Odi et amo

Odi et amo. I hate and I love.

If you haven't read Catullus in the original Latin before, you should. At least, you should read this little couplet he penned back when time was BC. So many penned isn't the most accurate of words...anyway. It's a great little poem.

"Odi et amo. quare id faciam, fortasse requiris?
nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior."

It's well-constructed, is simple yet complex. Seriously. It's very common, actually. A well-known piece of his work. It means, "I hate and I love. Perhaps you ask, why I do it? I don't know, but I feel it happening and it is excruciating to me." (Not all of that is an exact translation over, but that's it, basically.)

Now, Catullus wrote this to his girlfriend Lesbia. I am writing this to my computer. Specifically, to the internet.

Internet, how I love and hate thee! Why do you distract me when I should be busy? Why do you allow me to access such web sites as Hulu.com, Farmville.com, Facebook.com, all of my email accounts, and youtube, when I should be writing, cleaning, and living in the real world? Why do I feel my addiction? Perhaps I should have given you up for Lent, after all!

Except, dear internet, that you connect me to everyone; you keep me up to date on the news (and on my TV shows); you allow me to write alongside others.

Internet, I love and hate you!