* I was thinking (once again) about the Vignère cipher quilt I've been planning to do forever. One bonus to it: once you figure out which fabric counts as A, which as B, and so on...no laying out. So that might be my next quilt. I'm *pretty sure* I have 26 different "typography" themed fabrics at this point, and at least a half-yard of each. Because I am going to cut 4" squares. That will yield a finished top of about 90" square, if my calculations are correct - easily big enough to be a full quilt on a full-sized bed. And if I cut carefully, I should easily be able to get 26, 4" squares out of a half-yard of fabric (if there's 40" usable width and I can get 9 squares per row - leaving a little for mistakes and evening-up, that means I only need about 15" of fabric (1/2 yard is 18").
On the current top, I just have to press off the "alternating" blocks and if I have the energy, lay it out at some point, and then I can stitch it up. But I also like the idea of getting a quilt I've had in the back of my head for literal years out and into reality.
* I may have to either keep a notebook and write down words, or have a dictionary handy when reading "The Three Musketeers," I guess the translation strives for historicality/faithfulness to the source and the translator uses words like "anent" (which means "Concerning or about" but I had to look that one up). Most of the things I can get from context but I admit it does surprise me when I run across a word I do not know these days. Though maybe it's good for me, I don't know. I'm getting into the rhythm of the writing a bit more but I admit it's slower going than many things I read.
(I'm also wondering about the enigmatic author's note on "Milady." I wonder if at that time "milady-with-no-surname" suggested a woman of...dubious virtue....and he wanted to make clear it was not that case, but rather a woman whose identity he wished to conceal for now. There is the conceit that it's not a story written from whole cloth but rather an account of something that actually happened, though as far as I know, Dumas took three actual individuals who were Musketeers but fictionalized the heck out of them and their adventures)
Anyway. My previous exposure to "The Three Musketeers" have been the highly-adapted forms of it (I think "Wishbone" did an episode on it?) so I don't know the story really other than some vague outlines. Mostly the cartoon usages of the characters were as sort of a swashbuckling type. It's funny how something got ingrained in our culture even though relatively few people (at least of my generation) have actually read the source material.
* This also makes me wonder about, given the changes in our culture, what tropes/existing stories we take for granted that some up-and-coming generations/different groups don't know. Ten or more years ago I wrote with surprise that my Youth Group kids didn't seem to know the Little Red Hen story (something I had ingrained in my head as a child).
There was also some discussion on ITFF whether "holy grail" as an image for something greatly desired and searched-after was something cultures outside of European heritage knew, (and also if it was maybe a little culturally insensitive, given that it was sort of an outgrowth of the Crusades) and some people from other cultures argued that yes, if you've been educated in the European cultural paradigms, you would get it. (And also, apparently, some where someone else said that using "Sleeping Beauty" as a metaphor - I think this was for something in genetics where a gene activated after years of dormancy - was somehow insensitive and I don't know. I guess it was because it was a feminine image, of a passive woman?)
But yeah. Another piece of information in "being a human is hard today." I will say I am glad I had an education where I learned a lot of that imagery, where I am familiar with fables and parables and Biblical imagery and some of the famous poems of the past and a lot of Shakespeare. It makes life richer for me and, since I live in a culture derived largely from European heritage, it makes sense for me to know those things - if I lived in Japan I presume I'd know Shinto scriptures/sayings and Japanese folktales and the famous poems by people like Basho. I'm not sure that "accepting/encouraging more cultural ignorance in your own culture" is the answer to "but some cultures have different touchstones than we do," I would argue a better answer was "if you are engaging with a culture not your own, make an effort to learn at least some of the touchstones"
Then again, "Learn more stuff" is my usual answer to things.
* News came in last night that Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca in the Star Wars movies (at least the ones I knew as a kid, not sure about the more recent ones) had died. (I wonder if his extreme height was a contributing factor; there are a number of disorders - Marfan's, acromegaly - where the person grows unusually tall but that also carry some other risk factors).
I feel oddly more sad about this than I thought I might. I think there are two reasons for this:
- Everything I've ever read about Mr. Mayhew was good. That he was a kind, good-hearted person, and the world doesn't need to lose people like that. (I seem to remember some story about how he often engaged pleasantly with young fans? It does seem some people - Carroll Spinney, in his Big Bird persona is another - who are in media that appeal to children have a kind heart and want to make their fans feel loved.) Mark Hamill tweeted something to the respect that he was a good man, and there's also a photo of him carrying Carrie Fisher.
- Also, I saw a snippet of an older interview with him - maybe it was right after Fisher's death - where someone asked him about their friendship, and he commented that his great height (and her relatively small size) was part of it, that she felt "protected" around him, that often people felt "safe" around a larger person and yes, that is very true. If the person is a large person but a kind person that's an extremely powerful thing for making other people feel safe. And I wonder if that's something a lot of people in my age group responded to about Chewbacca - I always kind of had the "headcanon" that if Chewbacca existed in the same timeline as I did, he'd protect me if I needed protecting.
(This is also partly why the individual I refer to as "my best frolleague* forever" is my BfrolleagueF - he is a fairly-quiet and gentle man, but is also much taller than I am (though I likely outweigh him) and I do feel oddly safe walking across campus with him to a meeting or something. And that's probably why I tend to be attracted to men with powerful arms or who are a little bit broader in the beam - that whole "he's bigger than I am and could defend me" very atavistic thing kicks in. Never mind that if my BfrolleagueF and I were ever attacked I'd probably be as likely as he was to fight back effectively; he strikes me as somewhat of a pacifist and I have enough years of "women's self defense training" to lash out with a side kick or start punching if physically threatened. (Self-rescuing princess, yet again))
(*Frolleague is, you might guess, a contraction of "friend" and "colleague." Because colleagues aren't always your friends though I am lucky in that all of my departmental colleagues fall at least into the category of "friendly acquaintance" even though one or two have a few....personality traits....I find taxing at times. I'm sure some of my personality traits are taxing, too)
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