Notwithstanding putting up with my "learned" colleagues at that... place, I have been doing a little reading, as always. Some of my reading material is truly inspirational stuff. For example, I have been reading F.J.E. Raby's Christian Latin Poetry. It only contains the odd stanza in Latin, and is more of an overview of various poets that span the post classical period through to the Middle Ages, but what is interesting about it is the combination between various scholars and poets that had been well schooled in the (pagan) classical literary tradition but also instilled with the values of being good Christians. I find this period of history absolutely fascinating. I wrote a Miltonic epic poem (still only just started, a couple of thousand lines long so far) a while ago The Fall of Man, inspired by reading Milton, but also drawing on my classical learning and indeed the Christian literature I sometimes read (particularly the apocryphal scriptures: non canonical). Yet I started this before (a) I became aware of the (modern) hermetic milieu (a pivotal point in my life), and (b) before I completed my master's degree. This book has inspired me to re-start The Fall of Man from scratch, but that little Muse will have to wait until my umpteen other projects are finished, for now.
Indeed, while searching for some inspiration for my current Muse (Boadicea: Queen of the Iceni) regarding diplomatic negotiations between ancient peoples, I revisited Xenophon's Anabasis. This is a magnificent little work. I remember re-reading it some three years ago. Since then, I could not help but notice that it gets a passing mention in Ridley Scott's The Terror. There are a couple of really nice lines in it which can easily be delicately weaved into my new play.
Nennius is progressing, slowly. I know in my heart of hearts there is a lot more work it needs doing to it (because one must do the best job one can), even if the translation is actually complete. It is not so much the translation (though that will need to be meticulously checked, and re-checked, and indeed a close examination of the Latin recensions taken into account), but it is more a case of reading around the subject, to ensure that I can garner enough information to give it a proper treatment. It's a lot to take on board, but not unsurmountable.
I have my old laptop still working, which not only has MS Word on, but also the only game I play, Empire TW. However, since transferring all the files from one machine to the other, I have had no desire to switch it on. It is old, its hard drive clicks (my new machine has no moving parts but Flash RAM for a 'hard' drive). Despite the little quirks this new machine has, it is far superior to my old machine, despite having less RAM and roughly the same clock speed processor. AMD architecture is (and has always been) more innovative than Intel's. Whether it is floating point technology or any number of innovations (such as having smaller pins to be more efficient, as they generate less heat), instead of simply piggy-backing chips or cranking up the clock speed, AMD (and indeed ATI), has always been better, in my opinion, in terms of the evolution of "the dinosaur" (the 80x86 processor). In truth, a Deck Alpha or an Archimedes is a far superior machine, in terms of its working architecture, but these are old machines, and have long since been made obsolete. Anyway, I must get back to writing my play and finishing Nennius.
I am dreading yet another day in that... place tomorrow. I hate it. I loathe it. Slavery! If anyone reading this gets a so-called 'job offer' from the British academic establishment, think very carefully before giving it any due consideration. If my own testimony is to go by, the British talk a good fight, but when it comes to the crunch, they don't do anything, but give only excuses why they could not do anything. They have no honour.
Max.
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