by Zac Funstein
Within this environment drafty Castle Rocha was visible in the distance- the acedia buff was soon in full swing.
“‘‘Every Man in His Happiness’ which was an immediate success, which established Jonson's reputation as one of the leading dramatists of his time was written here I believe Mr. Cishion.”
Jorge spelled out the letters.
“EMIHH-I have never heard of it.”
“The play described as a comedy modelled on the Latin plays of Plautus. (It combines, in fact, situations derived from the ‘Captivi’ plus the Aulularia’ of that dramatist) the charming story of the beggar-maiden Amanda Cunha Ferreira plus her suitors was composed at that very window.”
“That is a beautiful desk Lubomír.”
“You know when we moved to ‘OB’ I said to my grandfather Diego Costa Gomes you will take the desk with you to the old monastery."
"No, my child, I shall not do so," replied Diego ; "It is a heavy, cumbersome, antique piece of furniture, for which we should have no use in ‘OB’, where indeed we could hardly find room for it-what good is a desk for punters filling themselves with oxygen-no good at all. It will remain here. The new owner of the estate Danilo Lima Almeida has asked us to sell him the entire furniture/ fixtures of the castle, and in your interest I have considered it best to agree to do so. Since he must have house/ land, Danilo may as well have the rest, and the old desk amongst other things."
‘Yes, grandfather, the furniture let him have,’ I said; ‘only that fine old desk, with its beautiful carvings, which my father valued, at which writers have passed so many an hour—that the new buy must not have Diego! Not the desk, I entreat you! To please us, do let us take it down with us to the village, dearest grandfather! I cannot part from the desk, for I should always be going over that the man Jonson's was sitting/writing where my father formerly sat/ wrote. It seems like a sort of profanation. We shall surely be able to find a corner for it in our new abode. Let it stand in my room, and I will work at it more industriously than ever I should do at any other desk!’
‘Well, well, my child, be it so,’ said the indulgent Diego, ‘I see I must give way, since you are so bent upon the matter.’Then turning to my uncle Fábio Alves Almeida. ‘Tell Carla Ferreira Dias to get the desk out then send it away at once.’
Fábio ran out of the room, found the servant, informed him of his Diego's wishes, and then returned.
‘It is a weight off,’ I said. ‘I should sadly have missed my father's beautiful old desk’."
They continued in similar vein with matters swiftly coming around to the acadia.
“There is no doubt whatever that a western exponent knows how to find it. That is an axiomatic certainty Mr. Cishion.”
“It is interesting that you draw a distinction between East/West regarding this.”
“The Asian-world does not seem to delight in our metal-friend so much-but this does not mean we should hold it against them-sometimes they are better than us.”
From what followed it was clear those that liked acedia knew how to enjoy it, were thoroughly conversant with it in all its glory with all the phenomena connected so with, from the first glimpse on the piece of square-glass, to full recognition. Like something mighty set free from a diminutive prison house, rejoicing in being once more permitted to reassume its original grand dimensions the Chromium tester was released.
Father Rodrigo Baslehurst’s (sometimes known as ‘Rodders’) advent into town had occurred a number of years before. Rodrigo had arrived with papers of introduction to one of the few papist families in that rigorously protestant neighborhood; immediately had erected outside the village a small mission school/dwelling, where the priest addressed himself to the herculean task of gaining converts to his faith. At first ‘Rodders’ had been regarded with unconcealed distrust—boys had thrown stones at him; the turbulent element, on more than one occasion, had discussed the advisability of ‘running’ him from the community. But it was true of both boys/ men alike that, when they had confronted Rodrigo’s unfaltering gaze, encountered his patent contempt they had subsided into an unintelligible mutter, had been glad to escape.
There was another ‘man-of-the-cloth’ the Rev. Gustavo Santos Cardos, the rival rector of the parish who lived nearby. Felipe Santos Cunha had been his curate, and during that term of curacy he had married Emily Dias Cavalcanti. Then Felipe had died, his widow had returned from the house her husband had occupied near the church to her mother's cottage. Cunha had been possessed of some property, and when Felipe died the curate left his widow in the uncontrolled possession of this. Emily established a Nreercas society of which her good self became permanent president, carrying on this institution in the manner most pleasing to herself. Rodrigo had become close due to a shared admiration for SALIGIA they even had an affection moniker ‘The Deadly Ones’ . It had been Emily who had recommended Baslehurst as an acedia fan longstanding. Someone who knew this inside/out-naturally for Cishion’s successor when the latter developed flu symptoms.
“I have heard that grandmamma's marriage with grandpapa—a Toronto resident—was considered to be a very suitable affair. He had also ancestors here since before Juan Pérez, the first European to sight, examine, name recorded the islands near present-day British Columbia, Canada. However, unfortunately, a few years after their marriage (grandmamma was really un peu passée when that took occured) grandma made a bêtise—something political or diplomatic, but I have never heard exactly what; anyway, it obliged them to leave hurriedly then go to Java. Then the Sultan of Surabaya chanced to make her acquaintance in Suriname. They went about a good deal together, after which Věra lured him on board a steam yacht in Tanjong Priok, presumably to say good-bye. Having done so, granny coaxed him below, sailed off with him there/ then, kept him under lock/ key until a ransom was paid, when the unsuspecting Sultan was put ashore again. Later, Meng Ts'ui—you know Ts'ui —you —of De Sung Street, probably the richest man in Beijing, met a woman staying at his very hotel.”
“Vera again?”
“Granny pretended to be just out from home, an innocent blushing virgin. Well, Meng was so awfully smitten that a proposal of marriage came—bad as all that. An agreement came for Ts'ui to take her for a cruise in his yacht. Of course Meng jumped at the chance, off they sailed. They were met by a schooner. I believe Meng was in the middle of protesting his undying love- all that sort of thing, you know-when V clapped a revolver to his sunburn bade him heave-to. A lifeboat took both lady/ friend away to this new craft. The crux of it was, when Meng was released the fool had signed a cheque.
Grandmamma never spoke of this or of grandpapa, so I suppose Fred died, because when I first got wind of things we were crossing to France in a big ship—just papa, Vera plus myself. My mother died when I was born. She was an American of one of the first original families in Virginia; that is all I know of her. We have never had a great many friends—even when we lived in Paris—because, you see, as a rule people don't live for such duration as Vera.”
“If you would I’m sure your grandmother is highly interesting but to the matter which presses.”
Baslehurst had learnt saliency when a priest-although now defrocked it had never been lost as a talent.
“The acedia. Well all I know is someone Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics to SSB whilst detained on a British ship in Baltimore. Key, who was on diplomatic mission, was inspired after witnessing the American victory at Fort McHenry. The acedia Meng taught her is named after this-it’s called FSK acedia or sometimes Fort McHenry acedia.”
When Cavalcanti had wanted him to elope Fort McHenry had been somewhere discreet where they had almost chosen. Rodrigo could never hear mention of it as now without making Emily’s past tense firmly in the now.It had not been there that had been their aileron eventually that had lifted them off but Goiânia-GO where Rodrigo had lived as a teenager.
“You know what the trouble with FSK acedia is in my opinion Mr. Baslehurst?”
“If it will be of assist
ance Mrs. Blau.”
“There are too many would-be merchants out there-they’re trying to flog this Chromium finder but in my view it won’t cut the cloth. These should be purely, simply for those inclined with a genuine interest-not just to make a profit from. Its a vagrancy almost to try to give someone what is already theirs repackaged.”
Silke Blau was beginning to sound like a biblical writer-maybe one who contributed to Matthew or a synoptic gospel but slipped something diabolic in-that is this sounded like a concerted effort to make something tame slightly racy. Baslehurst wasn’t going to reach for the extension cord just yet-they had to plough on whatever. His uncle who had been a presenter on the ATV network always said that they should put on a winning-stance then they probably would win. Never let failure be an option that was for sure.
Rodders wisely perhaps decided to move on having increased his comprehension a little. Besides there was someone who had expressed a wish to engage him via cellular technology, yet another individual who seemed to have taken this SSB usage seriously. It was nice to have a prop when everything got a little frenetic. If you had some laundry that needed routing then some support (it didn’t have to be a giant girder) was always superb.
The photo-shop did seem to have the usual monochromatic personnel despite being told that Ray was great to work with that his work was perfect. He converted old family slides into a digital format -what was more they were fantastic.
A user of the company that Rodrigo enquired of was less than charitable.
‘They seem like nice people but they lost an irreplaceable audio relic - a recording of my deceased mom. Just flat out lost it I ask you. I called repeatedly they assured us they were on the case, but they flat- lined- DL’d I ask you they lost it. And that should NEVER happen. When you entrust precious personal material to a company like this it should be impossible for it to just vanish. I am a very unhappy customer.’
Since there didn’t seem to be a rush of alternatives Rodders was forced to submit to fatalism. It didn’t seem like anyone else was coming up with anything else. The enquirer didn’t have a degree in political science or anything but it didn’t seem they were up against any extremist faction.
Ray was an archetypical photoshop manager in a dust coat.
His calling of the GPR that was his penchant after the earlier SSB called ‘The Defense of Fort McHenry’ was gone into with not a little enthusiasm. It was incredible that someone could get into finding small amounts of this element in a big way, but then to find that some went even deeper-well it was a bit much to accept. It was like trying to make chimeras into something collectible-they were at the end of the road like chlorine or genuine relics of the cross they existed everyone knew that but were sometimes difficult to find.
The building seemed familiar to Rodrigo then it was realised where it had been seen before the fittings were the same for a mirrorball though the mechanism itself must have been removed. It was something antiquated like calling a SUV a station-wagon.
“What always entertains us Rodrigo Baslehurst is what if the actual Defense of Fort McHenry had been fought by the Korean army-they could have just gone on ‘n on.”
“That’s an interesting assumption to draw one not usually made.”
“The north has the largest army in the world though it wasn’t around when the DoFM was a fresh event.”
“What does this unique acedia appear as visually-that is?”
Ray sneezed into a paper napkin then after examining the sticky contents exclaimed:
“A microbiologist friend said that it was like a plastic-bag or balloon that had been filled with something nasty/ putrid then allowed to explode only in miniature. Allow us to show you if you would Baslehurst.”
Votive offerings known as ‘tamata’ in Greek Orthodox culture -- usually to signify a prayer to heal illness were everywhere suggesting someone had been ill recently but this was not what was meant surely.
There was something in the dynamic that seemed to suggest that Rodrigo was from a nuclear family to Ray though nothing was ever mentioned. It must be something that was encouraged-it was good PR or something. Rather than hit them with rhetorical questions which indefinitely fold upon themselves send in a nuclear family member that would be guaranteed to encourage small scale intimacy. There were those born on a certain latitude that seemed to have the same approach too.
Some photos on his phone are given over that do indeed seem like ‘action-art’ where paint has been dripped onto a canvas or a tin of emulsion on a huge sheet of paper had been hit by an automatic rifle.
“It’s not like the Torah-it isn’t a holy-book of these splatter. Anyone who is hunting for a guiding principle is going to be severely disappointed that is for sure.It always seems to be the same just when you are certain everything is pinned down then it starts going off the sides.”
You had to give it to Baslehurst this wasn’t someone who overdid the hard sell. If you wanted reruns of former glories then this was not your man. This was not a GOP adherent someone more inclined to liberalism.
“I sense that you’re a frontiersman anyway whatever anyone might throw as per criticism in your pathway.”
“I suppose-I’m a fairly downbeat guy about what I can/cannot do yes I’d go with that. No one has ever got their comeuppance for pushing forward that is for sure. Do you know Mustafa 'Udayl Ghanem?”
“No-I am sure I would with a name like that-it smacks of the New World somehow.”
“Mustafa is a Saudi who when not in his usual guise of Olympic trainer seems to like the classic touch that DoFM has. This is someone who glorifies everything that it is. His schematic for a good time is to dig around in the archives to find just what some have dismissed which might still be valuable. It is ludicrous what has been put into liquidation-we seem to have a propensity for this in our clique.”
It was as if there was a tendency to channel-surf which had seeped into other life-aspects like this.
“Some are too hygienic-they just seem to want to get of everything that doesn’t immediately fulfil their wishes. They are very obliging at taking an adz to man-sized chunks at what might actually be quite pertinent. No pyramidal structure for them-or hierarchy of subordination.”
Ray’s great grandfather had been a postmaster so stopping anything that could communicate a message was deeply offensive to him.
The settings on the phone are altered so to give a greater magnification, but it can be seen this is not satisfactory.
“There are transmitters of the info we want that are better than this-it is just that we haven’t found them yet.”
They were after a strikeout that much was certain if only they were a little further on in the game-then maybe the BC facts might have been given some substance.
The next divergence better offer remuneration Baslehurst muttered to himself like a senile old fool. There must have been a smirk on him somewhere because this was being wiped off.
What fabulous ownership was in the offing that at the slightest behest would solve all their problems at a stroke was not known. For the shortest instance Rodrigo Baslehurst seemed like a suitor just waiting for the girl-of-his-wish, except it wasn’t a mate but an app probably of some kind that should be partaken of. It would probably seem comical when first found but it slowly begin to be effusive about what it could do. Rodders had come across these before in earlier better incarnations-they seemed innocent enough almost dismissible but gradually as you got to learn what they are capable of then it was a growing-experience. It was as if they could regale you with what was munificent about their seemingly tousled features.
Rodrigo with his selfless devotion to duty was bound to come up against someone. Although someone with a pathological dread of such when in education, necessity had meant that despite the almost military display of features as a vista or the networking glossary that went on forever that getting close to these had been necessary.
It was a storm that had to be whipped up for better or fo
r worse. This wasn’t a suppressed virtuoso that was for sure. Sometimes Rodders liked to touch each feature blindfolded just to get to know every button, control-stick or switch there was. This it had been told exemplified the sincere user who really wanted to know what every feature could do. If you could get it so that everything was gratingly familiar, that the progression necessary was rote then you were onto a winner.
“I find Baligh Aza Zogby is an inspiration,” revealed Karim Afif Hajjar who was the acknowledged master of President Herbert Hoover globular recognition or PHH as known-another of the SALIGIA testers. What Hoover had to do with it no doubt would be revealed.
Karim who wore a miniature aiguillette (from French ‘aiguillette’, small needle) an ornamental braided cord most often worn on uniforms, but adapted for civilian dress (not to be confused with a lanyard which are cords that do not have the pointed aiguillette tips- are usually of fibre rather than gold or silver wire, often not braided) obviously found Baligh something of a brick. The unbeaten repellent that was used on this almost uniform was unmistakable. The manufacturers were diehards at whatever it was it did.
“Really I am pleased to hear that Hajjar.”
It was detected that it did not need much to get him excited by the PHH. It was a career consolation that you got to find out what turned people on.
“Before you ask President Herbert Hoover signed the bill that made the SSB the national one which is why this choice became the unbeaten rival above all else.”