And now for something completely different...

This has nothing at all to do with Latin, but it has to do with Classics... kinda... sorta...

I ran out and bought Oliver Stone's "Alexander Revisited: The Final Cut" after class on Tuesday. It was a *requirement*... 45 minutes of never-before-scene footage involving either Colin Farrell, Jared Leto or both was *not* something I could resist for longer than it took to drive to the store after class. Who's a sucker for ancient Macedonian megalomaniacs, unattainable Irish bad-boys, and one particular "emo" singer with painfully pretty blue eyes? That would be me...

So I just had to come on here and say, it's *so* awesome! *Way* better than the theatrical cut of "Alexander." Much easier to understand, the storyline flows logically (amazing considering how schizophrenic the theatrical cut was), the sound is better, camera angles are better... Some scenes are entirely re-cut from scratch using completely different takes. The sequence of events/scenes is completely different. It's fabulous! I highly recommend it for anybody who is a fan of Alexander the Great.

Oh, and despite the fact that Hephaistion was lying there in the background dying, I was still (once again) mildly amused when Alexander said, "And then we'll move on Carthage. And that great island, Sicily. They'll pay large tribute! After that, the Roman tribe - good fighters. We’ll beat them!" If it had been put into any other scene, I would actually laugh when he says that.

There, I mentioned something having to do with Romans... ;D

I'm proud to say that I wasn't entirely irresponsible in my indulgence of fangirl tendencies. I did the homework for Latin, and cooked and ate dinner while watching the spectacle (thank goodness for the ability to multi-task). And then, I read The Aeneid excerpts... almost cried over Nisus and Euryalus. That was really sad... and oy, "their heads on pikes"?! ... Almost as bad as poor crazy Dido a few chapters ago, but at least I was expecting her tragic end... First, Hephaistion dying, then Alexander, and now those two, all in one evening... Oy! (The Aeneid is fiction, Rachael, it's fiction!)

Okay, I'm officially punchy and in need of sleep, and as done with all school work as I'm going to get tonight, so I'm heading for bed and I'll see y'all tomorrow in class! ... And thank you for indulging my not-so-slight obsession if you've actually read this far... Hopefully, I won't regret having posted this when I wake up... later this morning...

~ Rachael

P.S. - Is anyone else planning to see 300 the weekend of March 9th? I'm going with a few friends to see it, probably on Friday the 9th, but if anyone else is up for it as well, more friends are always welcome. Just let me know if you'd like to come with, k?

Quick question: How do you decline balnea? It's neuter plural, but I guess I'm just confused. When you form the genitive, is it balneorum or balnorum? Once I have the genitive figured out, I'm pretty sure I can go from there.

And is this how nimium is decline:
nimium, nimii, nimio, nimium, nimio
nimia, nimiorum, nimiis, nimia, nimiis

Thanks!

Olivia H.

So that was a heck of a test...

Not that I was surprised by the material, I just thought I would be more confident at the end. The verb conjugations were time consuming, so I'm hoping I didn't rush through. Professor M., please don't think any less of me when you see my noun and adjective declensions. I have a feeling they were pretty horrid. But hey, I figured out my studying weakness this time around and hope to not repeat that mistake on the tests to follow. I hope everyone did well.

I'm off to go take some cold medicine. What in the world is going around that everyone is getting sick from?

Olivia H.

Pompeii Stuff

It's about 6: 30 am, and of course I am thinking of graffitti at Pompeii. To be precise, these ones (which I mentioned in a previous post) are not graffitti but mosaics on the vestibules of various homes/public places. You need to magnify to see the inscription, Rachael, et ceteri discipulae discipuliqui carissimi. Later then, EM.

It was bound to happen...

Eventually, I had to find a way to merge my crafty side with my love for Latin... ;D Here's what I came up with...

It's a wooden sign for my parents' new farm in the Blue Ridge of Virginia. It'll either go outside on the back porch or over the front door. Haven't decided yet. Of course, the house hasn't even been built yet, so I'm not sure exactly where it will end up... And I might antique it, but I haven't made up my mind about that yet. It says, "Behold, everything is green." And then in smaller letters: "The meadows and the fields and the woods and the groves." Thought it quite appropriate for a farm...

~ Rachael

Studete Linguam Latinam, Habeteque Bonam Fortunam!

...and, for the gazillionth time, send all questions/comments about the test to the blog. I will be checking it often throughout the weekend.

And, Jeremy, don't worry, I know you' re not being obsequious--you' ve aced every single quizz, so you hardly need that kind of thing... I am just surprised that my getting overwhelmed by your English and your jokes and my own joy with Latin passes as a a collective good mood. Sure, whatever works!

Btw, check out something that I got published on NPR about what Latin and our class means to me. Here it is, in case you think I am making stuff up... Igitur, carissimi puellae puerique, mox inter nos videmus. Valete omnes,

EM.

http://www.thisibelieve.org/dsp_ShowEssay.php?lastname=Manolaraki&uid=23768&start=0

Okay... so first test... whooooo!! whos excited lol? man, it was so hilarious friday in class! everyone was high spirited and it was an overall good mood- I have seen many teachers achieve this kind of atmosphere in a classroom, but no one has been as successful as Ms.E! lol... really i aint being obsequious, I swear! lol...
Okay time to hit that study sheet, and lego Latin!! woot woot! oh and btw- Elicia and I have Latin conversations all the time, so........ I dunno, go Latin conversations with Elicia!?!?!? lol hahaha....

PeAcE...
Jeremy Y

Yes, I missed class today. Whatever is going around may be getting to me, so I figured I would try to stop it now. Plus, I've been exhausted the past few days and decided to take a break and get some rest. Anyone care to share what the homework was, aside from probably working on the study guide for the test?

However, I'm not doing nothing while at home. I'm trying to get caught up on some classwork. I was working on an assignment for my professional writing class and was reading a website presentation when I came across this page: click here. I have been interested in website design since high school, so I have seen tutorials and things like this many times with that same Latin text in those tutorials. I decided to see if I could find out why that Latin text is constantly used and behold! Check this out. It provides the history of that Latin text, along with why web designers use it when testing out their designs. Cool huh?

Olivia H.

Non Quaero Quod Capio

It's been a while since I found the time and energy to share some thoughts with you, but vos omnes, o puellae puerique, know that I think about our class every single day...I am so happy that we reached the 1/3 landmark of the book without incident, and, as I said in class, we will be coasting now until we hit the last 3 weeks of the semester (don't ask about it now...let sleeping dogs lie!).

What I have wanted to say for a few days now is that your progress and smooth sailing has put me in a state of grace--- if I can be so presumptuous as to use a Christian term to describe my religious committment to being a good Latin teacher. I have been thinking about the parallels between education and spiritual faith because of a beautiful thing I found accidentally on the web, which I am attaching here. Excerpted from a 18th century book on Christian doctrines, the page reads as follows (skip this part and magnify the picture if you want to read this for yourselves, which you can totally do; I translate it in the comment to this posting).

NON QUAERO QUOD CAPIO

A deo deus, qui ipsa benignitas est, hominem nomini suo devotum amat, ut non solum largiatur ea, quae ille suis cupiit precibus, sed quae longe etiam supra votum et spes omnes fuerant. Hoc quidem symbolum de piscibus alatis indicis, ex aere in rete volantibus-

The simple beauty of this image, enhanced by the music of Latin, reminds me what I already know: that I wish for nothing because between Latin, my students, my family, friends and colleagues, I have everything I ever dreamt of asking for, and more. Whether the source of this contentment is supernatural or not I cannot know, but seeing that trascendental something that exists in educating the self and others is enough. Thank you all for being the best class, keep your questions and comments coming,

EM.

Declensions!

So, I missed a class this past week...
Sounds pretty normal doesnt it? haha- see that is whats wrong- its not normal. It is freaky if you miss a day in Latin- one day, and already the 5th declension! whooo!! I remember when we were doing colonus and parata! haha! Nevertheless, I am glad we are moving ahead- I cannot wait to translate my first Latin text!

Jeremy... (P.s. I am very happy to see that the blog is flourishing with posts!)

questions

Being sick really sucks... I either can't sleep or I sleep too much, but either way, I can't get out of bed for more than five minutes without feeling like the walking dead. The only bonus is that the only homework that I can seem to work on in bed is Latin, so at least I've had *some* fun. I think I've done all the homework for at least the next week... Tomorrow, I'm telling my mom to hide my textbook and I'm starting on book 1 of the Aeneid, come hell or high water.

But in the meantime, I've got a few questions about the Latin in chapter 21. I couldn't find a few words in the glossary in the back of the book and they didn't seem to be in the columns next to the Latin passages either.

"Arrisit"

"Visne" and "Vis"

I'm sure I should probably know what these words are and I think I got the gist of what it says from the context, but just to make sure, I thought I should ask, what do they mean?

~Rachael

Alright, so I've held this in for almost the last two weeks because of the blog hoopla (thanks Jeremy for creating a new one for us!). At work two weekends ago, one of the older kids who comes was asking a teacher what vice versa meant. The teacher didn't know what it meant, so she asked me because I was standing near their table. Of the top of my head, I told him what it meant and said it was Latin, praying that I was right. I came home to look it up in case I had to tell the boy if I was wrong, and what do you know, I was right. Sure, everyone probably knew that, but I didn't.

Wikipedia has a nice little entry about vice versa, along with some other Latin phrases. I know Wikipedia is not the best source for information, but it worked for me this time around. Here is where you can find out about vice versa: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_versa#vice_versa And answers.com provided me with a cool definition with how it is derived from Latin:

vice versa: With the order or meaning reversed; conversely.

[Latin vice versā : vice, ablative of *vix, position + versā, feminine ablative of versus.]

And now we know that versus is 5th declension. Yeah, I'm a nerd, I thought this was cool.

Olivia H.

second verse same as the first...

Hate to check again, but just want to make sure the homework for tomorrow is to learn the vocab for Chapter 21 and to do exercise 20.7? If there's anything else, please do let me know. With luck, I'll be there tomorrow. Evidently, I've got some sort of flu-like virus that just has to run its course.

Also, I wanted to check on the Roman Lit reading for Monday... It's the Aeneid, but what pages?

~Rachael

Hey y'all!

I'm sick today. I've been trying to fight this off for over a week and the Airborne stopped working last night. Can someone post what the homework for tomorrow is?

~Rachael

Okay, so in watching the Rome series with a friend, we have a random question about the money situation. What are the basic denominations for the Roman money? I know denarii is the one in the book, but what are the other basic units? And how do you say thank you in Latin....and goodbye.....and is salute hello?....I guess it was more than one question....
Stacy

Latin root words...

I'm studying for the GRE right now, and it's AMAZING how much knowing latin and various lastin words helps me figure out what a word on the vocab section means. The Kaplan book I'm using even has an entire section at the back of the book dedicated to root words. It's quite Useful!

~Elicia~

Hey Guys!
I am glad that it is finally working...
Okay i dunno if this is right but here is an English word with Latin roots, I think- "seduce"
se-self, ducere-to lead. So does it mean "to lead to self"--- makes sense...
Jeremy Y

Wow!

Okay! It worked for me finally! There was a trick to it, wasn't there... At least, it seemed a trick to me. But it worked, so it's all good... I hope everyone else who wants to has gotten it.

And I'll go ahead and delete the alternate blog I had set up, since this is perfectly functional...

~Rachael

I'm seeing if this works for me...tho i is still really confused as to what's happening....But then I am normally confused? Stacy

I wonder if you guys are hitting the sign in button on the top right, and then pressing the new blogger account... I am able to get on it without hassle...

Testing

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