Irish class, May 12, 2008
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Fadas: áéíóúÁÉÍÓÚ
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We began with an English→Irish translation exercise. Not a lot of restrictions; just use
whatever Irish we could to give the general sense. Even so, this was quite hard.
Today is Pentecost, one of the three chief festivals in the Western Christian church year. It would be hard to imagine a complete lack of coverage of Christmas or Easter but Pentecost, the least commercial or secularized of the three days, doesn’t receive much media coverage at all.
I rather like it that way.
Today is the Feast of Pentecost. At St. Mary’s, as at other churches I have known, part of one of the Bible lessons was read in multiple foreign languages (See Acts 2: 1-11). Afterwards a small but very clear voice in the congregation said: “That was freaky.”
Whatever other remodeling projects we undertake in this house, we are not removing the popcorn ceilings in any of the other rooms. Right, mia_mcdavid??
I rode my bicycle to and from the Rosedale park-and-ride (about three miles each way) both Monday and Tuesday. From there I took an express bus to work in downtown Minneapolis as I usually do. I gave my knees a break yesterday and drove to Rosedale, but I was back on the bike this morning. I hope to manage 3-4 carless commutes each week through the summer and early fall.
Long ago I read an article arguing that per passenger mile the bicycle was the most energy-efficient form of transportation known, not only to homo sapiens, but throughout the animal kingdom. It was in a reputable scientific publication, Physics Today IIRC, with plenty of numbers, equations, and graphs. I wonder if I could track down a copy of it.
Irish class, May 5, 2008
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Fadas: áéíóúÁÉÍÓÚ
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First exercise. Two lists of foods, in Irish and in English, but not in the
same order. We had to match them up, doing as much as possible without the dictionary.
I rode my bicycle to the Rosedale park-and-ride this morning, instead of driving there.
The standard belt clip on a Blackberry is not suitable for cycling. The upward hip motion while pedalling tends to dislodge it.
Fortunately, I discovered this before the thing fell on the pavement. From now on I will keep it in my briefcase or a bag while riding.
From Hilbert Space to Dilbert Space, and beyond 