[update 2:15 PM: Grammarphiles may not want to miss my note appended after the video clips!]
Well I believe I've settled into my new drugs nicely, although the doctor wants to give them a few more days before ruling out any side effects like tremors and fevers 'n' such. I'm taking my coral snake eggs 4 at a time, 3 times a day, and they are beginning to dry my mouth out a bit, but this is minor. Today is Day +6 and I'm hoping that my counts begin to come up within a week. It sure would be nice to have some energy for a change. I'm actually going to try to do some book-work today though, and I hope I can do a good amount. I was hoping on accomplishing a good amount during this "down time," but I have had such little sleep and energy that reading is difficult, even on the new kindle my best friend Adam gave me for my "second birthday." Thanks, brother! I'm trying to put it to good use! I am going back through the Aeneid in English on it, little by little, but it is slow going. I may still get to do plenty in the 2 weeks before I'm discharged but not nearly as much as I had wanted.
I know that my top priority must fundamentally be my Latin and Greek skills. Everything follows from proficiency in the original languages. Higher criticism (literary theory) is on shaky ground without proper lower criticism (textual work with the original manuscripts, etc.). I believe I mentioned in a previous post the need for my studying modern foreign languages as well... the work is overwhelming at times and the amount of vocabulary and grammar I've learned is shocking yet I still don't have a working knowledge of these languages (although I got along fairly well in Rome, I must admit). Spanish is altogether a separate issue.
I suppose my top 5 tasks at the current moment are to keep trudging along in my Latin and Greek textbooks, keep plowing through my list of ancient authors in translation, work steadily in French, Italian, and German so I can make it through my first year of graduate school, maintain my biblical studies, and try to add Hebrew to it all. Am I crazy? I know where I want to be and I know what it will take to get there, but the bridge looks long and rickety. Or perhaps this is an Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade moment where I need to take a leap of faith onto the invisible path below. Either way, I'm going to do my best to make some headway in one of my five areas of focus in the next two weeks before I'm discharged. Now if I can just get some blood in my head with which to do it all!
Since I've been in the habit of posting music videos and the like here, I think I'll put this old song up since it is most fitting for how I feel today.
Nota Bene: I freely and idiomatically use phrasal verbs in my speech and writing. The curious grammar-lover will be interested to learn some of the things they never teach you in school. Most grammarians follow hard and fast the classic rules to never break infinitives, or, never to break infinitives, and never to end sentences with prepositions. More advanced practitioners of grammar move beyond stylistic limitations in favor of eloquence, knowing that they are still not really breaking the rules, even though it may appear so. It is this lofty goal to which I aspire in my writing. In the sentence "Sit down!" for example, 'down' is clearly not beginning a prepositional phrase but is a particle functioning adverbially with the verb 'sit.' Prepositions used complimentarily in this way are considered part of the verb. They are not always limited to a position following the verb. The Greeks separated compound verbs of this type regularly in epic, and this separation in the Greek language is called tmesis. An example of this in English is, "Please turn the light on." There is nothing grammatically incorrect with that sentence. The particle is separated from the verb yet still functions adverbially, not as a preposition. Although the Greek usage is not a one to one relationship with English usage, the stylistic reasons for writing this way are the same in both languages, it just sounds better. (Cf. Phonetic Euphony)
