Erik Amundsen's Blog, page 9
November 11, 2013
Lest We Forget
Reed, Henry. "Naming of Parts." New Statesman and Nation 24, no. 598 (8 August 1942): 92 (.pdf).
LESSONS OF THE WAR
To Alan Michell
I. NAMING OF PARTS
To-day we have naming of parts. Yesterday,
We had daily cleaning. And to-morrow morning,
We shall have what to do after firing. But to-day,
To-day we have naming of parts. Japonica
Glistens like coral in all of the neighboring gardens,
And to-day we have naming of parts.
This is the lower sling swivel. And this
Is the upper sling swivel, whose use you will see,
When you are given your slings. And this is the piling swivel,
Which in your case you have not got. The branches
Hold in the gardens their silent, eloquent gestures,
Which in our case we have not got.
This is the safety-catch, which is always released
With an easy flick of the thumb. And please do not let me
See anyone using his finger. You can do it quite easy
If you have any strength in your thumb. The blossoms
Are fragile and motionless, never letting anyone see
Any of them using their finger.
And this you can see is the bolt. The purpose of this
Is to open the breech, as you see. We can slide it
Rapidly backwards and forwards: we call this
Easing the spring. And rapidly backwards and forwards
The early bees are assaulting and fumbling the flowers:
They call it easing the Spring.
They call it easing the Spring: it is perfectly easy
If you have any strength in your thumb: like the bolt,
And the breech, and the cocking-piece, and the point of balance,
Which in our case we have not got; and the almond-blossom
Silent in all of the gardens and the bees going backwards and forwards,
For to-day we have naming of parts.
LESSONS OF THE WAR
To Alan Michell
Vixi duellis nuper idoneus
Et militavi non sine gloria
I. NAMING OF PARTS
To-day we have naming of parts. Yesterday,
We had daily cleaning. And to-morrow morning,
We shall have what to do after firing. But to-day,
To-day we have naming of parts. Japonica
Glistens like coral in all of the neighboring gardens,
And to-day we have naming of parts.
This is the lower sling swivel. And this
Is the upper sling swivel, whose use you will see,
When you are given your slings. And this is the piling swivel,
Which in your case you have not got. The branches
Hold in the gardens their silent, eloquent gestures,
Which in our case we have not got.
This is the safety-catch, which is always released
With an easy flick of the thumb. And please do not let me
See anyone using his finger. You can do it quite easy
If you have any strength in your thumb. The blossoms
Are fragile and motionless, never letting anyone see
Any of them using their finger.
And this you can see is the bolt. The purpose of this
Is to open the breech, as you see. We can slide it
Rapidly backwards and forwards: we call this
Easing the spring. And rapidly backwards and forwards
The early bees are assaulting and fumbling the flowers:
They call it easing the Spring.
They call it easing the Spring: it is perfectly easy
If you have any strength in your thumb: like the bolt,
And the breech, and the cocking-piece, and the point of balance,
Which in our case we have not got; and the almond-blossom
Silent in all of the gardens and the bees going backwards and forwards,
For to-day we have naming of parts.
November 5, 2013
He scrapes his body off the golden doors of a dead heaven full of fat, fat flies.
The flies eat the dead and the pigeons eat the flies, and we eat the pigeons; they are made of flies are made of the dead. And so on. It's the endless circle of meat. We go backwards through the swords in the red round eye of war. My wings don't work like theirs but I can get to high roosts. I can get there, I can go. We're next to the steppe and next to the mountain, and the orange sunset glow of the poppy, I have clenched tight in my left hand. Maybe I have suffered enough. Maybe I have, maybe I can.
November 4, 2013
SAAAALE!
I've had to read the acceptance about 30 times to make sure it didn't turn into a rejection, but it looks like "Jupiter & Gentian" which is either a sequel to or radical rewriting of "Hermaion" (which it is depends upon whether I ever *sell* Hermaion) will appear in Apex next year! First fiction hit of 2013! First hit with Apex!
October 24, 2013
[Dork] Reading List, Part 1
Wow, good responses. Working through the list and trying to build a list of things a person can do based on the books chosen. Some of these titles and their corresponding abilities range from tangential to downright orthogonal, but what the hell. Here are a couple of the ones I have so far...
Core Curriculum
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - You do well in academics, which is one thing, but more importantly, you are good at concentrating on academic things when the rest of your world is all up in flames and Autumn People. You don't ever need to roll to maintain your grades.
Animal Farm - You're good with animals. I'll give you a moment alone with the irony. If you are a supernatural creature, domestic animals do not react to you as any more threatening than your actions in their presence. If you are human, domestic animals are friendly toward you (unless compelled to be otherwise), wild animals will not startle in your presence or attack you (though they will run if approached and fight if cornered). You know when an animal is behaving strangely, and can attempt to determine what's wrong with it through observation. You can choose to have a +2 Income Job involving animals, if you are 10th Grade or higher.
As I Lay Dying - Your family is not like other families. They know some things about the secret world (if you are a supernatural, they are as well, otherwise they might be scholars or investigators) and recognize that you might have to do some things to navigate that world yourself. Your family will provide support in dealing with things of the secret world, and you do not lose Trust when they catch you out. On the downside, they're just as likely to expose you to dangers of the secret world as you are to them, and they're weird, which draws negative attention and gives you -1 Status.
ALSO! If you can come up with any assigned or really popular YA books that center on team and individual sports, that would be great.
Core Curriculum
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - You do well in academics, which is one thing, but more importantly, you are good at concentrating on academic things when the rest of your world is all up in flames and Autumn People. You don't ever need to roll to maintain your grades.
Animal Farm - You're good with animals. I'll give you a moment alone with the irony. If you are a supernatural creature, domestic animals do not react to you as any more threatening than your actions in their presence. If you are human, domestic animals are friendly toward you (unless compelled to be otherwise), wild animals will not startle in your presence or attack you (though they will run if approached and fight if cornered). You know when an animal is behaving strangely, and can attempt to determine what's wrong with it through observation. You can choose to have a +2 Income Job involving animals, if you are 10th Grade or higher.
As I Lay Dying - Your family is not like other families. They know some things about the secret world (if you are a supernatural, they are as well, otherwise they might be scholars or investigators) and recognize that you might have to do some things to navigate that world yourself. Your family will provide support in dealing with things of the secret world, and you do not lose Trust when they catch you out. On the downside, they're just as likely to expose you to dangers of the secret world as you are to them, and they're weird, which draws negative attention and gives you -1 Status.
ALSO! If you can come up with any assigned or really popular YA books that center on team and individual sports, that would be great.
October 23, 2013
[Dork] Junior High/Highschool/YA Reading List
What did they make you read in high school that you remember? Let me know in comments. I am thinking of a high school based game where the various things you can do appear as titles in your reading list.
October 21, 2013
cucumberseed @ 2013-10-21T12:49:00
Right now I am so far behind, I will never die.
September 27, 2013
We found her in the forest a couple of years ago, wandering dazed...
We call her Joan, because she's forgotten her name.
She wears a tattered red cloak - which used to be very fine. She's replaced the rest with practical clothes for traveling, larger clothes to accommodate her growing limbs. She thinks she has grown to adulthood once before.
She has a port wine stain on the palm of her left hand - and the back of her hand is covered in scars. She can heal with a touch of that hand, sometimes a very strong healing, and other times, just enough to help her with her natural inclinations. She's still a little small, and not aggressive, but she's steady enough to bring with us, knows how to protect herself, and the healing is very useful.
A Thing protects her - we have never seen it, long as we have traveled with her, but we know the heat and size of its presence, always out of sight. We recognize its scent, its footfalls, and the sense of regret that trails it. When she can be persuaded to speak of it, she talks about it like holy folk talk about their gods. We've seen the remains of those we could not keep from threatening her, and it persuades us to fight harder.
Okay, this is something that popped up on my walk as I considered a picture I've seen of what is clearly Lucy Pevensie, clearly talking to the big old fuzzy Allegory, from a distance, in a forest, dressed in at tattered up red cloak. My head is running toward dorkly things, since I am working on TCiHS, and avoidant behavior is avoidant. So I was thinking of ways to do detail on characters, not for anything in particular, but just because I am deeply, seriously avoidant. And suddenly a sketch of a Lucy propelled into another other world, saved from the trainwreck after The Last Battle by some leftover healing cordial, and out of Aslan's reach, but maybe not entirely out of his influence, caught up with a group of kids on an adventure.
She wears a tattered red cloak - which used to be very fine. She's replaced the rest with practical clothes for traveling, larger clothes to accommodate her growing limbs. She thinks she has grown to adulthood once before.
She has a port wine stain on the palm of her left hand - and the back of her hand is covered in scars. She can heal with a touch of that hand, sometimes a very strong healing, and other times, just enough to help her with her natural inclinations. She's still a little small, and not aggressive, but she's steady enough to bring with us, knows how to protect herself, and the healing is very useful.
A Thing protects her - we have never seen it, long as we have traveled with her, but we know the heat and size of its presence, always out of sight. We recognize its scent, its footfalls, and the sense of regret that trails it. When she can be persuaded to speak of it, she talks about it like holy folk talk about their gods. We've seen the remains of those we could not keep from threatening her, and it persuades us to fight harder.
Okay, this is something that popped up on my walk as I considered a picture I've seen of what is clearly Lucy Pevensie, clearly talking to the big old fuzzy Allegory, from a distance, in a forest, dressed in at tattered up red cloak. My head is running toward dorkly things, since I am working on TCiHS, and avoidant behavior is avoidant. So I was thinking of ways to do detail on characters, not for anything in particular, but just because I am deeply, seriously avoidant. And suddenly a sketch of a Lucy propelled into another other world, saved from the trainwreck after The Last Battle by some leftover healing cordial, and out of Aslan's reach, but maybe not entirely out of his influence, caught up with a group of kids on an adventure.
September 26, 2013
In Which Sovay, Unbeknownst to Her, Saves my Writin' Ass Again.
You know, every time I've heard her mention Orcus, I think "Orcus is a pretty cool Etruscan Underworld God, I rather think he might come in handy some day."
That day is today.
Okay. So. Orcus is a big, beardy giant-looking dude (sometimes). He might be blind. He has power over oaths. He might be related to the wild man festivals in different parts of Europe. His name is also on Kuiper Object 90482. This object might be a decent anchorhead for extrasolar travel (well, probably not, but you never know).
I have a planet that people came to through darkness, might have been space, might have been an interstitial dimensional abyss, might have been a magical dark place, fact is nobody really remembers right, and shit has gone very, very bad. Orcus gives a very nice hook to hang some shit on that's been floating on its own.
Thanks.
That day is today.
Okay. So. Orcus is a big, beardy giant-looking dude (sometimes). He might be blind. He has power over oaths. He might be related to the wild man festivals in different parts of Europe. His name is also on Kuiper Object 90482. This object might be a decent anchorhead for extrasolar travel (well, probably not, but you never know).
I have a planet that people came to through darkness, might have been space, might have been an interstitial dimensional abyss, might have been a magical dark place, fact is nobody really remembers right, and shit has gone very, very bad. Orcus gives a very nice hook to hang some shit on that's been floating on its own.
Thanks.
September 19, 2013
There is no earthly reason...
For mango lassis to come in the pint denomination.
September 13, 2013
Hell
handful_ofdust
's post on war horror movies (aside from making me very much want to see R-Point and The Bunker) reminded me of one of the more memorable quotes from MASH, of which I cannot find on youtube, it's the war is war and hell is hell sequence, and the whole thing behind it being that hell is better than war since there aren't any innocent bystanders in hell, but there are mostly innocent bystanders in war. So my thought: would hell be hell if at least one person who totally didn't deserve to be there - really, truly didn't, unlike all the others who might claim they don't - and all us other sinners knew it?
I'll admit, I am looking at this more from a story-brain than a theological perspective.
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