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eithni
28 September 2009 @ 01:57 pm
Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up
                                                                         - A. A. Milne



I have the day off for a variety of reasons - recovery from MstC's birthday, various house appointments (chimney cleaning, gasline checkup, door measuring, window ordering, etc) and general cleaning/prep for the arrival of a new Wayward Girl. There is much to do and I am happy that most of it is inside. It's cold outside, but cozy and nice in here with my lovely little labeler machine... :)
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Current Mood: productive
 
 
eithni
30 June 2009 @ 03:32 pm
Anna Quindlen recently retired from writing the Last Word at Newsweek. While she had a lovely last column explaining why it was the right decision for her, I already miss reading her every other week... And example of her brilliance:

"As a Catholic schoolgirl I supplemented the obligatory 'Lives of the Saints' with the biographies of the famous women, searching for the possibility of a future that did not include an apron. The pickings were slim: Elizabeth Blackwell, Florence Nightingale. Some of the women I learned about then are still among my heroines, especially Elizabeth I. I remain a fan of world domination and red hair."
   Anna Quindlen, The Last Word, Newsweek, March 2, 2009
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Current Mood: sad
 
 
eithni
16 June 2009 @ 11:55 pm
Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands and then eat just one of the pieces.
-Judith Viorst,
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eithni
29 May 2009 @ 02:16 am
Fear less, hope more,
Eat less, chew more,
Whine less, breathe more,
Hate less, love more,
And all good things are yours.
   -Swedish proverb
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Current Mood: cheerful
 
 
eithni
16 March 2009 @ 09:10 pm
I've not posted for awhile, and so there are a few quotes, exciting websites, and other tidbits I've stored up to share... just thinks I like or find interesting - read, skim, or skip. :)

*****

Print on demand rare books!


Thanks to Cornell University, Google books, and Amazon.com, many books that are rare and out of print are now available as print-on-demand documents. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept - books are digitized, then printed and bound only when a copy is requested. It is more expensive than printing and binding thousands at a go, but more cost effective than storing thousands of copies of a book that will only sell a few copies a year. This particular program has the dual purpose of recording old books before they crumble and making those books available to interested readers. I saw little for the SCA period, but it is a cool book geek thing!

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Feb09/AmazonPOD.ws.html
http://bookstore.library.cornell.edu/project.html

*****

This is one of those words that people often confuse and/or misuse or simply misunderstand (as in the example context) and then miss part of the meaning of the scene. 

wherefore   \WAIR-for\   adverb
    *1 : for what reason or purpose : why
     2 : therefore

Example sentence:
     "O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" (William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet)

Did you know?
    In our example sentence, Juliet is not inquiring into her beloved's whereabouts. Rather she is asking why it is that Romeo must be Romeo, a member of the Montague family and, therefore, an enemy of Juliet's own family, the Capulets. Yet, wherefore does "wherefore" mean "why"? Starting in the early 13th century, a number of new words were formed by combining "where" with a preposition. In such words, "where" had the meaning of "what" or "which," giving the English language such adverbs as "wherein" ("in what"), "whereon" ("on what"), and "wherefore" ("for what"). English speakers have largely dropped "wherefore" in favor of "why," but the noun "wherefore," meaning "an answer or statement giving an explanation," continues to be used, particularly in the phrase "the whys and wherefores."
 
*****
Night the beloved. Night, when words fade and things come alive.
-Antoine de Saint-Exupery

*****

I love this word. I don't know why. :P

feckless   \FECK-lus\   adjective
    *1 : weak, ineffective
     2 : worthless, irresponsible

Example sentence:
      Although Trevor was admired by his colleagues at the newspaper, he turned out to be a feckless reporter, and so he was reassigned to the copy desk.

Did you know?
      Someone feckless is lacking in feck. And what, you may ask, is feck? "Feck" is a Scots term that means "effect" or "majority" and comes from an alteration of the Middle English "effect." So something without feck is without effect, or "ineffective." In the past, "feckful" (meaning "efficient," "sturdy," or "powerful") made an occasional appearance. But in this case, the weak has outlived the strong: "feckless" is a commonly used English word, but "feckful" has fallen out of use.

*****

And
[info]gwyneth1362
  is certainly a hottie and not "any old thing" but I thought this was hilarious.
 
 
 
Current Mood: calm
 
 
eithni
09 March 2009 @ 06:50 pm
I have had a lovely long weekend - perhaps not as productive as it could have been and not involving an event or anything else terribly exciting, but deeply satisfying nonetheless. Snapshots of the weekend: 
  • My work week had been stressful and since I have a bunch of vacation to burn, I started my weekend on Wednesday night. It felt irresponsible, decadent, and wonderful.
  • Lamb-y goodness. Mmmmm... I do not get enough sheep in non-string format...
  • I talked with my bank - I'm refinancing the house at 5%... So much better than the current 6.5%!
  • Friday night there were adventures out on the town with [info]zarhooie  and others, including a particularly intoxicated little squire-to be... ;)
  • A visit to Cost Plus World Market, which I'd not been to in months, was quite entertaining and I still only spent $20. Now I have the cutest little lamps to add to my camping gear and some jelly which, as near as I can tell, will be like eating solid sekanjabin
  • Saturday night weird dreams and brain weasels keep me up much of the night, so that sort of sucked for practice on Sunday
  • The Fighter practice in Brookings was interesting, but I seriously need to work on my endurance (and sleep, see above)
  • I hate daylight savings time, at least in the spring. :P 
  • Mmmm... buffets that include salad, pizza, mashed potatoes, AND good company. 
  • I am awful at talking about some of the yuck in my past, but when it came up, I think it went alright. :/ However, the weekend's conversations in general were good and, at times, enlightening. 
  • My coworker needed this Friday off, so I didn't depart until Monday morning... but not until I'd head a girlie breakfast with [info]zarhooie 
  • The fog on the way back to Madison was crazy... That's what I get for joking that Worthington was going to eat me, I guess...
  • Now I REALLY need to work on everything I should have done this weekend. It will be a busy week of studying, sewing, and research for me!

******
And this came across one of my lists and I liked it enough to share:

To be hopeful in bad times
is not just foolishly romantic.
It is based on the fact that
human history is a history not only of cruelty,
but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness...

                                                  -Howard Zinn
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Current Mood: tired
 
 
eithni
29 January 2009 @ 11:59 am
Poets don’t draw. They unravel their handwriting and then tie it up again, but differently.  — Jean Cocteau

 

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eithni
12 November 2008 @ 11:55 am
Life  
We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.
~Joseph Campbell
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Current Mood: thoughtful
 
 
eithni
26 May 2008 @ 12:55 am
I thought of [info]ego_id_non_feci when I read this, particularly when I saw the name of the person quoted. :) It explains my night well...

I am thankful for the mess to clean after a party because it means I have been surrounded by friends. β€” Nancie J. Carmody

*****

I'll have an ARRG summary tomorrow when I can gather up some brain cells to rub together.
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Current Mood: peaceful
 
 
eithni
31 March 2008 @ 12:39 am
Hope  

I was feeling sort of depressive about the state of the world after watching the news this evening, but this just came to my mailbox and, in this time of challenges, opportunity, and uncertainty, it seemed to be appropriate. So often, it feels like things can only get worse, but then there are those who keep hoping for that not to be so, and perhaps if enough of us believe it not to be so, we can make a change...

***************************************************

Sometimes things don't go, after all,
from bad to worse. Some years, muscadel
faces down frost; green thrives; the crops don't fail.
Sometimes a man aims high, and all goes well.

A people sometimes will step back from war,
elect an honest man, decide they care
enough, that they can't leave some stranger poor.
Some men become what they were born for.

Sometimes our best intentions do not go
amiss; sometimes we do as we meant to.
The sun will sometimes melt a field of sorrow
that seemed hard frozen; may it happen for you.

-Sheenagh Pugh
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Current Mood: hopeful
 
 
eithni
20 November 2007 @ 08:48 am
In a review of "The King of Elfland's Daughter":

"...it assumes that events have consequences, and that dreams and the moon matter (but cannot be trusted or relied upon)..." - Neil Gaiman
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Current Mood: pensive
 
 
eithni
05 November 2007 @ 12:11 am
Stolen from [info]pepperbeast

A Psalm of Historic Clothing

Historicity is my guide; I shall not guess.
It maketh me to measure accurately:
It leadeth me beside the primary sources.
It restoreth my wool:
It leadeth me in the paths of authenticity for its name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of synthetics,
I will take no messy shortcut: for thou art with me; thy books and thy artworks, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a cutting table before me in the presence of my snarkers:
thou clothest my head with linen; my fabric box runneth over.
Surely style and fit shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell by the historically informed wardrobe for ever.
 
 
Current Mood: dorky
 
 
eithni
24 October 2007 @ 05:22 pm
Lunch today was full of tiny, random happinesses - 

Randy, the bouncy-friendly Culvers guy, smiled at me and brought me a dish of chocolate custard, just because.

There was a great quote in my magazine (Real Simple):
β€œIn spite of illness, in spite of even the archenemy sorrow, one can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways.” - Edith Wharton

Charlie, the local we-play-everything radio station, really proved that when they played Disco Duck, Donald Duck commentary and all. It made me laugh. 

Sometimes the world is a strange but wonderful place...


 
 
Current Mood: amused
 
 
eithni
14 August 2007 @ 11:08 pm
"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia.
      - Charles Schultz, creator of the Peanuts comic strip


Sometimes, it is all a matter of perspective. :)
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Current Mood: amused
 
 
eithni
05 February 2007 @ 05:25 pm
I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark
should burn out in a brilliant blaze
than it should be stifled by dry rot.

I would rather be a superb meteor,
every atom of me in magnificent glow,
than a sleepy and permanent planet.

The proper function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.

-Jack London
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Current Mood: thoughtful