December 2009
12 posts
Degree of Separation: Zero?
Today, I read a passage mentioning a Dardan soldier. I paused, read it again, and paused again. I could not stop smiling. I don’t know if the Dardans in The Iliad are the same as Dardans from Dardania—the ancient land once inhabited by a people group known now as Albanians—but it made me feel that much more connected to the Epic. I have been traveling to Kosovo off and on since...
Dec 26th
Currently Reading: The Iliad
Dec 24th
1 tag
Epic of Gilgamesh
I have finished the first book on The List: Epic of Gilgamesh. It feels good to finally be on this side of the Journey, and not just on the planning and daydreaming side. Going into Gilgamesh, I knew almost nothing about it. I knew it was old—older than The Iliad—and supposedly good. Who Gilgamesh was or why it’s considered such a good story, I had no idea. Gratefully, we were pleasantly...
Dec 24th
2 tags
“Yes: the gods took Enkidu’s life. But man’s life is short, at any...”
– Book X, Epic of Gilgamesh
Dec 24th
3 tags
“Shiduri said, ‘Gilgamesh, where are you roaming? You will never find the...”
– Book X, Epic of Gilgamesh
Dec 24th
2 tags
“Gilgamesh said, ‘Shouldn’t my cheeks be hollow, shouldn’t my...”
– Book X, Epic of Gilgamesh
Dec 24th
2 tags
“‘Hear me, elders, hear me, young men, my beloved friend is dead, he is...”
– From Book VIII, Epic of Gilgamesh
Dec 24th
2 tags
“At last he sat up and called out to Gilgamesh: ‘Have you abandoned me now,...”
– End of Book VII, Epic of Gilgamesh
Dec 24th
2 tags
“He had seen everything, had experienced all emotions, from exaltation to...”
– Opening Lines, Epic of Gilgamesh. Stephen Mitchell translation.
Dec 24th
Currently Reading: Epic of Gilgamesh
Dec 24th
3 tags
Gemütlichkeit - An Explanation
What is Gemütlichkeit, and why did I decide to name my blog this? For starters, it’s one of my favorite words in German, and it’s basically untranslatable because it carries so much emotion and meaning in just a few syllables. A basic dictionary definition will say something about “comfort” or a “coziness,” but that is like defining the ocean as “a large...
Dec 24th
The Great Conversation
A Little About Me I am your average North American college graduate. I attended your typical public schools growing up, where I went through phases of loving school, to actually believing I would never use anything I learned in class. In High School I pleasantly discovered that I love to read, and for the first time thoroughly enjoyed some class assignments. Desiring to delve deeper in the...
Dec 23rd