Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Quintessence of redneck erudition
By The Erudite Redneck
Full crystallization of the two main streams of my life manifested itself on a note card at 7:39 a.m. today.
Sitting in a carrel at the college, in a near panic, wishing to the depths of my very soul, and lip, that I had a dip of wonderful, sweet, luscious, energy-giving, life-affirming Copenhagen snuff (but I quit over a year ago), teetering at the edge of despair, studying for the first major exam in my class on the Reformation -- Erasmus, Reuchlin, Ficino, Luther, Zwingli, Sattler and other clamoring for attention in my mind -- I glance at a card upon which I had jotted a couple of things to remember after the test, at noon.
They are:
1. Borrow book from English dept. (The book in question is an academic monograph titled The Image and Influence of the Oklahoma Prairie in Washington Irving's Tour of the West, by Dr. Linda L. Steele, a professor in said department. It costs $100 to buy. I am borrowing it to read because it coincides with one of my research interests.)
2. Get Jim's pork rinds. (Jim is the guy who won the pork rinds in the Andy Griffith-Mayberry trivia contest on yesterday's Erudite Redneck).
Wow. Nothing says "Erudite Redneck" like those two items in that very order.
END
Full crystallization of the two main streams of my life manifested itself on a note card at 7:39 a.m. today.
Sitting in a carrel at the college, in a near panic, wishing to the depths of my very soul, and lip, that I had a dip of wonderful, sweet, luscious, energy-giving, life-affirming Copenhagen snuff (but I quit over a year ago), teetering at the edge of despair, studying for the first major exam in my class on the Reformation -- Erasmus, Reuchlin, Ficino, Luther, Zwingli, Sattler and other clamoring for attention in my mind -- I glance at a card upon which I had jotted a couple of things to remember after the test, at noon.
They are:
1. Borrow book from English dept. (The book in question is an academic monograph titled The Image and Influence of the Oklahoma Prairie in Washington Irving's Tour of the West, by Dr. Linda L. Steele, a professor in said department. It costs $100 to buy. I am borrowing it to read because it coincides with one of my research interests.)
2. Get Jim's pork rinds. (Jim is the guy who won the pork rinds in the Andy Griffith-Mayberry trivia contest on yesterday's Erudite Redneck).
Wow. Nothing says "Erudite Redneck" like those two items in that very order.
END
Comments:
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That's you all over, rednecked one! Wouldn't have you any other way. Meant to tell you that I really liked your column last week. You do a wonderful job, better many times than the subject deserves! Always good.
Have you taken your test yet? How did it go? I'm sure you'll do well, especially if it's all essay! :)
I think I did OK. But I thought that with that evil map test, too. Every second of studying helped. Right at the very end, I thought, I really need to just sit and think about what all Charles V was up to. So I did.
One of the essay questions was: "Describe the challenges Charles V faced during his reign and explain how he responded to each. (Try to discuss five different challenges)."
The other essay question I answered was -- we had to do two out of three -- "What are the major changes a monarch must introduce in order to become a Renaissance monarch? Illustrate each example with a concrete example from this period." ANOTHER last-minute consideration of mine this morning.
The essay question I did not answer was: "Explain each of Martin Luther's basic teachings then show what impact their adoption by the church had on social servcices."
Also on the test were eight of 49 ID's we had to look up and learn. We had to write good, fat juicy paragraphs on each of the following:
Menno Simons and the Mennonites; The Mesta; Neo-Platonism; Nominalism; Johann Reuchlin; Schmalkaldic Wars; Simony-nepotism-pluralism; and Desiriderius Erasmus.
I think I did well. But after that map fiasco, I don't know -- and I still don;t know what I made on the retake of it either! I swear, for someone who deals mostly in certainties, all this here uncertainty is makin' me nuts. :-)
--ER
One of the essay questions was: "Describe the challenges Charles V faced during his reign and explain how he responded to each. (Try to discuss five different challenges)."
The other essay question I answered was -- we had to do two out of three -- "What are the major changes a monarch must introduce in order to become a Renaissance monarch? Illustrate each example with a concrete example from this period." ANOTHER last-minute consideration of mine this morning.
The essay question I did not answer was: "Explain each of Martin Luther's basic teachings then show what impact their adoption by the church had on social servcices."
Also on the test were eight of 49 ID's we had to look up and learn. We had to write good, fat juicy paragraphs on each of the following:
Menno Simons and the Mennonites; The Mesta; Neo-Platonism; Nominalism; Johann Reuchlin; Schmalkaldic Wars; Simony-nepotism-pluralism; and Desiriderius Erasmus.
I think I did well. But after that map fiasco, I don't know -- and I still don;t know what I made on the retake of it either! I swear, for someone who deals mostly in certainties, all this here uncertainty is makin' me nuts. :-)
--ER
I think it should have been either rufus collum or rutilus collum, but I absolutely REFUSE to discuss Latin nominative case! :)
Ha! I ran it by a friend who taught Greek and Latin for awhile in college. And he, himself, is an erudite redneck!
Ivy, you CAN be an erudite redneck. Just leave the TV off unless it's on Booknotes, one of the C-SPANS, the news, the Andy Griffith Show or the Western Channel or NASCAR. Read lots of books -- real books, scholarly ones with footnotes! -- and some journals like Foreign Affairs, the American Historical Association's journal, as well as Hot Rod magazine and a comic of yer choice (I perfer "Iron Man"). Drive a pickup truck, play around with a guitar and own at least one Rebel battle flag (I own a set). And dip Copenhagen, or have fond memories of when you used to. Oh, and you gotta love coldbeer and pork rinds. :-)
--ER
--ER
"Rufus" is more at "red-haired", while "rutilus" is more at "reddish yellow". "Ruber", on the other hand, is a fairly one-dimensional word whose only attendant connotation (reddish-orange) is tangential: thus, "ruber" is probably the best selection for a usage as devoid of nuance as the usage here.
# posted by 
: 2:09 PM
: 2:09 PM
How do you say "erudite redneck" in Latin?
But more important: How do you say "coldbeer and pork rinds"?
And what would be an approximation of "Yee haw!"?
--ER
But more important: How do you say "coldbeer and pork rinds"?
And what would be an approximation of "Yee haw!"?
--ER
An old poem:
Latin is a dead language.
That is plain to see.
It killed off all the Romans,
and now it's killing me! :)
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Latin is a dead language.
That is plain to see.
It killed off all the Romans,
and now it's killing me! :)
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