Dripping Pitch and Made of Nick Woods

How the hell does the death toll for a natural disaster go from 91 to 24 I’m really happy that...

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:12:08 -0400

How the hell does the death toll for a natural disaster go from 91 to 24

I’m really happy that fewer people died, but Jesus

Photo

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:33:13 -0400

musejdero: English:“We should become farmers and live off of the land!” I originally translated...

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:17:00 -0400

musejdero:

English:
“We should become farmers and live off of the land!”

I originally translated as:
“Ni devu fariĝi farmistojn kaj loĝas de sur la landon!”

And noktajverkoj corrected it as:
“Ni devas fariĝi farmistoj kaj ni loĝu sur la lando”

How can I tell if a verb should be present tense vs. the command form? I got these two backwards, where I had “devu” and “loĝas”, and nokta changed it to “devas” and “loĝu”. What is a hint that one is a command and the other is just a verb? @_@

So, “por” (for), and “sur” (on) do not need the accusative “-n”. Is there a classification for these words? What are they called?

-

English:
“I cannot wait to have fun!”

Original:
“Mi ne povas atendi al havas amuzo!”

Nokta:
“Mi ne povas atendi por amuziĝi!”

Hmm, amuza (fun) + iĝi (to become) = amuziĝi (to enjoy oneself/to have a good time). Doesn’t quite naturally fit together in my mind, but I guess “I cannot wati for [it?] to become fun is OK. @_@

I get so confused trying to change English to Esperanto, I realize how stuff doesn’t fully seem to make sense. Agh.

1. The word ‘devas’ and the suffix ‘-u’, while not exactly the same, fulfill really similar roles. If you were to say ‘I have to eat,’ you could say either ‘mi manĝu’ or ‘mi devas manĝi’; to use them both at the same time sounds kind of redundant (I must have to eat!).

2. They’re called prepositions! In Esperanto, prepositions are used without -n most of the time (there are certain circumstances where you add an -n, but don’t worry about those yet).

A couple other things:

The word ‘amuza’ is kind of nuanced. The reason you have to add ‘iĝ’ to form ‘amuziĝi’ is because the verb ‘amuzi’ already means ‘to entertain, to make (someone) have fun.’ When you add ‘iĝ’ to make ‘amuziĝi’, you’re now saying ‘to become entertained,’ which is the best way to say ‘to have fun’ in Esperanto.

In English, when you see the word ‘to’ before a verb, it fulfills an entirely different function than when you see ‘to’ before a noun. Before a noun, ‘to’ is a preposition (like for and on) and you translate it as ‘al’, but before a verb you’re making a verb form known as an infinitive (in Esperanto, you signifiy this with the ending ‘i’). So the phrase “she wants to go to the store” is translated as “ŝi volas iri al la butiko.” Ĉu en ordo?

Hope this helps! Espere ĉi tio helpos! :D

theomninerd: I have Esperanto on my Tumblr blacklist. #That’s what you get Nick Woods...

Mon, 20 May 2013 01:50:12 -0400

theomninerd:

I have Esperanto on my Tumblr blacklist.

#That’s what you get Nick Woods #That’s what you fucking get #Except you don’t tag anything you say in Esperanto as Esperanto #So it isn’t actually terribly useful #BUT NOW YOU KNOW

Some people just aren’t ready for the internacia revolucio

Kafo.

Sun, 19 May 2013 23:57:25 -0400

noktajverkoj:

Ĉu vi povas eĉ imagi kiom malsimila estus vivo sen drikado da fako?

Ekzemple, mi, matene ne vekiĝus tiom vigle. Mi ne povus tute vekiĝi sen tiu taso da kafo ĉiumatena. Mi ne povus labori se mi ne havus flanke mian blankan tason kun bruna dolĉamara kaf-teo. Ĉiun antaŭ-ekzamenan nokton mi ne povus elstudi ĉion necesan. Mi ne irus al kafejo kun amikinoj nek havus kialon resti ĉe mia avino kelkajn horojn plu. Kafo estas ja parto de mia vivo. Parto de mia universitato. Parto de mia laboro. Parto de mia familio. Parto de mi mem.

Se ni ne havus kafon, ni havus alkoholon, kaj ĉio estus tute malsama afero.

Antaŭ pli-malpli ses monatoj mia dokotro diris al mi, ke mi havas strangan kronikan mansanon kaj ne plu povos sendolore trinki aŭ kafeinaĵojn aŭ alkoholaĵojn. La unuaj monatoj post tiam estis teruraj, sed eventuale mi adaptiĝis.

sweet-wounded-jesus: THAT’S IT. I AM LEARNING ESPERANTO. *throws Dutch out the...

Sun, 19 May 2013 23:51:06 -0400

sweet-wounded-jesus:

THAT’S IT.

I AM LEARNING ESPERANTO.

*throws Dutch out the window*

Bonŝancon!

http://en.lernu.net

whataclevername: JOE’S BROTHER GOT A KITTEN AND OH MY GOD HE IS...

Sun, 19 May 2013 22:16:32 -0400

whataclevername:

JOE’S BROTHER GOT A KITTEN AND OH MY GOD HE IS THE CUTEST THING

I have a kitten now His name is Galois (gal-WAH) and he’s...

Sun, 19 May 2013 21:56:00 -0400

I have a kitten now

His name is Galois (gal-WAH) and he’s pretty much the most adorable thing ever

———

Mi nun havas katidon

Lia nomo estas Galojo kaj li ŝajne estas la plej beleta aĵo kiu iam ajn ekzistas

"After learning my flight was detained 4 hours, I heard the announcement: If anyone in the vicinity..."

Sun, 19 May 2013 11:34:21 -0400

“

After learning my flight was detained 4 hours,
I heard the announcement:
If anyone in the vicinity of gate 4-A understands any Arabic,
Please come to the gate immediately.

Well—one pauses these days. Gate 4-A was my own gate. I went there.
An older woman in full traditional Palestinian dress,
Just like my grandma wore, was crumpled to the floor, wailing loudly.
Help, said the flight service person. Talk to her. What is her
Problem? we told her the flight was going to be four hours late and she
Did this.

I put my arm around her and spoke to her haltingly.
Shu dow-a, shu- biduck habibti, stani stani schway, min fadlick,
Sho bit se-wee?

The minute she heard any words she knew—however poorly used—
She stopped crying.

She thought our flight had been canceled entirely.
She needed to be in El Paso for some major medical treatment the
Following day. I said no, no, we’re fine, you’ll get there, just late,

Who is picking you up? Let’s call him and tell him.
We called her son and I spoke with him in English.
I told him I would stay with his mother till we got on the plane and
Would ride next to her—Southwest.

She talked to him. Then we called her other sons just for the fun of it.

Then we called my dad and he and she spoke for a while in Arabic and
Found out of course they had ten shared friends.

Then I thought just for the heck of it why not call some Palestinian
Poets I know and let them chat with her. This all took up about 2 hours.

She was laughing a lot by then. Telling about her life. Answering
Questions.

She had pulled a sack of homemade mamool cookies—little powdered
Sugar crumbly mounds stuffed with dates and nuts—out of her bag—
And was offering them to all the women at the gate.

To my amazement, not a single woman declined one. It was like a
Sacrament. The traveler from Argentina, the traveler from California,
The lovely woman from Laredo—we were all covered with the same
Powdered sugar. And smiling. There are no better cookies.

And then the airline broke out the free beverages from huge coolers—
Non-alcoholic—and the two little girls for our flight, one African
American, one Mexican American—ran around serving us all apple juice
And lemonade and they were covered with powdered sugar too.

And I noticed my new best friend—by now we were holding hands—
Had a potted plant poking out of her bag, some medicinal thing,

With green furry leaves. Such an old country traveling tradition. Always
Carry a plant. Always stay rooted to somewhere.

And I looked around that gate of late and weary ones and thought,
This is the world I want to live in. The shared world.

Not a single person in this gate—once the crying of confusion stopped
—has seemed apprehensive about any other person.

They took the cookies. I wanted to hug all those other women too.
This can still happen anywhere.

Not everything is lost.

”

- Naomi Shihab Nye (b. 1952), “Wandering Around an Albuquerque Airport Terminal.” I think this poem may be making the rounds, this week, but that’s as it should be. (via awelltraveledwoman)

This is Romania’s entry for Eurovision this year. Just...

Sat, 18 May 2013 22:11:38 -0400

This is Romania’s entry for Eurovision this year. Just watch it.

paxoblivion: Newfoundland: Best breed for kids(:

Sat, 18 May 2013 22:07:09 -0400

paxoblivion:

Newfoundland: Best breed for kids(:

aleksej-timin: Hodiaŭ mi rekontis la alterntaiva nomo de Esperanto - Internacia Lingvo (IL). Mi...

Sat, 18 May 2013 12:10:00 -0400

aleksej-timin:

Hodiaŭ mi rekontis la alterntaiva nomo de Esperanto - Internacia Lingvo (IL). Mi ŝatas tiun nomon kaj ial mi pensas, ke reŝildado estus utila por la lingvo.

Renovigo:

Jen al mi diras en Twiter :D

@flipback_ Jes,la originala nomo de #esperanto estas internacia lingvo, esperanto estas el Dr Espero, la libro kiu publikis en 1887

Ĉio nova, tio estas forgesita malnova =)

Ŝajnas al mi ke Z intencis mallongigi la nomon same kiel alajn lingvojn - la angla, la franca, la japana, la internacia… sed eble mi malpravas.

vortexanomaly: head massage

Sat, 18 May 2013 11:46:58 -0400

vortexanomaly:

head massage

chuff: Screenshots from Amerika Esperantisto, 1915.

Fri, 17 May 2013 23:11:31 -0400

chuff:

Screenshots from Amerika Esperantisto, 1915.

thepoliticalfreakshow: GOP Outreach Fail of the Day: Former RNC...

Wed, 15 May 2013 20:49:44 -0400

thepoliticalfreakshow:

GOP Outreach Fail of the Day: Former RNC Florida State Director of Hispanic Outreach Quits the Republican Party And Becomes A Democrat

When Republicans appointed Pablo Pantoja to State Director of Florida Hispanic Outreach for the Republican National Committee, they hoped he would be able to bridge the sizable gap that only expanded during the 2012 elections, when the state’s 4.7 million Hispanic voters supported Barack Obama over Mitt Romney by a 20 percent margin.

But after months of inaction by Congressional Republicans on comprehensive immigration reform and stiff resistance by Republican-leaning groups like the Heritage Foundation, Pantoja has had enough; on Monday, he announced via email that he was leaving the party and registering as a Democrat:

Friend,

Yes, I have changed my political affiliation to the Democratic Party.

It doesn’t take much to see the culture of intolerance surrounding the Republican Party today. I have wondered before about the seemingly harsh undertones about immigrants and others. Look no further; a well-known organization recently confirms the intolerance of that which seems different or strange to them.

Pantoja goes on to specifically cite last week’s revelation — that an author of Heritage’s false report on the cost of the Gang of Eight’s immigration bill wrote a dissertation in which he suggested that Hispanics are at a permanent disadvantage because they have lower IQs — as the final straw in his political evolution.

Prior to assuming the role of state director, Pantoja served in the National Guard, doing multiple tours abroad in Kuwait and Iraq before returning to the states and getting involved in Republican politics. In 2010 he served as a field director in Florida during the midterm elections.

Republicans have for months tried to find ways to make inroads with the country’s growing hispanic population, especially in the swing state of Florida. Hispanics there turned out to vote at a rate of more than 62 percent in 2012, significantly higher than the national turnout rate of 48 percent and the highest rate of Hispanic turnout in the country.

Photo

Wed, 15 May 2013 20:25:44 -0400

Photo

Wed, 15 May 2013 19:57:29 -0400

Nokta verkisto: Re: Esperanto and sexism

Tue, 14 May 2013 14:01:47 -0400

Nokta verkisto: Re: Esperanto and sexism:

cxarino:

otterintheflightdeck:

The school computer I was using ate most of my original reply to this ask, so here it is again, this time on my trusty laptop. I apologize if anyone saw the incomplete reply.

bdsmom’s message was this:

“How can Esperanto even be considered sexist”

It’s hard to…

First, I would like to echo what noktajverkoj said, that the vast majority of Esperanto-speakers do not feel the language is sexist. These arguments come largely from men on the outside. As a female, I have never felt remotely discriminated against by the Esperanto language or its community.

Don’t forget -iĉo as a masculine suffix. It may not have been accepted by the academy yet, but any Esperanto speaker can tell you that Esperanto is a living, evolving language now. The Esperanto community makes sure that it evolves in line with the simplicity of the grammar rules, but -iĉo does seem to be taking hold as a masculine root, which would leave the basic root words as gender-neutral. As it continues to take hold and gain strength, it will be accepted by the academy when enough Esperantists use it. And even if the academy doesn’t accept it, other Esperantists would almost certainly understand me were I to say “kokiĉo” in order to specify “rooster,” and, Esperanto being created to be an international second language, being understandable to others is really one of the chief requirements. You could say the masculine suffix is in the testing phase.

In conclusion, when it comes to sexism, Esperanto is still a fair sight better than most natural languages, is rarely sexist in such a way that makes it noticable, inconvenient, or in any way upsetting for its speakers, and in those rare times when it is, two little letters can easily fix the problem while still perfectly preserving both understandability and the spirit of the language.

Agreed 100% with noktajverkoj and cxarino, but also wanted to add a few other points:

First, the practice of assuming most roots are masculine by default would have been a valid criticism of Esperanto… a century ago. As cxarino noted, languages evolve, and modern-day Esperanto doesn’t treat the roots of animals, occupations, etc as male by default anymore. If you want to say “bull and cow”, you’d say virbovo kaj bovino or boviĉo kaj bovino; Esperantists would still recognize what you meant if you said bovo kaj bovino, but that’s for historical reasons. Remember, languages reflect the environment in which they’re spoken (not the other way around - why do you think pretty much all language reform proposals fail?), so when you say that Esperanto in its original form treats women unequally, all you’re saying is gee, late nineteenth centry Europe sure was sexist!

A large part of why the Academio de Esperanto hasn’t officially recognized a male affix yet is because there isn’t universal agreement on what that affix should be (the two that are most common out in the wild are the suffix -iĉ- and the prefix vir-). The AdE shouldn’t be confused with other language-regulating instutions; its goal isn’t to prescribe new rules that actively change the language (like the French Academy tries to do), but rather describe the way that people use the language and to make sure that everyone has the same footing.

Finally, for the words that definitely are masculine by default and require affixes to make their feminine form (mostly viro, knabo, and a bunch of words that describe family relations), it’s worth noting that a huge part of why this process is perceived as sexist in the first places is because of the very Western attitude that things that are more simple or ‘fundamental’ are somehow more important. This is a cultural attitude, not based on any particular biological or social fact (are bacteria more important than humans? is cell division particuarly simple?), and most Chinese and Japanese Esperantists I’ve talked to are utterly baffled by how forming virino from viro could in any way be considered sexist.

In any case, feminism is an extremely strong tendency in the Esperanto community, which is far more powerful than anyone could ever hope to guess by just looking at an overview of Esperanto grammar. And it’s going to take far more than nebulous charges that the language itself is sexist to ever counteract that.

Photo

Mon, 13 May 2013 19:26:26 -0400

flavorpill: Joseph Heller’s chart outline for Catch-22. Check...

Mon, 13 May 2013 18:36:29 -0400

flavorpill:

Joseph Heller’s chart outline for Catch-22. Check out the full gallery of Famous Authors’ Handwritten Outlines.