with coffee cups." This, in turn, reminded me of the coffee place in Bratislava that quoted this line of Eliot on a column in the middle of the room (fabulous Frappachino; I don't even know what that is, exactly, but mine was Irish and good), only they spelled his name, "Elliot." I was/am distressed, a little bit. I'm not sure exactly what's going on there. Is it the same as when they add "-ova" to the end of every woman's surname (Jane Austenova, Hannah Arendtova, etc.), or is something else going on?

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