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eeknight who wrote
"Comment on this post and I will pick seven of your interests. You then write about them in your journal and re-post. "
If you aren't interested, skip over - there isn't anything else. It's that sort of day!
I got:
And what have I learned from this experience? I can waffle a LOT when given free reign to do so.
What have you learned you didn't know before?
R
eeknight who wrote "Comment on this post and I will pick seven of your interests. You then write about them in your journal and re-post. "
If you aren't interested, skip over - there isn't anything else. It's that sort of day!
I got:
carmelitana
Anything by, about or pertaining to a Carmelite, the Carmelites in question being originally hermits who lived on Mount Carmel, but formed a community and in and around 1210 got a Rule of Life from Albert of Jerusalem. They left the Holy Land and crossed Europe, becoming mendicant friars and reached Ireland in the 13th century. They share a particular devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the prophet Elijah is patron of the Order. Throughout their history the have counted remarkable people within their number: Baptista Mantua, renaissance poet, Fra Filippo Lippi (alright, he ran away and married a nun), St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Maria Maddelena de'Pazzi renaissance prophetess, St. Therese of Lisieux, Bl. Titus Brandsma and St. Edith Stein (the last two both martyrs in the Second World War - Brandsma was a journalist in his native Holland who asked difficult questions of the occupying Nazis like "Where are you going with all those Jewish people?" They showed him. And if Edith Stein - a German Jew who studied philosophy with Husserl and then converted to Christianity and became a Carmelite Nun - had been born in a different time and place, or to another family, she would probably be held up as one of the foremost philosophers of the 20th century. So yeah, the Carmelites. I like them a lot. They own my library. There are some kick-ass books here!
faerie
The Otherworld - less about shifting mists or dinky little things with wings a la Cicely Mary Barker and more about the Sidhe, the Seelie and Unseelie courts, the Amadán, Phooku, Koboldes, Tam Lin and the more vicious side of things. May Queen is set in Faerie and I have been discovering all sorts of fairly (pardon the pun) nasty little elements of Faerie as I research. The Nix for one. The Kobolde. So I'm weaving this with the more traditional Titania and Oberon stuff but trying to delve into the development of these characters - i.e. the earlier incarnations - the Queen of Faerie in some of the earlier legends was Mab (which is a derivation of Madb or Maeve of Irish legends, who was not a nice lady at all!), and I'm linking Oberon in with the Amadán, that rather unpleasant demonic gambler and seducer of naieve women of Irish folklore. Stories of Faerie are fun. They have this glittery exterior but scratch the surface and there are some very twisted things underneath.
fencing
I started fencing classes two weeks ago. I was at one last night. I hurt all over! I have never come across a sport which exercises quite so mush of you at one. I hurt in places I didn't know there were muscles. And as we started fencing against each other last night, I have bruises to go with that. It's incredibly skillful (except when I do it). Our coach describes it as a game of chess on legs. Which is a problem as I have always been crap at chess. But it may be useful for writing sword fights if nothing else!
folklore
See faerie - I love the way it interconnects and I guess I use it as much as possible. I suppose the area I know most about it Irish folklore (well, duh!) but also a fair bit of Devon, English and Scotish. Memories, beliefs and superstitions pass on in one form or another through the generations, across cultures and barriers, and I always wonder what was the first instance? - why did this become a story someone wanted to tell? What is at its core? It's probably questions like that which started me writing in the first place.
horslips
Well, what can you say about 70s Celtic Rock Gods Horslips, working drums and heavy guitar with traditional melodies and telling stories from ancient legends as if they were happening in the club down the street. Dearg Doom, King of Morning, Trouble with a Capital "T". If you've never heard them, go to horslips.ie and play. I'm still tied between King of Morning and Sideways to the Sun as my favorites - both are from the Book of Invasions CD. Interestingly Barnes and Noble still haven't managed to track down the copy of The Tain, remastered I ordered. So basically, Irish legends and rock - what more could you ask for?
jim fitzpartick
Sensing the theme of someone obsessed with the Celtic world yet? Jim Fitzpatrick did the famous Che Guevara picture. But don't let that fool you. What he mainly paints are scantily clad women and muscly men! He is an artist who spawned a thousand imitators, which is ironic as he specifically points to Harry Clarke and Aubrey Beardsley as influences. Again, he takes Celtic legends and brings them to life in vivid and elaborately decorated scenes. Celitca was the first series I remember, but I still have some fairly tattered copies of Erinsaga (a book celebrating of his work), The Book of Invasions (not the Horslips one, but a retelling of the legends of the Tuatha de Dannan) and the Silver Arm (same thing, part 2). I used to be far more into Fitzpatirck than I am these days. I've calmed down a lot now.
Between then Jim Fitzpatrick and Horslips probably count for an awful lot of Moy Tura Echoes. They also act as an extremely fine inspiration when I get stuck. Particularly Horslips!
ps (written about 30 mins later!) I just thought I'd point out that my av is a Jim Fitzpatrick pic.
saxons
I got interested in the Saxons while researching my short story Elements, which is set in a sort of Celtic Ireland parallel to post Romano Britain (with magic, of course). One thing which came out is that they had got an unfeasibly bad press over the years. Generally they are seen as nasty hairy people with bad social skills who invaded Britain, fought with King Arthur (who didn't) and then took over. But actual archaeological evidence doesn't appear to corroborate that (there's a surprise). The "invasion" was much more gradual. Their culture was largely oral, but incredibly complex. They valued honour and had a strong sense of fate. They were superstitious (very superstitious) and their language still peppers English today, more so than you might think. I haven't followed up with a lot more research, but Discovery Civilisation is always good for a documentary or two about them once in a while. I was particularly taken with the Aesc (or Ash) men who appeared to act as either shock troops or assassins, armed with very long ash spears. I used them in Elements - how could I resist a name like that! I'll have to get back to them one day...
So that's it! Mad meme. Everything you ever wanted to know about... :D
Anything by, about or pertaining to a Carmelite, the Carmelites in question being originally hermits who lived on Mount Carmel, but formed a community and in and around 1210 got a Rule of Life from Albert of Jerusalem. They left the Holy Land and crossed Europe, becoming mendicant friars and reached Ireland in the 13th century. They share a particular devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the prophet Elijah is patron of the Order. Throughout their history the have counted remarkable people within their number: Baptista Mantua, renaissance poet, Fra Filippo Lippi (alright, he ran away and married a nun), St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Maria Maddelena de'Pazzi renaissance prophetess, St. Therese of Lisieux, Bl. Titus Brandsma and St. Edith Stein (the last two both martyrs in the Second World War - Brandsma was a journalist in his native Holland who asked difficult questions of the occupying Nazis like "Where are you going with all those Jewish people?" They showed him. And if Edith Stein - a German Jew who studied philosophy with Husserl and then converted to Christianity and became a Carmelite Nun - had been born in a different time and place, or to another family, she would probably be held up as one of the foremost philosophers of the 20th century. So yeah, the Carmelites. I like them a lot. They own my library. There are some kick-ass books here!
faerie
The Otherworld - less about shifting mists or dinky little things with wings a la Cicely Mary Barker and more about the Sidhe, the Seelie and Unseelie courts, the Amadán, Phooku, Koboldes, Tam Lin and the more vicious side of things. May Queen is set in Faerie and I have been discovering all sorts of fairly (pardon the pun) nasty little elements of Faerie as I research. The Nix for one. The Kobolde. So I'm weaving this with the more traditional Titania and Oberon stuff but trying to delve into the development of these characters - i.e. the earlier incarnations - the Queen of Faerie in some of the earlier legends was Mab (which is a derivation of Madb or Maeve of Irish legends, who was not a nice lady at all!), and I'm linking Oberon in with the Amadán, that rather unpleasant demonic gambler and seducer of naieve women of Irish folklore. Stories of Faerie are fun. They have this glittery exterior but scratch the surface and there are some very twisted things underneath.
fencing
I started fencing classes two weeks ago. I was at one last night. I hurt all over! I have never come across a sport which exercises quite so mush of you at one. I hurt in places I didn't know there were muscles. And as we started fencing against each other last night, I have bruises to go with that. It's incredibly skillful (except when I do it). Our coach describes it as a game of chess on legs. Which is a problem as I have always been crap at chess. But it may be useful for writing sword fights if nothing else!
folklore
See faerie - I love the way it interconnects and I guess I use it as much as possible. I suppose the area I know most about it Irish folklore (well, duh!) but also a fair bit of Devon, English and Scotish. Memories, beliefs and superstitions pass on in one form or another through the generations, across cultures and barriers, and I always wonder what was the first instance? - why did this become a story someone wanted to tell? What is at its core? It's probably questions like that which started me writing in the first place.
horslips
Well, what can you say about 70s Celtic Rock Gods Horslips, working drums and heavy guitar with traditional melodies and telling stories from ancient legends as if they were happening in the club down the street. Dearg Doom, King of Morning, Trouble with a Capital "T". If you've never heard them, go to horslips.ie and play. I'm still tied between King of Morning and Sideways to the Sun as my favorites - both are from the Book of Invasions CD. Interestingly Barnes and Noble still haven't managed to track down the copy of The Tain, remastered I ordered. So basically, Irish legends and rock - what more could you ask for?
jim fitzpartick
Sensing the theme of someone obsessed with the Celtic world yet? Jim Fitzpatrick did the famous Che Guevara picture. But don't let that fool you. What he mainly paints are scantily clad women and muscly men! He is an artist who spawned a thousand imitators, which is ironic as he specifically points to Harry Clarke and Aubrey Beardsley as influences. Again, he takes Celtic legends and brings them to life in vivid and elaborately decorated scenes. Celitca was the first series I remember, but I still have some fairly tattered copies of Erinsaga (a book celebrating of his work), The Book of Invasions (not the Horslips one, but a retelling of the legends of the Tuatha de Dannan) and the Silver Arm (same thing, part 2). I used to be far more into Fitzpatirck than I am these days. I've calmed down a lot now.
Between then Jim Fitzpatrick and Horslips probably count for an awful lot of Moy Tura Echoes. They also act as an extremely fine inspiration when I get stuck. Particularly Horslips!
ps (written about 30 mins later!) I just thought I'd point out that my av is a Jim Fitzpatrick pic.
saxons
I got interested in the Saxons while researching my short story Elements, which is set in a sort of Celtic Ireland parallel to post Romano Britain (with magic, of course). One thing which came out is that they had got an unfeasibly bad press over the years. Generally they are seen as nasty hairy people with bad social skills who invaded Britain, fought with King Arthur (who didn't) and then took over. But actual archaeological evidence doesn't appear to corroborate that (there's a surprise). The "invasion" was much more gradual. Their culture was largely oral, but incredibly complex. They valued honour and had a strong sense of fate. They were superstitious (very superstitious) and their language still peppers English today, more so than you might think. I haven't followed up with a lot more research, but Discovery Civilisation is always good for a documentary or two about them once in a while. I was particularly taken with the Aesc (or Ash) men who appeared to act as either shock troops or assassins, armed with very long ash spears. I used them in Elements - how could I resist a name like that! I'll have to get back to them one day...
So that's it! Mad meme. Everything you ever wanted to know about... :D
And what have I learned from this experience? I can waffle a LOT when given free reign to do so.
What have you learned you didn't know before?
R
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![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
From:
no subject
http://www.jimfitzpatrick.ie/gallery/diarmuid.html
If you want to play, I'll pick your subjects. Just give me the nod!
R
From:
no subject
ok, sure, I'll play. Bring it!
From:
no subject
coffee,
fantasy,
literature,
Les Miserables
Mother Nght, Kurt Vonnegut
The Asterix series, Goscinny and Uderzo
Grant Morrison
From:
no subject