282 happy solstice



Happy Solstice.

"Happy" comes from the same root as "happen." It basically is like lots of other "y" ending words, it's the thing, but cute and affectionate. It's when things happening turned out good: you're happy.

"Sol" means Sun. In particular, Sol Invictus, who was the big god during the Roman Empire, bigger than Jove or Mars.

"Stice" comes from the same word as "stillness." For about three days around the day we recognize as the winter solstice, the sun appears to stop moving southward on the horizon, before it turns around and begins heading "north" for the summer.

Merry Christmas.

"Merry" has the same root as "mirth." It means something pleasurable but short lived. It has german roots.

"Christ" comes from Greek, not Roman. It means "anointed," which means, marked with oil. It's apparently something you do to distinguish someone in a ritual, like a king.

"Mas" comes from "mass" and simply means "gathering of people."

The first reference to celebrating "Christmas" happened about a thousand years after Christ is said to have died. It takes a while for a good story to get rolling.
 
And that's about all the holiday sentiment you're getting from me. The new year used to be in March, when we actually have something to celebrate. Julius Caesar, the first Roman Emperor, moved the new year to January so his subjects wouldn't be so fucking lazy all winter.

FYI, the emperors came near the end of Rome. Before Julius Caesar, Rome was a republic, with voting. After, it was a crazy madhouse.

This may or may not have had something to do with lead. Particularly, lead used to sweeten wine. But that's another story...

A better world is happening.

Thank you for the miracle that is happening in our lives.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

547 a giving planet

Image
Where to start? With a drip. Due to a recent large bill for two pieces of plastic pipe and a valve, I have become interested in learning more about pex plumbing. Like many things in the US, this more efficient way of doing things is having a slow takeoff.  Why? Because existing building codes, laws created by localities, have been slow to change, sticking with the tried and true rather than adapting to new technology. This is true on many fronts. After recently riding the train cross country, I arrived in the town I grew up in. Above is a bit of information from the town zoning laws, stating businesses are not allowed to have exterior displays of their products.  This runs counter to everything modern "new urban" planners have found: to create a vibrant retail presence, stores want to invite shoppers inside by displaying their goods outside. But really, it seems like everything is upside down. Above is a classic piec...
Read more

610 totally unrelated

Image
At top, a bicycle built for golf. Mid-drive, even. Kinda spendy at $7k, but this is golf. Apparently they're selling.  We're talking about Bikes and Batteries today. This is a, um, what was this?  Right, a swappable battery.  Sounds a lot like a dorado battery with a new design. Having uniform parts between different manufacturers will help us consumers. (Imagine if your car only worked with one brand of gasoline.) So this thinking is in the right direction-ish. Throw a golf bag holder on the front and they could charge more. ;) There's gold in them thar batteries. (Or at least some rare earth minerals.) The question is, how do we get them out, and then back in?  At least we can haul them about in this.  It's funny how some designs look bad while others look good. In my eye, that's a pretty good looking box for moving other boxes.  ...
Read more

469 who spiked the corona?

Image
Omicron is here. In less than a month, it has gone from zero cases in the US, to 73% of cases as of this past weekend. At top is San Francisco, below is New York State. The good news is, if you're vaccinated, you might not get too sick. The bad news is, there's a pretty good chance we're all going to get sick in this one. Here's NYC, where you can see omicron is making the curve from March 2020 look small. Or else, lockdown. I'm not a doctor, or an expert. Here's what I've picked up about omicron: 1. It is more transmissible . At least twice as easily spread as the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2. They say it's on the level of measles, the most easily spread virus we know. 2. It seems to have borrowed some tricks from the common cold. Literally, according to at least one report I've read, most of the spike protein mutations in Omicron match directly to the common cold, an...
Read more