There is a thing called "International Talk Like a Pirate Day" (ITLAP Day), on September 18th each year.
It's not even a new thing - I remember hearing it discussed on the radio when I was still living and working in L.A. in the 2000s.
I saw this image, a while back, and thought - I should post it for ITLAP Day! So here it is.
[daily log: walking, 4km; tromping, 300m]
I keep intending to write something longer. But then I lose myself in some other undertaking, and I don't get around to it. I'm trying to keep up the discipline of regular blog-posting, but it feels a bit low-quality lately, to be honest. Not that it's that great to begin with.
Meanwhile, here's a joke:
'i' before 'e' except after 'c' - disproved by science!
And here is a picture I took of a photogenic bumblebee this morning. It's a bit blurry, though.
[daily log: walking, 4km]
This comic seemed relevant, given my past day's activities.
So I get one day of rest and recuperation, and return to work Monday.
[daily log: walking, 2km]
This is really true.
[daily log: walking, 7km]
I found myself distracted by this amazing animated tool called EarthWindMap, by something (someone?) called Nullschool, that allows you to surf the global climate, including temperature, winds, pressure, humidity, precipitation, and other factors. Here is a view with my current location in a small green circle.
It's worth seeing.
[daily log: walking, 7km]
There is an immense epic poetic tradition in Tibet and Central Asia about a mythical King Gesar. There are thousands of variants in dozens of diverse languages and cultures, and the King seems to not really have been a specific historical person, although the name, at least, has been linked to the adoption among some Turkic peoples of the steppes of the title "Keser" or "Gesar" from the Byzantines, who continued using the title "Caesar" until their downfall, and who had many contacts with Mongols, Turks, and other Central Asian peoples through their long history. This has parallel in the Slavs' adoption of the same title from the same source, which became the modern word 'czar.'
I found an interesting translation-in-progress on this website, of the Gesar epic, by a scholar of Buryat shamanism. Buryat is an ethnic group from northern Mongolia and the Baikal region of Siberia. As far as I can figure out, the scholar, Sarangerel Odigon, is working directly from some oral source - that is, the English translation is just a running translation of the oral tradition. That seems pretty cool, in itself.
In case you haven't noticed, I've been quite 'into' Central Asian cultures, lately, especially their literary production. So here is a tiny sample of this fascinating epic poem, one of the few which still has an active performative tradition in multiple cultures. For reference, I found a Russian translation of some version of it, here. I'm sure there are interesting original-language versions out there on the web, somewhere, but my google-fu is not strong enough to find it.
From the beginning of the section entitled "Abai Geser: The First Branch":
In the earliest of early times,
In the most ancient of periods,
In the first of first times,
In the time of the beginning;
When the highest bright heaven
Was swirling with fog,
When the earth below
Was covered with dirt and dust;
When the grass had not yet begun to grow,
When the broad long rivers had not begun to flow,
When the great Milk Sea was but a small puddle,
When the world mountain Humber Ula was a hillock,
When the sandalwood tree at the forest's edge
Had not yet put out branches,
When the greyish deer was but a fawn;
When the giant yellow snake was but a little worm,
When the giant fish were only little minnows;
When the earth did not have any continents,
When the center of the universe was not yet finished;
When the great giant bird was small as a crow,
When the first horse was the size of a foal;
When the khan's many roads were not built,
When the people's many roads were not laid out;
This was a good age,
This was a beautiful time
It has been said!..
When the many gods of the heaven did not compete with each other,
When the many tenger of the skies did not quarrel with each other;
When the many tenger of the west were not arrogant,
When black and white were not different from each other;
When the many tenger of the east did not argue,
When appearance and color were not differentiated;
When Esege Malaan Tenger was not an old man,
When Ekhe Yuuren Ibii was not an old woman;
When Han Hormasta Tengeri did not brag of his strength,
When black and white were not estranged;
When Atai Ulaan Tengeri did not boast of his greatness,
When hatred and jealousy did not sow discord;
When those of Oyodol Sagaan Tengeri had not yet gathered,
When those of Oyor Sagaan Tengeri had not yet flowed over;
It was a time of beautiful things!
So it is written on the thin paper!
[daily log: walking, 6.5km]
OK funny.
[daily log: walking, 1km]
Not much going on. Just work.
Meanwhile, I offer this.
[daily log: walking, 7km]