Month: February 2020

Caveat: A beach day

Banalities & Journaling / Hiking & Travel / My Photos

My brother Andrew and I went to Kasaan. There is a totem pole park there – a kind of outdoor museum of native culture.
Kasaan is possibly my favorite place on the island. It being winter, the cafe and indoor visitor center was closed. But we walked among the totems, saw the old long house, and had a kind of impromptu picnic on the beach.
It was a nice day, though quite cold – I think about 36° F (2 C), and windy.
Here is Andrew on the rocky beach.
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Caveat: greenhouse rising

Banalities & Journaling / Life in Alaska / My Photos

My brother Andrew is visiting. I have a certain project I’ve decided to ask his assistance with – he has a much wider Alaska-appropriate skillset than I do, and is able to build things.
I bought a kit greenhouse a while back, because I want to have a greenhouse, here. The main building issue with setting it up is that it needs a kind of “foundation” to rest on – not a full structural foundation, but at least something to anchor it to the ground. That’s what Andrew and I are working on.
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Caveat: The storm like people

Life in Alaska / Not My Poetry 
The Storm
Like people
emerging from a steambath,
bending over,
steaming from their heads
and shoulders,
the ring of the mountains
from the Chilkat Range
to the Juneau ice field
as if in steambath towels
of snow flurries;
at their feet
are foaming white caps of sea
like water thrown on rocks
steaming from the heat.
- Nora Marks Dauenhauer (Tlingit poet, 1927-2017)

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Caveat: one who hamsts

Found Online / Language & Linguistics / Quotable

I sometimes read a satirical linguistics blog called Speculative Grammarian. That blog often posts short, one-line jokes and such. Here are some that recently amused me.

What’s orange and sounds like a parrot? A carrot.

Did you hear about the kidnapping at the nursery? He woke up.

This paradoxical statement is false.

The cannibal became a missionary because “if you can’t eat ’em, join ’em!”

What’s brown and sticky? A stick

What did the fish say when he swam into a wall? Dam!

hamster (n) 1. one who hamsts. Ex.: “I’m gonna hamst you up.”

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Caveat: 음삭은 갈수록 줄고 말은 갈수록 는다

한국말을 배움 (Failing to Learn Korean) / 한국어 속담 (Aphorisms & Proverbs)

Here is an aphorism from my book of Korean aphorisms.

음삭은 갈수록 줄고 말은 갈수록 는다
eum.sik.eun gal.su.rok jul.go mal.eun gal.su.rok neun.da
food-TOPIC over-time decrease-CONJ word-TOPIC over-time increase-PRESENT
Food decreases over time and words increase over time.

This is a reference to the way that rumors are augmented as they are passed along person-to-person – unlike food, that is consumed as it is passed person-to-person. “Rumor grows as it goes.”
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Caveat: a poke in the eye from the left

Banalities & Journaling

I had a kind of insight, recently, thinking about the Democratic primaries that are now playing out. Contrary to most of the pundits I’ve seen writing about it, I believe that Bernie Sanders has a very good chance of winning both the nomination and beating our current Space Emperor. Why? For the same reason The Oleaginous One himself was able to win in 2016.
People voted for Orange Julius Caesar not because of any of his policy proposals (which were both largely incoherent and have since been mostly ignored), but because it was a “poke in the eye” at the status quo. And in fact I think there are just as many people – if not more – on the left who think this same way, as compared to those on the right. They’re just fed up with the status quo and would like nothing more than to give the powers-that-be a good kick in the pants. Bernie can win because he’s a kind of “Drumpf of the left.” This is not true of any of the other Democrats running – not Bloombie, not Buttigieg, not even Warren.
You see, Sanders is basically a grumpy old socialist. He’s wholly authentic, and if his election wouldn’t be a good poke in the eye at the status quo, from the left… well, then nobody’s election would be.

What I’m listening to right now.

King Crimson, “The Court of the Crimson King.”
Lyrics

The rusted chains of prison moons
Are shattered by the sun
I walk a road horizons change
The tournament’s begun
The purple piper plays his tune
The choir softly sing
Three lullabies in an ancient tongue
For the court of the crimson king
The keeper of the city keys
Puts shutters on the dreams
I wait outside the pilgrim’s door
With insufficient schemes
The black queen chants the funeral march
The cracked brass bells will ring
To summon back the fire witch
To the court of the crimson king
The gardener plants an evergreen
Whilst trampling on a flower
I chase the wind of a prism ship
To taste the sweet and sour
The pattern juggler lifts his hand
The orchestra begin
As slowly turns the grinding wheel
In the court of the crimson king
On soft grey mornings widows cry
The wise men share a joke
I run to grasp divining signs
To satisfy the hoax
The yellow jester does not play
But gently pulls the strings
And smiles as the puppets dance
In the court of the crimson king

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Caveat: worth doing four times

Banalities & Journaling / Life in Alaska

I installed and uninstalled the new water pump (see yesterday’s blog entry) four times today, troubleshooting various leaks. On the forth install, it seems to be relatively leak-free, so Arthur and I decided to call it functional.
I enjoyed feeling competent to finally get it working.
But it was quite difficult and tiring, too. Out there in 32° weather banging on pipes:
1. Carry pump up to cistern shed.
2. Place pump on shelf. Attach hose, tighten clamps, repeat x 3 hoses. Bolt down pump. Test pump. Identify leaks.
3. Unbolt pump. Loosen clamps, remove hose, repeat x 3 hoses. Carry pump back down to workshop. Clean out threads, mess with fittings, reline all threads with teflon tape.
4. Go to step one.
Each loop takes about 2 hours.
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