apiphile:
mumblingsage:
shh-im-wondering:
historianowl:
emilyisbatmannow:
blackbirdmcnight:
skabritches:
lord-kitschener:
theatlantic:
laphamsquarterly:
“I am very cold”
“The parchment is very hairy.”
“Oh, my hand.”
—Notes from medieval monks and scribes in the margins of their work
Our latest issue “Means of Communication” is now online. Take a break from the scriptorium to check it out!
This is awesome.
“Now I’ve written the whole thing: for Christ’s sake, give me a drink.”
Some of these are really moving, it’s easy to forget that the people transcribing these works weren’t just monk-shaped automata slaving away tirelessly on some different planet. But some of them are also hilarious.
“the hand that wrote it is no more”
IT CEASED TO BE
IT EXPIRED AND LEFT TO SEE ITS MAKER
THIS IS AN EX-HAND
You’re officially my favorite. Okay.
This is History porn.
Yes this is amazing D:
I want to give an Amen to “writing is excessive drudgery…” and especially to the plea to Saint Patrick!
Wow this is basically my LJ during NaNoWriMo. OW MY HAND. MY BACK HURTS. I HATE WRITING. GIVE ME A DRINK. I HATE WRITING.
Born on St. Patrick’s day - coincidence?????
(via tuttifruttipointnshooty)
2:11 am • 23 March 2012 • 5,051 notes
I’m a real amateur
Yup. Actually, I like to say we’re all amateurs. That’s usually after I talk about the three tenets of the Tao, as paraphrased in the Tao of Pooh:
1) Be willing to open your eyes
2) Be honest about what you’re looking at
3) Have an effing sense of humor.
Any one of those three can be the hardest thing to do. A lot of people squeeze their eyes wide shut. And we all know about denial.
But as far as the humor is concerned, sometimes you can only get as far as bearing with the problem until it passes, so you can laugh at it later. I remember when my dad died, a friend who had lost her mom years before suggested renting comedy videos. (This was right after she said, “I know this sounds crazy, but…”) Those comedy videos really helped me get past that first, worst chasm of grief.
I am forever grateful to the jesters of the world, for helping us laugh when we really need it!
Now, if you get really good at it, all that good humor can morph into real resilience. (What’s the one thing centenarians have in common, whether they eat bacon, smoke cigars, or drink whiskey? They all have a good attitude… I think it dials down their cortisol levels…)
Anyway, your mileage may vary, and all that… but when you keep at it, it gets easier. Like yoga, or most things. And who doesn’t want to practice laughing?
Just *notice* what’s working, and what isn’t. (Right, now we’re back at the first two tenets…)
So yeah, I’m an amateur at life and blogging. I don’t get paid for much of it - I do it cuz I love it. A real amateur.
1:38 pm • 31 December 2011
“That’s my story, and it’s sticking to my shoe!”
— - Me, late one night at the Joshua Tree Roots Fest.
3:50 pm • 30 December 2011
