In Honor of . . .

Out Comes the Red Pen Again

I've got a little list . . .

Cliche (and I know there should be an accent mark on the e but I can't figure out how to do that) is a noun, not an adjective.  "Oh, that is so cliche" should be "Oh. that is so cliched." The phrase 'fat as a pig' is a cliche. It is also cliched.

Then there's blog.  On a list I follow, the same person routinely posts the message "New blog up." At first I was amazed that this person had so many different blogs. Then I realized she meant a new post on her blog. Now I just grind my teeth.

Blog, used as a noun, means a regularly updated website or web page.  Those regular updates are more properly called posts.

And what about strait jacket and strait-laced? More and more I see people using straight when it should be strait. Strait's original meaning was a place of limited capacity -- narrow or cramped. Perfect for a strait-jacket or for the old fashioned laced corset.

But my current favorite is 'the throws of passion.'  As in, "Brad and Ashley were discovered in the throws of passion."

Well. Unless B and A are professional wrestlers having a romantic encounter, the correct word is throes meaning 'intense or violent pain and struggle.'

That's enough curmudgeonry for now. (Get off my lawn, you whippersnapper!)

Continued Wet with a Chance of Mushrooms

A History and a Story

Schama's ambitious tracing of Judaism from its beginnings (about 1000 BCE ) to 1492 is a marvel -- full of incident and specifics that make the past lively. Take for example the wonderful description of the trousseau of a mid-12th century Jewish bride in Egypt -"six white robes, three cloud blue, three blue and gold, one pomegranate red, three pearl-colored, two ash grey, two deep green, and two saffron." And all this for a bride "of average means."

 The book is dense with archaeological finds, deciphered shards and papyri, as well as historical documents from medieval England, Germany, Portugal, North Africa, - anywhere that the Jews of the Diaspora found themselves and made communities. The thread that binds the history together is the devotion to words -- spoken or written. The Talmud and the Commentaries and any amount of poetry and the words of the people themselves -- all these give testimony to the rich heritage of Judaism.

And what a history it is! The atrocities and pogroms over the centuries are given full attention -- a disgraceful story and I'll never think of St. John Chrysostom in a kindly way again -- 'golden-tongued' indeed!

But there's so much more! The philosophical and cultural push and pull  between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam over the years, as well as Jews as hired mercenaries, Jews as traders on the Silk Road, Jews in Moorish Spain honored as physicians, Jews in Medieval England protected by the monarch -- in exchange for the protection money that funded the Crusades. So much I didn't know or only knew from novels. 

I especially enjoyed reading about the "vast  Jewish kingdom lying on the high grasslands of western Asia, watered by the lower Volga, bordered by the Caspian Sea to the east, the Black ... Sea to the west, and the Caucasus Mountains to the north. All of Crimea and apparently the city of Kiev lay in its power." This would have been around 978.

I chortled when I read this because I'd first heard of the Land of The Khazars when I read Chabon's Gentlemen of the Road

in which two Jewish mercenaries/swashbucklers come to the aid of the heir to the Khazar kingdom -- I thought it was all make-believe till I read Chabon's comment that he was inspired, on learning of Khazria, by the thought of 'Jews with swords.' 

Now I have to reread both these books. The first, because it is so very full of information that I more or less skimmed through, alighting at the tastiest bits. And the second, because what I learned from the first will, no doubt, enhance my enjoyment. 

NY Times review of Gentlemen  HERE

Martin Luther King Day -- Words for a Dark Time

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

"If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward."

"Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle."

Ask-a-Cat

Evening Light

Bonafide!

Bonafide, certified, fortified, justified, satisfied, maybe even sanctified!

I had my last visit from the very nice physical therapist who has been working with me since I came home and she declared herself pleased with my progress. She watched me descend (backward) and ascend the steep basement stairs that have heretofore been a no go zone and then we went for a little walk outside. 

Now it's just a matter of doing a bit more each day. But what a pleasure to be outside! The snow is gone and it's rather balmy out.

Spring bulbs are nosing their way into the light (not unlike myself.)

And the wide world awaits!

A Blast from the Mythological Past

All this talk of Golden Showers, whether fake news or something much more serious, has me thinking of the legend of Danae who was impregnated by Zeus in the form of a shower of gold.

Zeus liked to have his way with maidens but often had to disguise himself in a vain attempt to fool his jealous wife Hera.

It never worked. She always found out.

And how I hope that this vulgar buffoon who is about to be inaugurated is  eventually found out by his supporters for what he really is. His cries of 'fake news' would carry a bit more weight if it hadn't been he who kept up the story that Obama wasn't born in the US, promising the faithful that 'his people' were making some interesting discoveries. And did he ever open his mouth to discredit the incredibly far-fetched 'pizzagate' libel? If he did, I missed it.

"People are saying" that DT is a useful puppet for Putin.  Will this turn out to be true? And even if it did, would it bother the true believers who seem totally okay with their leader's infatuation with Putin?

The lack of regard for facts puts this whole election into the realm of mythology. It would be interesting to read what history will have to say about this time we are living.

Always assuming that the future holds anything resembling objective history . . . 

Snow on the Mountain

Two Rather Different Workshops

This summer I'll be teaching in two residential workshops -- both quite good but very, very different. 

I'll be at John C. Campbell Folk School, June 25 - July 1, leading a class for folks who might want to write a novel. This class meets five days a week and the participants write in class from my prompts, read aloud what they've written and listen to suggestions, and then do it some more. 

We are the only writing group that week  -- other students for the week will be making glass beads, blacksmithing, bookbinding, throwing pots, cooking, fiddling, painting, weaving, quilting, carving, making jewelry, making soap, making a longbow . . .

I've led this class for several years -- and several novels have come out of it. The participants seem to thrive on the beautiful setting and the general hum of creativity that hangs over the Folk School. 

It's always a pleasant week --  there are optional nature walks every morning and a program called MorningSong and there are musical programs most nights. Campers are encouraged to sit at different tables at every meal so as to get to know others --and I always try to leave an afternoon free for my students to roam around and observe the work going on in the various studios. Everyone is friendly. And the food is remarkably good. There's a link HERE for more about JCC.

My other workshop will be July 8-15 at the Wildacres Writing Workshop. This is a critique workshop -- participants will have already submitted 18 pages of their novel in progress to me and the other workshop participants. Those 18 pages will receive my full attention and that of the others during the workshop meetings. We meet for only half of each day (and have one day off) -- leaving time for more writing, hiking, hanging out, and working on the skits for The Gong Show. 

It's a very different vibe from JCC. Ninety writers instead of a dozen.  For many, it's a time of finding their community, of taking their art seriously.

There are faculty and student readings, jams (lot of musicians here too) every night, and a kind of party atmosphere. In spite of or because of this, a lot of fine work comes out of this week on the mountain.

More about the Wildacres Writing Workshop HERE. (Note the page may not yet have been updated for 2017 but it will be soon.)

Both JCC and Wildacres offer scholarships. Both encourage early signups -- Wildacres especially fills up quickly and always ends up with a waiting list. 

Might one of these be a good fit for you?

Outside and In

Of Sickness and Health and Brokenness

The snow of the first snowfall was still coming down Saturday morning and I still had to decide whether to attempt the barefoot walk for health in the coming year.

Some friends suggested that it wouldn't be a good idea, what with my somewhat crippled state; others offered to barefoot walk  for me by proxy. And several suggested that my barefoot walk last year hadn't saved me from the late unpleasantness of a broken ankle, dislocated shoulder, and large laceration.

Hmmm. I disagree. The barefoot walk is for good health -- and I don't consider brokenness resulting from an accident as ill health. I haven't been sick -- just impaired.

But though I'm a little superstitious, I'm not an idiot. I asked John to come hold my arm while I tottered out barefoot into the snow.

 And when I mentioned to him the comments that said the walk last year hadn't saved me from brokenness, he suggested (and he's not at all superstitious) that maybe it had saved me from getting killed.

I'll take it.