Thanks, all, for helping to abandon the old Schola blogring and get this new one going. As you can see at the top of the ring page, Faith is the leader. She's taking care of approving and (if need be) kicking out. You can thank her for running the ring so alertly. If you see anything amiss, let her know on her blog.

ATTENTION ALL SCHOLA XANGA BLOGGERS: if you are a member of the old "Schola blogring" started on 4/8/2004, you should leave it and JOIN THE NEW "SCHOLA CLASSICAL TUTORIALS" blogring. Click that link, or look for it under "blogrings" in the left margin of this blog, or just go here: http://groups.xanga.com/groups/group.aspx?id=2448296

The new "Schola Classical Tutorials" blogring is now the only officially-sanctioned blogring. From now on I am not responsible for anything on the old "Schola blogring" as I am not in control of it. I strongly suggest that you leave it.

I'm very grateful to the student who started the original Schola blogring, but that student is graduated and gone and -- follow me closely here -- I don't even remember who he was! I was never the owner/leader of the Schola blogring, which was my mistake. Now I can't take over that blogring and control who is or is not on it, and for reasons that will be obvious to some of you, I need to be able to do that. If anyone knows who that Schola alumni is, please let me know as I would like to take control of the old ring and close it down.

Thanks, everyone!

No, nobody's died; there are other ways to enter glory...

EDIT:

Tonight George and I worked further through Lesson I. George can tell you the difference between the pure and semi-vowels and why they're "semi"; why there are two letters for the "e" sound and two for the "o" sound; and the real way to pronounce tau/theta, kappa/chi, and pi/phi (Fat-head, thick-head, sap-head); and why "anax" ("king") is sometimes pronounced "wanax" in Homeric Greek.

To come: what Robert can't tell you about ballistics isn't worth knowing.

Rachel M, from GB3A, Rhetoric, and Astronomy, visited this afternoon with her mother and a friend. She warned me that if my entire collection of books ever disappeared, I should not suspect her. She was whistling and staring innocently at the ceiling. Hmmm.

Below, Rachel in the Roman History section. I think she's putting books into her pocket

In Great Books 1 today, some of my students objected to my saying that it's natural to fear death, pain, loss, etc. I argued that even Jesus felt the temptation to fear death, the physical revulsion of the body against the unnatural ripping apart of soul and body, not to mention the agony preceding actual death. Of course, although he prayed to be delivered from it, he still went through it, so I argued that courage is not a lack of fear but having the nerve to do what you must in spite of the fear. "Perfect love casts out fear." But does that mean there is no legitimate fear that God gives us grace to live through? Does it mean that if we have godly love we will feel no fear at all when faced with imminent death ("you have a week to live, Mr. Callihan") or pain ("if you don't deny Jesus we'll burn you alive tied to a post and we won't let it happen quickly") or loss ("I'm sorry to say this, Mr. Callihan but your son/daughter was in an accident and may die tonight....")?

So you should subscribe to Schola's newsletter, Scholegium. Just go to the Schola homepage and click the Scholegium link in the left pane. All are welcome (especially Schola alumni!); I'd be delighted to have you sign up. Hey, it's free.

In other non-news -- I like my library.

There are more serious, essayish posts on the other blog (see the title bar on top of this page). If you like seriouser, essayish things, be sure to go there. They're not that serious. But they are essay-ish.

Ok, fine. FINE. I'll post already! (er, it has been a month, hasn't it? eheh...)

My students -- my wonderful, incredible, thoughtful, generous, considerate, perceptive, wise students -- bought me the OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY for Christmas. Not the photo-reduced one that needs a powerful magnifying glass and constant glasses prescription upgrades. Oh no. Not my students. They don't do small. They think big and they do big. They got me the real deal, the real McCoy. The 20-volume second edition (the latest that exists) of the greatest dictionary every created, the most massive literary endeavor ever conceived and executed, the most astonishing and mind-bogglingly garantuan project ever to stun and daunt even the most visionary of visionaries, the vastest and most magnificent work ever cranked out of that great publishing house, Oxford University Press and its gloriously cool academic and totally unprofitable subsidiary the Clarendon Press.

gasps for breath

And now... would you like to see pictures? I thought you'd never ask.

And they got me the coolest lectern to read it on (but it's not put together yet). 

Tomorrow night, Monday December 4, at 7:25 PM Eastern, the moon will be full. The moon is full at the exact moment of opposition to the sun; that is, when it's at that point in its orbit around the earth that is exactly opposite the sun. That's why the full moon always rises at sunset. That's also why lunar eclipses can only occur during full moons.

According to ancient and medieval moon lore, the influence of the moon is, among other things, to produce wandering in men - either physical wandering or wanderlust, or else mental wandering. Hence the term lunacy or lunatic, from the Latin word for the moon, "luna". To this very day, many policemen believe criminal activity is higher during a full moon. Of course, skeptics point out that there is more light at night which helps criminal activity. On the other hand, what criminal seeks greater *light* for his crimes? Don't they seek greater darkness? Furthermore, many nurses believe that more babies are born during the time of the full moon. Do the babies need greater light to be born?

Many of you, like me, have cloudy skies right now and can't look at the moon tonight. But if the sky clears in the next day or two, go out late in the evening and wander around a little under the full moon. Not only will you enjoy being a lunatic for a few minutes, but you'll see something most people in the cities of western civilization never see because our electricity keeps us living indoors at night with our bright lights, blaring televisions, stereos, and computers. Hmm. I'll end this missive, shut down my computer and indulge in some lunacy.

Check out the Scholegium blog (link at top of this blog): I've reposted an old essay on Collette Harrison, first wife of actor Rex Harrison, and a bit on the stars of the season.