tmatoes's Xanga

A book is a book is a beech

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 12:27:20 GMT

I am taking a seminar this semester called the History of Readers and Reading, and have really enjoyed it thus far. I always thought that I am a more practical person and less of a theoretical type. This seminar has somewhat changed my opinion. So a few weeks ago we were discussing what the word book meant, so I did some work on that etymology and came up with the following answer.

I looked up the meaning of the word book in two places, the 1957 edition of the Cleasby Vigfusson Icelandic-English Dictionary and Ernest Weekley’s An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English. Both books state about the same thing. Bók (Old Norse) is related to Old Saxon Bôc, meaning a beech tree. In addition they mean book, in the modern or contemporary sense, but by the following way: bôc meant beech bark, upon which it is believed runes were written. In a sense the generalized and modern meaning of book to mean codex, is not how it began. Originally book was synecdochically related to codex, in that it meant more of a text or writing and not a volume per se. As one can see Modern English has two different words for Beech and Book, but they are related. Modern German has the Words Buche and Buch, Norwegian and Swedish have Bok for both, Icelandic and Old Norse have Bók for both, Modern Danish has Bøg and Bog and Modern Dutch has Beuk and Boek.

I find it fascinating that words are so intertwined. There are many words that can be traced, some that cannot, but each and every word has an entire history, family and path upon which it came to the present. I am a word nerd.

So this was out on State Street (the shopping street for the university here in Madison - Like Mill Ave in Tempe, 4th in Tucson, etc. etc.) Quite a "romantic" idea for Valentine's Day. Better than a greeting card, some overpriced and/or cheap chocolates, I guess. I don't know if I would trust a condom from a pizzeria...

My merry adventures with the color gray

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 09:14:43 GMT

So as a philology student and now certified and certifiable librarian, without-position, I have taken to working on investigations for myself and others, trying to create a position as a researcher. Perhaps, it is training for the one day that I become a librarian-with-position. Or perhaps it is for when I become a superhero, knocking down naiveté and fighting ignorance for the greater good, oh God who am I kidding, by the time I graduate from school, I fear that all positions as librarians and professors will be obsolete, or I will be dead. Anyway off the hyperbolic and on to the exciting story:

I looked up the use of gray in the Bible. The color gray does not exist in the New Testament at all, which is amazing when you think about all the possibilities, especially old people with out the modern wonders of hair dye in the Bible. Well there is henna/mendhi, but nobody, in my understanding, ever referred to the Israelites as the tribe of red headed elders. The Old Testament does have the color gray, though always pertaining to the color of hair and never describing a creature. Now I know, dear readers (wait, when did you become plural) that you will go out and look and perhaps you will find the Bible that mentions in Leviticus that one may eat a certain gray spotted locust and not offend God, well let me tell you, most Bibles do not translate it that way; the Hebrew word is quite different - Hargol, which oddly enough is transliterated into the Norwegian Bible. (I am really glad that I could look many of these passages up online and compare, rather than having to check out 15 different Bibles just to make a point. Thank you religious right!) So good news! Keep on eating those Hargol/gray spotted locusts and no need to fret about eternal damnation for doing so. I do not know Hebrew, so I cannot comment on the use of gray in Hebrew, however the modern word for gray is Ah-for, which might be related to the word for ashes. Canus seems to be the word of choice for gray hair in Latin, which also means elder. This to me suggests that Latin may not have had a word for gray and had to use Canus to describe being old. If this was done for the Bible or even earlier, I am not sure. It is through interaction with other languages that words coving such "new" concepts like gray come into being. Berlin and Kay go into more detail about the evolution of color terms in their book Basic Color. What I found most interesting about their investigation - which at its time was quite revolutionary, albeit slightly lacking in that its breadth is great but its depth leaves major holes in language families like IE - is the comparison of minority languages. But I will leave it at that...

Now in the interest of feeling a bit nostalgic, I found the following website dedicated to Legend City. I remember I went there only once as a child and probably as a reward for some odd thing, like not sucking my thumb anymore. My parents were not big on theme parks and this one was riddled with problems. Nevertheless, it is really a trip down the old lane o' memories to see the website dedicated to it: click here. Back in the day, Phoenix was such a different place. Not to sound all crotchety or anything, sitting on my porch with my corn-cob pipe and talkin' bout them good ol' days when the youngin's respected their elders, but there was a bit of the old west - cowboy, Texas-style, big steak houses and women in long saloon style dresses and men in jeans, chaps and vests style, that is gone now, and I won't comment on exactly how I feel about that, because I am not quite sure, yet....

Tenure rhymes with manure

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 11:47:11 GMT

V got Tenure! Thank God. The weekend has been spent trying to catch up on sleep and de-stress. And this week is Thanksgiving, so the semester's end is nigh...

Tomorrow

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 07:34:09 GMT

Tomorrow V is voted on for tenure in the divisional committee at the U. It is extremely likely that he will get it.

Today, I have a big paper to finish up on the history of vernacular literacy in medieval Scandinavia and two manuscripts to analyze. I cannot concentrate. Ugggh!

Oh no, Oh no, I've done it all wrong, I thought they were chocolate, but they're chewing gum...

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 16:28:28 GMT

Ok I know it has been a long time since I have written on this thing. I am actually only doing this because Anth, the only person who reads this blog, is writing comments on my last entry over and over again, so I decided that maybe I should write something. So now I am back in the States, I have taken my MA exam in Scandinavian Philology and I am on my way to PhhhhD fun. I am not sure that it is official, since I have not received my diploma, but I wouldn't expect anything different from this institution. I hope it comes before I am finished with my PhD. Library school is almost done for me as well. Since at UW-Madison it is a MA in Library and Info Studies, instead of an MS or Master in Library Science or Master of Library and Info Sciences, I will be Todd MAMA, how fricken boring! Again I probably will not know if I received my degree for a bit of time, since it is not the department, but the school that is so very slow...

I have an entertaining schedule filled with paleography, library preservation and the history of the book and print culture courses this semester. In addition, I went to Baltimore to the Walter's Art Museum, via the University of Virginia, Rare Book School for a week in October to study Latin Codicology, with an amazingly brilliant scholar, Professor Albert Derolez. Baltimore is a great city and the people in the program were fascinating. The course was so much more than I could have ever expected. I stayed at the Peabody Institute and looked at over 60 manuscripts from medieval and Renaissance Europe, mainly in Latin, though a few in German and Dutch. The collection that the Walter's has is unbelievably large.

I am excited that there are only 5 weeks left of the semester, as I am so exhausted from my last year of school, the summer of fun, but mainly studying Norwegian, taking my MA exam, and then four days later starting this semester. It has just all been a little too much. I cannot wait to be able to read what I want, eat home cooked food from mom and sleep when I want over Winter Break.

Anyway, in case you did not want to actually read what is above, look at the pretty pictures and see what is up that way.

This is a picture of Amsterdam that was taken by an elf - a little brown elf - on my camera...

Oslo harbor in front of the Rådhus

A building in Rjukan, Norway, where heavy water was made.

Stavanger Harbor at Sunset.

The new Berlin Hauptbahnhof

View from the New Berlin Hauptbahnhof. To the left is the Reichstag, in the center is the Swiss Embassy - once on the border, and a whole mess o' governmental buildings.

A bad picture taken with my phone of Washington Square in Baltimore...

Oh yeah, and while in Germany, on a train in some random Dörfli, I got a picture of a rather cute guy, while trying to take a picture of a Mama Africa - Miriam Makeba poster.
The End.

Oslo, sweet Oslo

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 16:25:27 GMT

God it's been a long time. After a stint on mainland Europe, visiting my friends Katja, Vendula and Anth/Nick, and having a great time relaxing and dabbling in going out, while the beer is under 10 bucks, I am now in Oslo, as in Norway, not Minnesota. The residents here are not Minnesota nice and not proud to be an American. That's okay. It has been a good week in Norway. As of 12:00 this morning it has been a week. I like it better this time. I speak Norwegian -- which is the whole point of coming to Norway this summer -- people speak Norwegian back. This was not the case last time. I am totally up to my eyes in work. I passed level three, so I am supposed to be in level four Norwegian, which I am--that was six years ago... I have not done much with it since. I get most of it, but it is a brain drain. Midsummer is over, so the days will shorten up soon, I guess. I have schlepped my ass all over town, which is getting rid of my belly fast. Not that I will look like these typically fit Norwegians, but at least I won't look like the stuffed sausage, lazy American everybody knows and loves - okay not everybody loves me. I took a tour of the hell called bureacracy this week. After four days and about seven variations on the same story, that I will, will not, will, will not... be getting internet in my room, I got it and they are certainly not going to be taking it back -- even if I have to get all berzerkr on they asses. I got a cell phone too, because I am not living with most of the other students and I have not only no idea what the shared skanked out phone's number in the hallway would be, but I am here so little, it made more sense. This involved filling out the same form, three times, in three different shops over three days, to get it activated.

plus) I get my own room.
minus) I have to travel seven stops by metro to get food at 7:00 in the morning.
plus) I finally got internet.
plus) my cell phone works.
super plus) I live right next to an amazing lake with a bunch of great paths to go wandering around on.

This weekend I am going on a trip to Telemark... Beautiful country, in the middle of nowhere. Perhaps people who live there don't think so.... I totally love Norway, but I really love speed too and this country is not at all about speed. The roads could be a bit wider than two meters, especially if they are major highways.
I don't know why, but it does not feel so old here as it does elsewhere in Europe. I guess the buildings around here were burned down too often. Thanks you asshole nazis and your slash and burn leaving technique.

Well it is off to work on my assignments for tomorrow.

The first three days I was here there was lots of rain and fog... When I moved into the dorm this was the view from my window. The second is the view now and finally a picture of the buildings across from the hotel where I stayed when I first got here.

Check out the ghost camera in the reflection... I am so totally pro!

Here too. Sears portrait studio, here I come! Where is it in this one????

It's a wedding weekend...

Fri, 25 May 2007 09:41:51 GMT

It must be springtime. This weekend, I am attending two weddings in a row. The first wedding is in Milwaukee and the second in Sheboygan - all in one day. We'll see how it pans out - lots of driving... The culture of the American wedding is quite interesting, and is very dated, but my comments on that would take up much more space than I will ever have. I am eagerly awaiting the 7 June, so I can get on that plane to Europe.

And I am done.... for about an hour...

Thu, 10 May 2007 21:34:34 GMT

The time is now 7:15 and I have finished all my assignments for the semester... I have to attend some bits and pieces here and there over the next few days, but I am done, done, done!!! I have given myself the weekend to relax and then I have to start on my reading list for my master's exam. Today I got my reading list for one of my summer courses in Oslo and it is wicked long. So there is just a few more things to add to the list of things to be read by the end of the summer. It is pretty well established that I will be taking my exam on the 28th of August and defending it on the 30th.

Sadly today is my third last time to work reference. I must bid adieu to this place and it really is depressing. College Library, the Undergrad Library has been my home for the last two years and the people here really rock. I wish I could work here again someday.
Ain't it just kitch-a-rific!!!
In addition, the address for this place is 600 N. Park ---> 600N Park ---> Goon Park, the title of the book about the psychology of love and monkeys.... See the ref. below... Of course this building wasn't here and a ghetto old building was there when that took place. Not that ghosts don't still linger! Ooooh! This is also home of the library school... The building is quite an enigma, as it is really two buildings in one. The first three floors are the undergrad library and the top three are only reachable through a door way to two elevators and two staircases. Tja.

THIS SEMESTER CAN....!!!!!

I am getting super stoked about

Tue, 24 Apr 2007 18:48:39 GMT

going to Germany, Netherlands and Norway... and not just to tour libraries and archives... Mamma, Madonna, jeg kommer snart hjem til deg. Tja det, men jeg gleder meg saa mye at jeg snart skal vaere paa den andre siden av vannet, jeg! Hurra, vi skal ha det moro om sommer'n!

Three more weeks...

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 18:06:24 GMT

So today is my last Monday at R1. I have only one Tuesday and one Sunday and I am done. I do not think I will miss it quite as much as R2, but I have been here for a semester at 4 hours a week, unlike R2, where I have been for up to 35 hours a week for the last two years. (My question is now why R2 is not R1, if I work there more and have been there for a much longer time.) You know, you gotta ask the important questions in life. Yesterday I had the absolute worst headache. It hurt so bad that my jaw aches thinking about it. The electricity is starting to fly here on campus. The little undergrads are starting to stress out and it is a feeling that can be sensed. Other than the people, I will totally miss helping people. I have learned quite a bit this semester, both good and bad things. I really have enjoyed learning the ins and outs of working at a big R-desk. In my reference class, we were reading an article, which stated that reference desks are starting to be removed and librarians will be more and more available to chat with students and patrons. One of the things that was mentioned is the fact that younger people today do not really mind if librarians are present to help them and something to the effect that we just want the big ol' smile etc. when we help somebody to tell us what a great job we do. (There were arguments in the article for the continuation of physically present reference as well.) First of all, what the friggity frack is wrong with wanting a thank you. It is not like we are begging for them, but it does feel good when one is appreciated, and there is really nothing at all wrong with that. Second, I like to help people, and sure I would be glad to work over several media to do so, but if they take away all of the interactive aspects of librarianship, then what fun will it be for people who like interacting with people??? I enjoy the idea of having time alone in the quiet, but I also enjoy the idea of working face to face with people, and not just seeing people who have made appointments with me. What the hell do I know about what I will be doing in a few years: A) I will be a librarian. B) I will be dead and so will you, yay! C) I will be way underpaid while ripping customers off by raising prices to put items on sale and then selling memberships to people who do not purchase more than $250 per year at the saddest rip off in the world, B n' N. (This is the Gosh awful truth - my girl J-J and I used to have to mark prices up on CDs and DVDs [say 20%] and then mark them 10% off - betcha don't feel so good for having found that rip-off on sale anymore do ya?) D) Hell will freeze over and I will be teaching as a professor and will be able to pay off my loans in much, much, much less time than I would if I worked as a librarian or a bookseller to Satan.