Tag Archives: language

These Words Are My Own

Posted on April 3, 2019 by

To what extent do our words belong to us?  At first glance, we bear a great deal of responsibility for our words, and we often take great pride in them.  Entire books are filled with quotations that people have been … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Christianity, History, Musings | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Book Review: Ambrose Bierce’s Write It Right

Posted on February 20, 2019 by

Ambrose Bierce’s Write It Right, by Ambroe Bierce and Jan Freeman This is a complicated book.  That is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is not necessarily a good thing as well.  Once upon a time I came across … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, Book Reviews, History | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Music Of A Distant Drum

Posted on February 12, 2019 by

Music Of A Distant Drum, edited by Bernard Lewis For those who want to gain credibility as experts in a given field, this book is a good example of how to do so.  How does Lewis do it?  Well, he … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Middle East | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

πράος / וַתְרָנִי

Posted on January 7, 2019 by

Meekness is a virtue easier preached than practiced.  That is certainly true of all of the virtues, but the virtue of meekness presents special difficulties that make it especially hard to practice well.  With most virtues, we have a good … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Christianity, Church of God, Musings | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

On The Many Faces Of A Stranger

Posted on January 1, 2019 by

There are many ways in which I have encountered the stranger.  From childhood, one of my favorite musicians has been Billy Joel [1], and one of his notable songs from the 1970’s was “The Stranger.”  It is probably not coincidental … Continue reading →

Posted in International Relations, Musings | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Book Review: Catalan

Posted on December 19, 2018 by

Teach Yourself Catalan:  A Complete Course For Beginners, by Alan Yates This is the sort of book that would be best in association with a formal course on Catalan, but since those are few and far between then books like … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Teach Yourself Complete Catalan

Posted on December 19, 2018 by

Teach Yourself Complete Catalan, by Anna Poch Gasau and Alan Yates As someone who greatly enjoys reading about and improving my own knowledge of other languages [1], this book was a very interesting one to me.  For one, I found … Continue reading →

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Waiting For It

Posted on November 26, 2018 by

Today, while I was reading a book, I was struck by something that I had never seen as a problem or difficulty.  Many people are aware of a standard of behavior known as the waiter rule, which lets people know … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Woordenlijst/Wordlist

Posted on October 9, 2018 by

Woordenlijst/Wordlist:  Sranan-Nederlands; Nederlands-Sranan; English-Sranan with a list of plant and animal names This is a book that lives up to its name.  It is by no means a fancy or elegant read, but it is a book with some solid … Continue reading →

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Things Learned So Far In Bogota

Posted on October 6, 2018 by

Since Thursday night I have been spending the time in Bogota with my parents and enjoying a massive but quite beautiful city.  I have not spend enough time here to develop anything close to serious insight, but as someone who … Continue reading →

Posted in Musings | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments