Karmic-Dragonfly

Today was the day to move my grandmother's lemon tree back outside. As usual, I have starved it for water a few weeks before the move in order to make it easier to lift -- as evidenced by the drooping leaves!


I'm glad the weather is finally warming up! Lots of daffodils in the yard, which I have been bringing indoors.


The time change did not agree with me last weekend -- I don't remember being quite so groggy. Not helped by this being my week to host book club, so I just ordered pizza, put out a salad from a bag, and made a key lime pie. I didn't have time to do anything more elaborate.

The book was my choice since I was hosting. I picked an old one -- The Waves by Virginia Woolfe - not a great choice - at least I didn't particularly like it, although I understood it was experimental.

Also this past week, I was disappointed not to be able to see the blood moon lunar eclipse this last Thursday morning. I did get up at 2 in the morning, then again closer to 3, but the sky was too overcast to see it.

I force Amaryllises to bloom every winter, then take them out in the summer for sun and repeat the process the next year.

Here's a rather dramatic photo of Amaryllis 'Rosalie', which is blooming now.

For a long while, I struggled to figure out how to learn in the Old English class I am taking. I like the class a lot, and I'm going well, but I still struggled to figure out what I needed to do to prepare for class.

This is probably the first time I have really had to create a process for myself for learning.

Most classes have tests, etc. which force you to study a particular grammatical form or reading, but this class does not have tests. It consists of reading your parts of the chapter aloud as you are asked to each week. Then being asked questions in and responding to the questions in Old English.

There are also grammar workbooks provided for many class sessions, with selected points discussed in class, but again no tests. I am doing fine in class, but at first I struggled with exactly how to learn.

And also I wondered how to get what I wanted from the class. Actually, other than the idea of reading Beowulf faster than the 1 page an hour (oy, that was about how much time it took me when I sat down with Beowulf the first time to 'self' teach myself), I still don't completely have an idea of what I want from the class.

In the end, I settled on this process:

1. During class, I take notes on any grammar the instructor discusses, any etymology, any word meaning nuance, etc. One reason I do this is that I can later search all the notes to find that 1 particular time when she talked about, for example, which grammatical case to put after the verb 'to need.' (It's genitive by the way).
   
   
2. I take Thursdays off.
   
   
3. I read the chapter every other day other than Thursday.
   
   
4. I hand-write the answers to the questions that accompany each chapter. I find handwriting helps me remember better. And yes, I write in my books.
   
   
5. I make up additional questions for a chapter, to which I also hand-write answers.
   
   
6. Before each class, I review my handwritten answers, and transpose many of them into my Note taking app. I usually do that just before class, so my answers are fresh in mind (on mode).
   
   
7. I do the grammar workbook exercises at some point during the week.
   
   
8. And 1 other thing I do. Have you ever started something, and realized it was probably too much effort. But you had put so much effort into it that you don't want to stop? Well, that's where I am.
   
   I was used to learning in the 'grammar-translation' method of studying an ancient language. So early on, I found a site out of the UK where I could find grids of verb forms. I was used to that, and so I started copying those into a spreadsheet, printing the verbs for each chapter, and keeping them in a binder.
   
   Um, I'm up to 240 or so verbs now 🙄 -- but I hate to stop now that I have invested so much time into this. I also found a script online that presents a dialog box of all the tabs and lets me quickly change to any tab.
   

So there we are -- my time intensive study method for the class. It works for me. It's a lot more than I figured it would take when I first signed up for the classes!

***
One thing I find pretty cool is that one of the guys in the class consulted with the instructor to create a Discord chat for the class. It's turning out to be useful to practice just saying things in Old English.

For a bit, there were only 2 of us using it, but a 3rd has started to join in. And it's pretty cool and also mildly discordant to see a modern chat tool used with Old English!

Here's a screenshot with names and icons blacked out --

Nice to go for a walk today with a friend. This dreary winter plus everything else going on made me want to get outside, and today got up to 51F (10.5C).

We walked through a couple of parks, the pic below being one of the lakes we walked around --


Afterwards lunch at an Indian restaurant, where we got a free dessert because I told the waiter that I was picking up both tabs because the friend's birthday was this week. Funny -- I think the waiter thought we were "together" because he bought 2 spoons / 1 dish to eat. The friend is straight -- he didn't mention it, but I think he thought the same thing 😂

***
I also sowed seeds -- basil, tomatoes, Shishito pappers -- to sprout for later transplant this spring.


***
The birds have been chirping and cackling as spring arrives! Here's a picture outside the house of a house finch.

Just sitting around tonight; figured I would give a go at Cædmon's Hymn from the 7th century - as one does.

It's short, not too hard to interpret, and definitely one of the selections that should be on my reading list.

The text I used was a late West Saxon version of the hymn because it matches the dialect used in my class.
https://caedmon.seenet.org/htm/edition/eorthe/index.html

Cædmon's Hymn

Nu ƿe sceolon herian heofonrices ƿeard,
metudes mihte, ond his modgeþanc,
ƿeorc ƿulderfæder— sƿa he
ærest sceop eorðe bearnum
heofon to hrofe.

Þa middangeard, moncynnes ƿeard,
ece drihten, æfter teode
fyrum on folden, frea ælmihtig,
halig scyppend.

My first go at it

Now we should praise heaven kingdom's guardian,
might of the creator, and his intention,
the work of wondrous-father -- so he
first created for the children of the earth
sky as roof.

Then ("middle") earth, mankind's guardian,
eternal lord, afterwards prepared
for men in the fields, god almighty,
holy created.

Translation by Experienced Translator

Now let us praise Heaven-Kingdom's guardian,
the Maker's might and his mind's thoughts,
the work of the glory-father—
...
He first shaped for men's sons
Heaven as a roof. ...
then middle-earth mankind's guardian,
eternal Lord, afterwards prepared
the earth for men, the Lord almighty.

Note: There are various textual versions, and I deleted a few words from this translation because they were not in the text I used.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/159193/caedmon39s-hymn

And another experienced translation for comparison

Now [we] must honour the guardian of heaven,
the might of the architect, and his purpose,
the work of the father of glory
as he, the eternal lord, established the beginning of wonders;
he first created for the children of men
heaven as a roof, the holy creator
then the guardian of mankind,
the eternal lord, afterwards appointed the middle earth,
the lands for men, the Lord almighty.

http://www.jayleeming.com/uploads/2/3/5/6/23563262/caedmons_hymn.pdf

...no dog and goat to sacrifice, and it's way too cold to run around naked outside whipping people!


https://www.vindolanda.com/blog/lupercalia

So Mom made it through the pneumonia. But I consider this a reprieve, mostly for my youngest sister and her husband, who are her caregivers. To say that Mom's death will obliterate my youngest sister is an understatement. So I am happy for the reprieve for now.

Old English is getting ever so slightly easier as I progress through this 2nd semester. I really do enjoy doing it, although it has been a lot of work.

It's winter, and as usual I am generally hibernating. We got some snow and ice (or should I say, "snaw and is") this week. I'm already ready for February to be over! The spring time change will be happening in a just a few weeks!



Snow crocus were blooming. Here's a pic of them under the snow ("under þam snawe")


I am looking forward to just being able to go walking down at the river again!

The Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide

https://archive.is/od1iW

Some headlines from the last **couple days**

Most of these headlines are from this aggregation site:
https://www.joemygod.com

I have an affinity for B-rated movies and have several of John Carpenter's movies on DVD at home. So I made note when I saw a reference to Carpenter's "They Live" online the other day. Made during the Reagan years, it's a movie about alien capitalists who have settled on Earth to exploit the resources. The aliens appear as human unless you wear certain glasses that allow you to see their true appearance. While wearing the glasses, you see that all the street signs are really telling you to "Obey", "Consume", "Conform", etc.

I saw this book quote on Reddit, I think, and the ideas tickled my fancy. I added some spacing to help the readability.

"All right," said Susan. "I'm not stupid. You're saying humans
need...fantasies to make life bearable."
REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? No. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.

"Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little-"
YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.

"So we can believe the big ones?"
YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.

"They're not the same at all!"
YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN
SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET - Death waved a hand.

AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.

"Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point-"
MY POINT EXACTLY.

― Terry Pratchett, Hogfather

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/66591

I’ve been thinking that the American Nazis are really short on imagination as they seem to be replaying the German Nazi playbook exactly. I guess if it ain't broke, don't fix it?

Simplistically, it’s my understanding that the German Nazis of the 30s/40s wanted to deport the Jews and others, built detention centers for deportation, but then other countries were not willing to take them. Also the deportations were surely quite costly to perform. The final solution was to just kill them, so the detention centers turned into work camps and killing centers.

Fast forward to now when the American Nazis are planning detention centers for undocumented immigrants. First off, I see no way that these will not eventually turn into detention centers for political dissidents and others. How long before the “Patriot” Act gets used to deny habeas corpus for detainees?

Second off, how long before they become killing centers? And how long would it take us to find out?

***
On another topic, everyone around the world is indoctrinated by their child-rearing. We all are raised into certain beliefs. As an example, I was definitely indoctrinated in school into the idea of American Exceptionalism, that America was destined for greatness, is a bright and shining light spreading democracy, etc. etc.

And now I see things differently.

Another example is that I was taught that Nazi = bad. And now as an adult when I can choose what to believe, I am happy to state that I still believe that Nazis are bad. Mostly that opinion is based on the actions of Nazis in the past and on the hatefulness and actions of Nazis I can observe in the present.

I’m not making any point here. Just rambling, wondering to myself what I can do to respond to the changes.

I do know that I need to keep these events from living rent free in my head for too long. I have deleted most social media accounts (mostly because the corporates have not only bent the knee, but are actively supporting the new order).

***
For a lighter tone, here's a screen shot from Reddit with Redditor's names removed. It's the kind of thread I goto Reddit for -- I'm all about puns!

This is a thread in response to someone selling their Tesla back to the dealership:


***
And I’ll end my ramblings with a quote from a book I have loved my entire life:

“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring