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Entry tags:
- history,
- language,
- lj,
- reading_26,
- rl_26
(no subject)
The city has hired a private company to handle recycling, and because recycling has now happened two weeks in a row, added a little line to their handout saying this week only the city would pick up regular garbage as well as the green bins. I read this on a FB page but had my doubts. With reason. Green bins went early today, garbage did not. Recycling truck came up my street at 4:15 and took the recycling from the west side only. Shall lay bets on whether they come back later. Am doubtful.
The plethora of bins and frozen snow berms made getting up the street a bit of an undertaking. Snow berms must have been from insufficient shovelling on Boxing Day coupled with cars pushing snow onto the walks, because we have no such phenomena on my block. But anyway, got eczema cream for my cracked and flaking thumb, which would probably profit from a humidifier in my room as well. I have a humidifier, I just need to get it out and fill it, which is one of those minor tasks I unaccountably drag my feet on doing.
Spent yesterday evening transferring icons from LJ to DW, now it looks like the former may shut down. It's been months since LJ let me select individual icons for my entries anyway so I won't miss it if it happens.
Having another crack at that ancient outdated book on Anglo-Saxon England. In my last conversation with Vice-fearless Leader, she opined (and I restate) that the history of any country defaults to slaughter, slaughter, and more slaughter. Which is certainly the case of A-S England. This strikes me as a batshit way to spend one's abbreviated lifetime. But then I wonder about what people drank back in those days and was it possible that entire populations were suffering fetal alcoholic syndrome? It would certainly explain the Icelandic sagas.
But a casual mention of the Battle of Maldon sent me to Mr. Wiki to look up same. I read that in my Old English class half a century ago (and more) but nobody *then* mentioned that Byrhtnoth's ofermōd, his overconfidence, that made him give a disastrous concession to the invading Vikings, is a word that in every other appearance refers to Lucifer's attitude that led to his fall. Yeah, Tolkien was right about that one. Hubris, man, hubris.
The plethora of bins and frozen snow berms made getting up the street a bit of an undertaking. Snow berms must have been from insufficient shovelling on Boxing Day coupled with cars pushing snow onto the walks, because we have no such phenomena on my block. But anyway, got eczema cream for my cracked and flaking thumb, which would probably profit from a humidifier in my room as well. I have a humidifier, I just need to get it out and fill it, which is one of those minor tasks I unaccountably drag my feet on doing.
Spent yesterday evening transferring icons from LJ to DW, now it looks like the former may shut down. It's been months since LJ let me select individual icons for my entries anyway so I won't miss it if it happens.
Having another crack at that ancient outdated book on Anglo-Saxon England. In my last conversation with Vice-fearless Leader, she opined (and I restate) that the history of any country defaults to slaughter, slaughter, and more slaughter. Which is certainly the case of A-S England. This strikes me as a batshit way to spend one's abbreviated lifetime. But then I wonder about what people drank back in those days and was it possible that entire populations were suffering fetal alcoholic syndrome? It would certainly explain the Icelandic sagas.
But a casual mention of the Battle of Maldon sent me to Mr. Wiki to look up same. I read that in my Old English class half a century ago (and more) but nobody *then* mentioned that Byrhtnoth's ofermōd, his overconfidence, that made him give a disastrous concession to the invading Vikings, is a word that in every other appearance refers to Lucifer's attitude that led to his fall. Yeah, Tolkien was right about that one. Hubris, man, hubris.
Hubris is definitely a thing.
I know very little about Byrhtnoth and must find out more.
Re: Hubris is definitely a thing.
I had long suspected that religion was an excuse for, not a cause of, really bloody warfare. Too many factors involved for it to be the primary goal.
Byrhtnoth and Maldon are an interesting litmus test for who went through stupid bloody warfare and who didn't. I mean, JRR was indeed going from a linguist point of view, but there may have been other reasons he didn't subscribe to the 'brave last stand of courageous hero' attitude.
no subject
Re the amount of drinking back in Northern European warrior cultures, if someone hasn't already done it, there's probably a PhD in researching the affects on the population and whether it explains the violence.
no subject
Our forced air heating dries us out like mummies, whatever it's doing outside. Toronto is damp enough in winter, or can be, but doesn't stand a chance against the indoor climate. Still better than deep freeze Edmonton, say, where the all-over dryness causes nosebleeds.
no subject
The shutdown rumor is all over comments in LJ, too. Do you know what it's based on?
(I still crosspost because there are some people I care about on LJ who will never migrate to DW.)
no subject
LJ is making all Cyrillic users jump through hoops with IIRC the view to tracking them more closely, after which they might just let the nonCyrillic side go. Sell or just close down. So I'm being better safe than sorry.