Fredag den 3. november 2017

08:00 Jeg spiser morgenmad og lytter lidt til radio, et interessant program, der handler om selvtillid (eller mangel på den). Programmets vært er den charmerende introvert, Laura Barton.

  

Jeg kan godt lide Laura, fordi hun selv mangler selvtillid og er introvert, og hun taler åbent på vegne af verdens generte og introverte mennesker, dvs de, der ofte har alle de bedste og mest fornuftige idéer, men som ikke råber om dem, så har tendens til at blive ignoreret.

Hun har en god idé om at motivere introverte mennesker til ikke at sidde i tavshed under i en gruppe, hvor en eller anden højrøsted person dominerer diskussionen. Hun foreslår at den introverte deltager skulle prøve at bidrage selv med noget fornuftigt og provokerende, ikke af egoistiske grunde, men for at gøre diskussionen til mere af en succes til fordel for alle de andre, der sidder i tavshed. Hun foreslår også, at man skulle samtidig undgå at have øjenkontakt med den højrøstede person, men at holde god øjenkontakt med alle de andre.

Det er lidt af en skam, at jeg er pensionist, og for mig er det for sent til at afprøve denne metode i forretningsmøder på arbejde osv – pokkers!!!!

09:15 Vi kører over til Leckhampton. Vi smutter ind i den lokale Røde Kors genbrugsbutik for at donere 50 af mine bøger og 1 af Lois’s bøger.

Jeg har besluttet at droppe ønsket om at opbevare bøger bare af nostalgiske grunde – yikes! Jeg mener det alvorligt nu!!!! Hagen ved dette projekt er, at jeg i de 11 år, der er gået siden vi gik på pension, ikke har nået at overtale Lois til at gøre noget lignende, og jeg vurderer, at 90% af vores bøger nu er Lois’s. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!  Denne uge kunne hun finde kun 1 bog, hun var villig til at donere, mens jeg fandt endnu 50. Lidt af en uligevægt, men det kan jeg ikke gøre for.

11:30 Vi kommer hjem og jeg går i gang med at blade igennem de ca. 200 linjer af William Langlands ”Piers Plowman”, et middelengelsk digt som Lyndas U3A ”Making of English” gruppe har gjort til sit seneste projekt. Gruppen holder sit månedlige møde i eftermiddag kl 14:30 i byens Everyman-teater.

12:00 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage mig en kort eftermiddagsslur. Jeg står op kl 13:30 og kører ind i byen. Jeg parkerer på Portlandgade-parkeringsplads og betaler via min smartphone, så jeg kan føle mig som et moderne menneske ha ha ha. Lyndas møde er meget morsomt, som altid, og vi beslutter at læse nogle uddrag fra det middelengelske digt ”Sir Gawain og den grønne ridder” fra det 14. århundrede, som gruppens næste projekt.

Vi griner lidt for meget i dag under mødet, og Lynda advarer os, at vi må opføre os lidt bedre næste gang, ellers hun vil tvinge os til at studere sprogets store vokalskifte. Denne trussel har et stort effekt – den er lidt nedstående, ærligt talt, og vi forlader mødet i dyster humør, passende revsede.

Jeg har personligt to øjeblikke af ære i diskussionen. Jeg fortæller gruppens andre medlemmer, at ordene for kvæg og ordene for penge var éns i tidlige europæiske sprog: det engelske ord ”fee” (gebyr) oprindeligt betød kvæg. På latin var ordet ”pecunia” (penge), stammede fra ordet ”pecus”, der betød kvæg. Også, ordet ”fee” og ordet ”pecus” stammede faktisk fra det samme indo-europæiske ord, så er meget meget meget gammelt, men det springer jeg over ha ha ha!

Mit andet øjeblik af ære kom, da jeg fortalte gruppen, at det engelske ord ”carve” (at udskære) og det græske ord ”grapho” (at skrive) faktisk også stammer fra det samme indo-europæiske ord. Da folk først begyndte at skrive, skar de faktisk bogstaverne ud på et stykke træ. Men det springer jeg over også ha ha ha.

16:00 Mødet slutter og jeg kører hjem. Vi slapper af med en kop te i sofaen.

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og lytter lidt til radio, et interessant program kaldet ”Det Sidste Ord”.  Lois og jeg har for vane at høre dette program hver uge, fordi vi ønsker at finde ud af, om nogen i de seneste 1-2 uger døde eller ej (jeg har bemærket, at der i de fleste uger sker nøjagtig 5 dødsfald). Programmets vært er den charmerende Matthew Bannister.

Iona Opie født Archibald, den berømte britiske folklore-ekspert, er desværre død, på 94 år. Hun var en meget introverte pige, en dedikerede bibliofil, men bag hendes rolige ydre lå en lidenskabelig personlighed. Hun havde aldrig haft en kæreste, da hun i 1939 læste en bog af Peter Opie, ”Jeg vil gerne blive  succesfuld”, om hans skolegang på Eton College og hun med det samme forelskede sig i ham. Hun skrev et lidenskabeligt brev til ham, og de mødtes i London. De giftede sig næsten umiddelbart, og hun blev inden alt for længe gravid, og for anden gang og for tredje gang på stribe! Du godeste – sikke en kærlighedshistorie!!!!

Hun og Peter medarbejdede på to klassiske referenceværker: (1) Oxford-ordbogen af børnesange og børnerim (1951), og (2) Folkloren og sproget af skolebørn (1959).

Det er interessant, at selvom parrets interesser koncentrerede sig så meget om børnekultur, var de tilsyneladende ikke ret interesserede i deres egne 3 børn. Børnene måtte i høj grad underholde sig selv, mens forældrerne beskæftigede sig med sin forskning. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

Deres forskning var altid deres prioritet – der var aldrig ny tøj, eller ferier. De tøvede at bruge penge på grøntsager, for eksempel, og foretrak at plukke brændenælder i parken. Sikke et vanvid (igen) !!!!

Mange britiske børnesange og børnerim er meget meget gamle, nogle gange hundredvis af år gamle. Parrene besøgte en skolegård i byen Presteigne, Wales, hvor en lille dreng fortalte dem en gåde, der daterer til kong Henrik den 7.s regeringstid (1457-1509) – yikes!!!!

Men der er også en udbredt tro i England, at for eksempel  ”Ring-a-ring-a-roses” daterer fra Londons store pest af 1665. Men Iona og Peter Opie opdagede, at sangen faktisk ikke var kendt før sidst i det 19. århundrede.

Jeg tror, at pest-teorien er et godt eksempel på en myte, der folk nyde at tro på, og sådanne myter er meget svært at underminere. Et andet eksempel er den udbredte tro, at vi mennesker kun bruger  10% af vores hjerner, en ”kendsgerning”, som én eller anden opdigtede for næsten 100 år siden: en myte, som folk har stor lyst til at tro på. Sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!!

21:00 Lois tænder på fjernsynet og ser en morsom tv-quiz om ugens nyheder, ”Have I Got News For You”, som jeg går glip af, fordi jeg smutter ud for at gøre noget på computeren i spisestuen, men hun fortæller mig efter om programmet. Quizzens vært er den berømte komiker, Jo Brand.

Lois siger, at quizzens 4 deltagere, 3 mandlige satiriske journalister og en mandlig tv-vært-komiker, alle lavede sjov med ugens største historie – sex-skandalen i parlamentet, hvor for eksempel forsvarsministeren Michael Fallon blev tvunget til at sige op på grund af seksuel chikane mod en kvindelig kollega.

Tilsyneladende blev Jo Brand, quizzens vært, godt træt af mændenes vittigheder, og deres tendens til ikke at tage sagen alvorligt og protesterede på vegne af kvinder overalt – du godeste! Og kvinderne i publikummet bifald alle, ifølge Lois. Jeg er meget ked af, at jeg gik glip af alt det der!

Jeg går altid glip af de mest spændende øjeblikke – pokkers! For øvrigt er Lois meget glad for, Jo Brands protest, ved jeg med sikkerhed. Hun har ofte fortalt mig om sit første deltidsjob som skolepige, hvor hun arbejdede i en butik. Hun skulle nogle gange tage ting frem fra en høje hylde ved hjælp af en stige, og butikkens manager elskede at køre hænderne op og ned af hendes ben – skræmmende.

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzz!!!!!

English translation

08:00 I have breakfast and listen to the radio, an interesting program about self-esteem (or lack of it). The host of the program is the charming introvert, Laura Barton.

I like Laura because she herself lacks self-confidence and is introverted, and she speaks out on behalf of the world's shy and introverted people, that is, those who often have all the best and most reasonable ideas but who do not shout about them so tend to get ignored.

She has a good idea for motivating introverted people not to sit in silence in a group where some loud-mouthed person is dominating the discussion. She suggests that the introverted participant should force themselves to contribute something sensible, not for selfish reasons, but to make the discussion more of a success for all the others who are sitting in silence. She also suggests avoiding eye contact with the loud-mouthed person, but maintaining good eye contact with all the other people in the room.

It's a bit of a shame that I'm a retiree and for me it's too late to try this method out in business meetings at work etc - damn !!!!

09:15 We drive over to Leckhampton. We pop into the local Red Cross recycling store to donate 50 of my books and 1 of Lois's books.

I have decided to forget my impulse for keeping books just for nostalgic reasons - yikes! I mean business now !!!! The snag with this project is that in the 11 years since we retired, I have not persuaded Lois to do something similar and I estimate that 90% of our books are now Lois's. Good grief, what madness !!!! This week she could find only 1 book she was willing to donate while I found another 50. A bit of an imbalance, but I cannot do anything about that.

11:30 We come home and I get going with leafing through approx. 200 lines of William Langland's "Piers Plowman", a medieval poem which Lynda's U3A "Making of English" group has made its most recent project. The group is holding its monthly meeting this afternoon at 2:30 pm in the town's Everyman theater.

12:00 We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a short afternoon nap. I get up at 1:30pm and drive into town. I park at the Portland Street car park and pay with my smartphone so I can feel like a modern person ha ha ha. Lynda's meeting is a lot of fun, as always, and we make the decision to read some excerpts from the 14th century middle-English poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" for the group's next project.

We laugh a little too much today during the meeting, and Lynda warns us that we must behave a little better next time, otherwise she will force us to study the language's Great Vowel Shift. This threat has a big effect - it is a bit sobering, to be honest, and we all leave the meeting in a sombre mood, appropriately chastened.

I personally have two moments of glory in the discussion. I tell the group's other members that the words for 'cattle' and the words for 'money' were identical in early European languages: the English word "fee" (fee) originally meant cattle. In Latin, the word "pecunia" (money) came from the word "pecus", which meant cattle. Also, the word "fee" and the word "pecus" actually originated from the same Indo-European word, which is very very old, but I'm going to let that one slide ha ha ha!

My second moment of glory came when I told the group that the English word "carve" and the Greek word "grapho" (to write) actually also originate from the same Indo-European word. When people first started writing, they actually carved the letters on a piece of wood. But I'm going to let that one slide also ha ha ha.

16:00 The meeting ends and I drive home. Lois and I relax with a cup of tea in the sofa.

18:00 We have dinner and listen a little to the radio, an interesting program called "The Last Word". Lois and I have the habit of hearing this program every week because we want to find out if anyone in the last 1-2 weeks has died or not (I have noticed that most weeks exactly 5 deaths occur). The host of the program is the charming Matthew Bannister.

Iona Opie, née Archibald, the famous British folklore expert, has sadly dead at 94. She was very introverted as a young girl and a dedicated book-lover, but behind her calm exterior she hid a passionate personality. She had never had a boyfriend when, in 1939, she read a book by Peter Opie, "I want to be successful" about his schooling at Eton College and she immediately fell in love with him. She wrote a passionate letter to him, and they met in London. They got married almost immediately, and she quickly became pregnant, and again for a second time and for the third time in quick succession! Good grief - what a love story !!!!

She and Peter worked on two classic reference works: (1) The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (1951), and (2) The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren (1959).

It is interesting that, although the interests of the couple focused so much on children's culture, they apparently were not really interested in their own 3 children. The children had to entertain themselves to a large extent while the parents worked on their research. My god, what madness !!!!

Their research was always their priority - there were never new clothes or vacations. They were unwilling to spend money on vegetables, for example, and preferred to pick nettles in the park. What madness (again) !!!!

Many British children's songs and rhymes are very old, sometimes hundreds of years old. The couple visited a schoolyard in Presteigne, Wales, where a little boy told them a riddle dating back to Henry VII's reign (1457-1509) - yikes !!!!

But there is also a widespread belief in England that, for example, "Ring-a-Ring-a-Roses" dates from London's Great Plague of 1665. But Iona and Peter Opie discovered that the song was actually unknown until the late 19th century.

I think the plague theory is a good example of a myth that people enjoy believing in, and such myths are very difficult to dislodge. Another example is the widespread belief that we humans use only 10% of our brains, a "fact" that somebody invented almost 100 years ago: a myth that people just want to believe. What a crazy world we live in !!!!!

21:00 Lois turns on the television and watches an amusing TV quiz about the week's news, "Have I Got News For You", which I miss out on because I pop out to do something on my computer in the dining room, but she tells me about the program afterwards. The quiz's host is the famous comedian, Jo Brand.

Lois says that the quiz's 4 participants, 3 male satirical journalists and a male tv host-comedian, all made fun of the week's biggest story - the sex-scandal in parliament, for example, when the Defense Secretary Michael Fallon was forced to quit because of sexual harassment against a female colleague.

Apparently Jo Brand, the host of the quiz, became tired of the men's jokes, and their tendency to not take the case seriously and she protested on behalf of women everywhere - good grief! And the women in the audience all applauded, according to Lois. I'm very sorry I missed all that!

I always miss the most exciting moments - damn! By the way, Lois is very happy about Jo Brand's protest, I know that for sure. She has often told me about her first part-time job as a schoolgirl where she worked in a shop. She sometimes had to get things down from a tall shelf with the help of a ladder, and the shop manager loved to run his hands up and down her legs - scary.

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzz !!!!!