One of my long-time favorites and sale information complete with a photo of some Essex Morris Men
Michael notes, “On two trips to England, otherwise uneventful afternoons of sightseeing in Sussex and in Yorkshire were enlivened by the unexpected appearance of groups of Morris dancers outfitted in colorfully eccentric garb. RHYTHM/COLOR: MORRIS MEN recalls the sudden boisterous appearance of these dancers on village High streets.”
you may be wondering if there is any connection between Finnabair and a certain Death Knight, Fionnabhair, mentioned in this blog. I can say for certain there was none when I chose that name for her…
In Irish mythology, Findabair or Finnabair (Reformed modern Irish Fionnabhair), whose name likely means “White Phantom” and is etymologically related to Gwenhwyfar, the Welsh original of Guinevere,[1] was the daughter of Ailill and Medb of Connacht.
Bleah, there is nothing like being sick on your days off to really screw up your week.
I have been pretty much solid in the non-productive column except for some important things like remembering to make myself eat a couple times a day, drinking lots of stuff, trying out ibuprofen vs tylenol, (have sworn off dayquil after a less than stellar dose).
I did reach the end of The Táin, in part because there were several pages where one of the instigators rattles off every known name involved in the slaughter. I did enjoy (?) the several pages of Fergus describing each wave of Ulster men arriving with their hero or heroes (the kings still asleep as it was early, I kid you not).
Some will be relieved to know that after awhile Cúchulainn ran out of warp-spasm and was too fatigued to go on single-handedly fighting back those who came for the great bull.
At the end:
Finnabair stayed with Cúchulainn, the Connachtmen went back to their own country, and the men of Ulster went back to Emain Macha full of their great triumph.
FINIT. AMEN.
Now, when I read this I thought: but Finnabair died quite awhile ago from shame. I flipped back and there it was:
When Finnabair heard that seven hundred men had died because of her deceipt, she fell dead of shame. From this comes the place-name Finnabair Slébe, Finnabair in the Mountains.
I took the ending to mean that Cúchulainn kept her body perhaps for burial, in that region. The footnotes say though that this was “merely part of the story-teller’s final flourish” and anyway, Cúchulainn was married already.
Those final two words lead to one of the best footnotes ever:
Finit, amen: The Book of Leinster [one of two extant versions of this tale] ends with the following scribal notes:
(in Irish) ‘A blessing on everyone who will memorise the Táin faithfully in this form, and not put any other form on it,’ and (in Latin) ‘I who have copied down this story, or more accurately fantasy, do not credit the details of the story, or fantasy. Some things in it are devilish lies, and some poetical figments; some seem possible and others not; some are for the enjoyment of idiots.’
Have I read something like this before?
I have encountered this for many years, that questioning look that says “why can’t you just be normal (like the rest of us)”. It doesn’t have to be about technology or comics or sci-fi. It’s whatever makes you “one of those” aka “not like me or anyone I know”.
Read this great post about what being a nerd/geek is all about and go with it in extreme happiness. (and don’t worry about the normal that’s the rest of them any longer)
Embrace your nerdy geekiness, my friends. Shout it from the rooftops. If someone tries to call you a geek or a nerd, tell them you refuse to apologize for your enthusiasm about the miracle of human consciousness. Go out into the world and find your like-minded geeky friends, and let’s see what we can do to make the world a happier, nerdier place.
via The Office of Letters and Light Blog – Embrace the Geek.
Warning: contains non-gratuitous wil wheaton reference.
Still home sick (and on my day off no less waa waa waa) and it just stinks. I don’t get sick too often which is good but I hate losing a chunk of time this way.
Maybe I’ll be able to stay vertical for awhile this afternoon. That would be a step in the right direction. At least the coffee tasted good this morning. It’s the small pleasures.
Guess I’ll make some tea for iced tea – pump those fluids, right?
It is the contrast of thinly applied darks sitting next to impasto lights that gives the effect of transparency and bouncing light.
