Seacoast of Bohemia

I have seen two such sights, by sea and by land! But I am not to say it is a sea, for it is now the sky:
Betwixt the firmament and it you cannot thrust a bodkin's point.

The Winter's Tale 3.3.79-81

Please do not

0 Comments Published by ginny on Sunday, June 19, 2011 at 8:49 PM.

(This post's original home is my blog.  I have told Facebook to cross- post my blog entries as notes, although I feel quite awkward about it.)

I ordered some curtains the other day.  I ordered them because:

A.  I have been in some sort of home-buying mania recently, wherein now that I have a (temporary) income again I keep buying things for the house.  So far I have bought, in addition to normal things like people food and cat food:
  1. A plant and pot for my office.  (I overwatered it and had to bring it home, although it seems to have recovered.)
  2. A bookshelf at the British Heart Foundation charity shop.
  3. Some picture frames, in which I put printouts of four of these awesome ads.
  4. A small Edwardian mantel clock that does not work.  ("You know this is at fault" the woman told me severely.  I thought that was a bit harsh.)
  5. Two old-fashioned irons (the kind that are actually pure iron) to hold in place my makeshift window-screen system.
    1. Some light-blocking curtains.
    B.  I know I have mentioned this before, but the difference in how day behaves at this latitude still consistently amazes me.  It is almost the summer solstice here, and the sun does not set all the way until around 11:30 p.m.   It then begins to get light again around 3:00 am.  I partially love this.  It makes me feel as if I am living in a dream-world.  Sometimes when I wake up at 3:30 or 4:00, it seems like dawn is taking place in a place where no one else lives, as if I am the only one who gets to witness a private daylight. 

    On the other hand, I have also been having a lot of trouble falling asleep and staying asleep, and I think the lack of dark is probably part of it.  So I'm hoping the light-blocking curtains will help.  They are plain white-colored, but they insisted on the website that they are "blackout" curtains, so hopefully they will keep the sun at bay.

    Anyway, though, the e-mail they sent me to tell me that the curtains have been shipped appears in my inbox as "Please do not."  It's because the e-mail address it's sent from says "Please do not reply to this address," but it seems so helpless and accusatory sitting there in my inbox.  I feel both guilty and befuddled when I look at it.  What is it I am being begged not to do?  

    Please do not spend money on household items you do not need?
    Please do not contact us?
    Please do not blame the sun?
    Please do not do what you are doing.

    Somehow, that "Please do not" all on its own triggers all my guilt.  "I'm sorry!"  I want to tell it.  "I didn't mean to!  I know I'm always doing things like this, and I can't stop myself."

    I will be glad when the curtains get here so I can delete the e-mail.  Though, when I think about it, that might be what it's asking me not to do.

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