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pinkroo)
my hair smells good enough to eat.
creactivity)
zhenzhi)
lesliepear)Growing up I was brought on many (long it seemed) trips from Long Island to Flemington. NJ to collect Stangl pottery - it was our kitchen everyday dishes. They had an outlet there. When Stangl went out of business in 1978, it became a Pfaltzgraff outlet - I did visit there a few times but never cared for those dishes.
Today at a church sale I picked up a little dish which was cute.
It wasn't the pattern my mom collected (apple delight). I still have her set in boxes in storage in my MIL's garage.
I was doing some googling just now and found the outlet closed in December 2008 :(
ruralrob)
seraphimsigrist)Friends,
Today a little at loose ends I drove around a bit and came to the
cemetary in Somers New York where an old friend, John McMahon is
buried having died suddenly in 2001, I set on a bench by the small
churchyard burial place and said a prayer and then noticed beside
me on the bench a small black figurine which proved to be of
Hotei Sama one of the 7 Chinese gods of good fortune, accepting it
as being,as it were, a gift I put some wildflowers on the grave
marker from the wood nearby...
Driving on a bit in one of my usual drive courses I came to the
Hudson River above Cold Spring and opposite Mount Storm King,
I have taken enough pictures and shared them here of that small
mountain, or large hill, but did find a couple of things perhaps
new, one an angle from the South looking across , not the Hudson,
which is beyond a narrow spit of land beyond the immediate
water and on that spit is a railroad track running upriver,
and there other is of the Hudson and of a sail boat passing
before the face of Storm King. For these , and Hotei,
please click to the right just here.( Read more... )
As to John McMahon no special sadness just passing by and stopped...
He was a friend for some years after I came back from Japan and
he wrote for the little magazine First Hour which I edited then,
he had not really done published writing but he was gathering
material for a go at a book on Tomasso Campanella the 16th
century philosopher, he cut a grave , priestly sort of figure in
a black turtleneck with a celtic cross typically, a classics master,
he loved bad movies of every sort particularly vampire ones. He
wanted for a future birthday that never came the urn with a boy
leading the drunken hercules home from the Met or if that was too
hard to steal then some 'objects' from the oriental room. I doubt
Hotei was one of them as it says 'made in china' on the bottom and
granted that some fine oriental objets d'art are from china I do
not think they say made in china on the bottom. Our mutual friend
Dr Allison of Godard Laboratory said of John's death in London that like
the old Celtic wanderers he died 'seeking his place of resurrection.'
So that and the photos and as always invite all you have on anything
at all... By the way yesterday's Superman proves to be a young Russian
American who apparently meant no trouble but he and Batman were
taking money and playing music without a permit. I hope he did not
punch the cop. Previously he had been arrested in a Tarzan costume.
yours
+Seraphim
.
anoisblue)
Essays With Andy
Andy
Today at 12:01pm
We’ve always known language was important, that language set us apart. God wanted to know what Adam would call the animals. Confucius, asked what would be his first priority if given the ministry of a state, replied, “The correction of names.” Six centuries before the Gospel of John, Heraclitus of Ephesus said, “In the beginning, the Word.” Aristotle, in Politics, wrote that speech sets Man apart from other animals, who have only voice. The human brain is three times larger than that of other apes our size and weight. Modern Darwinians theorize that human brain-size is due, at least in its final stages, to language and our cerebral capacity for language symbiotically co-evolving. The philosophical debate about the priority of language over thought or thought over language is a pointless chicken-or-egg dispute. Nothing like human thought would exist without language, just as nothing like human language would exist without thought. Language imposes some limits on the thinkable, but human thought also creates new linguistic tools, so that the limits of the thinkable keep expanding. The evolutionary bootstrapping effect continues.
( continued )
blues_dream)
WANT:
WANT:
WANT:
WANT:
WANT:
I can has money now pls?
... I'm not getting anything done today, am I?
anoisblue)I was going to write about language and culture. There's much to say about how culture shapes language and the importance of understanding a culture through its language. I've had a week to think about it and I could write about it but this is supposed to be an essay on my beliefs about language and, it just so happens, I have some big feelings about this particular subject, so, I'm going to get my snark on and say what I feel.
Unless you are in the National Spelling Bee or on Jeopardy! THE POINT OF LANGUAGE IS TO COMMUNICATE. It's not about your ego, it's not about trying to impress people, it's not about writing complex sentences that sound scholarly, and no one is going to plop down in front of you to give you the Nobel Prize for Sesquipedalism.
I am annoyed by people who muddle a conversation with the use of affected language and complicated sentence structures. Words are tools and smart people get the most out of their tools. I don't care if you have a Ph.D or if you got an F in every English class and dropped out of high school when you were 15-years-old--if your language is so affected that you fail to communicate, you are not smart.
A smart communicator considers the purpose, the topic and the audience when they speak. Even in junior high school, I knew that I didn't need my entire vocabulary to speak with the stoners out behind the school. And, not because they wouldn't understand it (some of them certainly would) but because it wasn't necessary. It didn't aid communication.
By the way, I love the National Spelling Bee. I'm impressed by the kids dedication and their love of language. But what I really love is hearing the interviews with the kids and realizing that they sound just like other kids. I'm glad to say that not once have I heard one of them come out with a sentence like, "My paternal grandfather once noted that my discourse runs from the magniloquent and obtuse to the abecedarian and perspicacious." -- but, if one were to say something like that, I'd instantly dislike that kid and the kid's parents. It's obnoxious; it's ridiculous; and outside of a party game, it's just plain foolish.
I can think of a few arguments that people might make against what I'm saying here, so I'll address them:
1. I'm not encouraging the "Dumbing Down of America" and I'm not saying Big Words Are Bad. I love big words and archaic words and Shakespeare and idioms and scientific language and I want our kids to know these things. And I want them to know when to use them. Words are a tool to be used in the art of communication and if you are choosing the language that fails to do that, then you don't own your words, the words own you. The most attractive people fit comfortably into various social settings, because they understand the intention of language. Sure, there is a time and place for someone to use words like paradigm and paradox, but if you want to shut down a good number of your social interactions, introduce those words at the wrong time and to the wrong people. If you sound smart but you go home alone, what good did it do you?
2. Recently, I heard the argument that when you spend years in academia that it becomes second nature to talk a certain way, to sound pompous, and that it's not intentional, it's just a natural progression after spending years of trying to impress teachers and other students. At first, I bought that. It seems reasonable on the face of it. Except, no, it's not. It's a cop out. I didn't lose "See Dick and Jane run down the hill" when I learned more vocabulary. That's like saying, to get smart you have to get dumb. Do you have to lose the ability to communicate with a class of 2nd graders? Do you have to lose the art of clear and concise communication? What sort of an argument is that, really?
Anne Morrow Lindbergh said, "Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee and just as hard to sleep after". Isn't that the best feeling ever? Who doesn't love having a deep and interesting conversation, the kind that plays over in your head again and again because it was so thoughtful and entertaining. That's the kind of conversation that leaves everyone feeling smart.
animikwaan)what goes on in my brain at a lineup.
blues_dream)
Uuuuuugh. I was gonna get up early this morning and be all productive, but I was up late last night chatting online with a cute local photographer whose photo blog I read. Just woke up. Buuuh.
Also, I didn't get ANY words last night, not a one. I was tired; I haven't been getting a ton of sleep this week and it caught up with me. Instead, I dragged out my old All in the Timing tapes and watched a couple. For those who don't know, All in the Timing was a play I was in back in 2002. We recorded the show on several different nights from several different angles, and I'd always intended to edit the footage together into some kind of cohesive whole so that the cast and their families, at least, could have a DVD of the show. I never got around to it, though, and indeed, last night was the first time I'd ever even looked at the footage. It was overexposed and the sound wasn't great (and I'm a much worse actor than I remember being!), but I think I may be able to get a decent DVD out of what's there. It'll be an interesting exercise in editing, if nothing else; I have some fun ideas I want to try. I'm looking forward to it!
After I finish my novel and get Hilarity Ensues up and running again, of course. Man. So many projects!
Okay, I've gotta get moving. Maybe I'll go for a quick run; get the juices flowing.
geekchick)Does anyone want a Dreamwidth invitation code? I have three available. Comments are screened; leave the email address you'd like me to send the code to here please.
felixbunay)The power is mostly out at my condo (from the storm this morning, I presume). It's not completely out - the lights come on at about 10% (estimated) power - which is good because even though it is now brilliant sunshine outside, I have no windows in the bathroom.
There is just enough power to make the radio run intermittently at very low volume; every once in a while faraway voices begin to speak, but they're not the same voices as the usual ones in my head. There is also just enough juice in the line to make the TV click on (once) before dying a second later.
Obviously, I am typing this from elsewhere. Elsewhere than there, I mean. Not elsewhere than here.
amaebi)( Gamera Sleeps )
poetbear)WALKING IN THE RAIN
Walking down the street,
Kicking cans,
Looking at the billboards,
Oh so rad,
Summing up the people,
Checking out the race,
Doing what I'm doing,
Feeling out of place,
Walking, walking,
In the rain.
Feeling like a woman,
Looking like a man,
Sounding like a no-no,
Mating when I can,
Whistling in the darkness,
Shining in the night,
Coming to conclusions,
Right is night is tight,
Walking, walking,
In the rain.
Come in all you jesters,
Enter all you fools,
Sit down no-no's,
Vulgar fools,
Trip the light fantastic,
Dance the swivel hips,
Coming to conclusions,
Button up your lips,
Walking, walking,
In the rain.
therealocelot)As I've mentioned before, I'm reading (or re-reading, as the case may or may not be) The Dark Is Rising series.
This is a slightly strange experience. If you'd asked me before I started the (re)read, I would have sworn I'd read them. Most of the titles feel very familiar. The cover art is familiar. The plot seems familiar in very broad terms (The fact that there are kids involved in an Arthurian struggle between good and evil seems familiar). But I've been through two books now, and nothing really jogs my memory. Every once in a while some image will resonate ever so slightly, but not enough that I can really remember anything.
I'm reading the third book, and it seems to be heading in a direction that feels familiar (though I still can't remember any details), which makes me wonder if perhaps I picked it up halfway through the series. I can't quite imagine why I'd have done that (and Greenwitch is the least familiar-sounding title), but I suppose it's possible.
This is really odd. I probably read thousands of books as a child, and before this, while I may not remember all the details, something about it will feel familiar.
Why did these books register so poorly? Or did I truly not read them? I kind of wonder if there is a series with a similar theme that I read instead.
NEW BLOG POST
Fr. Thomas J. Paris Senior Camp Announced
The Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco has announced the Fr. Thomas J. Paris Senior Camp. The event will take place Monday, September 21, to Friday, September 25, at St. Nicholas Ranch in Dunlap, CA.
The theme of this year's event is "Vaya Con Dios! ..... Go with God!"
The 5-day, 4-night Senior Week program includes food, dancing ...(read more)