Monday, May 26, 2008

" Thou art translated!"

" Indeed, put the terrestrial sphere on a clothsline," flung off the fiddle-faced Farrier, suffering his duke to take a header situatied upon the tea-wagon within the bounderies of a laid-off despondency.



Don't worry! It's not as bad as you think. When some friends were over a couple days ago we translated a paragraph form Manalive using a Thesaurus. It's a game I may have invented!



Here is the origional:

"`Oh, hang the common world!' said the sullen Smith, letting his fist fall on the table in an idle despair.

Chesterton Wallpaper/Desktop Background






I was fooling around with GIMP today and made this:



Click on the image to enlarge it so you can save it and use, if you wish.
PostScript: It's really huge when you click on it but it'll shrink to fit your screen.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

An Introduction

A brief summary of myself... I'm eighteen years old; on the verge of graduating from high school; an only girl, but by no means an only child, as I have six brothers; a lover of beautiful things, and one who at least attempts to share some beauty through the music of violin, piano, classical guitar, and voice; an avid reader, one who enjoys practically every genre; a bit on the old-fashioned side but hopefully in the best sense; and a firm Catholic.

And now for the subject of Chesterton...

I don't know when and where I first met Chesterton. I do know that it was mostly through my father's influence. Growing up we had Chesterton coffee mugs, Chesterton mousepads, and all sorts of Chestertonion things lying about the house. We occasionally had little Chesterton stories read aloud by the fireplace, and Chesterton was always being quoted. I guess Chesterton was simply always there!

And ChesterTeens? I've been a long-time reader of the ChesterTeens, and I always had an interest in joining the group. These past couple of years I've been somewhat like a pendulum, swinging back and forth, reaching one decision and falling away from it just as quickly. "Yes!" I would cry. "Yes, I shall join the ChesterTeens! What fun it would be!" And then, "No, no, alas! I haven't the time. I simply can't do it."

Well, a couple weeks ago I had the immense pleasure of meeting Ria in person, and at last I was convinced to make up my mind once and for all, and join your company. It was purely coincidental that we spent a portion of that day watching a pendulum in the science hall swing back and forth. It would be very dramatic and literary to type out: "And there, in the stillness of that science hall, watching the pendulum swing to and fro, I realized that the back and forth progression of my own mind had ceased, and I had resolved once and for all to join the ChesterTeens." Dramatic indeed, but unfortunately not true. It was mere coincidence. While I can come up with symbolism in stories, and make it dramatic as anyone would please, I always seem to miss out on the opportunities to be dramatic in my own life!

Ria, thanks so much for inviting me to join you all here! I'm really looking forward to being a part of the group, and shall do all in my power to come up with a post worth reading every once in awhile.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Father Brown Friday: The Sins of Prince Saradine

In the absence of the President I have been commissioned to supply your Father Brown Friday.

Heh…

Anyway, here it is.

1.
“Like a true philosopher he had no aim in his holiday; but, like a true philosopher he had an excuse.”

Why would it be especially like a true philosopher to have no aim in ones holiday?

Why would it be like one to have an excuse?

2.
Is there any significance in the green ink? Has it any thing to do, for instance, with the “green carnation”?

3.
Point of interest:
Flambeau, a Frenchmen, says “by Jove” and “by George”; two very English phrases. This is also done by another Chestertonian Frenchmen, Colonel Ducroix, in The Man Who Was Thursday.

4.
Another point of interest:
It’s interesting how the way people think about fairies has changed over time. It’s also interesting how the idea varies depending on story telling medium. For instance, in fairy tales the fairies are strictly divided into good fairies and bad fairies and no matter which they are, are very regal and human. In folk tales, however, the fairies are wild and wicked and uncivilized, much different from the bad fairy tale fairies who, though wicked, are nevertheless refined. To illustrate, the bad fairy from the fairy tale will turn you into a mouse and chain you on a table and inch from a crumb of meatloaf, but a folk tale fairy will abduct you or your child.


And now, I hand it to you.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Chesterpests!

Dramatis Personae

Ria as "Bearing"

GilbertGirl as ''Over Bearing"

Algernon as "Past Bearing"