Yesterday I found myself adding yet another skill to my growing repertoire. I played the washboard. In a restaurant. With a band. For money. Although I would not say I was completely happy with my performance, we did get compliments and thank you's from several diners. And my husband assures me they don't have to say thank you to the band, and often don't. As a weekly part of a band in the same restaurant, he can know. So I must assume that either yesterday's customers were extremely nice and polite (but insincere), or that they were pleased with our performance, however unlikely that may seem to me. At least I apparently didn't, by my mishandling the washboard, kill the show. The nanowrimo project encourages one to ignore one's inner editor (only for the month, only for the first rough draft). I have not only an inner editor, but also an inner music critic, an inner washboard playing critic, an inner mistruster of people and more. Quite crowded inside, yes. And the worst is when one of them says: here you got a compliment but you know just as well as anybody that that person only wanted to be nice and give you a good feeling. In reality however, your guiding/washboard playing/performance/blog/dress/hair/etc. wasn't that good. I am mean to myself like that. Even if I never say: it was really bad. No, it just wasn't good enough. It was a try, but I didn't try hard enough. I did my best but I should have done better.
But this time I'm going to ignore my inner chorus. I am a professional washboard player!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
May the best language win...!
Het leven in Drietalenland is weliswaar niet saai, maar het heeft zo zijn nadelen. Al voelt men zich thuis, men is er nooit zo thuis als iemand die in Geboortetaal woont. Zou het echt zo zijn dat Geboortetaal de beste plaats is om te wonen? Ook als men al de helft van zijn leven in Tweedetaal woont en Derdetaal de laatste paar jaar bijna even frequent bezocht wordt als Tweedetaal?
Hier zit ik te twijfelen over in welke taal te schrijven, terwijl ik er 50.000 woorden in moet schrijven. Dat is verfijnde procrastinatie. Ik ben er zeker van dat ik in elk van de drie talen KAN schrijven. Dus de vraag is meer: voor wie wil ik schrijven. Wie wil ik dat het kan lezen?
Alle verheven gedachten moeten nu even worden uitgeschakeld, ben ik bang. Ja, ik wil en kan in Hebreeuws schrijven. En als Zionistisch getint persoon zie ik jaloers het voorbeeld van Rachel de dichteres, die vrijwel meteen na aankomst in Eretz Israel in het Hebreeuws begon te dichten, niet haar moederstaal en niet een taal die zij al voor 100% onder de knie had. De oude slogan "alleen Hebreeuws" spreekt mij aan. Maar de meeste mensen die ik ken zullen dat niet kunnen lezen. En ik heb weinig hoop dat de mensen die mij wel kunnen lezen in het Hebreeuws erg onder de indruk zullen zijn van mijn kunnen in die taal. Dus.... misschien een volgende keer.
Ja, ik wil en ik kan in het Nederlands schrijven. Veel mensen die mij dierbaar zijn zullen dat kunnen lezen. Maar veel andere mensen die mij dierbaar zijn zullen dat niet kunnen doen...
Dus, helaas. Ik buig me voor de wereldtaal. Ik onderwerp me aan het recht van de sterkste. Ik schrijf in het Engels....
Hier zit ik te twijfelen over in welke taal te schrijven, terwijl ik er 50.000 woorden in moet schrijven. Dat is verfijnde procrastinatie. Ik ben er zeker van dat ik in elk van de drie talen KAN schrijven. Dus de vraag is meer: voor wie wil ik schrijven. Wie wil ik dat het kan lezen?
Alle verheven gedachten moeten nu even worden uitgeschakeld, ben ik bang. Ja, ik wil en kan in Hebreeuws schrijven. En als Zionistisch getint persoon zie ik jaloers het voorbeeld van Rachel de dichteres, die vrijwel meteen na aankomst in Eretz Israel in het Hebreeuws begon te dichten, niet haar moederstaal en niet een taal die zij al voor 100% onder de knie had. De oude slogan "alleen Hebreeuws" spreekt mij aan. Maar de meeste mensen die ik ken zullen dat niet kunnen lezen. En ik heb weinig hoop dat de mensen die mij wel kunnen lezen in het Hebreeuws erg onder de indruk zullen zijn van mijn kunnen in die taal. Dus.... misschien een volgende keer.
Ja, ik wil en ik kan in het Nederlands schrijven. Veel mensen die mij dierbaar zijn zullen dat kunnen lezen. Maar veel andere mensen die mij dierbaar zijn zullen dat niet kunnen doen...
Dus, helaas. Ik buig me voor de wereldtaal. Ik onderwerp me aan het recht van de sterkste. Ik schrijf in het Engels....
Monday, October 29, 2012
Guilty
I just signed up for NaNoWriMo. And I feel guilty already... Do I really think I have time for that? Don't I have more important things to do?
In full it's called National Novel Writing Month (it has become International since the start in 1999 in the US, but they never changed the name), and it basically is a challenge. So you think you want to be a writer? Try writing for a month. See if you can write every day. See if you can get a story done. See if you can spit out 50.000 words. You do the work. We help with the motivation.
(Of course, after a month there is only a rough first draft of a novel to be expected. The real work of editing and rewriting comes after that. But, writing that first rough draft is many times the most difficult.)
One of the things to motivate you, they say, is to tell all your friends you're doing this...
Now I am an Enneagram type 6 (I think...), and I feel uncomfortable with publicity.
In my everlasting quest to find out "who I am", I got interested in the Enneagram a few years ago. After calling myself a type 4 for some time, wondering if I could be a type 9, hoping I am not a type 1, or indeed a type 6, I finally settled (for now) on type 6. Then I stumbled on a blog about Enneagram types (can't find it back), that also has a list of self identified Enneagram type blogwriters. And guess what... There were no types 6 in the list! Sixes don't feel comfortable being out there in the open. Which might explain my ambivalence towards blog writing. I like to write. I want to write. But posting it on the internet makes me feel insecure. Still... I have a blog. To be honest, I have a few. Could that mean I am not a type 6 after all, even if my posts are few and far between? In any case, despite my misgivings I am posting this blog, and announcing to you that I am going to do this challenge. Or, at least I am going to try.
My goal is, to tell truth, to write. Every day. 1667 words a day, which makes 50.000 words in a month. Whether it will become a novel or not. Even if I don't see one good reason to do this Nanowrimo thing.
To try to be a writer? I don't even have my life together. I don't even have my house organized. I don't even know what I am doing at my desk in the library. I didn't even finish crocheting one simple kipa (my last project), or read more than a tenth of all the books on my book shelves. Me, want to be a writer? How could I possibly have anything to say that anybody would like to read?
But there is this wish. Always has been. And there is a memory. Once, several years ago, I took a course in creative writing. I may not have been brilliant. But I loved it. It made me happy. So, I may feel self conscious, maybe. But there is a talent. It is there, somehow, somewhere. In me. And maybe I can develop it this November... Wish me luck!
PS By the way, anybody has a plot for me?
In full it's called National Novel Writing Month (it has become International since the start in 1999 in the US, but they never changed the name), and it basically is a challenge. So you think you want to be a writer? Try writing for a month. See if you can write every day. See if you can get a story done. See if you can spit out 50.000 words. You do the work. We help with the motivation.
(Of course, after a month there is only a rough first draft of a novel to be expected. The real work of editing and rewriting comes after that. But, writing that first rough draft is many times the most difficult.)
One of the things to motivate you, they say, is to tell all your friends you're doing this...
Now I am an Enneagram type 6 (I think...), and I feel uncomfortable with publicity.
In my everlasting quest to find out "who I am", I got interested in the Enneagram a few years ago. After calling myself a type 4 for some time, wondering if I could be a type 9, hoping I am not a type 1, or indeed a type 6, I finally settled (for now) on type 6. Then I stumbled on a blog about Enneagram types (can't find it back), that also has a list of self identified Enneagram type blogwriters. And guess what... There were no types 6 in the list! Sixes don't feel comfortable being out there in the open. Which might explain my ambivalence towards blog writing. I like to write. I want to write. But posting it on the internet makes me feel insecure. Still... I have a blog. To be honest, I have a few. Could that mean I am not a type 6 after all, even if my posts are few and far between? In any case, despite my misgivings I am posting this blog, and announcing to you that I am going to do this challenge. Or, at least I am going to try.
My goal is, to tell truth, to write. Every day. 1667 words a day, which makes 50.000 words in a month. Whether it will become a novel or not. Even if I don't see one good reason to do this Nanowrimo thing.
To try to be a writer? I don't even have my life together. I don't even have my house organized. I don't even know what I am doing at my desk in the library. I didn't even finish crocheting one simple kipa (my last project), or read more than a tenth of all the books on my book shelves. Me, want to be a writer? How could I possibly have anything to say that anybody would like to read?
But there is this wish. Always has been. And there is a memory. Once, several years ago, I took a course in creative writing. I may not have been brilliant. But I loved it. It made me happy. So, I may feel self conscious, maybe. But there is a talent. It is there, somehow, somewhere. In me. And maybe I can develop it this November... Wish me luck!
PS By the way, anybody has a plot for me?
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Yesterday I heard a short lecture about a fascinating subject: the European genizah. The European genizah is not a genizah in the original sense of the word. The Hebrew word genizah means something like 'hiding place', or 'storage room', and denotes a place where old, worn out, usually Hebrew language manuscripts were stored, before they were buried in a Jewish cemetary. A famous example is the Cairo genizah, a forgotten room in a synagogue in Fostat (Old Cairo) where some 210.000 Jewish manuscript fragments were found, most of them dating to the 9th till 15hth century.
In Europe, like in the Middle East, old and worn out Hebrew manuscripts were buried. However, the humidity of the earth caused them to decay and an European genizah in the sense of the Cairo genizah has not been found. What then is the European genizah that has been found in the last 30 years? As opposed to the regular genizah, where Hebrew manuscripts were kept 'safe' (albeit to be buried), something completely different happened in Europe, not only with Hebrew manuscripts but with all the different language medieval parchment manuscripts. They were recycled.
Since parchment is a very enduring and quite expensive material, old and discarded manuscripts were dismantled and used, one folio or one bifolio at a time, as binding for another manuscript. Or a book. Or even an archival file.
Especially in Italy, thousands of folia and bifolia of Hebrew manuscripts have been found, used as bindings for the city archives.
Even incunabula were not exempt from this practice.
From the introduction to "the Italian Geniza" by Mauro Perani:
"In fact I found in the Archives of Nonantola and Cento some bifolia of the first edition of the Bible, printed in Bologna in the year 1482, such as of the Torah with various commentaries printed in 1490 in the spanish town of Iijar."
In Europe, like in the Middle East, old and worn out Hebrew manuscripts were buried. However, the humidity of the earth caused them to decay and an European genizah in the sense of the Cairo genizah has not been found. What then is the European genizah that has been found in the last 30 years? As opposed to the regular genizah, where Hebrew manuscripts were kept 'safe' (albeit to be buried), something completely different happened in Europe, not only with Hebrew manuscripts but with all the different language medieval parchment manuscripts. They were recycled.
Since parchment is a very enduring and quite expensive material, old and discarded manuscripts were dismantled and used, one folio or one bifolio at a time, as binding for another manuscript. Or a book. Or even an archival file.
Especially in Italy, thousands of folia and bifolia of Hebrew manuscripts have been found, used as bindings for the city archives.
Even incunabula were not exempt from this practice.
From the introduction to "the Italian Geniza" by Mauro Perani:
"In fact I found in the Archives of Nonantola and Cento some bifolia of the first edition of the Bible, printed in Bologna in the year 1482, such as of the Torah with various commentaries printed in 1490 in the spanish town of Iijar."
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
The importance of paleography
I came across these petitions. If anyone isn't already convinced that paleography is important for us, today, read the opinion of some of the foremost paleographers of our days.
http://www.palaeographia.org/cipl/actu/paleoatkings.htm
http://www.palaeographia.org/cipl/actu/paleoatkings.htm
Manuscripts
I nearly forgot. But it dawned on me today that, in fact, the title of this blog is exactly what I wanted it to be. It is a phrase from a poem in an early printed Hebrew book, praising the new invention of printing. Books thus produced are, as it were, written with many pens - and not with only one as were manuscripts. The plain meaning is, of course, that a scribe used to write slowly, word after word, sentence by sentence, page by page. The printing press is much faster and more efficient, as if 10 or 100 scribes were working simultaneously. But for me, the expression did also present the possibility to write about many subjects. More than that, though, it reflects my passion - no, not for early print, though that is what it obviously refers to. But I have an earlier love. I always had a love for writing. I always wanted to write, and when I say 'write' I mean as much the physical act of writing as the putting of thoughts on paper. As long as I remember I loved handwriting, both doing it and seeing it. That love received a big boost when I was studying Hebrew in the Rijksuniversiteit Leiden. For some reason I took a course that didn't belong to my field. If you know me at all, you won't be surprised that I did. Being interested in 'something else' is my middle name. Whatever one doesn't have to do is always much more enjoyable. So it happened that I took a course in the history department. And - I know it sounds corny - it changed my life...
The course - I believe it was called "Western handschriftkunde" - was several hours each week - for a year. Under the inspired teaching of Prof. J. P. Gumbert we learned the beginnings of the codicology and paleography of Western medieval manuscripts. I was fascinated. I loved the hours of seeing real medieval manuscripts in the Leiden University Library. I loved the few hours in which we practiced the different medieval scripts. I decided to write my final paper on a manuscript.
Without that course I wouldn't have written my final paper for Semitic languages on a Hebrew manuscript. Without that paper I wouldn't have arrived in Israel. Without arriving in Israel I wouldn't have stayed. And, without staying in Israel I wouldn't have met my husband.
So I am much indebted to that course in all kinds of ways. But first of all, I acquired a love that I can neglect, ignore, forget, but it will always come back. And when it comes back it is there, as if it has never gone. The love for medieval manuscripts. I can't explain it. I don't do much with it. For some time I thought it would become the focus of my life, the main subject I would be working in. But it hasn't. I am writing with many pens, and I like many of them. But this particular pen... in my heart of hearts I still wish that one day I might be privileged to be working with manuscripts.
The course - I believe it was called "Western handschriftkunde" - was several hours each week - for a year. Under the inspired teaching of Prof. J. P. Gumbert we learned the beginnings of the codicology and paleography of Western medieval manuscripts. I was fascinated. I loved the hours of seeing real medieval manuscripts in the Leiden University Library. I loved the few hours in which we practiced the different medieval scripts. I decided to write my final paper on a manuscript.
Without that course I wouldn't have written my final paper for Semitic languages on a Hebrew manuscript. Without that paper I wouldn't have arrived in Israel. Without arriving in Israel I wouldn't have stayed. And, without staying in Israel I wouldn't have met my husband.
So I am much indebted to that course in all kinds of ways. But first of all, I acquired a love that I can neglect, ignore, forget, but it will always come back. And when it comes back it is there, as if it has never gone. The love for medieval manuscripts. I can't explain it. I don't do much with it. For some time I thought it would become the focus of my life, the main subject I would be working in. But it hasn't. I am writing with many pens, and I like many of them. But this particular pen... in my heart of hearts I still wish that one day I might be privileged to be working with manuscripts.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Statistics, economics, business administration and the Dead Sea scrolls
Admittedly, there is not much to link the above. At the moment, the only link I can see between them is my person. The Dead Sea scrolls immediately feed my imagination, fire my curiosity and appeal to my sense of aesthetics. A few of them are published in digital form here. Sitting in front of my computer with a few books around me, I enjoy preparing for tomorrow, when I will take a group of theology students to the Dead Sea area.
Becoming a librarian for statistics, economics and business administration didn't have the same effect on me. I consciously write the subjects that are going to be my domain in the library in order of un-understandability. Business administration appears to be a subject that by and large I will be able to grasp. Mostly. At least enough to understand which books the faculty wants me to buy for them. I expect economics to be a little bit more difficult. And I expect not to understand a word of statistics. But we will see. On the other hand, my career as a periodicals librarian has prepared me somewhat for most subjects. I have held in my hand serial publication about the most diverse subjects, including 'stochastic models' and 'communications in statistics'. I didn't understand the articles in them, but at least I know such words exist.
I'm starting a whole new field of knowledge. And who knows, it may even be fun. What's for sure, it won't be boring.
Becoming a librarian for statistics, economics and business administration didn't have the same effect on me. I consciously write the subjects that are going to be my domain in the library in order of un-understandability. Business administration appears to be a subject that by and large I will be able to grasp. Mostly. At least enough to understand which books the faculty wants me to buy for them. I expect economics to be a little bit more difficult. And I expect not to understand a word of statistics. But we will see. On the other hand, my career as a periodicals librarian has prepared me somewhat for most subjects. I have held in my hand serial publication about the most diverse subjects, including 'stochastic models' and 'communications in statistics'. I didn't understand the articles in them, but at least I know such words exist.
I'm starting a whole new field of knowledge. And who knows, it may even be fun. What's for sure, it won't be boring.
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