Something New? - 23 February 2022 - Plague Journal Day 713

Micah 6:8
Ecclesiastes 1:9-10
Yes, your life matters.

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today is Diesel Engine Day! On 23 February 1893, Rudolf Diesel received a patent for his improvement to the Otto engine - removing the spark ignition and replacing it with high compression to adiabatically heat the air/fuel mixture to its ignition point. A brilliant idea - more power can be obtained than with the gasoline/spark ignition, although with a generally less clean exhaust. Nice job, Rudolf! (The illustration above shows it wasn't just a simple thing to imagine!)

Today's freewrite prompt word is Precedent
Two things come to mind here. First, I just noticed that an unprecedented event happened on 23 February 1886: “The Times” of London published the first classified ad. Imagine that - until then the papers didn't have listings of yard sales, help wanted, and home organizers/declutterers. Unless they had good cartoons and crossword puzzles, there really wasn't much reason to subscribe.
The other thing is I've recently seen posted on Facebook a picture of Mount Rushmore before its carving. The caption of the photo notes that before John Borglum did his work, the beauty of the mountain was unpresidented. I love a good pun, and that one's not bad.
I have seen it said that the pun is the lowest form of humor, but I totally disagree. Anything that depends on language is far from a low form. I like a good slapstick bit as much as the next guy, but wordplay is far funnier and more challenging. Maybe that's why I like the Marx Brothers so much - they supply all the styles of humor anyone could want. (So does Gallagher.)


Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our insane lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

True to the Truth - 17 December 2020 - Plague Journal Day 280

Micah 6:8
Isaiah 6:1-9
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Yesterday was Ludwig van Beethoven's 250th birthday. In celebration, our local classical music station - WRCJ 90.9 FM - played essentially all Beethoven from 6AM to 7PM. It was amazingly diverse. One might think that thirteen hours of music by one composer would get monotonous. It was anything but. How instructive to see that one man could write in so many different genres and adapt his style to match the requirements of each of them. (Have you ever noticed how Flemish that name looks? Ludwig van Beethoven doesn't sound like a German name to me.)
Anyway, it made me think of the objections to there being an actual Isaiah who wrote the eponymous prophetic book in the Bible. "There are three different styles of writing, so there must be three different writers. There can't have been an Isaiah, so the whole thing borders on a fraud. Move on, there's nothing to see here."
Well, I know that when I write about different things, my writing style is different. Why wouldn't that be the case with others? Well, of course it is. No one would expect the oracles of God, poetic laments, and historical recording to be written in the same style - and that's exactly what's going on in Isaiah.
Thanks for the insight, Ludwig! You have to be true to the truth, and have style!

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.