dual personalities

Recently, I’ve spent a lot of time searching the internet for cool animated maps in order to teach students how to read such things critically. In the process I came across some wonderful sites that I didn’t use but enjoyed exploring. This one maps winds, currents, and waves around the globe. If you click on the word ‘earth’ in the lower left, you can change the settings. If you’re in the mood to watch animals frolic, check out this Bear Cam; it’s great, and if you get tired of watching bears, you can switch to all sorts of different animals. If you are feeling brave, look at all flights, a site that tracks all the planes currently in the air. But be careful — the internet is a black hole that will suck you in. Before you know it, more of your precious time will be gone.

I’ve also been re-reading Alan Furst’s Kingdom of Shadows, an atmospheric tale set in 1938 Paris. Our hero, forty-four year old Hungarian aristocrat Nicholas Morath, starts running covert missions for his uncle who is a diplomat in the Hungarian embassy. Nerve-wracking adventures ensue. But this is no 007; the body count is low and there are no fistfights. Rather, there is suave and mysterious Morath, a veteran of WWI who is “doomed to live with a certain heaviness of soul, not despair, but the weight of pushing back against it.” I’m beginning to feel a little bit like that myself. Anyway, the book is full of nightclubs, trains and interesting characters that make the reader feel somehow present. Although the author has obviously done his homework, there is one glaring omission: the soccer World Cup that took place in Paris in 1938!

Even worse, Hungary lost to Italy in the final. Quelle missed opportunity! I guess Mr. Furst isn’t a soccer fan.

Thanksgiving is upon us! Son #1 is coming home for a few days so the old people will not be alone (which we truly appreciate!), but we have decided to forego the turkey and trimmings and go for feasty bits and pie. Then we’ll probably make stew on Black Friday and start putting up Christmas decorations over the weekend. Despite the state of the world, there is much to be grateful for this year: wonderful children who love their parents and each other (ditto for other relatives); good health; small joys like a hot meal, a warm bed, and good coffee; a walk in the great outdoors; good books, good music and old movies; a crackling fire, and elastic waists!

Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Well, I really can’t believe it is Tuesday evening already and I have to do another blog post! I will be honest and say that I had been thinking about writing something similar to what my mother wrote today. Which I guess makes sense since we had the same weekend and the same conversations. Anyway, here’s a picture of a really good donut I got after an early morning getting the bossman on the local news (always an adventure, especially when I have to drive).

In other exciting news, I got a new rug for my dining room. I am quite pleased with how it looks–and very grateful that my mother was able to help me get into place when she visited.

I took Monday off to catch up on some sewing and holiday prep (and because sometimes doing chores on the weekend just defeats the purpose). I had a very productive day and even got some sewing (and cutting) done. Guys, I made a buttonhole!

So, yes, it turns out I guess I have written a part deux of my mother’s post. I am grateful for the little things in my life even if the second I get to work the world brings me down. Here’s a tidbit from Father Tim.

He thought of the old needlepoint sampler his grandmother had done, framed and hanging in the rectory kitchen. He had passed it so often of the years, he had quit seeing it. The patient stitching, embellished with faded cabbage roses, quoted a verse from the Sixty-eight Psalm.

“Blessed be the Lord,” it read, “who daily loadeth us with benefits.”

“Loadeth!” he exclaimed aloud. “Daily!”

Out to Canan, Jan Karon

*Obviously, Amy Santiago on Brooklyn Nine-Nine referring to her laminating skills.

I remember how delighted I felt when I first heard that line from “Modern Major-General”. It seemed an impossible claim and therefore perfect for Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance. Decades later, though I’ve spent countless hours studying cuneiform, I still can’t write a washing bill. Being able to read a language is much different from being able to write or speak it (at least for me!). The few people who can compose in Akkadian have my complete admiration. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that one of them, Martin Worthington of Trinity College, Dublin, has written dialogue in Akkadian for Eternals, the upcoming Marvel movie. Fortunately for the cast, only a few scenes involve speaking the ancient language. I couldn’t find a clip, but you can read about it here. Below you can see Marvel’s fanciful (and wildly inaccurate) vision of ancient Babylon, complete with the Ishtar Gate as part of the outer wall. Someone had fun on the computer…

Much as I’d like to hear the A-list actors uttering Akkadian, I’m not planning on seeing the film which supposedly clocks in at a mere 2 hours and 37 minutes. I’ll wait for the right scenes to hit Youtube, thank you very much.

A more fun and accessible Akkadian movie hit Assyriological circles a couple of years ago when students at Cambridge University in the UK, then under the tutelage of the same Martin Worthington who worked on Eternals, produced a wonderful version of The Poor Man of Nippur. Many famous Assyriologists make cameo appearances (and, no, famous Assyriologists is not a contradiction in terms). Give it a watch; it’ll transport you back in time to the first millennium BC, albeit in a Medieval setting. Be sure to enable the subtitles by hitting the cc button at the bottom.

Here are the opening lines of the poem:

There once was a man of Nippur, poor and needy,

His name was Gimil-Ninurta, a wretched man.

He dwelt in his city Nippur in abject misery:

He had no silver, as befits his people,

He had no gold, as befits humankind,

His larder wanted for pure grain.

His insides burned, craving for bread,

His face was wretched, craving meat and good drink,

Every day, for want of a meal, he went to sleep hungry.

trans. B. R. Foster, Before the Muses, p. 931

Though it might remind you a little of Job, this story goes on to show how our clever protagonist Gimil-Ninurta gets the better of his oppressors. It is a folk tale, not a religious lesson, but it still has a lot to tell us about the ancient Near East. We might also learn to count our blessings, use our heads, and roll with the punches.

Have a grand weekend!