A small pile of books
Yesterday was rather grey and a bit windy on Symi. The sea was grey, the sky too, the wind rattled the shutters a little and I stayed home; no early walk for me, though Neil did go to his aerobics class and then walk back up the road.
It looks like this could be another week of staying home for me, until I need to get to the bank or post office or something harbour-located. And so I am at my desk, wondering what I can tell you today and there happens to be a small pile of books waiting for me on one side. They are an interesting collection, the top one in particular might be of interest to you:
Your Eyes Fourteen by John Carr and Paul Anastasi – I am using this for Shocking the Donkeys (again) as it is a collection of Greek sayings or idiolects. In linguistics, an idiolect is an individual’s distinctive and unique use of language, including speech. This unique usage encompasses vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. The book is made up of phrases and their explanations. Such things as: ‘Eating moustaches’ (getting into an argument), or ‘Careful the chandelier’ which means ‘don’t make such a fuss.’ Then there is ‘Being an Englishman’ which could mean all kinds of odd things but actually is a phrase used for when someone is punctual. There are loads of others in the book but ‘Shocking the donkeys’ is not one of them. We made that one up for the story, it means to give the old guard a bit of shakeup.
[By the way, if you follow the link for that book you should get a page at Amazon where the book is being sold for a ridiculous price. Don’t do it! Check out other sources for it; I think I bought my copy from Athens News but it was a long while ago now.]
The next book on the pile is my ‘Elements of Style’ that I have been dipping into slightly of late, and beneath this is (oh! A bill for the post office box which I must get paid) a book that was a Christmas present, ‘501 Must-Visit Cities’ a guide to, well, 501 cities that everyone should visit. If only I had the time and money. I think I’ve seen around 25 of them, though I’ve not counted. Then we have ‘The Curios Lobster’ a 1940s children’s book that I read when I was younger (it belonged to my father) and which I keep meaning to send off to my friend who runs Krazy Kat Theatre Company as it might be of interest to him for one of his children’s shows for the deaf and hard of hearing.
And beneath that is a large and empty notebook which reminds me I should go and do some thinking or drafting or writing, or thinking about writing…
