Friday, August 24, 2007

Post 300! Purely Self-Congratulatory

Wow, how the hell do I have 300 posts? Anyway on this momentous occasion I felt it's only appropriate to tell you more about the site in an effort for you to know me better, as a reward for you, you mythic loyal reader for being there for the last 299 of these rants and rambles.
So the address midnighttransmission, as well as the "title" of the blog A Dream or A Song comes from either my favorite or my second favorite song (behind Wig in a Box) from my favorite move Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
The song is Midnight Radio and when I was trying to think of an address and name for this site that actually meant something to me, but that would be somewhat familiar to other people I focused a lot on Hedwig and memorable lyrics from that film. The line "and you're shining like the brightest star, a transmission on a midnight radio" is such a pretty and hopeful image and that is sort of what I wanted this site to be (failed though I have); a beacon of sorts. And I also figured that a midnight transmission implies some danger and/or illictness and at midnight the posts I transmitted would be true and , in a way , like a beacon to reach others and tell them that I am/was here.
About the song, I actually get really emotional and happy whenever I hear it...so I think I'll put it here for you enjoy as well, though it really is better if you've already seen the movie (if you haven't, what's wrong with you? buy it, watch it, love it.)


As I think I've mentioned before the picture to the right, in that about me section, is of Candy Darling, one of my tragic idols who I'm just a little fascinated by. The quote " I'd rather learn from a bird to sing than teach 10000 stars how not to dance is from a poem by e.e. cummings. I stumbled upon it while looking for something beautiful to send to Hubby and I thought these words would be a lovely gift. It's assumed title, though cummings didn't title his work, is "you shall above all things be glad and young" {ED: and isn't that just a wonderful thing to wish on anyone}

you shall above all things be glad and young.
For if you're young, whatever life you wear

it will become you;and if you are glad
whatever's living will yourself become
Girlboys may nothing more than boygirls need:
i can entirely her only love

whose any mystery makes every man's
flesh put space on;and his mind take off time

that you should ever think,may god forbid
and(in his mercy)your true lover spare:
for that way knowledge lies,the foetal grave
called progress,and negation's dead undoom.

I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance


As for the blog description, or whatever is in that I think it's a peach box, the quote comes from one of my favorite movies Se7en. When I started this I had nothing in particular that I was going to focus on, like politics or sports, or zebras, but rather this site was just going to be whatever was on my mind at any given time. Kind of like the journals of John Doe that Somerset is referencing.

For those of you (no one) who has asked, and more because I want to see my name in something fun when I vanity search in a few months my official and legal name will be Jacqueline Frances Stella Dey. I've always liked the name Jacqueline, it's so pretty and noble, not too common and exudes glamour and how it could also be abbreviated to Jacqui, which is so cute and functional and the fact that it means both (referring back to the story of Jacob and Esau) "one who supplants", which is kind of what it would be, supplanting my previous identity (Jacob did get the better of that deal), in a way, but in a more pleasant light it also means "may God protect." Frances is in honor of St. Francesca Romana who's feast day is my birthday (plus the fact she's from Rome means it is meant. to. be!) and Francesca would be too much. Speaking of Rome when I was there and studying Christian iconography and apse mosaic art, in most mosaic somewhere written in gold would be the phrase "stella dei" or something similar, which means Star of God. I think Stella is such a pretty yet hip name so I wanted it, and so as a last name Dey seemed perfect, to be a star of god, I couldn't resist. I'm a sucker for poetry. So that's how Jacqueline Frances Stella Dey came to be, or the name at least. (it may just be folk etymology or etymology that I just made up, but that's good enough for me. and speaking of folk etymology stella day, star day, star of the day, that works too.)

Finally, if you click on my profile I just figured out how to post an audio clip and I couldn't decide what I wanted to have it say. As of writing this the quote is...well you can just check it. But I love that quote! Hopefully you know where it's from. But I'm not sure if I want to stick with that one. I was debating between that and the last lines from Sunset Boulevard. I'm just worried if I stick with the Silence of the Lambs one, that along with the Se7en quote may make this site seem a little darker and violent than it really is, whereas if I change my mind and go with Gloria Swanson, well that and the picture of Candy in a director's chair could make it seem I'm fascinated by the ultrafemme and glamourous nature of cinematic stars in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Hmm, know that I write it out I think I prefer the latter. And this is totally how I want to go out:

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