Wishing joy and peace to everyone today, and to those celebrating, a very happy Easter!
Love in Christ,
Marian
Category: Uncategorized
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How I Read – A Bookish Tag
This tag is making the rounds, so I thought I’d give it a go!
Do you have a certain place at home for reading?
I read in bed; it’s kind of a bad habit. 😆 Once I get my own place, I plan to have a proper reading corner with a tea tray and everything.Can you stop reading anywhere, or do you have to stop after a chapter or certain number of pages?
Anywhere will do, but chapters or section breaks are best.Bookmarks or random slips of paper?
Both. I like the paper slips that come with library holds; they’re thin and won’t impact the book in any way.Multitasking: music or tv while reading?
Usually silence, and definitely not TV or YouTube. If I’m having trouble concentrating, sometimes I’ll listen to lo-fi (yes, lo-fi got me through A History of East Asia).Do you eat or drink while reading?
If there’s any candy I’ll eat it on autopilot while reading, so I try not to snack at all. I’ll often drink tea.Reading at home or everywhere?
All the places!Do you read ahead or skip pages?
No, unless it’s something for work/studying, then I’ll skim.Break the spine or keep it like new?
Break the spine? 😳 Nevar!Do you write in your books?
Not usually; it bothers me greatly. I did check off some of the Kafka short stories as I was reading them, to keep track of what I’d read, but I did that with pencil.Whom do you tag?
COMMENTS →
Anyone who wants to do it! 😀
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If Victorians Surfed the Web: 50 Pseudonyms from the 1880s
In the spirit of the last post, I rediscovered another gem from long ago which I’d always intended to blog about: Victorian pseudonyms!
Back in 1880–1885, Lewis Carroll—author of the Alice books and real-life mathematician—wrote a series of math story problems for magazine readers to try to solve. Some participants mailed their answers to him using their real names or initials, but others were more creative. After giving them a chance to solve each puzzle, Carroll published the correct answer, calling out certain lucky (or unlucky) individuals by their pseudonyms. The collection of stories and solutions was later published under the title A Tangled Tale.
Below, in order of appearance, are some of the names readers chose for themselves. You can just picture them wielding those usernames on blogs or forums today… Bonus points if you can identify which ones come from classic stories!
Victorian Pseudonyms
- A Nihilist
- A Mother’s Son
- A Redruthian
- A Socialist
- Spear Maiden
- Vis Inertiæ
- Yak
- A Marlborough Boy
- Sea Breeze
- Simple Susan
- Money Spinner
- Galanthus Nivalis Major
- Bog-Oak
- Bradshaw of the Future
- Alphabetical Phantom
- Dinah Mite
- H.M.S. Pinafore
- Old Cat
- Rags and Tatters
- Mad Hatter
- Scrutator
- The Red Queen
- Cheeky Bob
- Bo-Peep
- Financier
- Sea-Gull
- Thistledown
- Cheshire Cat
- Waiting for the Train
- Common Sense
- Veritas
- A Ready Reckoner
- Three-Fifths Asleep
- Dublin Boy
- Yahoo
- Duckwing
- Euroclydon
- Land Lubber
- Polichinelle
- Old Hen
- Mrs. Sairey Gamp
- An Ancient Fish
- Froggy
- Turtle Pyate (Lewis: “what is a Turtle Pyate, please?”)
- Old Crow
- The Shetland Snark
- A Christmas Carol
- Old King Cole
- Theseus
- An Old Fogey
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The 1899 Questionnaire
Many years ago, I came across this fun artifact from the papers of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, meant to blog about it, and never actually did. This is a “favorites” survey which Doyle filled out in 1899 – basically like a modern-day blog tag! He has pretty readable handwriting, but you can find a typed-up version of his answers here. (Is it just me or was he clearly bored when he filled it out? 😛 )
It has no title so I’ve dubbed it the (oh-so-creative) 1899 Questionnaire. I also thought it might be fun to fill it out, and if you’d like to as well, consider yourself tagged.
The 1899 Questionnaire
Your favourite virtue?
Honesty
Your favourite qualities in man?
Kindness and intuition
Your favourite qualities in woman?
Wisdom and perseverance
Your favourite occupation?
Watching YouTubeWriting 🙂Your chief characteristic?
Thinking too much
Your idea of happiness?
A deep conversation (aka Solving World Problems™) with a family member or friend
Your idea of misery?
Having no one to talk to
Your favourite colour and flower?
Favorite color is teal blue, favorite flowers are yellow roses
If not yourself, who would you be?
Something to do with music, probably an itinerant fiddler
Where would you like to live?
Same as where I live now, or maybe further out, in the forest
Your favourite poets?
Tolkien, Longfellow, and various lyricists like Adam Young
Your favourite painters and composers?
Painters: Monet, Caspar David Friedrich, Ivan Shishkin
Composers: Tchaikovsky, and so many more
Your favourite heroes in real life?
I don’t really have heroes, but I admire anyone who speaks the truth even when it’s not expedient.
Your favourite heroines in real life?
Same
Your favourite heroes in fiction?
Sherlock Holmes, half the characters from Lord of the Rings, and Deputy Ryker from The Virginian TV show
Your favourite heroines in fiction?
Tatyana Larina from Eugene Onegin, Marian Halcombe from The Woman in White, and Alice
Your favourite food and drink?
Pretty much anything my mom makes. And Subway sandwiches. For drink: Swiss Miss hot cocoa with eggnog! It’s kind of a meal on its own, though.
Your favourite names?
I love old-fashioned names like Evelyn and Henry.
Your pet aversion?
Random strangers who act creepy or ask personal questions.
What characters in history do you most dislike?
The ones who tried to spread ideology or religion by force
What is your present state of mind?
Sheepish for staying up past midnight when I have to get up at 5:40
For what fault have you most toleration?
I’m not sure I would call it a fault exactly, but I have a lot of empathy for anyone who deals with extreme shyness and low self-esteem, having gone through that myself in the past.
Your favourite motto?
“Live not by lies” – Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Classics Considered 