Sunday morning: And it's a good morning . . .

1. I got an SCA award yesterday at Mudthaw! And I wasn't even there!

How utterly cool.

Her Majesty has seen fit to give a Queen's Honor of Distinction to the group of folks (the rest are female and mostly Royal Peers) who raised money for the Travel Fund and the Pennsic Fund. alethea_eastrid came home from the event last night and laid it on the desk. It's a bright blue sash, 20 inches long and three inches wide with the queen's initial in light blue/gray and two white tassels.

2. My day was spent knocking other things off the To-Do list:

Laundry: Done.
Trash and newspapers to the to the country recycling center: Done.
Shopping at Rutland Food Co-op: Done.
Still no stud finder (largely because I just love writing "stud finder."

3. I then rewarded myself with a trip to the bew pub at Long Trail Brewing in Vermont. Gorgeous day for a drive. I specifically toook some scenic routes. Bad timing, though. I got there at 4 p.m., just as the mountains closed, so the place was packed. I eventually found a bar seat. It was all good. The Belgian White has not hit the area yet, so I resupplied and headed home. Watched the end of one of the NCAA games across the street at the Salem Tavern and watched the end of the other on the computer.

Today, I need to do a good deal of writing in several venues.

4. For your reading pleasure, the Boston Globe baseball preview section.

5. And we'll hit the Globe again, this time for an article on jenwrites. Oh, and safirasilv, you will want to check it out. Kindred souls you two are.

A serious history post

Several of my friends have been Blogging Against Torture.

One of them, ranjtheobscure, noted the passing on Dith Pran, who worked with Sidney Shaumberg of the New York Times in reporting "The Killing Fields" in Cambodia.

This got me thinking about something I mention a lot in my classes.

(My response to him is reposted here for those interested)

I think his death also brings up a point that is critical when thinking about memory and genocide/torture (or any other historical event, for that matter.

Within the next 10 years, for instance, the last people involved in the Armenian Massacre (on both sides) will be gone. There will be no one left with direct memory.

In 25 years, there will be no one left who actually experienced the Holocaust.

These are important points.

The following is from wikipedia, but it relates directly to Jim Loewen's "Lies My Teacher Told Me" on this topic.

Sasha and Zamani are the two stages of death, according to some Eastern and Central African cultures. Sasha are spirits known by someone still alive, while Zamani are spirits not known by someone currently alive.

According to James Loewen in his book "Lies My Teacher Told Me:" "The recently departed whose time overlapped with people still here are the Sasha, the living dead. They are not wholly dead, for they live on in the memories of the living ... when the last person knowing an ancestor dies, that ancestor leaves the Sasha for the Zamani, the dead. As generalized ancestors, the Zamani are not forgotten but revered."

Sunday night: I should not be tired . . .

1. Did a lot of writing today. I am trying to get my ducks in a row and apply for teaching jobs for the Fall. I like what I am doing, but I would like to ge back in the classroom.

2. Continued to accomplish things. Got some donation clothes and some trash and cardboard out to the truck, and managed to clean it in the process.

3. You want to go see the cool stuff at Falling Leaf Arts That's the work of the lovely and talented liadan_m.

That's it. Bedtime. Good night, all.