Hope all U.S. citizens had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with lots of joy and a bountiful feast. May God continue to bless and protect for another year.
Archives For November 2013
Be an example to your men in your duty and in private life. Never spare yourself, and let the troops see that you don’t in your endurance of fatigue and privation. Always be tactful and well-mannered, and teach your subordinates to be the same. Avoid excessive sharpness or harshness of voice, which usually indicates the man who has shortcomings of his own to hide.
Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel (via reichsmarschall)
Recently finished re-watching Band of Brothers and The Pacific mini series. What I enjoy about these series versus Hollywood propaganda war films is the realism and the open ended message being conveyed. They focus more on the unit and individual soldiering experience rather than try to hammer home their geo-political stances of “all conflict is futile” and “there are no causes worth fighting/dying for.” Due to over-saturation I have not read much about the World War II era in quite some time, but I plan to do so soon. I acquired many fascinating books in particularly concerning Nazi Germany and of course Hitler. I should be clear up front that I in no way agree with the social darwinistic aspects of the movement nor do I agree with many of the later military strategies being employed. But anytime you have elements of fervent nationalism it is interesting to study. After all, how can you defiantly state someone like Hitler is evil unless you read Mein Kampf for yourself? Remember that all things outside of religion aren’t so black and white.
吾士无余财，非恶货也。无余命，非恶寿也。(If our soldiers are not overburdened with money, it is not because they have a distaste for riches; if their lives are not unduly long, it is not because they are disinclined to longevity.)
Sun Tzu, 孙子兵法 Sunzi Bingfa (The Art of War)
‘I read novels with the utmost pertinacity. I look upon them–I look upon good novels–as a very valuable part of literature, conveying more exact and finely-distinguished knowledge of the human heart and mind than almost any other, with greater breadth and depth and fewer constraints.
Patrick O’Brian, The Nutmeg of Consolation
The Christian idea of marriage is based on Christ’s words that a man and wife are to be regarded as a single organism – for that is what the words ‘one flesh’ would be in modern English. And the Christians believe that when He said this He was not expressing a sentiment but stating a fact – just as one is stating a fact when one says that a lock and its key are one mechanism, or that a violin and a bow are one musical instrument.
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
- It is extra-literary.
- The pleasure of myth depends hardly at all on such usual narrative attractions as suspense and surprise.
- Human sympathy is at a minimum. We do not project ourselves strongly into the characters. We feel indeed that the pattern of their movements has a profound relevance to our own life, but we do not imaginatively transport ourselves into theirs.
- Myth is always in one sense of the word “fantastic.” It deals with the impossibles and preternaturals.
- The experience may be sad or joyful but it is always grave. Comic myth is impossible.
- The experience is not only grave but awe-inspiring. Its as if something of great moment had been communicated to us.
Deferential: 그들은 지난 달부터 사귀기 시작했습니다.
Polite: 그들은 지난 달부터 사귀기 시작했어요.
Intimate: 그들은 지난 달부터 사귀기 시작했어.
Translation: They started dating last month.
그들 = they, their, them
은 = topic marking particle
지난 = last
달 = month
부터 = from, since
사귀다 = to date, to go out, to get close
-기 = verb ending meaning doing, being, to do, to be (example: 읽기 시작하다 = begin to read, start to read, to read)
시작 = start, beginning, begin
하다 = to do (했다 = past tense)
습니다 = deferential verb ending
요 = polite verb ending
Found out today the silly idea of “transethnicity” and I must say its pretty ridiculous. Saw that someone declared themselves a transethnic “North Korean” as if 1. there’s a distinction between North and South Koreans (not genetically or linguistically anyway) and 2. they, as a someone definitely not living in North Korea, could possibly comprehend what it means to be a Korean with origins in the northern provinces of Pyeongan. Whats even more ridiculous though is the notion that its just “white people” who live life under the pretenses of another culture. But that’s Tumblr logic for you.
Acerbity [əˈsɜːbɪtɪ] 