Christmastide

I realize that this is posted long after the draft was finished.

At Christmastide, the bonds of kin grow closer than the rest of the year, and this family is no exception. My brother and his girlfriend, who live down the hill joined us for Christmas Day dinner, but the rest of family was habitually late - so much so that we ceased delaying dinner and consumed our repast. The bearded uncle, the artiste aunt, and adopted kid arrived immediately after we had finished. On this night, I finally acquired a cell phone. The next day I had to return to work, albeit at Tahoe with a view of the Tahoe City golf course, but in the evening we had a Boxing Day dinner and opened the remaining presents.

Archeology, Anorexia, and Apes

I went to Carey Perloff's Luminescence Dating at the Magic Theatre at Fort Mason. I greatly enjoyed the play, but I doubt that any who had not suffered through the Classical college curriculum could appreciate the subtler references within the work.


Thumbs up to Italy, which has joined the war against stick models, along with Spain and Brazil.


There is a plague among the gorillas of Zaire, not unlike the Ebola virus which has effected the humans of that region. There are two possible disease vectors: other gorillas and fruit bats. I am inclined to believe that the latter is the true vector. Ebola acts through contaminated bodily fluids. Gorillas do not gather in large groups, which limits the effectiveness of the disease vector. Fruit bats, however, could fly between tree before perishing, and their corpses would remain in the copse from which the unfortunate primates dined.

A Weekend With Dad

I've had a busy weekend.

On Friday night, the eve of Black Friday (which sounds to me like a stock market crash, not a favorable shopping day), Dad and I went to see Lillian Hellman's Little Foxes. The streets were swarming with consumers, easily swayed by the lure of advertising. I should have realized what a certain young lady was doing the day after Thanksgiving. The play itself featured the intrigues of a Southern family more beholden to Mammon than mercy and kindness. The play was well executed, but the slew of plays about Southern decadance has somewhat diluted the dramatic impact of that milieu. Perhaps my overexposure to serious plays has leached the color for me.

On Saturday night, Dad and I went to the San Francisco Symphony's presentation of Charlie Chaplin's City Lights as it would have been at its premiere. A "silent" film, proeprly presented, was scarcely silent, since the score involved a thirty-piece orchestra. It was strange to hear laughter in such normally somber halls, but Chaplin's comic genius as actor, director, and composer shone. One could describe the plot either as cheap melodrama or as deeply tragic drama.

On Sunday afternoon, Dad and I went to see Borat! It was a good movie, but the joke only remained funny until halfway or two-thirds of the way through the film. It was a good thing Mom didn't come with us - she would have hated it.

Quand il pleut

Quand il pleut dure et sans cesse, il me semble que je dois étudier plus facilement. Mais le ciel somber s’a rappelé à la nuit somnolente. J’ai parti de mon apartement pour ètudier dans mon café favori, mais il est fermé. Je n’ai pu pas me rappeler si cet café est fermé toujours à lundi, mais je buvais dans un autre café en face de l’avenue Clement.

Et c’est Rimbaud que je m’ose, non Baudelaire.

Okra and Earthquakes

I prepared okra for Sunday dinner today. The process was disgusting, even if the product was delicious - and I'm not at all sure it was an inverse relationship. Clearly my destiny is not as a chef. The okra was dipped in egg yolk and flour, creating a sticky mess which congeals on the fingers. I stared at my hands, appalled at the moist mess. My digits froze up, like a rheumatic old woman's. The task did reach completion, and we enjoyed the dinner.

I spent the afternoon at the centenary lecture of the AIA. I entered the Arguello Gate of the Golden Gate Park, and set off down the road as I had so many times. Too many years, unfortunately, had passed since I had done so, and therefore a level of uncertainty remained. I walked along the road, with toddlers biking up and down the newly paved road. I caught sight of the tower of the de Young, which struck a discordance by its height which loomed above the trees. It was not unattractive, but the height was so untraditional for the park. The swing music blazed from the back of the de Young. I found the cavernous lobby a bit disorienting, and I was a little too early.


The centenary lecture was prefaced by a recitation of the history of the SF branch of the AIA. Its first lecture was delayed by a certain 1906 earthquake. The lecture was about the instability of much of SF's soil, the conflict between practical reconstruction and real estate value.

At the reception, I didn't really get a chance to talk to Barbara McLaughlin, my former archeology professor, since she was busy hobonobbing with the other directors of the AIA local chapter. But I'm sure I shall see her again at other AIA/SFSU events.

Murem Ridiculum II

Alterum murem ridiculum inveni. Audivi eos quibus salus ubique in aeternum intersit commandasse quod omnes liberos quales sub pedibus (apud anglicum modum) quinque sellis in talibus ad infantes salvandas sedere itinerantes raeda debeant. Qua lege liberi usque ad duovigintos annos patiantur, qua lege eadem monstratur pavor nostrae aetatis et nostorum parentium ne aliquae mala accident liberis. Heri rectrix piscinae cuiusdam coloniae quam fratres nostri gerunt questa adolescentes quos ad piscinae custodes adhibent adolesse in mundo ubi omnes participes lauros recipiant, qua in errorem inducente omnes omnia aequo modo recipere debeant. Orbis non omnimodo salvus nec omnimodo salvus fit!

Murem Ridiculum I

Murem ridiculum inveni. Ab iis qui gerunt Civitates Foederatae Mexicanorum constituit ut vota absenticia cuiusque civis in CSAS colligere conetur; sed necesse erat cuique civi non solum mittere sua vota summo pretio ad litteras mittendas sed etiam revelare suos sedes habitandi. Primum erat pretiosum, secundum periculosum. Etiamsi civis iure munere fungatur, fortasse aliae res non faciat. Itaque haud multa vota collecta sunt.

Aestus

Quam crassum caelum quod ratus sum fugisse! Cum aestus a Franciscopoli nuper latus sit, sed his in mentibus manent. Summi aestus supererant, sed hoc multi irascentur, multi severis verbis dicunt, pauci crimina faciunt. Plantae satae ac madefactae moriuntur. In meis sedibus officii, quae a terga aedificii iacent, totum diem sine machina ventifaciente laboro. In coloniis quae frater mecum est parum umbellarum ad modum Romanum utendum. Sed canes summo modo patiuntur. Meus canis Inflatulus, parvus albus pilosus, inflat.

Proemium ad Conventiculum

Leoni suo M. Antonius Agricola s. d.

Ut tibi, domine, multis annis lapsis ab animo meo haud procul etiamsi divisus terra marique, lingua communi non umquam vulgari coniuncti, haec verba non nulla quo facilius convenientia diutius omissa incenseretur scripserim constitui quianam ego etiamnunc nave aeria frequentissima plena mobilibus vulgaribus infante qui flebit a conventiculo sic nuncupato gesto civitate in Kentuckia ad Latinitatem alendam et educandum revenio Franciscopolim unde raeda quo Tahoniensem ad lacum ubi fratri mecum negotium nuper emptum ascendam.

Cum discipulus diploma magistrale ob studia classica sisyphico studio ab Universitate Colorata Lithopolitana peterem, professor quidam dixit mihi moroso quia non potero oneratus indicibus librorum legendorum et officio haud scio an perstudiore Romam ut aliquos menses Reginaldo illi incumbere, contingere ut aliud tempus ad hominum similium mei animos de rebus nostrae aetatis Latine recteque alloquendos exstaret ubi nec tempus durandi nec spatium itineris faciundi obstaret.

His dictis auditis consideratis, praetermitto quomodo diploma acciperem, in Californiam civitate illa relicta invenirem, Toronti oriatiunculam de Pyrrho rege Epirotum ac Tarento habuerem, munus novum in negotio meo et fraterno inciperem.

Omnibus sed factis, tandem a statiuncula in oppido Truccia, cui nomen ex aboriginum vicinorum lingua ortum, tramine cum matre, itinerans ad aliter finiendum, Sicagum, cuius caelum caepis incultis aetate praeterita inquinatum, per civitates primo Nivatam, sterilem et partim immemor legum Augustanarum partim permemor earundum, deinde per Coloratam cuius iure ego civis semel mutatus, numquam animo, tandem per multas alias quarum vel nihil videre possem vel quae mea haud magis interessent, iter feci.

Cum nave aeria multo minore quam ubi sedebam scribens iactata nubium motu in Kentuckiam pervenissem et vehiculum conducticium caelicolum portu me Universitate in Kentuckiana Lexingtoniense vectus esset, accidit ut conductor falsum esset quousque eum vehi rogasset; nam hoc in campo sita sunt duo auxilia gemina solum nominee; qua re mihi onerato impedimentis iter haud longum ambulandum ad aedificium ubi rectores conventiculi censum haberet inveniendum. Sed actuarius, qui sine dubio hieme universitate in ipsa studeam quibusdam studiis, cum cubiculum petivi dixit hoc deversorium egere vacuis ob aedificatus aestivos universitatis qua ratione necesse mihi petere sub iove minanti longiquum litus ubi aliud in turre sepositum. In scrinio longiquiore utriusque turris nomine Blandings tabulas retuli, actuaria adiuvante, deinde ascendi in tabulatum sextum ubi cubiculum discipulorum nudatum praeter gemina cubicula dormiendi, scrinia, locula recepta inveni.

Et imbre assiduo et caelo procelloso et tonitu ingenti ego Aeneas terrenus nesciens quomodo aedificium ubi praeconventiculana cena sita esset nec audens legere chartam meam universitatis quam saepe vellem ne fieret nullo modo utilis madefacta aliquantum in tristitiam et iram non nata ratione intrabam. Sed tandem praetermissus aedificium quaesitum attigi cognovique plenum luminibus hominibusque loquentes cum Anglice tum Latine circa tabulam ubi sint quaevis ciborum genera quos magno studio ego non esus nisi duo nucum sacculos e matitutina consumpsi.

Quamquam haec scripta videntur vixdum proemium de septimania illius conventiculi descripta, res negatiosae prohibet quominus nimis verborum inscribam, qua re iubeo te salvare omnibus cum fratribus suis discipulisque et tironibus et veteranis gregorianis. Vale!

Swan Song

Last night was the last night of choir practice, which we held at a house, not the choir room or the heat loft. I learned that the other two members who were leaving (Choircrawler and Biochemical Queen) were moving to SoCal – I hadn’t realized the twain were so serious. Choircrawler defends next week, and Biochemical Queen already got into grad school on the right coast. It was a good party/rehearsal, but I don’t think the Merlot helped my sense of timing. I proved my true academic geekiness by taking one piece and reading the notes on manuscript sources and trustworthiness (Source D’s flats and sharps were suspect; A and B were reliable; C and E apparently weren’t very good). I have developed a greater appreciation of the bass line, especially in the performance of Russian music.

Thank You for Smoking

Last Friday, I went to 'Thank You for Smoking' with two of my friends, Joanna and Laura, whose relationship is a bit tumultuous. The movie produced a very peculiar feeling; on the one hand, it was a heart-warming father-son bonding trip; on the other hand, the father was narcissistic and amoral and probably should have been kept away. This did create some dramatic tension and was a relief from the general sentimentality characteristic of father-son stories, but it's not a movie where you can cheer for the protagonist. To paraphrase a comment on 'V for Vendetta': 'Just because he's the protagonist doesn't make him a good guy, you morons!' But perhaps this ambiguity in 'Thank You for Smoking' will shatter this delusion for at least a few discerning souls.

Paschal News

Here's a bit of timely language geekery: 'paschal' as in 'of Easter' comes from the Greek verb 'paskho', related to the Latin 'passio' from 'patior'. The roots of both mean 'experience deeply' rather than 'suffer', so the terms refer to the entire experience of the death of Christ, not only the suffering.

The recent anti-Coptic violence in Alexandria, Egypt bothers me. It reminds me why there are now far more Copts outside Egypt than within it. It also reminds me that I still need to go to the little Coptic church in the East Bay when I get back.

And Happy Birthday to the Pope.

Opening Salvo

I just set up this blog so I could post on my brother's blog. I guess I've been sucked into this blogging thing at last. But I guess my Classical heroes showed no reluctance to write about anything and everything.

My voice is shot from the choral gymnastics of the Triduum (Good Friday to Easter).
I can finally go read the Gospel of Judas without worrying that it will distract me from the proper attitude to Holy Week.