tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32562439004114925952024-03-13T10:31:59.628-07:00Write AwayA literary blog, more or less. Humorous items and information on my novels.Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128065424597559467noreply@blogger.comBlogger90125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256243900411492595.post-71584428700009534042024-03-03T15:46:00.000-08:002024-03-03T15:46:45.935-08:00MUSIC HAS CHARMS, SOMETIMES<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;">We have all, I imagine, noticed that it is the custom for many stores to play music for the entertainment of patrons. Not only stores are so afflicted. Places where one would especially expect and wish for quiet also play music. Recently, as I sat in the vast waiting room of the Allina Clinic, I could not help but notice some wretched tune being piped in–fairly softly, fortunately; but after one notices it one cannot easily ignore it, like a stone in one’s shoe. I once had to sit through “music” not only in the waiting room but also in the examination room of a dermatology clinic.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-a51a4674-7fff-8214-f53e-e00dd512c25a"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The sounds chosen for our delectation range from so-called “classics” (dating back perhaps as far as twenty or even thirty years) to “contemporary” cacophonies. When the entertainment is a song, it is invariably “sung” by some troubadour with no musical training who wails and chants gibberish or platitudes.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I do not know what marketing studies indicate that people–at least those with IQs in three figures–are pleased to be captive audiences to sounds at best trivial and at worst repellant. It does surprise me that cultivated ladies and gentlemen do not grab the nearest heavy objects and demolish the ceiling speakers.</span></p><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But I do not wish merely to carp or cavil. One should offer an alternative, and I herewith do. In fact, I offer two alternatives. The first is to stop playing music in stores, clinics, and similar places. Silence has a charm all its own. But, if silence is inconceivable, incredible, here is another idea: play </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">good</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> music. I do not advocate piping Mahler, Bruckner, or Wagner into public spaces, I do not want Handel’s oratorios booming out. But we have an enormous repertoire of exquisite, beautiful, soothing material by various Baroque and Classical geniuses that would serve the purpose very well. Georg Philipp Telemann wrote myriad sonatas. Vivaldi wrote over 500 string pieces. Haydn composed 104 symphonies If the works of just these three masters was placed on a loop, one could captivate the captive customers/patients with different works–no repetitions–for well over a year. And maybe some people would realize that their musical horizons should extend beyond their lifetimes.</span></span>Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128065424597559467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256243900411492595.post-86481334557382820172023-11-09T15:44:00.000-08:002023-11-09T15:44:25.779-08:00Still Here<p><span style="font-size: medium;">I don't post much, do I? I do intend to start a publicity campaign for my books, someday. In the meantime, they are all available still, and I am yet extant. If you have somehow found this modest blog, I encourage you to peruse the previous entries. You will find information on my books and many essays that, though not recent, yet have some value. </span></p>Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128065424597559467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256243900411492595.post-14593910291088287472023-04-10T12:39:00.000-07:002023-04-10T12:39:41.398-07:00NICE DAYS FOREVER!<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 9.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Many
years ago, so far as I can recall, when one purchased something, the clerk
would say “thank you” and one would reply “you’re welcome”.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 9.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">For quite some time, however, one has often
heard “have a nice day” instead of “thank you”.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 9.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Just lately a variant of “have a nice day”
has somehow appeared: “Have a nice rest of your day”. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 9.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I do not know how this latest phrase
originated or why anyone would say it. Besides being awkward and
ungrammatical–surely the best way to express the felicitous thought would be
“May the rest of your day be nice”--it seems quite limited. What about
tomorrow? Don’t you want my tomorrow to be nice, o solicitous clerk? Or are you
acknowledging the fairly obvious fact that you cannot wish me to have had a
happy previous portion of my day?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 9.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Why not go even further?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why not say “have a nice life” or “may you be
happy until you die, and then go to heaven”? Perhaps we could venture into
fairytale phraseology: “May you live happily ever after.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 9.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Or maybe we could just return to “thank you”
or “thanks for your patronage”, and reply “you’re welcome”?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 9.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 9.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">–Brian
A. Libby, 2023<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128065424597559467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256243900411492595.post-42850878287292885472022-09-11T15:32:00.005-07:002022-09-30T10:52:19.100-07:00Vollendet das ewige Werk!<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">When Valhalla was completed, Wotan said "The eternal work is finished." I doubt my works will be eternal--but then neither were Wotan's, as things turned out. At any rate, the revised edition of <i><span style="color: red;">The Free Lands</span></i> is now published on Amazon KDP, both in paperback and ebook form. For just$18, or $4 on Kindle, you can acquire a 2.5 pound, 655-page tome that completes the saga of the Pelicans Mercenary Regiment (unless I keep writing them, which will happen only if some people start reading them.)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Of course, before reading <i>The Free Lands</i>, you should read the first three volumes, also now available in final revised form. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I'm well aware that this announcement will not cause cries of joy throughout the world of fanrasy-adventure aficionados, but I hope now to begin some sort of publicity campaign to revive interest in my <b>Mercenaries</b> series. (I have sold a few hundred copies in the past several years, but it has lain fallow for a while.) Any suggestions?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The new book's ISBN is 979-8848976-816. The old edition is still listed on Amazon; I hope to find a way to eliminate it (and the other old editions) so readers will not be confused.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128065424597559467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256243900411492595.post-76540209631974140722022-07-31T15:59:00.000-07:002022-07-31T15:59:29.806-07:00SIZE MATTERS<p> </p><span id="docs-internal-guid-9a11a535-7fff-1b04-3fac-f4bae3764197"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Europeans say that everything is bigger in the United States. (French and Saunders had a very funny skit about this.) But nowhere, I think, is this truer than in the cereal aisle of the local supermarket, as I noticed while shopping the other day.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Would you like some Fruity Pebbles? You may choose among three sizes: the Large Size box is 15 ounces. The Family Size box is 20 ounces. The Mega Size box is 27.5 ounces. If you want only a small size box, you will have to buy the Large Size, which is the smallest available.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Other cereal manufacturers use the term Giant Size (apparently instead of Mega Size). </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I do not know if even more enormous sizes exist. Perhaps there is, in the storeroom, a Colossal Size box that must be winched into your trunk. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whatever happened to Small, Medium, Large? These words are directly related. But there is no way intuitively to know the relative dimensions of things labelled Mega, Giant, or Family. (How big is a family?) </span></p><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128065424597559467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256243900411492595.post-16409331918648951312021-08-16T15:32:00.002-07:002021-08-16T15:32:34.892-07:00Why Not Investigate?<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Here are some addresses useful for learning more about my books: three Youtube videos and my Facebook page. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Storm Approaching</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">:</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://youtu.be/GjlyGbBkTbc" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://youtu.be/GjlyGbBkTbc</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-0a672048-7fff-6139-22aa-9d26db59465c"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And Gladly Teach:</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IukjbheqL7g&t=13s" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IukjbheqL7g&t=13s</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Hodgepodge:</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://youtu.be/mHgsTL-wWzA" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://youtu.be/mHgsTL-wWzA</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Facebook: </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/blibby600" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">www.facebook.com/blibby600</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p></span>Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128065424597559467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256243900411492595.post-65284059589573757982021-06-22T15:55:00.003-07:002021-06-22T15:55:30.940-07:00A New Edition<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lj2RVirDTsM/YNJpZvdVPhI/AAAAAAAAAtc/HZI4llv6NWM9T93q6k7ZFyY2GnlzaFptwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1640/W2K-RESOLUTION-FB-Banner-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="624" data-original-width="1640" height="174" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lj2RVirDTsM/YNJpZvdVPhI/AAAAAAAAAtc/HZI4llv6NWM9T93q6k7ZFyY2GnlzaFptwCLcBGAsYHQ/w455-h174/W2K-RESOLUTION-FB-Banner-1.jpg" width="455" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The new (and final) edition of Part Three of the <b>Mercenaries</b> series is now available at Amazon in both print and ebook versions. The ISBN of the print version is 979-8520689188. The old edition will still be on the Amazon site for a while since it takes time to get rid of such things.</span> </p>Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128065424597559467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256243900411492595.post-2047900927756194362021-03-28T12:57:00.002-07:002021-03-28T12:57:36.848-07:00Mind Your Manners!<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A short time ago I received a copy of
“The Pocket Book of Etiquette” by Margery Wilson, a gift from a friend who
thought that a historian might find it interesting. Interesting is an
understatement. I have been reading this wonderful 400-page book with rapt
attention. The book was published in 1937, revised in 1940, and went through
ten printings by December 1942, so it obviously sold well and had wide
influence. It is amazing that, amidst some of the most depressing times (both
figuratively and literally) in our
national history, and in the worst part of World War II, Americans were buying
an etiquette book. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">For my part, I cannot enumerate all the
great things I have learned. I shall strive to reach Margery Wilson’s high standards.
Why, by the time I finish this priceless volume I am going to be so elegant
that no one will recognize the gauche blunderer of yesteryear. I will never
again feel apprehensive about how to conduct myself at teas, receptions, and
hunt balls. Gone will be my former louche behavior at the opera, the theater,
and debutante parties. Exquisitely attired in magnificent</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">habiliments, I will dazzle everyone with my
soigné, debonair aura. From my tall hat to my walking stick, my tailcoat to my
spats, I will be the cynosure of every eye!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Here is a minuscule example of the
excellent guidance the book affords:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><i><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">(p.
122) A man always rises when introduced to anyone. A woman arises when
introduced to an older woman or a woman of the same age. Everyone rises for the
Church…. Naturally, children rise for all introductions.</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></i><i><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">(p.
189) At a formal lunch, men leave their coats, hats, and sticks in the hall.
Women leave their heavy wraps in the dressing-room but retain their hats and
gloves, and sometimes a fur neckpiece…. Guests remove their gloves at the
table, or earlier if cocktails are served in the drawing-room. The hostess, of
course, never wears gloves or a veil….. Men at a Sunday lunch wear the cutaway
coats they have worn to church.</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></i><i><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">(p.195)
Service and all plates are removed from the left with one hand, while another
plate is set down with the other hand from that same left side. All too often
one sees a servant take a plate from the left and then side-step or back-step
to the right of the chair to set the next plate down. One can only watch in
wonder and ask, “Why?” Service and all plates are removed one at a time.
Stacking occurs only at Dude Ranches.</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></i><i><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">(p.
226) In America a maid is usually called by her first name. In England they are
always called by their last name. A housekeeper is always called Mrs. or Miss,
and a governess in the same manner. All menservants may be called by their last
names except when the name is too difficult to pronounce. Then the first name
may be substituted.</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></i><i><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">(p.
83) The well-dressed Englishman, usually regarded as the best-dressed man in
the world, adopts an enviable attitude toward his clothes. He is meticulously
careful in their selection…. He never appears to be wearing a suit for the
first time…. He dresses correctly for whatever he happens to be doing, whether
it is hunting or dining…., All of us are familiar with the saying that England
has conquered the world in a boiled shirt.</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I am considering acquiring a monocle.</span></p>Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128065424597559467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256243900411492595.post-83769525015252864192021-01-19T15:44:00.001-08:002021-01-19T15:44:41.951-08:00Wanna Buy A Book?<p> </p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">To clarify the status of my books:</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-c6b0394d-7fff-2a6f-475e-35557bd3e565"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1) </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And Gladly Teach</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is available in print at online sellers and as an ebook.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2) </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hodgepodge</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">likewise.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3) </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Storm Approaching</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Part I of the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mercenaries</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> series) is available in its </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">final revised edition on Amazon KDP both as a printed book and as an ebook.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4) </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gold and Glory</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Part II) likewise.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5 & 6) </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Resolution</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Part III) and </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Free Lands</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Part IV) are available as </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">printed books at online sellers. I have revised both books--but there </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">are no major changes in plot or events--and will be publishing the new editions m </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">on Amazon KDP as both print and ebooks when I can afford to, which </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">will, I hope, be during this year, 2021.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Should anyone have difficulties in obtaining any of the books, please let me know. And if you don’t have difficulties, let me know that too--it would be so nice to sell some. (Since publishing them I have sold a few hundred copies, but not recently.) </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can learn more about these fine works on this site or via my Facebook book page (Facebook.com/blibby600). YouTube videos are also available:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Storm Approaching:</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://youtu.be/GjlyGbBkTbc" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://youtu.be/GjlyGbBkTbc</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And Gladly Teach:</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IukjbheqL7g&t=13s" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IukjbheqL7g&t=13s</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hodgepodge:</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://youtu.be/mHgsTL-wWzA" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://youtu.be/mHgsTL-wWzA</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128065424597559467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256243900411492595.post-4776338229882049772020-10-30T23:03:00.002-07:002020-10-30T23:03:10.951-07:00Double Take<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">After unpacking my new Honeywell Cool
Mist Humidifier I carefully read the instruction pamphlet until coming, on page
2, to this sentence: “Helen of Troy will not accept responsibility for property
damage caused by water spillage”.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I blinked and stopped reading. At first
I feared, as the elderly do, that my hour had struck: I could no longer read,
words were garbled, my eyes and brain were no longer in sync.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Then, noting that the rest of the page
still made sense, I wondered for a moment if Priam, Menelaus, or Achilles would
be more accepting of blame.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Finally, turning to the back of the
pamphlet, I discovered this: “Kaz USA, Inc., a Helen of Troy Company.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Consulting the repository of all knowledge,
Wikipedia, I found that there is a gigantic international combine called, yes,
“Helen of Troy”.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">My only remaining questions were, what
is Kaz USA and what happened to Honeywell? But, acknowledging at my age that
there are mysteries we shall never know, and perhaps are not meant to know, I
stifled my curiosity and filled the humidifier tank. It works fine.</span> </p>Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128065424597559467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256243900411492595.post-46434012003924126132020-08-09T12:29:00.000-07:002020-08-09T12:29:32.512-07:00Her Brother's Keeper<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%;">In
Hy-Vee today, as I placed my few items on the checkout conveyor belt, the
middle-aged lady in front of me, who was completing her purchase, turned and
told me that I must put my items back in my cart so that the cashier could
first clean the conveyor belt. It is what they do here, she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I
smiled graciously and put my things back in my cart. (She could not see my
smile, since I was of course wearing a mask, but I smiled anyway because I am
so nice.)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">However,
it was only with some difficulty that I resisted the impulse to show that I am
au courant with the latest slang by replying “Thank you, Karen” and ignoring
her. But I did not wish to perhaps appear as a central subject in some YouTube
video entitled “man hit over head with purse (or pepper-sprayed, or, these
days, shot) by enraged woman at grocery store”.</p><p class="MsoNormal">The
cashier and I chuckled a bit after she left--but while she was there he did,
while muttering a bit under his breath, industriously spray a great deal of
fluid on the belt and vigorously scrub it with a paper towel, something I am
sure he would not have done without her considerate intervention. I felt so
much safer! </p>Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128065424597559467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256243900411492595.post-33201076864870362092020-04-26T11:57:00.002-07:002020-04-26T11:57:59.228-07:00GAS BOOM? <br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Now that gasoline is so cheap, do you suppose some people might start hoarding it against the time when the price rises? Perhaps we will hear boasts: "I have 700 gallons of gas in my garage," "You should see all the gas I have in my basement." If in coming months some houses are suddenly blown to smithereens or become huge pyres, don't be too surprised. After all, we didn't expect what would happen with toilet paper, did we?</span>Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128065424597559467noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256243900411492595.post-87145899109200627342020-04-07T10:39:00.000-07:002020-04-07T10:39:23.985-07:00A Hero For Our Time<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> A HERO FOR OUR TIME</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-0ef141b7-7fff-6101-01c9-3e8f4fc0d10b" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Beyond all dreams of avarice, a wealthy man am I.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Though gold I lack, today’s real wealth I’ve piled up very high:</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">My closets bulge with tissues boxed, my cupboards are replete </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">With quarts of sanitizer and a million things to eat;</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Three gallons of fresh milk I have, and loaves of bread well-frozen;</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">I’ve canned sardines and yogurt, too--and face-masks by the dozen.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">With superhuman cleanliness I easily can cope:</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Look here! Behold! This cupboard holds three hundred bars of soap.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">My nether regions spotless are at morning, night, and noon:</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">My rolls of toilet paper, if unrolled, would reach the moon.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Incessantly I wash my hands. I shun my fellow men.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">I stay inside. I pace the floor. I’m skulking in my den.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">I’m masked and goggled all the time. I have a hazmat suit.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">I don’t emerge in light or dark. I hoard and count my loot.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">I order groceries online. I barricade my room.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">I’ll thus avoid, I’m confident, the now-impending doom.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Let others fall! I know that I will surely win this fight </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">For I’ve become, by ceaseless toil, the perfect troglodyte!</span></div>
<br />Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128065424597559467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256243900411492595.post-87794739965456526052020-04-02T16:10:00.001-07:002020-04-02T16:10:21.458-07:00You Can Take It To The Bank (With Some Difficulty)<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-djF0Z7814l8/XoZwvZx5-FI/AAAAAAAAAkA/b1A-ZQ8U0UABGPpzhV0NI1L9UCFxJ4b_QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/MM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-djF0Z7814l8/XoZwvZx5-FI/AAAAAAAAAkA/b1A-ZQ8U0UABGPpzhV0NI1L9UCFxJ4b_QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/MM.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Tomorrow will be very exciting. I am going to the bank! How did I manage to arrange so audacious an expedition? After all, the bank lobby is locked. Well, first (after discovering the other day that the lobby is locked) I went online to the Wells Fargo website and found my bank. Then I filled in a form to make an appointment. A short time later I received a call from a bank official who wished to know if I was me and if I really, truly wanted to go to his bank, and why. After explaining that I wished to get into my SD box, and to get some money (which I cannot do in the drive-through line because I have nothing to drive), he approved and said he would see me promptly at 2PM. Then I received an email confirmation of my appointment, which said to print it out and bring it with me. (I shudder to think what might happen if I did not bring it. Perhaps alarms would ring and men with clubs, or at least sanitary wipes, spring out.) </span></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-d848748a-7fff-d0b2-20ea-94ace6444cc6" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">I plan to wear my lovely new mask to my bank appointment, but with some apprehension: although it may help to assure the Wells Fargo people that I will not give them the plague, masked men entering banks are traditionally looked upon with disfavor by bankers. Alas, what strange times we live in. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Of course, the weather is supposed to be bad tomorrow so I might wind up cancelling the whole project, which will feel as though I have cancelled an expedition to Mt. Everest. </span></span></div>
Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128065424597559467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256243900411492595.post-51532027236923667192020-03-29T14:58:00.000-07:002020-03-29T14:58:32.793-07:00Words (1)<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;">A word that has become almost intolerable in the last few days is “epicenter”. The word has a specialized meaning in geology but is otherwise identical to the word “center”. Apparently some journalists think that “epicenter” adds vim and verve to their articles, that an ‘epicenter’ is somehow more than a center, as if such a thing were possible. If these miscreants feel the need to adorn their feeble prose with tinsel, maybe they should use “locus”. Grrr. Bah, humbug.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>
Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128065424597559467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256243900411492595.post-35874430566801894042020-03-23T12:22:00.000-07:002020-03-29T14:59:23.803-07:00GREAT MOMENTS IN EPIDEMICS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TeEF5H_mHkI/XnkLENHfoKI/AAAAAAAAAjs/3QBghsL_6EAI-qsl-PYbu-4XLOYUHwdAACEwYBhgL/s1600/Jaffa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="490" height="231" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TeEF5H_mHkI/XnkLENHfoKI/AAAAAAAAAjs/3QBghsL_6EAI-qsl-PYbu-4XLOYUHwdAACEwYBhgL/s320/Jaffa.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">During the Egyptian Campaign (1799) plague broke out in the French army. To calm the growing panic the commanding general visited a hospital and touched a victim to show that not everyone would be infected. This event was immortalized by Antoine-Jean Gros in his 1804 painting "Napoleon in the Pest House at Jaffa". May we look forward to modern equivalents of this heroism amidst our current pandemic, perhaps "Trump Dines At A Restaurant," "Trudeau Shops for Toilet Paper," or "Macron Walks Outside His House"? </span>Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128065424597559467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256243900411492595.post-80885531019218810342019-12-22T12:40:00.000-08:002019-12-22T12:40:11.622-08:00TO READ (or not to read?)
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: red;">Merry Christmas to All, and
to All a Good Read! Happy New Year! An excellent resolution for 2020 would be
to read (or at least to buy) the <i>Mercenaries</i> series, not to mention <i>And
Gladly Teach</i> and <i>Hodgepodge</i></span>. </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;">
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: red;">If I had a penny for every
one of my books sold in 2019, I would have… very few pennies. Nonetheless, I
persevere. The adventures of Andiriel and company are well worth following.
Read them! If you like them, tell your friends! If you dislike them, buy more
and give them to your enemies!</span> </span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wcm50FCrFmU/Xf_UbLXZitI/AAAAAAAAAis/GF4G85Oo--AYw0NpLX6q60V9mlPryR70QCEwYBhgL/s1600/4BooksCovers2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wcm50FCrFmU/Xf_UbLXZitI/AAAAAAAAAis/GF4G85Oo--AYw0NpLX6q60V9mlPryR70QCEwYBhgL/s320/4BooksCovers2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: red;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128065424597559467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256243900411492595.post-9804454337579742622019-10-13T12:11:00.003-07:002019-10-13T12:11:44.217-07:00Hear Ye!If you would like some information on my books, but do not wish to go to the trouble of finding the various excerpts on this blog, why not watch these brief videos? <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Storm
Approaching: </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://youtu.be/GjlyGbBkTbc">https://youtu.be/GjlyGbBkTbc</a></span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
Gladly Teach: </span></span><span lang="EN"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IukjbheqL7g&t=13s"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IukjbheqL7g&t=13</span>s</span></a></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hodgepodge:</span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN"><a href="https://youtu.be/mHgsTL-wWzA"><span style="color: #1155cc; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://youtu.be/mHgsTL-wWzA</span></span></a></span><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128065424597559467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256243900411492595.post-18977242736219484192019-09-04T13:35:00.001-07:002019-09-04T13:44:53.074-07:00GO BAG YOUR HEAD!<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></span></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After much thought, I have tentatively concluded that a society that thinks it necessary to print on plastic bags warnings against sticking your own or your children’s heads in them is a society so far gone down the path of infantilism and idiocy that it should probably stick its own collective head in a plastic bag and put an end to itself.</span></b></span></b></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-b71fbb0e-7fff-d405-4bca-e109d9a9697c" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Similarly, monitions that things cooked in ovens are hot, that bread contains wheat, or, on a bag of peanuts, that “this product is packaged on shared equipment with peanuts…”, suggest that government agencies are staffed by persons who believe the populace to be imbeciles and that, since the public puts up with these 'warnings', the agencies may be right.</span></b></span></b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bah, humbug! </span></b></span></b></span></div>
</div>
Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128065424597559467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256243900411492595.post-79016004394355523652019-07-05T12:49:00.000-07:002019-07-05T12:49:02.998-07:00A NEW EDITION
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I have issued a new edition of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Storm Approaching</i>, the first book in the
MERCENARIES series. The main change is simply an increase in the font size,
since some readers have suggested the 10-point type was a bit small. The book
now has 353 pages instead of 260 but the word count is almost the same. However,
I made small changes throughout, and one chapter (16, “Eloquence”) was
extensively revised. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Storm Approaching</i>
is available both in print as an an e-book.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_voWazbIMCg/XR-pj_K1ROI/AAAAAAAAAhM/_EY34xbCLuUYRbRTq6mGAFLauxoFyW0ZgCLcBGAs/s1600/SACv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_voWazbIMCg/XR-pj_K1ROI/AAAAAAAAAhM/_EY34xbCLuUYRbRTq6mGAFLauxoFyW0ZgCLcBGAs/s320/SACv.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128065424597559467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256243900411492595.post-65992556654364445422018-12-31T12:33:00.001-08:002019-02-04T22:11:13.566-08:00A Good Read To Lean Upon<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The dawn of a New Year--may it be a
happy one for you!--is a good time to remind visitors that the main purpose of
this blog is to advertise my literary efforts. I have self-published six books.
Chief among them are the four volumes of the MERCENARIES series:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Storm Approaching<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">II: Gold and Glory<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">III: Resolution<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">IV: The Free Lands<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The first three are a connected series;
the fourth is a stand-alone, but should be read only after reading the first
three.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How to sum them up? This blog contains
excerpts and other information, but here is a poem about Volume One:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">No magic swords or mighty rings,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">No orphans who are really kings,<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">No elves or dwarfs or prophecies;<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">No ghouls or vampires, if you please.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">A mercenary regiment,<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Its men (and women), where it’s sent;<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Its training, tactics, work, and play;<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">A growing threat (still far away);<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">That’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Storm Approaching</i>. KIndly look<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">At this self-published, worthwhile book.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There are also:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">And
Gladly Teach</span></i><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">, a satirical novel about a fictional
boarding school, and <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Hodgepodge</span></i><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">,
a collection of humorous essays on many topics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uAoLEOl6bGQ/XFko74TQ0JI/AAAAAAAAAfQ/_m0il43caPAS-UZrwtk5VwEWU1nXFTK5gCLcBGAs/s1600/4BooksCovers.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uAoLEOl6bGQ/XFko74TQ0JI/AAAAAAAAAfQ/_m0il43caPAS-UZrwtk5VwEWU1nXFTK5gCLcBGAs/s320/4BooksCovers.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Why not try one (or two)? They’re really
pretty good. </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "wingdings"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128065424597559467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256243900411492595.post-20422972195317509382018-12-21T15:16:00.001-08:002018-12-21T15:18:25.256-08:00There Is Nothing New Under The Sun<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; white-space: pre-wrap;">R</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; white-space: pre-wrap;">eading Gibbon’s <i>Decline and Fall</i>, I found this about the Emperor Julian (361-363 AD): “... he could employ his hand to write, his ear to listen, and his voice to dictate; and pursue three separate trains of ideas without hesitation and without error.” Who says that multitasking is something that came in with computers?? The Romans gave us that, too! :-) </span></span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<br />Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128065424597559467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256243900411492595.post-59211205042562557922018-12-20T14:34:00.000-08:002018-12-20T14:36:49.881-08:00Prescience?<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The other day I used my credit card and the clerk presented me with a receipt on a tablet device. When I asked what to sign it with--expecting a stylus--I was told to use my finger. (I did; this is not productive of calligraphy or even legibility). Afterwards I reflected on one of the many famous lines from Fitzgerald’s rendition of Omar Khayyam: “The moving finger writes, and, having writ, moves on…”. About 150 years after he wrote it, this has now become literally true. Did the 19th-Century poet envision the touchpad?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">-------------------------------</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! And remember, as you plan your reading for 2019, that my six books--details of which are available here--would provide you with many hours of delight. :-) </span>Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128065424597559467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256243900411492595.post-43793367153475749822018-11-12T22:14:00.000-08:002018-11-12T22:14:32.042-08:00Amo, Amas, Amat?
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When I was a lad, the Jesuits in charge of my high school
education thought it good that I take four years of Latin. So I took four years
of Latin. I cannot say that I enjoyed it, nor that I was a great Latin scholar.
(I scored 100 on my very first Latin test; I recall that because it never
happened again on any subsequent Latin test.) But since I ended up becoming a writer,
and a historian with a strong interest in Ancient History—although that is not
my main field; I am not a Classical scholar—I am grateful to the Society of
Jesus for giving me a good foundation in Latin. Some knowledge of Latin is
indeed, as the reverend fathers told me, a very good thing for those who write,
and love, English.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In recent years, as a teacher, I had contact with the Latin
teachers at my school. I sometimes examined the books they used, and my! was I
struck with the differences between these new texts and what I and my
schoolmates were subjected to.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Today, Latin, when it is offered at all, is almost always an
elective, so it is thought necessary to try to make the subject interesting. We
now have texts and course materials designed to entice the nascent Latinist
with stories about Marcus (and, of course, Marcia—one could not these days leave
out the ladies) going to school, walking in the garden, playing games,
interacting with other young Romans, and generally behaving like human beings.
Classes play games using Latin and have Latin names for students (as is
normally done in other foreign-language courses). In short, there is an attempt
to make the Romans appear to be rather like us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It was otherwise in a Jesuit high school in the 1960s. The
first year was grammar, the second was Caesar, the third was Cicero, the fourth
Virgil. (If there were others, I have forgotten them.) Marching through Gaul
with Caesar’s legions got pretty tedious after a while, even for someone —e.g.
me—interested in military history. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The English-to-Latin translations we were made to do were a
mixture of Roman military history and Catholic theology. We translated
sentences like “The centurion is leading the cohort into the forest,” “The
soldiers are fighting the Gauls,” “Mary, our mother, loves us, “Caesar is
sending the grain supply to the besieged city,” “We pray for the salvation of
souls.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I remember that several pages of one text were devoted to a
playlet in which a military tribune is interrogating a captive Gaul. When the
Gaul is reluctant to spill the beans, he is tortured. That is how we learned
the Latin exclamation “Eheu!”, which means “Alas!” or “Woe!”—the poor Gaul
screams “eheu” as he is being tortured. When the agonized Gaul finally tells
the Romans what they want to know, he is released--but unfortunately he mutters
words to the effect that the Gauls will yet prevail. The Romans hear him, and
the tribune orders “Statim ad mortem!” (Kill him immediately)—which is
immediately done. (I am not making this up; obviously the little drama made an
impression, as I recall it over half a century later.) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Many of our vocabulary words are probably not included in
modern introductory Latin, such as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">occidere</i>
(to kill), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">supplicium</i> (capital
punishment), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tormentum</i> (torture), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">gladius</i> (sword), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">scutum</i> (shield), and especially <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">frumentarium</i>
(grain supply). How many times did we read of the frumentarium being brought to
the troops, being transported through the forest, being intercepted by the
Gauls!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The poor Gauls paid a heavy price in my high school Latin.
Translate: The Romans are killing the Gauls. The Gauls are being killed by the
Romans. The Gauls have been killed by the Romans. The Gauls shall have been
killed by the Romans. Will the Romans kill the Gauls? I think we killed more
Gauls than did Caesar (although that would be difficult, as he slaughtered many
tens of thousands). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I imagine that the reaction to this essay, at least among
those not versed in history, will be that modern Latin instruction, with Marcus
and Marcia cavorting on dad’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">latifundium</i>,
is far superior to that which was forced on those of my generation. But… but…
well… Roman history is something I taught, and have studied, for many years.
And, you know, I have to say that what I was given in high school was a more
accurate rendition of the Romans than any prettified contemporary stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Romans did not build an empire by being
nice, and their customs were not ours. Maybe the new Latin programs should
feature Marcus killing some hostages or Marcia being told at age thirteen that
she is going to marry a man in his thirties.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128065424597559467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256243900411492595.post-23435720771273172542018-11-08T11:30:00.001-08:002018-11-08T11:30:52.606-08:00Can You Do The Math?
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Everyone
needs a few good items of clothing, so, although the bulk of my haberdashery
comes from Walmart, I occasionally purchase more respectable habiliments from
Charles Tyrwhitt, a fine English supplier with offices in the U.S. Consequently
I am on their e-mail list and periodically receive advertisements.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Last
week their ad announced “three shirts for $99.95”. (These are very good shirts,
so this would be a bargain if I needed shirts.) And the advertisement also
displayed, below the price, a large circular insertion that said, “That’s only
$33.32 per shirt”. Yes, it really said that.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">My
mind yet boggles. It would surely be reasonable for Charles Tyrwhitt to posit
that their clients have at least completed grade school. Nonetheless, the
company feels it advisable to tell prospective customers that ninety-nine
divided by three is thirty-three.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">We
hear about the ‘dumbing-down’ of life. How bad is it? Have we reached the point
where companies selling fairly high-end products think we are all idiots? Could
they not assume that even mathematically-untalented people--such as me--can
handle elementary arithmetic? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">O
tempora! O mores! (What times! What customs!) as Cicero said (although he was
referring to the conspiracy of Catiline rather than advertisements for togas).
Indeed, one could continue quoting from the First Catilinian: Quo usque tandem
abutere patientia nostra? (How long will you continue to abuse our patience?).
Companies will perhaps sell more products if they do not insult the
intelligence of their patrons.</span><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14128065424597559467noreply@blogger.com0