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Or Happy New Year in Romanian.
I hope you all had a good year. There is a very amusing posting on Tumblr right now lamenting the loss of Live Journal.
Which reminds me, this has really gotten my Eowyn thoughts going again because every 10 years or so, my Eowyn opinion undergoes a cosmic shift and I'm in in the middle of a new one. Also, I saw and yes, enjoyed the Hobbit very much. So, maybe another post on that, yes?
In closing, my thanks to you all for another awesome year. If I were to say, what was the best thing for me? Probably our trip to England meeting awesome and charming online imaginary friends, and paying homage to Darwin, Mary Anning, Bletchley Park, and the Oxford Museum. And the addition of the Corgi to our family, Thorin Corgishield (who thought the Pottery Barn catalog was delicious)
If you have something good that happened to you in 2013 that would like to share, please do so in the comments. And may there be more of the same to you and yours in 2014.
I hope you all had a good year. There is a very amusing posting on Tumblr right now lamenting the loss of Live Journal.
Trying to figure out Tumblr after being on LJ for ten years.I won't do an annual word count. I know it's smaller than previous years, even if still pretty big. The 3 Sentence Ficathon is going on and it erupted over the last 24 hours into a massive crackfest of Lord of The Rings/Narnia xover. Now, let me be clear, I LOVE Eowyn and Faramir. I LOVE Aragorn and Arwen. I LOVE Eomer. And yet, somehow, Peter/Eowyn and Lucy/Aragorn have lodged themselves in my brain, along with, wait for it, Faramir and Edmund. Utter crack. (it's in the later pages, 29-32)
Which reminds me, this has really gotten my Eowyn thoughts going again because every 10 years or so, my Eowyn opinion undergoes a cosmic shift and I'm in in the middle of a new one. Also, I saw and yes, enjoyed the Hobbit very much. So, maybe another post on that, yes?
In closing, my thanks to you all for another awesome year. If I were to say, what was the best thing for me? Probably our trip to England meeting awesome and charming online imaginary friends, and paying homage to Darwin, Mary Anning, Bletchley Park, and the Oxford Museum. And the addition of the Corgi to our family, Thorin Corgishield (who thought the Pottery Barn catalog was delicious)
If you have something good that happened to you in 2013 that would like to share, please do so in the comments. And may there be more of the same to you and yours in 2014.
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I spotted this on io9 when I was in Rome (who got it from Tiny Letter who in turn got it from C.S. Lewis' Letters to Children). I wanted to reprint it here, as it is just lovely. Lewis is writing to an American fan named Joan Lancaster in June of 1956 about the craft of writing. I infer from it that Joan must have included a picture of herself and her cat, named Aslan.
***
The Kilns,
Headington Quarry,
Oxford
26 June 1956
Dear Joan–
Thanks for your letter of the 3rd. You describe your Wonderful Night v. well. That is, you describe the place and the people and the night and the feeling of it all, very well — but not the thing itself — the setting but not the jewel. And no wonder! Wordsworth often does just the same. His Prelude (you're bound to read it about 10 years hence. Don't try it now, or you'll only spoil it for later reading) is full of moments in which everything except the thing itself is described. If you become a writer you'll be trying to describe the thing all your life: and lucky if, out of dozens of books, one or two sentences, just for a moment, come near to getting it across.
About amn't I, aren't I and am I not, of course there are no right or wrong answers about language in the sense in which there are right and wrong answers in Arithmetic. "Good English" is whatever educated people talk; so that what is good in one place or time would not be so in another. Amn't I was good 50 years ago in the North of Ireland where I was brought up, but bad in Southern England. Aren't I would have been hideously bad in Ireland but very good in England. And of course I just don't know which (if either) is good in modern Florida. Don't take any notice of teachers and textbooks in such matters. Nor of logic. It is good to say "more than one passenger was hurt," although more than one equals at least two and therefore logically the verb ought to be plural were not singular was!
What really matters is:–
1. Always try to use the language so as to make quite clear what you mean and make sure your sentence couldn't mean anything else.
2. Always prefer the plain direct word to the long, vague one. Don't implement promises, but keep them.
3. Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If you mean "More people died" don't say "Mortality rose."
4. In writing. Don't use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the thing you are describing. I mean, instead of telling us a thing was "terrible," describe it so that we'll be terrified. Don't say it was "delightful"; make us say "delightful" when we've read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers, "Please will you do my job for me."
5. Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.
Thanks for the photos. You and Aslan both look v. well. I hope you'll like your new home.
With love
yours
C.S. Lewis
***
I really want to editorialize, but shall not. The thing speaks for itself and more eloquently than I ever could.
In other news, we're back, having lost one electronic device in our mad dash across French airports, but now safe, sound, and jet lagged. There was something oddly surreal about standing in the meat department of the local grocery store looking at ALL THOSE CHOICES and thinking that 24 hours ago, I was in Rome.
Ciao! And in an inside joke for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
econopodder and knitress "Happy Cat Sacrifice Day!" For all others, enjoy your holiday of choice or none at all. It is a joyous and lovely weekend. Remixes should be posted soon, Big Bang starts on Sunday (thanks snacky !!!) and I really wanted to get an AW update up before then. We'll see.
***
The Kilns,
Headington Quarry,
Oxford
26 June 1956
Dear Joan–
Thanks for your letter of the 3rd. You describe your Wonderful Night v. well. That is, you describe the place and the people and the night and the feeling of it all, very well — but not the thing itself — the setting but not the jewel. And no wonder! Wordsworth often does just the same. His Prelude (you're bound to read it about 10 years hence. Don't try it now, or you'll only spoil it for later reading) is full of moments in which everything except the thing itself is described. If you become a writer you'll be trying to describe the thing all your life: and lucky if, out of dozens of books, one or two sentences, just for a moment, come near to getting it across.
About amn't I, aren't I and am I not, of course there are no right or wrong answers about language in the sense in which there are right and wrong answers in Arithmetic. "Good English" is whatever educated people talk; so that what is good in one place or time would not be so in another. Amn't I was good 50 years ago in the North of Ireland where I was brought up, but bad in Southern England. Aren't I would have been hideously bad in Ireland but very good in England. And of course I just don't know which (if either) is good in modern Florida. Don't take any notice of teachers and textbooks in such matters. Nor of logic. It is good to say "more than one passenger was hurt," although more than one equals at least two and therefore logically the verb ought to be plural were not singular was!
What really matters is:–
1. Always try to use the language so as to make quite clear what you mean and make sure your sentence couldn't mean anything else.
2. Always prefer the plain direct word to the long, vague one. Don't implement promises, but keep them.
3. Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If you mean "More people died" don't say "Mortality rose."
4. In writing. Don't use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the thing you are describing. I mean, instead of telling us a thing was "terrible," describe it so that we'll be terrified. Don't say it was "delightful"; make us say "delightful" when we've read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers, "Please will you do my job for me."
5. Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.
Thanks for the photos. You and Aslan both look v. well. I hope you'll like your new home.
With love
yours
C.S. Lewis
***
I really want to editorialize, but shall not. The thing speaks for itself and more eloquently than I ever could.
In other news, we're back, having lost one electronic device in our mad dash across French airports, but now safe, sound, and jet lagged. There was something oddly surreal about standing in the meat department of the local grocery store looking at ALL THOSE CHOICES and thinking that 24 hours ago, I was in Rome.
Ciao! And in an inside joke for
econopodder and knitress "Happy Cat Sacrifice Day!" For all others, enjoy your holiday of choice or none at all. It is a joyous and lovely weekend. Remixes should be posted soon, Big Bang starts on Sunday (thanks snacky !!!) and I really wanted to get an AW update up before then. We'll see.Tags:
It's packed here and in a few hours we will attempt to make our way back to Rome, very worried about our tight connection through Charles de Gaulle tomorrow morning. We'll see how it goes. It's funny, but 24 years ago, I found Rome scary and overwhelming and Florence beautiful and charming. We loved Rome this trip and our day trip into Tuscany was wonderful, but Florence was not as it was. The years have been good to Rome and less kind to Florence, I think.
 | Symbol of Contrada della Selva, Siena More information about this Contrada and its Pailo victories is here. |
 | Giotto's Tower, Firenze I have the identical picture at home, but taken 24 years ago from the third level up the belltower in Florence. Indiana Jones isn't quite right -- it's the years and the miles |
 | Pisa Go climb a tower (we did!) |
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 | Gelateria del Teatro Dinner in Rome |
 | Want to buy an elephant? Elephant mosaic from Ostia Antica -- hawkers in the commercial part of the town of Ostia would sell you an elephant. This was their advertising. |
 | Cupid and Psyche Art work in the home of a wealthy citizen of Ostia |
 | Pan This column was near a fountain and shows the god, Pan |
 | Mithras slaying the bull Given my TSG wanderings into the origins of Christmas, learning more today about the cult of Mithras and his "birthday" on December 25 and the relationship between this worship and early Christianity was fascinating. Our guide was terrific on how much early Christians co-opted other belief systems and how the Christian system was different from Roman and Jewish beliefs and why it caused so much conflict. |
I am also happy to report it is very quiet this evening. YEAH!
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So, the day started out on an off note. We were awoken to the doorbell ringing on the apartment and the housekeeping staff. It was 10:30 AM and we had slept through our alarms and missed the Vatican tour we had signed up for.
Oops.
Now, apart from the significant lost Euros, this was not a terrible thing as eldest child is thinking he's probably an atheist so seeing the greater glories of the Heart of Christendom and the relics of the Holy Roman Empire really are not high on the bucket list. Also, Palm Sunday is tomorrow and there's a lot of Catholicism going on right now. So we had pizza for breakfast and hoofed it over to St. Peter's Square and wandered about a little bit and saw the poor Pieta though it is now behind glass. Then we went to the Castel Sant'Angelo which figured in Hadrian's history, the Borgia pope, and Dan Brown's Angels and Demons (evil Ewan McGregor?). That was great fun -- a super combination of ancient history, Renaissance, and modern pop culture. Lots of fun.
Here's a pretty picture! A Stone Gryphon!
We had awesome gelato. Twice. The bad news is pretty bad, alas. The bank ATM ate my card so I had a long distance yelling match (toll free!) with Wells Fargo. Our lovely flat is on top of a nightclub cranking 80s and 90s dance music -- the Purple Rain soundtrack, Blondie Heart of Glass and Cindi Lauper. Oddly, this was the music at our wedding some 24 years ago (knitress was there) and I think this was a lot of the play list at Luke and Mara's Phantom Wedding in Vegas in 1999. (We did the bunny hop to Girls Just Wanna Have Fun). Even 15 years ago, I'd be downstairs flailing on the dance floor. Now, not so much. Oh well. Sleep is for the weak, I suppose and the ear plugs won't help for the vibrations coming up from the floor. Burnin Down The House is playing now, and just changed to Sweet Dreams Are Made of This....
Tomorrow, Ostia Antica! woot!
Also the awesome annual Washington Post Peeps Dioramas went live. I love the OccuPeep DC and the CERN, and the Downtown Abbey Peeps,
Oops.
Now, apart from the significant lost Euros, this was not a terrible thing as eldest child is thinking he's probably an atheist so seeing the greater glories of the Heart of Christendom and the relics of the Holy Roman Empire really are not high on the bucket list. Also, Palm Sunday is tomorrow and there's a lot of Catholicism going on right now. So we had pizza for breakfast and hoofed it over to St. Peter's Square and wandered about a little bit and saw the poor Pieta though it is now behind glass. Then we went to the Castel Sant'Angelo which figured in Hadrian's history, the Borgia pope, and Dan Brown's Angels and Demons (evil Ewan McGregor?). That was great fun -- a super combination of ancient history, Renaissance, and modern pop culture. Lots of fun.
Here's a pretty picture! A Stone Gryphon!
We had awesome gelato. Twice. The bad news is pretty bad, alas. The bank ATM ate my card so I had a long distance yelling match (toll free!) with Wells Fargo. Our lovely flat is on top of a nightclub cranking 80s and 90s dance music -- the Purple Rain soundtrack, Blondie Heart of Glass and Cindi Lauper. Oddly, this was the music at our wedding some 24 years ago (
knitress was there) and I think this was a lot of the play list at Luke and Mara's Phantom Wedding in Vegas in 1999. (We did the bunny hop to Girls Just Wanna Have Fun). Even 15 years ago, I'd be downstairs flailing on the dance floor. Now, not so much. Oh well. Sleep is for the weak, I suppose and the ear plugs won't help for the vibrations coming up from the floor. Burnin Down The House is playing now, and just changed to Sweet Dreams Are Made of This....Tomorrow, Ostia Antica! woot!
Also the awesome annual Washington Post Peeps Dioramas went live. I love the OccuPeep DC and the CERN, and the Downtown Abbey Peeps,
Tags:
13 hours in transit. We finally arrived in Rome and are in a charming flat. It was hell getting here, but we made it. We went on a walking tour this evening with a guide who was just terrific along with a doctor from Liverpool. Tomorrow we tackle the Vatican museums. It's really crowded. There are zillions of tour groups and lots of Americans who are on spring break. Eldest child nearly fell apart a few times, but he knows way more about ancient Rome than either of his parents so he pointed out all the pink granite obelisks the Romans stole from Egypt.
All NBB things were done thanks to the herculean effort ofautumnia. snacky has done an amazing job running this thing, so it will be great when everything is done. And heverus says she's doing art for my story, so I'm very happy about all of it, except possibly the story itself. Heh. snitchnipped and I collaborated on art (yes, you read that right, I did VISUALS) so that was fun. Also I saw stone gryphons today. More to come!
I sorta wanted to post some pics with people in them, but I'm still trying to sort out the public/private/fandom thing here.
Edit: my silver lining just got seriously tarnished. This is not a good place for those of us sensitive to noise at night. 11:30 PM, I've been up for the last 36 hours, two Benadryl and I don't think sleep is coming for hours. It was so quiet here during the day. Not at night.
All NBB things were done thanks to the herculean effort of
autumnia. snacky has done an amazing job running this thing, so it will be great when everything is done. And heverus says she's doing art for my story, so I'm very happy about all of it, except possibly the story itself. Heh. snitchnipped and I collaborated on art (yes, you read that right, I did VISUALS) so that was fun. Also I saw stone gryphons today. More to come!I sorta wanted to post some pics with people in them, but I'm still trying to sort out the public/private/fandom thing here.
Edit: my silver lining just got seriously tarnished. This is not a good place for those of us sensitive to noise at night. 11:30 PM, I've been up for the last 36 hours, two Benadryl and I don't think sleep is coming for hours. It was so quiet here during the day. Not at night.