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L’Aube

Among many sleepless nights during this long summer, I have seen many types of sunrises. One thing that studying languages has taught me is that there are often multiple ways to say a single thing. 

List of Ways to say a single thing: 

I’ve seen sunrises so red it looks like the clouds are ablaze. 

Sunrises that creep upon the reader unawares, approaching stealthily before bursting beyond the clouds. 

Sunrises that come rising on the horizon, like a wave of liquid gold brimming under the morning mist. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In French, “le lever du soleil” has l’aurore and l’aube, the aurora and the dawn. In Greek myth, Aube is the personification of the hour of dawn. The classical painter Lawrence Alma-Tadema has a wonderful picture of L’aube. The crack of dawn is la pointe du jour, and the light of the dawn is le crépuscule

In Italian, the dawn is l’alba. The crack of dawn is al sorgere del sole or irrompere dell’alba. 

Spanish has alba as well, and la salida del sol, and la luz del alba. An interesting idiom, from dawn to dusk: de sol a sol — or literally, from sun to sun. 

True to German form, der Sonnenaufgang, Morgengrauen, and die Morgendämmerung are compounds. Sonnen, for sun, aufgang, for rising or even stairs. Grauen, in this context, is (day)break. Dämmerung is an interesting word, because it pertains to any lighting: Abenddämmerung is twilight or dusk, Morgendämmerung is dawn.

Mio Compleanno

Oggi è mio compleanno. 

Anche se sono studentessa principiante della lingua italiana, credo che per diventare competente devo esercitarsi giornalmente. Così, qui scrivo. Miei amici hanno le intenzione me portare ad un bar, andare alla corsia per bowling, e andare al cinema. Che divertimento!

Dio, c’è difficile. 

Je vais écrire en français. Quel soulagement! C’est très difficile quand j’écris en une autre langue que je ne suis pas habituée. Quoi qu’il en soit, aujourd’hui c’est mon anniversaire. J’ai 21 ans. Je peux boire, fumer et mourire pour mon pays. Mais je ne peux pas loyer une voiture ou devenir le présidente. Quel dommage. Je me demande quoi fais-je maintenant, qui devenirai-je?

Étais-je devenue un adulte? Une citoyenne du monde?

もう知らない。私は込んでる世界にもう考えるのは無駄だ。今「トンボ様」という映画を見て、愛しか、旅行しか思わない。どんな大人になるかな?二十二歳になる前に何をして、何を見るかな。どんな真実と信じられば、もう無料だ。私の会得は私の会得だ。

The Zen Riddle

I wrote this riddle long time ago, perhaps going on 7 years, but no one has been able to solve it. It came to me randomly on a flight crossing the Atlantic. I really don’t want to reveal it before at least one person solves it–I’d really love it if someone tried. Oh, well. C’est la vie. 

 

The Zen Riddle
Where the worm’s first home curves like a hunchback,
When the man of the cross was unheard as a nun,
Dripped on a book, like ink running through a canal,
Are the words of one famed, three thousand years gone.
Not immortal in body, neither gentle Vesta nor brave Freyr,
Yet alive as any Gulliver, Juliet, or Arthur lost.
Be that the riddle might be hard to solve,
Western, Athenian, or even Zen to say,
The answer lies only in the soles of your own toes.

Vers

I wrote these simple verses while attending a concert of Fauré during spring 08. I guess I was feeling romantique…

VERS LES CIEUX
Sache Ça
Je ne pourrai pas
                             vivre
Sauf si je te
                             suis
Vers les cieux

PERSONNE
Personne ne pourrait
Me faire sentir comme ça
Dans ma Cœur,
Il y a une chaleur
et elle m’illume comme une flaque du phosphore

LA FONTAINE
Ce qui tu avais été
Tu n’es rien devenu
            (absolumment rien)
Quand tu es sorti
               (es sorti)

sans moi

CHOLAMO
J’ai poussé un soupir
Qui avait voyagé et
S’est détendu aux montagnes
Une fois que tu étais sorti
Rien ne pourrais me toucher

(c)2008 Loptr

The New Nomad

So anyone hear of the new Travel? The world is getting smaller, more accessible, and more adventurous travelers are seeking out new, daring ventures and locations. A mildly experienced traveler myself, I am all for the new frontier. As if there are any more really. One can only hope for less touristy and popular destinations like Indonesia, Central Asia (I heard this called the ‘Wild East’ recently), and Bangladesh. I find myself edging away Japan, France, Italy–just on the basis that they are the tourist hotspots right now. 

After college, I was thinking of moving to a cheap place overseas while paying my college tuition. I caught myself thinking of a inexpensive, adventurous place, where I could have fun cheaply, explore the booming arts scene, and survive everyday life.

The traditional areas like Santa Fe, San Francisco, Prague, New York, Paris and Barcelona are getting much too expensive and tourist-central. Now the cheap cultural cities seem to be Kuala Lumpur, Warsaw, Berlin, Vientiane, Dhaka, Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh, Phnom Penh, Sri Lanka (okay not a city) (maybe Seattle or Anchorage?). I was also thinking of living in Hong Kong, but I’ve heard it’s expensive. Oh well. 

Some great linkage:

Couchsurfing 
NuNomads 
Vagabondish 
ProTraveller 
Laptophobo 
Experimental Travel 
Worldhum

New Story

I’m in ecstasy. 

Normally this would not be associated with dark semi-circles under eyes, lazy eyelids, achy bones, queasy stomachaches, swimming heads, and 13:30 wake up calls. 

UNLESS

One is a writer. 

Finishing my second novel last December (which is still in the revising and editing process), I have been depleted of nearly all my creative juices for half a year. Suddenly, summer vac hits and voila! a new story!

Of course, I won’t divulge the details, because doing so would destroy any creativity I have…but I can mention possible themes that might materialize: film noir, German existentialism, surrealism, steampunk, humanism, horology, horticulture, boxing, drugs, ambiguous sexuality, mechanical engineering, and ancient sciences. Mainly it’s an exercise in plot (the first was an exercise in character development, the second an exercise in adjectives. there are a LOT of adjectives in the English language btw). I don’t have a title yet, but I’ve nicknamed it Steam Noir for lack of a better working title. 

Anyway, I’ve been working on it steadily every night, to the point of falling asleep at 5:30ish in the mornings. I seem to only be able to work in the late nights–probably the reason I don’t get much work done during the uni semester. Yet, I feel energized again, as if something is galvanizing my nerves and blood. Or maybe that’s because I am a sadistic writer and like to emotionally torture my characters beyond all recognition.

MWAHAHAHA

I might be behind the rest of the gaming community, but I have just finished playing through Bioshock this past month and it was an awesome experience. The blend of unique atmosphere (a paradoxial world of the picture-loving 1950s and a crazy retro-futuristic, objectivist dystopia), underwater setting, balanced gameplay ambiguous characters, and (sym)pathetic baddies. The key here is ambiguity. Your antagonists are either Splicers–victims of their own society or greed–or Big Daddy, automata who are merely programmed to protect their Little Ones at all cost. You land in this world where nothing is as it seems, where all motives are questioned, where even your identity is hidden from yourself. I particularly liked the balance between the plasmids and the more traditional ammunition typically used in FPSes. Plus, a crossbow? Coupled with the morality of the game, which forces the player choose the fate of his/her enemies and the Little Ones, there are so many ways that the player can play through the game. Plus happy-go-lucky vending machines in a survival horror game? Awesome juxtaposition. 

Anyway, I hope Bioshock, which has been interpreted by some as sort of biopunk game, will be an inspiration for game designers everywhere, and will lead to future punk stories. As I’ve always felt, a blend of genres makes for the most interesting of stories. Some (pseudo-)steampunk games already have infiltrated the community: Thief: Deadly Shadows, Dark Cloud 2, Dark Chronicles, Arcanum, Silverfall, even WoW to an extent (mechanostriders). ArsTechnica has a good article on steampunk games: 

http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/steampunk-video-games.ars/1

Take this new game Recoil: Retrograde, a new TPS coming out 2010. It looks promising. According to 1up.com: 

 

Recoil: Retrograd is a third-person action-adventure game that puts the player in a universe where humans have learned to manipulate time. Humanity, which has been devastated in the future by war and other tragic events, tried to use time travel to go back and change the past in a way where the future wouldn’t be so bleak. Unfortunately, power-crazed time travelers screwed everything up, launching the future into a second dark age, where steam-powered vehicles and early 20th century fashion are the norm. The game puts the player in control of another time traveler who is trying and set things right and make the future prosperous.

Players will travel to several different points in history, ending up in scenarios where they will be fighting with everything from a sword to a musket. Their adventure will not only have them battling evil time travelers, but also making decisions that have a tangible effect on the future. In one level we watched as a player battled his way through a besieged town, set in what looked like 18th century France, and then had to make a choice: save a doctor who will develop an important medicine, or his brother, who will make important inventions. The player won’t be penalized for the decisions they make, but we were told it would alter the progression of the story.

IGN.com:

David Atman, works for an organisation called Gloria Mundi, a cruel regime ruling the ancient city of Retrograd with an iron fist. One day, during his work as a crime scene cleaner, he has a horrible vision of the past, as he picks up the head of a suicide bomber: He sees the market place just minutes before the bomb exploded -paralyzed by this awful vision he is committed to an asylum. This asylum turns out to be a recruitment center for the chrono-assassins “Gloria Mundi” sends back in time to change history so they can control the world.

 

Prior to his final implant operation, David escapes the asylum by the help of Gabrielle, a brain surgeon who’s taken a liking to him. She leads Davi to her uncle’s secret hideout - he is the notorious Professor Zervo, and he has knowledge of historical events and inventions that will benefit Davi in his quest against Gloria Mundi’s nefarious history manipulations.

Pour les francophones: Play3Live:

Il s’agit d’un TPS (Third Person Shooter, jeu d’action à la 3e personne) créé par le scénariste de la sérieHitman. Vous y incarnerez David Artman un “chrono-assassin” qui voyage dans le temps pour changer l’histoire. Ses voyages historico-temporels ont pour objectif d’offrir la main mise à Gloria Mundi, une organisation, sur la cité de Retrograd. Cependant Artman, se rebellera contre cette organisation et utilisera ses capacités contre cette dernière.

Le jeu se déroulera entièrement dans la ville fictive de Retrograd, mais à des époques différentes. D’où des Armes, une I.A, et une architecture différente. Le jeu profitera de l’Unreal Engine 3.

Les développeurs souhaitent faire reposer leur jeu sur le dilemme. Donc il y aura des choix à faire au cours des différents niveaux. Cependant il faut noter qu’il sera possible de faire toute les évolutions possibles du jeu, grâce à un système “‘d’arbre de sauvegarde” qui permettra de savoir ce qui se serait passé si vous aviez fait un autre choix.”

The Punks

I’ve always been fascinated in old metal art, but never had a way to express this. Besides collecting works of art, and there’s only so much obsession that can be taken without some need to create. I’ve only recently found a name for this kind of art. This genre of art, fashion, game, cinema, design, and literature is called Steampunk. It is the blend of the genres of 19th-century history and advanced technology and styles. Brilliant! I’ve found a new hobby. The materials are already created–no drawing or sketching or painting involved (as I suck at these)–and all that is required is collection of these materials, some simple engineering, and designing. I anticipate lots of raiding the ubiquitous antique shops and flea markets in Salem. Plus pawnshops, thrift shops, art shops, ebay… 

Of course, this will have to wait until September, when I’ve finally settled down long enough to pursue this hobby…but I’m very enthusiastic!

Wishlist: Metals (copper, brass, steel, iron), rivets, gears, cogs, antiquated glass, wire, leather, compass, proteactor, sander, screwdriver, hammer, plier, wire cutter, soldering irons, metal files, copper spray, sandpaper, vise, superglue

 

Genres:

Biopunk - fiction of advanced genetic, usually similar to film noir and/or post-modern

Cyberpunk - dystopic future of advanced technology, centering on the information age of computers, a.i., post-democracy

Manner punk - Comedy of manners + fantastical technology

Splatterpunk - Horror with advanced technology 

Steampunk - historical fiction with advanced technology, 18th-19th century

Bronzepunk - steampunk of the Bronze Age

Classicpunk - steampunk in the Graeco-Roman world

Stonepunk - steampunk in the Stone Age

Clockpunk - steampunk of the Renaissance

 

Linkage: 

Intro to Steampunk
Steampunk Project
Steampunkopedia 
Steampunk Workshop 
Ether Emporium 
SteamPunk’d 
Etsy Shop 
Steampunk Fashion Blog 
Steampunk Community 
Steampunk Art 
Steampunk Jewelry 
How to Cosplay Steampunk 
Datamancer’s Whatnots 
Vintage Projects Engineering 
Artist’s Nook 
Steampunk Blog 
Gaslamp Bazaar 
Clockpunk 
Tesla Museum 
Retrotechnology 
Urban Art 
Kabuki’s Clockpunk 
Steampunk Literature 
Also of note: 
Bldgblog

Goals

Il y a beaucoup de choses dans le monde que je veux faire, sentir et éprouver…pour cette raison je suis hésitante au début pour commencer quelque chose. Je pense qu’il m’emmènera d’une autre occasion qui se présente…mais je comprends que ce type de sentiment est stupide et il m’emmènera d’une vraie expérience. L’hésitation est l’hésitation.

Ce que je souhaite, c’est à voyager. Partout et quelque part. Mais je ne voyage pas maintenant parce que…j’ai les autres priorités que je crois ouvrira des autres possibilités pour moi. Je décidais d’aller à l’université parce que j’ai pensé qu’il ouvrira des autres portes pour moi, socialement, intellectuellement et physiquement. C’est vrai. J’avais acquis l’expérience, la confiance, les nouvelles perspectives. J’avais fait la connaissance de beaucoup de gens, amis et professeurs intéressants. Donc, je crois que le temps n’avait pas été gaspillé. Autrement, je…voyagerais? Je me dis que je n’ai pas peur et que je ne suis pas timide, mais…je me demande…je pense que je n’aime pas voyager autant que je dis. Je suis une voyageuse, mais c’est pénible pour moi être dans un lieu étrange avec des visages étranges. Je suis même une écrivaine, mais c’est difficile pour moi écrire. Le décembre dernier, j’ai fini une nouvelle que j’avais écrit pour les trois derniers ans, et j’ai senti comme j’avais été épuisée de toute la creativité. Peut-être parce que j’étudiais tellement? Mais je n’étudiais pas, n’est-ce pas? Je n’étudie pas habituellement, je lis ce que m’intéresse et je rassemble des images et des motifs. Je ne peux guère me rappeler que je lis, mais je me rappelle mes réactions. Récemment, mon imagination créatrice m’était revenue. J’entends encore l’appel…je me demande si j’ai droit à m’appeler une écrivaine? Mais il semble que tout le monde de nos jours semble être une écrivaine. Et moi, je qui dois toujours voyager du sentier battu, je suis inconfortable m’appeler une écrivaine. ça, c’est la fierté? Ou l’amour-propre? Ou la peur? Je ne suis pas sûre. Peut-être je dois faire ce que me plaisir, sans tenir compte des actions de tout le monde. Mais il semble qu’il est narcissique. 

Quand je voyage, je suis la plus contente quand je joie la nourriture fraîche, ou la pluie dans mes cheveux, ou le coucher du soleil. Je ne pense que j’aie besoin d’un compagnon. On me distrairait. Mais quand je voyage, je deviens très stressée, spécialement s’il me manque d’argent. L’argent me stresse toujours. Je pense que je dois lâcher prise…j’espère que si je voyage plus outre de la carte mènera à l’éclaircissement finale et la réincarnation de mon âme comme une voyageuse bienheureuse et sentimentale, l’un qui expérience, qui adore, qui refléter sagement et pas avec un œil critique. Bien, je l’avais dit. Mon objectif. Ce que j’espère devenir. Au moins, une des personnes dont je souhaite devenir. Hélas, il y a beaucoup de types et de couleurs dont je souhaite devenir, c’est où je commence? Je pense que c’est maintenant un problème. En outre, la plupart des gens que j’aime et je respecte avaient toujours quelque chose pour dire mes choix.

Stroopwafels

 

I have rediscovered the glory that is stroopwafels. I had a taste of these on one of the vineyards in Aquitaine last summer. A brother and sister whom I was working with brought them over from Holland. For those who are unfamiliar with these little gifts from from heaven, stroopwafels are soft, round wafer crackers with syrup in them. The brother and sister team taught me to place the wafer on top of a mug of hot milk tea and let it sit. Very soon the honey would seep out and drip into the tea. The tea would then be drunk, dipping the cracker in periodically. How awesome and delicious is that?

Apparently, the stroopwafel originates from late 18th century Gouda, the Netherlands. (where the cheese is from?) The syrup consists of sugar, butter, cinnamon, and corn syrup.

 

I’ve been trying to find them every since, but have not had the luck until today, when idle browsing in a health food store led to their rediscovery. The ones I purchased had honey instead of syrup in them. They are a perfect breakfast delight or after dinner sweet! (^.^)

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