Taradash Types!

It occurred to me today that I can’t recall the last time I heard a new joke. Strangely enough, when I was in Japan I would hear and tell jokes with some frequency. Between classes, on the way to and from the izakayas, waiting for the trains; it sometimes seemed like jokes were a currency that kept our reserves of native language topped up against the drains of living and working in a foreign culture. In a place where an employer could, with a straight face, say they’d like to encourage “skinship” between staff and customers when they meant they’d like you to put up with and even encourage seemingly personal relationships to improve business, an intentional double entendre was a welcome relief.

But I don’t hear jokes so much these days, and it’s kind of a disappointment. I mean, if a man walked into a bar, I don’t think I’d expect him to say much apart from his drinks order. Which is kind of sad for a former class clown.

Facebook means that now I can get little updates from virtual strangers, usually written as if everyone reading was intimately familiar with the details of their current lives.

“Oh, that’s just a regular night at Spolmans.”
“Can’t believe what Jilby did on this week’s panel! : P”
“I am sooo excited about the start of DFWBSE! This year it’s understanding!”

It was that last one that got me. What the hell is DFWBSE?¹ And what does it understand now that it couldn’t grasp in 2008? Google, the first and last refuge of a scoundrel who wants to seem knowledgeable, only confused the issue… (more…)

So, people in the US are upset about the prospect of… what? Creeping socialism and not being able to choose which doctor they can’t afford anyway? And people in the UK are upset because… why? Some people, most of whom already have top quality, privately provided health care, have said that they don’t want a health care system like the UK has?

Perhaps I’m oversimplifying things, but the debate in this form is beyond stupid… (more…)

Perhaps you’ve noticed the new look on the site. The changeover has not been without some difficulty, as I’ve had to tear down just about everything, and re-install everything else. A couple of times, I’m afraid. Apologies to those of you who took the time to comment in the past. But I’m still happy to hear from you.

So, here we go again. To work!

The first in a series of explanations of idioms, classical allusions, or literary-sounding stuff that ought to make sense from context but doesn’t.

What does it mean to wonder if one can ‘bend the bow of Ulysses?’

-A

An excellent question, A. Ulysses, from the story of the Iliad and the Odyssey, was supposed to be the butt-kicking philosopher king of Ithaca. Ithaca being one of those little city-states in ancient Greece, and not the nifty town in upstate New York. He went on an extended road trip with a bunch of other kings, noblemen and magical-mass-murderers around the Mediterranean to fight in the Trojan war. On the way back, though, Ulysses was cursed, and it wound up taking him some 20 years to get home. So while he and his crew were out supposedly fighting giants and cyclopes and being held as love slaves by beautiful women, as one so frequently did in ancient times, his wife Penelope was left to hold down the royal household by herself. (more…)

Very little about the work of writing is glamorous. Unless it’s something like a television script or a play, there’s usually just one person working alone. Speaking for myself, it’s not the sort of work that benefits from either company or attention during the process.

But it’s time to do some work. So no more talk. Put metaphorical pen to paper and get something done.

[retrieved and reposted on 20 August 2009]