Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
Sometimes when I have no time to write a proper newsletter, I express silent gratitude that I had just written a poem, such as this one celebrating my wife Kate’s birthday taking place on the same day that we set our clocks back an hour. Here it is:
Falling Back – A birthday poem for Kate
“People reveal themselves completely only when they are thrown out of the customary conditions of their life, for only then do they have to fall back on their reserves.”
Leonardo da Vinci
The 80s dancing, the 90s rollerblades,
the uncountable stairs, the hip-carried children:
when your overtaxed knees finally give way,
Beauty, fall back into my waiting arms.
When facing the three-alarm night shift
with the new French bulldog pup,
fall back into our bed, leaving to me
the couch and bonding time with Margot.
When the tooth marks are numerous
and fresh, and too many decisions loom,
fall back into the ever-ready arms
of the reserved stadium cinema seating,
the cupholder holding as many illicit liquids
as can be surreptitiously smuggled.
When the parents are hungry for late breakfast,
fall back into the delicious old habit:
your cherry tomato spinach tofu scramble,
with olive oil and six other vegetables.
Every night, whether we have one
fewer spring hour together before dawn,
or the November 4th overnight Kate’s
birthday clock has (bonus!) fallen back,
back up incrementally until you sense
my breath, my warmth, and then,
inch the light, the heat, of your closed
eyes towards me an inch or two more,
even onto my welcoming pillow, so that,
after a kiss, we may fall back to sleep together.
I don’t even think that quotation is by Da Vinci. Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions on the following topics: Words that rhyme with “jubilation,” countries that end in vowels, the problem with neutrality, buffalos, uneasy lies, marauders, stocks and bonds, magical discoveries, moon similarities, countries with rich traditions, daredevil hummers, uses for wine, city numbers, Oscar-winning actresses, hot places, Greek letters, useful skills, lovely dogs, people you didn’t know were named David, broken rhymes, sore necks, popular hosts, voting day, deprivations, unusual oceans, rivers and streams, classical music, unusually-named spices, questions of sleep, American states, the absence of unsent wires, and Shakespeare.
Spoken Word Artist Brandon Leake is coming to Davis on November 15th. Perhaps you will join us at Poetry Night? Either way, join us tonight. See you soon!
Your Quizmaster
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Here are three questions from an October, 2013 quiz:
- Great Americans Who Had Our Attention in 1872. Who was the first African American nominated for Vice President of the United States as the running mate of Victoria Woodhull?
- Unusual Words. Named after an early Greek sea god, what P word is a synonym of the word “changeable”?
- Weights and Measurements. How many teaspoons are there in a tablespoon?
P.S. Happy Birthday, Kate! I hope you are enjoying the new puppy!
P.P.S. “Sleep’s what we need. It produces an emptiness in us into which sooner or later energies flow.” John Cage