back

Pesa un poco la cabeza de toro

2022-08-04

2 minute read

Another morning journal entry, and worse - I've missed a day again.
It seems like I'm incapable of seeing someone in the evening and also writing a journal entry. Even outside of work my time feels like it gets whipped away, I find myself exhausted at the end of a day. How can I manage my own energy stores? It feels frustrating.

None the less

I've all but finished the room rearrange, and I've started the weaving - expecting to make good progress on it today. I used my white board to sketch the design and really enjoyed it. Big surface, easy to wipe off, magnetic. All good things, and the energy I brought to meet it felt right. I might try doing some cartoons on it.

Dentist work

I got a second opinion and the treatment plan is loads more affordable. I'm extremely relieved.

What else

I spent an hour biking to and from the dentist then did 45min at burnley wall. Afterwards I visited Ashleigh and we used the spa, sauna and steam room she has access to in her building. I think I'm getting a sense of having not spent a day well because I'm only counting tasks I've written down, but in fact there's plenty of good things I've been doing that fit into the broader goals of this time off. Beyond that, the goals of this time off are not the be-all and end-all measures of success.

Pesa un poco

I found a poem by Jorge Luis Borges that I liked and wanted to show Giles, but couldn't find a translation, so I tried my hand at my own

Asterión (español)

El año me tributa mi pasto de hombres
y en la cisterna hay agua.
En mí se anudan los caminos de piedra.
¿De qué puedo quejarme?
En los atardeceres
me pesa un poco la cabeza de toro.

Asterión (english)

The year provides my pasture of men
and there's water in the cistern.
In me the stone paths intertwine.
How can I complain?
In the evenings
the horns are a little heavy

This is the first pass, here's some feedback I got from Giles that I'll incorporate into the next pass. I see pasto can mean fodder too, and I think it carries the connotation better in English, as does ‘gives a tribute’ as opposed to 'provides'

I really enjoyed translating it and I'd like to try to do more translations. It's such an exercise in interpretation, really understanding the poem then compromising between literal translation and sentiment. Good for my vocabulary practice too, understanding the depth and reach of some of these words.

and yet

I want more days spent wholly committed to one thing, one project, to see how far I can get. To attempt some Deep Work. I want to write this journal slightly better - more structure and more poetics. This entry has been a great deal of "I" verbs, sometimes it's just like that.

listening to

questions