Taomeow

Yes, it's a wise saying even thought it's fake Latin. A motto especially apt for a high school teacher to live by. There's a whole bunch of not quite real Latin proverbs I remember, some "almost" the real thing... like, Lingua Latina non est penis canina. And a friend, a med student at the time, once commented in all seriousness when we were planning a picnic in the woods and it started raining, Per aspera ad anus. This one has since become my favorite expression for when things one carefully plans and looks forward to go bust for whatever reason. It's exactly the same idea which Shakespeare expressed in his characteristic, much more flowery way: And enterprises of great pitch and moment With this regard their currents turn awry And lose the name of action.

I have some random Latin in my head from the university course, but the last time I was able to read the news in Latin was circa the Bello Gallico time -- which was current events around 50 BC.

Everybody knows paper newspapers are in decline -- but this article appeared last Friday in the San Diego Union Tribune both in its paper version delivered to subscribers and the digital online version. The article itself is in Latin (not the first, second, or 100th most spoken language around here), and its title seems to clash with the editors' attempt at classically educating the readers, if that's what they had in mind.

Very refreshing. In my then-atheistic old country we used to celebrate the New Year with the same gusto that was reserved for Christmas in the non-atheistic parts of the world. This is the picture of the last New Year's tree I saw, located within a short walking distance from where I lived. It wasn't the main one in the city, and therefore not the biggest -- but it was nice, and fully real. Our Grandfather Frost is not unlike Santa, but dresses somewhat differently (the hat especially) and doesn't go down the chimney, nor scrutinizes kids for who's naughty and who's nice, everybody gets a present. Adults didn't exchange presents, those were exclusively for kids -- whereas adults just threw and/or attended a party, usually the biggest party of the year.