Eclectic Amateur

Undefeated

In the unsung heroes department, find Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck. What this man managed to do with a mere handful of troops and no support in World War I is simply astounding. Even more astounding is the respect he kept from his African troops and his British foes after the Great War (when he was destitute after a failed political career, it was British soldiers who collected money to provide him a pension).

Name Change

I haven't been that happy with "My Place In This World" as a blog title, but it was the best I could come up with at the time (and it seemed marginally less lame than "Zach's Blog"). But I've had trouble coming up with a really good title.

Considered and rejected: on my old home page (before the deletion), I described myself as pathologically eclectic, but I don't truly believe that eclecticism is pathological (at least I hope not, I agree with Lazarus Long that "specialization is for insects"). I really like eclectic polymath, although I'm pretty sure I haven't attained polymath status. Eclectic dilletante is more like it, although it sounds more artsy and "kultcha" than I really am.

So eclectic amateur is the winner, at least for now. It will describe this blog pretty well: I certainly don't get paid for this, it could be about the oddest assortment of things, but it will relate to amare ("to love").

I was pointed to a great (and very funny!) explanation of why you should not try to learn Japanese.

I will admit to having been a "deer-in-the-headlights" student of nihongo way back when.

Stupid Computers

Trying to get archiving to work, accidentally trashed the index page to my site. Grrr ...

"Backups? We don't need no steekin backups!

More on the Bishops

Karen Marie Knapp, who saw much more of the Bishop's conference than I could hear, tells me that when the motion (for episcopal pennance) was reintroduced, that the bishops did agree to a day of fasting and abstinance in reparation for their faults and set the date as August 14.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they're doing that much. But do the math, this is 1/270th of the nine months of pennance that Abp. Flores proposed.

While I'm not a moral theologian, and I don't know how to quantify pennance, it seems to me that a single day of fasting fails to address the gravity of the bishops' failure and complicity in this terrible scandal.