Sunday 8 March 2009


So, I’ve totally recovered from my finger injury and I’ve just set up my beautiful Beastmaker (dreamy sigh). For those of you who are still in the dark ages of training, a Beastmaker is the next evolutionary step in fingerboarding. As someone, recently, so aptly put it, “it does what it says on the tin”. Oh yes, there’s a dark horse in the making (…I can still be a dark horse if I let everyone know I want to be one, right?).

I’ve been fairly abstemious recently, with regards to boozing, but last Friday, I had a fantastic night out. I’ve decided I like having a life. The only downside to going out clubbing is that it’s much more fun when you’re drunk and, lets face it, hangovers are far from a fast track to STRONG. Whilst discussing this with a friend, it was clear that both of us prioritise climbing over drinking but felt that without drinking we’d be washed up spinsters. This has been an ongoing dilemma in my life for a while now and I’ve not yet come to a concrete conclusion, I just thought I’d share my pain.

Something else I’d like to share; “Penelope’s Web”. It occurred to me that unless you’re called Penelope, you probably haven’t heard this expression. Since I was too lazy to write out an explanation, I stole this from the interweb:

Penelope is another of those mythic heroines whose beauties were
rather those of character and conduct than of person. She was
the daughter of Icarius, a Spartan prince. Ulysses, king of
Ithaca, sought her in marriage, and won her over all competitors.
When the moment came for the bride to leave her father's house,
Icarius, unable to bear the thoughts of parting with his
daughter, tried to persuade her to remain with him, and not
accompany her husband to Ithaca. Ulysses gave Penelope her
choice, to stay or go with him. Penelope made no reply, but
dropped her veil over her face. Icarius urged her no further,
but when she was gone erected a statue to Modesty on the spot
where they parted.

Ulysses and Penelope had not enjoyed their union more than a year
when it was interrupted by the events which called Ulysses to the
Trojan war. During his long absence, and when it was doubtful
whether he still lived, and highly improbable that he would ever
return, Penelope was importuned by numerous suitors, from whom
there seemed no refuge but in choosing one of them for her
husband. Penelope, however, employed every art to gain time,
still hopping for Ulysses' return. One of her arts of delay was
engaging in the preparation of a robe for the funeral canopy of
Laertes, her husband's father. She pledged herself to make her
choice among the suitors when the robe was finished. During the
day she worked at the robe, but in the night she undid the work
of the day. This is the famous Penelope's web, which is used as
a proverbial expression for anything which is perpetually doing
but never done.

1 comment:

  1. Huh! Despite my years of studying classics, I never knew what she was doing was called Penelope's Web! Clearly wasted years. I'd have been better off getting drunk!

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