About the time of my last entry my wife’s sister died. That threw everything into a different mode for several weeks. At this point, an end has come, it seems, to the activities and emotions surrounding the event. Do not assume anything about those activities and events; my wife’s family is complicated.
Now, I have developed an approach to the blog, at least to getting started on a regular submittal basis (BTW, I spent some time on the internet googling “submittal” and discover I have used it the way at least Paul Brians [Common Errors in English Usage] says it is to be used a good example of where prescriptive guides can be helpful): I intend to write quotes and invite responses and then eventually both respond to the responses and comment on the quotes directly.
Things around here have been tough and continue to be so. My wife has surgery in a few days and I am grateful I am retired now. It eased things up quite a bit. I am continuing my studies of Urdu to the extent that as I write “things” I mentally thumb through the various possible Urdu words that might be appropriate, viz. bat, mamla, shey, etc. I’ve started a line by line comparison of the Odyssey in Ancient Greek, English, and the best translation ever made (according to some), the one in Russian by V. Zhukovsky. Just a few lines in, I’m finding it a fascinating task. How much Ancient Greek I’ll learn is another story, but some things do seem to be sticking.
I’m finally finishing Finnish Lessons, reading the chapter on teachers and thinking of starting with a brief quote from that and several from American Nations. They tie in b/c Sahlberg states, “Indeed, Finns continue to regard teaching as a noble, prestigious profession akin to physicians, lawyers, or economists [economists??!!!] driven mainly by moral purpose, rather than by material interest, careers, or rewards.” p. 71…………. and, “Teaching as a profession is closely tied to sustaining Finnish national culture and building an open and multicultural society.” p. 72. I guess I have begun the process, haven’t I? I do invite comment on these quotes and particularly after looking at the quotes from American Nations, which I will submit shortly.
Oh, yes! And an article on twerking.