我以为

[nnozomi]

Daily life: I harvested the final batch of hot peppers, see below, that’s it for this year’s cycle of veranda plants; a couple of fallow months and in March or so I’ll choose some new ones. Also I went for a walk in a nearby graveyard (I know, cheerful, but it’s very old—most of the graves date back over a century—and sits on top of a hill in its own little pool of quiet, making it one of my favorite places in the neighborhood). Scattered (and sometimes half-buried) in the path were little fragments of decorated ceramic, one-time teacups maybe, as below; I couldn’t resist scooping up a few.

Music: In the category of “jokes with a difficult Venn diagram”: the radio announcer said “Next we will hear Berwald’s Fourth Symphony, subtitled ‘Naïve,’” and all I could think was, it’s the Wu Xie Symphony! (More musically speaking, I quite like Berwald and feel he would probably repay further study; of the northern composers, with apologies to Finnish f-list people, I am just not wild about Sibelius, he has some gripping moments but the endless ostinati are exhausting. My favorite from that region would be Nielsen, the symphonies and the flute concerto and especially the Helios Overture, which I like so much I once wrote it into a fic.)

Books: In a more distant iteration of the hey-I-know-that-guy’s-kid thing found in the endnotes to academic papers, I’m editing a paper which quotes the philosopher A.J. Ayer and recognizing him from Frances Partridge’s diaries as Freddie Ayer who once hit on her (or did he? anyway, they were friends). Her voluminous journals make good reading in this uncertain age particularly, can recommend.

Chinese: Also Wu Xie-related, I learned the word 以为, to think something in error (to misapprehend? Do any other languages have a good single word for this? In Japanese 勘違いする, or 勘違う as my Chinese colleague used to say). Like in the 往下踊/Jump Down lyrics, “我以为如果我変得強大一点…I thought if I could only become a little stronger…” (sniff).

Writing: Past 2K (it seems helpful to keep a word count going here just for reference) which is, well, 1/40th of the projected total? I think I’m just about getting into my stride enough that I can go back to 500-words-a-day-or-else, which should help. Scene one more or less finished. Next two scenes: the lovers face the concentrated sister attack, and a born conspirator and an innocent go through danger together.

Photos:



Be safe and well.

Comments

[solo]

Pretty pictures!

I quite like Grieg...

勘違う -- haha I like it!

[nnozomi]

Grieg slipped my mind for some reason! Yes, I like the piano concerto and some other stuff too.

勘違う became a thing at my old workplace for a while, it's such a handy phrase even if it's wrong.

(I owe you a comment over at your place too, take care)

[china_shop]

Lovely photos, as always. And I totally get the appeal of the ceramic fragments -- they're so evocative. ❤🌻

[nnozomi]

Thank you! It's funny, I think if I saw the original teacups in a store full of them I might not look twice, but in their broken-and-unexpected-location form...

[luzula]

Congratulations on getting started on your sequel! \o/

My poly fic is currently at 77K, relationship discussions are happening. : )

[nnozomi]

Thanks ;) I'm having fun and wondering what the hell I've let myself in for, with more plot than I know what to do with.
My poly fic is currently at 77K, relationship discussions are happening. : )
WOW. That sounds like fun too. I salute your ability to write both fast and well, as always.

[naye]

Thank you for sharing your pictures. I love them!

[nnozomi]

thank you, and likewise!

[clevermanka]

I love walking in cemeteries! We have a beautiful local cemetery. A friend of mine lives right across the street from it and loves it. If I lived on that side of town I'd walk around it, too!

a born conspirator and an innocent go through danger together.
Love that dynamic.

The sprig of red berries with the textured wall behind it is lovely.

[nnozomi]

I love Japanese cemeteries, maybe because I don't have the culturally-sad associations with them so much? No grass (well, some, but not between the graves so much), just little stone grave-posts with names engraved, and little bamboo tubes for flowers. (Hopefully when things settle down you'll have more chances to go for walks in places further away?).

Love that dynamic.
They are not even remotely a romantic pairing, but I'm really interested in how they're going to interact.

The sprig of red berries with the textured wall behind it is lovely.
Thank you! This neighborhood house has, like, a one-foot-by-six-foot strip in front of it which still somehow manages to contain these berry things, maples, hydrangeas, lilies-of-the-valley... it's the Tardis of gardens.

[clevermanka]

Alas, my walks are more dictated by physical stamina than weather--but hopefully someday, yes!

[nnozomi]

thoughtless on my part, sorry; definitely hopefully someday!

[clevermanka]

Oh, no, please don't apologize! I meant it more joking--should have included a laugh emoji. I don't expect people to track my issues and believe me I have to laugh at them, too!

[nnozomi]

no worries! "laugh to cope" definitely a thing these days. <3

[chestnut_pod]

That's a cool word! I can't think of one like that in Spanish -- I think in both Spanish and English, the word "believe" gets used in the preterite or imperfect to indicate through connotation that one was in error.

[nnozomi]

Yes, "I thought..." "I believed..." but it doesn't have the same automatic connotations. Yet another delightful translator's headache ;)

[tinny]

Wu Xie Symphony, hahaha! :D

German also doesn't have a word for yiwei. You have to make the same construction as in English, "mistakenly believe". I love the berries, such great contrast with the wall and the leaves.

I was very impressed with the cemetery on HIStory3 Trapped.




Doesn't look like a cemetery as I know it at all. It must be beautiful when it's not raining, since it seems to be situated on top of a hill.

I do like walking across cemeteries in these parts, too, unless it's one I know and there are graves of people I know in it. Then it's more sad than quiet.

[nnozomi]

Thank you! Those berries are all over the place in this season and I don't know what they're called--sort of like holly, but definitely not.

HIStory3 is Taiwan, right? I can't see all the details but that definitely looks closer to Japanese cemeteries, no grass to speak of, little stone pillars for each person or family. I find it soothing, who knows why. (As you say, if there were graves of people I know it would be much more upsetting, but when they've all been deceased for a hundred and fifteen years it's very peaceful.)