Train of thought...

I wrote the following response to a comment left by halfshellvenus to my most recent LJ Idol instalment (wherein she asks why I would name a character "Fremd," i.e., "Strange"):

Ha! In quick succession:

My first reaction: "Gee, I hadn't thought of that!"

Second reaction: "Hey, if Frank Herbert could use terms from Hebrew, Arabic, and Latin in Dune..."

Third: "Wait a sec... Who says anyone speaks German in this world?"

Fourth: "'Strange' as a name? Well... why not?"

Confession: I named the fellow Fremd so as to be able to sneak a phrase that approximates the topic's pronunciation ("Fremd shame on" [~= Fremdschämen]) into the text.

The first was my "gut" reaction.

My second reaction is pretty defensive, almost certainly the product of that ready supply of insecurity possessed by all who aspire to write for the entertainment (or edification) of others. There was a time when I would have gotten this far in my thinking, whereupon I would have ceased further reflection and mentally "dug in," confident of having "defended myself" to myself.

Permit me to digress... I very long ago figured out that, for a writer to "defend" anything he or she has written—be it the name of a character (or, closer to home for me, a sentence of translation)—is a non-starting proposition in general, and an even less attractive idea when communicating with others. Why? Well, that's a subject for its own post, but the short answer is that nobody gains and the writer loses from such behavior.

In any event, the reasoning of my second reaction actually fails because Frank Herbert did not just fabricate expressions like Kwisatz Haderach from the ether. (Granted, neither did I choose "Fremd" by rolling dice, but there's a difference nonetheless.)

The third reaction is still a bit defensive, but a lot less so. And it shows a bit more creativity in terms of examining the situation from new angles.

The fourth reaction was where, ideally, I would have arrived immediately after the first in an ideal world. But the important thing is: I got there.

I tip my hat to halfshellvenus for her comment, and to whatever it was that caused me to get so analytical so early in the morning!

Cheers...

Something old, something new...

No, I'm not talking about a wedding, but the idea of hosting a New Year's Eve get-together.

I don't remember the last time we did this. I'm actually not sure we ever did this, but I would not be surprised to be corrected in my recollection.

But what is undoubted is that something like this is going to happen tonight.

Preparations, etc. will keep me away from the computer, so...

whoever you may be, dear reader, please accept my warmest wishes for the New Year. May it leave us all healthier, smarter, and richer (in more ways than one).

Happy New Year!

Cheers...