All - With what only looks like increasing numbers of views (which either means this blog is getting out there or my sincere dream of being the focus of Russian and Ukraine spammers has finally come true), I thought it might be useful (as it is from time to time) to do a brief orientation and tour of the blog. Nothing like having a lay of the land to understand what you are getting into.
So welcome to The FortyFive!
I am your amiable host, Toirdhealbheach Beucail ("Toridhealbheach" is a version of my name in Old Irish Gaelic; "Beucail" means "booming or roaring", as in the sound of a cannon. If you ever met me in person, you would find I have only two volumes: silent and "ON"). I have been camped out here on this corner of the InterWeb, writing about this and that for what will now be my 16th year.
A very brief history: I grew up in a small town, the same town my parents and my mother's parents had grown up in. I went away to college for two fairly useless degrees (yes, not learning from my errors I replicated them!), then came back home and lived in and around that area (referred to here as "Old Home") until 11 years ago, when due to a layoff we had to move (to the uncreatively named "New Home").
My interests are varied (as, I suppose is my writing). I am a practitioner of Iaijutsu, a Japanese martial art which is (somewhat crudely but correctly) defined as the "quick draw" of sword techniques (my style has existed since the 16th century). I make cheese and other dairy foods. I train with weights. I throw in Highland Games. I garden. I write (perhaps somewhat obvious). I read voraciously - primarily history and theology, but also philosophy, agricultural books and "old style" (say pre-1985) science fiction and fantasy. And will try about anything once.
Dramatis Personae:
- The Ravishing Mrs. TB: To whom I have been married for over 25 years now and who actually makes sure the trains run on time and things get done.
- Nighean Gheal - Number one daughter, currently a Senior in college.
- Nighaen Bhan - Number Two daughter, currently a Sophomore in college
- Nighean Dhonn - Number Three daughter, currently a Sophomore in high school.
Important Places:
- Old Home: Where I grew up and lived up to 11 years ago.
- New Home: Where I currently live.
- The Ranch: The Ranch is the property my parents own and live on in <insert undisclosed location here>. It is approximately 90 acres of land in the mountains which has been our extended family for over 60 years. You will see plenty of pictures from here. This is where I am ultimately trying to get back to.
What do we do here?
I am a great believer in the idea of the Social Internet, the ability of people to read, think, and discuss things on the InterWeb (as opposed to Social Media, which I detest). This blog, over the years, has morphed into sort of a personal online journal and thought process, hopefully in the event that this encourages discussion and thought in a reasonable and kind way. I am (as I responded to in a comment earlier this year) the grab bag of the unexpected: at the very least, you will always have a brief of moment of wonder about what today's subject is (and perhaps, after reading it, a second moment of wonder, trying to decide why I bothered to write about it).
Important Pages:
Ichiryo Gusoku Philosophy: My overall guiding policy on my philosophy is here.
Ichiryo Gusoku Goals: My overall goals are here (to be fair, these are always in a bit of flux).
The Collapse: A rather long running fiction series (in a series of letters) about a man watching society slowly collapse is here.
What are the rules?
We only have four:
1) Be kind in your comments: In all my years of writing here, I have only had to not publish one comment that was not spam because, frankly, it was intended to only hurt. You can certainly poke holes in my theories or my writing. I just ask you do it kindly. Everyone you are responding is going through something.
2) No profanity: My mother was an elementary school teacher and a lovely Christian woman, so comment as if you were speaking directly to her.
3) We do not discuss politics: Surprising, I know, given my degrees. What I like to state is that I am intensely interested in Political Science, the forming of government and the theory of governing. What I am not interested in is politics, the practice of Political Science (which, on the whole, leads to bitterness and anger and unkindness).
4) We do not discuss religion: I state up front I am Christian (useful, I think, for some of what I write) and will happily discuss my own trials and travails and thoughts. What we do not debate is the nature of religion or different religions. Again, see the previous comments on kindness.
Thanks!
Thanks for stopping in and always, always, always thank you for commenting! I look forward to seeing you this year and hope you find this to be a useful and good investment of your time.
Thank you for the primer.
ReplyDeleteAnd now that I'm back from checking the pronunciation, I know the history of the word "primer" and how to use it properly.
It's amazing that anybody can ever learn English as a second language.
When I worked International Arrivals at the Philly Airport, I quickly realized that we don't really speak English.
We speak American.
John - How English managed to become the modern world's equivalent of Latin is beyond me. Sheer force of will, I think.
DeleteYes, American English is vastly different than Commonwealth English at this point. Having many Indian coworkers and friends now, I find the differences between British English and American English comical at times.
When I was but a lad, mom would make ham steaks. They were about a quarter inch thick with the bone in the middle. Like a cartoon representation. At the time, I was a growing boy, I needed fuel and building supplies for the young body.
ReplyDeleteWe ate simply, so the spices weren't memorable. But the grease was. That was nectar of the gods. Pig honey, I don't have the words to express how wonderful it tasted. I'd take a few pieces of bread and sop it up out of the pan. I'd sop it till the pan was almost spotless.
Your little slice of the webz, is a lot like that ambrosia I remember from my youth. It's a rare day I don't sop this place up, figuratively... Usually leave it close to the last, so the flavor stays in my head longer.
Thanks for continuing to leave the lard out for us. I, for one, am MOST thankful you do this.
STxAR - You are must welcome (and high praise indeed). I can taste the sandwiches you are describing in my mind.
DeleteThank you for an elegant post TB. Your gracious prose reads like a breath of fresh air. And your eclectic interests parallel mine in many ways. I've only followed your blog for about a year now, and I now see that I need to spend some time in the archives as well.
ReplyDeleteI did my undergraduate degree in philosophy, and I'll always treasure my classical liberal arts education, though my career in medical technology seems incongruous to any of it. I started out doing chemistry in test tubes and hematology under a microscope. But the rate of change in medicine is breathtaking, and my latter years in the field I became a troubleshooter for robotics systems.
Your "rules" are certainly easy to follow. I always view profanity as a failure of intellect, and point to Mark Twain for discussions of the fine art of swearing without ever voicing an obscenity. I welcome opposing points of view as long as they are civil, reasoned, and without obvious logical fallacies of ad hominem, tu quoque, straw man arguments, etc. As for politics and religion, I am most interested in learning from sages past and present, and making the most of history to guide my own thinking.
For the language, I hated the subject of English, and failed any class in it until I chanced to take an upper division course in linguistics from a phenomenal professor who could switch dialects in mid-sentence. With your interest in Old English, you would most enjoy a small book by John McWhorter called Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue if you aren't already familiar with it.
In the new year, we are determined to be more disciplined in our use of media, deliberately turning off the TV, muting the phones, and yes, even here, closing the browser and looking more at real life around us in and out of doors. In our nearby friends and family, we have it pretty good, and hope that you will as well.
Greg - Some genius that I read years ago stated that the pace of knowledge has increased to where within 10 years of graduating from college, a vast amount of the knowledge one had acquired was obsolete (not so true of the Classics I suppose, which is one reason I continue to love them).
DeleteFor profanity, while I do not use it, I do recall Heinlein's Sergeant Zim in Starship Troopers who used it to such a fine point that the protagonist started taking notes.
I will say that (something I am justifiable proud of), the rules are pretty well followed here because people - the readers here anyway - can actually act like adults (shocking to those who consider anyone that does not agree with them as a sort of no-necked Neanderthal that only pounds with two fingers on the keyboard). What I would like to believe is that there are (literally) thousands of us out here, operating under the radar of any site or accounting group, talking amongst ourselves and living our lives as best we can.
Thank you for the book recommendation. I am always looking for more.
Welcome, and we are glad you are here!
I'm proud that your dream of being fodder for Russian and Ukraine spammers has come true TB! :) ;) That made me giggle.
ReplyDeleteRain, we all have to aspire to something. I just have rather low aspirations...
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