Conditions of Bliss

Just when I feel like the biggest nerd in the world, James makes me feel better about myself.

Because on a sunny Saturday afternoon when I'm going to a lecture about Poe at St. John's Church and can't find it, he's the one I run into who leads me to the right place.

Although James' cool factor is exponentially higher than mine (he's a bartender and musician and girls trail behind him like bread crumbs), he's at practically every geeky lecture I go to.

So together we headed into St. John's Visitors' Center (two girls were waiting for James inside; I rest my case) to hear Richard Kopley tell of "My Adventures with Poe."

Turns out Kopley's been hot on the Poe trail for the last thirty years, ever since he was in graduate school.

He was full of interesting facts, like about recently discovered documents showing that Poe filed for bankruptcy in Philly, a previously unknown fact that has never been mentioned in any book about Poe.

I was intrigued to hear about Poe's literary romances wooing women with his words but keeping things non-physical.

Honestly, I'd prefer both.

When he mentioned Poe losing his Richmond job at the Southern Literary Messenger "probably because of his drinking," James turned to me and said, "That's very Richmond."

I tried to keep it silent but I laughed long and hard at that.

Kopley's habit of using finger quotes every time he quoted someone also gave me reason to smile.

But my favorite part of the lecture was when he shared Poe's four conditions of bliss; I tried to calculate how I matched up to Poe's definition of bliss as I listened.

1. Free exercise in the open air: I gave myself an A+ on this one since a day doesn't go by that I don't take my walk through the streets of RVA or wherever I happen to be.

2. The love of a woman: I'm going to presume that the pronoun changes for the females seeking bliss, meaning I am a complete failure on this one. Still seeking the love of a man, meaning I get an F here.

3. Contempt of ambition: Actually, I'm not a particularly ambitious person, always preferring to focus on life over job and material success. Several past bosses have lamented this.  Oh, well. B+

4. An object of unceasing pursuit: Does happiness count? I feel like I've always made personal happiness my objective, even when it resulted in making questionable choices, so I'll give myself a B-.

Obviously Kopley's object of pursuit had been Poe and during the Q & A period, he shared even more stories about the man who never stopped trying to vindicate the trash-talking of his beloved mother.

After the lecture, a wreath was laid on that mother's grave outside the church.

James went off down the street with two girls.

Me? I went off in unceasing pursuit of the love of a man. I'm trying to get my bliss points up.

George from a Pew

To celebrate our first President's birthday, St. John's Church was having a Washington re-enactor give a talk today.

Of course, tomorrow is actually his birthday, right? Well, actually no. One of the first things Mr. Washington cleared up was that he was born on February 11, but back when we were on the Julian calendar.

When England joined the rest of the world in switching to the Gregorian calendar, it added eleven days to the year and his birthday moved to the 22. Two minutes into the talk and I've already learned something I didn't know.

From the front pew, I had a prime viewing spot of the general's Fairfax militia uniform as he shared bits and pieces of his life. He told of learning surveying by reading books and using his deceased father's tools, a show of initiative that's hard to conceive of now.

He spoke about being sent to the northwest territory ostensibly to negotiate with the French, but really to spy on them. No one talks about Washington the spy.

I did find it fascinating that when he was assigned to lead troops during the Revolution, he had no experience commanding a navy or men with artillery or even soldiers on horseback and felt completely under-qualified for the job (sounds like he was). This was Washington, the inexperienced.

Describing himself as the least intelligent and least educated of all the participants at the Constitutional Convention, he said he just stood back and let wiser minds do the heavy lifting.

Of course, he also noted that the "suit" they were crafting for the chief executive of the new country seemed to be exactly his size, not a typical one for the time.

And all he wanted to do was go home to Mount Vernon and be a gentleman farmer. Add in Washington as unambitious, but with a duty to do what his countrymen expected of him.

As a performance, the Washington re-enactor's vocabulary and clipped speech seemed accurate to the period, with no concessions in terms of word choices for the younger members of the audience, something I really appreciated.

And even though it's the 21st and not the 22nd or even the 11th, there was birthday cake and lemonade afterwards.

Just the kind of easy-to-eat thing that a man with bad dentures could have gummed. Now I would be referring to Washington, the one-toothed President.

No one tells you this stuff in fourth grade Social Studies.

Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Music

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