This is a Roman novel, which is a first for me: I’ve read Roman poetry, and Roman speeches, but never a Roman novel until now. Well, strictly speaking it’s actually not a Roman novel, but a Carthaginean novel, though it was written in Latin. The translation is a very old one, by William Adlington, which is normal in the Wordsworth Classics series: the texts are very inexpensive, but one must read very old and somewhat difficult translations. The difficulty, though, is apparently reflective in Apuleius’ own handling of the Latin language, one he may have learned as his natuve tongue …
Month: January 2006
Lunar New Year Reads, #47 (sort of): 소리와 고요사이 (Between Sound and Silence) by 고창수 (Chang-soo Ko)
This book is, technically speaking, not the #47 book of the year. It’s just that, as I looked through my shelves for something to read, it occurred to me that I’d brought a spare copy to have passed on to a poet-friend (my old teacher, Tim Lilburn) — and read it on the plane ride over to Canada — last summer. It’s probably more like book #22 of my Lunar New Year list, but I’m not going to go back and adjust all the numbers. They can be left to signify my reviews, rather than my readings. Between Sound and …
Marmot is no more…
… but luckily it’s just a name/site change. I’m looking forward to seeing it in its final, full glory. Currently Korea’s biggest blogger’s site is being called From the Nakdong to the Yalu.
Is it normal?
I did my friend a favour while she was housesitting a mutual friends’ dogs in Seoul, and stopped in a few times a day yesterday and today to feed her cat. Well, last night, the cat vomited I don’t know how many times. (The floor-heating system was on, too, and it was all dry and crusty and hard to scrub off. Yuck!) I called just to check that this isn’t some kind of deadly cat’s-about-to-die symptom, and to let her know about it generally, and she said it wasn’t unusual for this cat, especially when he’s annoyed at her traveling …
세해
… 많
Lynn on the Suckiness of High School Drama
Brain Farts’ blogger Lynn’s reminiscences about high school drama got me thinking about my own experiences in that department. While most of my (now-obviously-sketchy) performances at variety nights with bands and in plays and such were of my own choice, mostly — including the jazz-fusion version of Metallica’s Enter Sandman, and a narrating job for Les Miserables — there was one performance I was forced into which I abhorred as much as she did hers.
Get a Gander At Me
I don’t know if I ever posted the last self-portrait I made using the Southpark character creator tool (which can be found here), but anyway, this pic looks like a good approximation of me during my recent tour of duty at my Uni’s biannual Elementary English Camp. And yes, do I squint like that… because of my lazy eye’s sensitivity to light.
Mickey Mouse Suicidal
Shrinkette linked to this page with old comic strips where Mickey, distraught over his belief that he’s lost Minnie for good, starts thinking he might be better off dead. Just weird.
Rome not quite right, he says
In this fascinating Times Online piece, one historian says that HBO’s Rome, while good entertainment, has vastly simplified the sexuality of ancient Rome. It’s a fascinating read, especially where he claims that, in fact, HBO’s The Sopranos is much closer to ancient Rome.
Wasn’t it Erasmus…?
Wasn’t it Erasmus who said that whenever he got a little money, first he bought books, and then, were there a little left over, food and clothes? Yes, it seems it was, well, sort of. It’s a mangled quote always attributed to him, at least, and we like it that way, don’t we? Well, I used to be like that. No longer am I quite so spendthirft with books, nor even so much of a hoarder as I used to be, but after several hours of packing — mainly books — I am convinced that the most considerable part of …