…this happened: I tonsured my hair, dressed as a Spanish friar, cradled a small stuffed cat in my arms and attempted to walk between two LA missions. Why? It’s a long story (and the last chapter in my book, Man of War).
To answer your question, yes, I kind of lost my mind.
http://youtu.be/XEBJcG-p4bA
I love learning about how words developed. This is called etymology. Actually the proper definition of etymology is “the derivation of a word,” but let’s not mince words.
On Sunday I went to the Huntington Library and Gardens with my wife. We brought along the book “A Californian’s Guide to the Trees Among Us” which is a reference guide to trees that populate our home state of California. This made us feel like nerds.
We decided that we’d learn about five different types of trees, but I had a hard time getting past the Ginkgo tree. Or rather Ginkgo biloba. What was so interesting about it? Certainly not its sad, naked branches. Rather I found myself geeking out on its name. Gingko biloba simply put means “Silver Apricot Two Lobes.” Doesn’t sound as elegant or mysterious when you break it down into its component parts, huh? Come to think of it, it sounds like a gangster’s nickname. Sidney Two Lobes.
Silver apricot (“ginkgo” is originally from the Chinese) refers to its fruit and two lobes is a reference to the shape of its leaves (from the Latin bis loba–two lobes). I like the leaves bit the most because it reminded me of the book I’m reading by Mark Forsyth, aka the Inky Fool. It’s called “The Etymlogicon” and it’s curiously under-priced for Kindle readers ($1.99). In it, Forsyth, a London-based pedant and wit, links together words and their origins into an informative, erudite and often hilarious exploration into that bastard tongue of ours. I’ve read a number of books with a similar theme over the past year including Bill Bryson’s informatively charming “Mother Tongue” and Henry’s Hitchings’ (often) dense, but nevertheless enjoyable “The Secret History of Words.” Forsyth manages to actually spin a kind of narrative out of all the definitions, history and clever interjections.
Right off the bat, Forsyth engages you with the story of how the word biscuit developed. Turns out it means “cooked twice” and is from the French bi-cuit. From there he links to the origins of the words “bicycle” and “bisexual.” The latter word leads him to “masochism.” (The two were coined by the same person.) This “circular stroll” as Forsyth puts it, continues on for the rest of the book. Now that I’m 80% of the way through it (the Kindle won’t tell me what page I’m on which is utterly ridiculous) I can say with confidence that it’s the best book I’ve read this year. Chances are it might remain so.
I learned today that my book, Man of War, is now available for pre-order at Barnes & Noble, Indiebound, the fantastic Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle, larger than life Powell’s in Portland, OR and my local SoCal fav, Vroman’s, in Pasadena. (It’s “available available” on May 24th, 2012 and can also be pre-ordered on Amazon.) I also learned that it’s being categorized under “Military-Strategy” and “Personal Memoirs.” Step aside Reminiscences by Douglas MacArthur.
Speaking of Vroman’s, last Sunday I braved all the last-minute holiday shoppers and bought a number of gifts there including Yiyun Li‘s The Vagrants. I read it a couple years ago and have since bought it for a couple friends. I can’t say I’m a big fan of the word “unflinching” as it seems to always pop up in reviews of, well, “unflinching” subject matter, but “unflinching” is exactly the type of portrait Li paints of late ’70’s China. I can’t remember the last time I read a book that made me gasp and cry, two things I don’t normally seek out in my entertainment. But this book shocked and saddened me-often-and for that and many other reasons I suggest you give it a read yourself.
I’ve written a book titled Man of War: My Adventures in the World of Historical Reenactment. It’s released on May 24th, 2012, but can be pre-ordered on Amazon now. In it I reenact my way through 2,000 years of Western civilization, from Ancient Rome to Vietnam. In addition to the latter time periods, I don the uniforms and civvies of a Civil War soldier (Union and Confederate), a Polish Winged Hussar, a Revolutionary soldier, French and Indian War soldier, bateauman, Viking, Spanish friar and a Nazi. Yes, people reenact the Wehrmacht.
More to come in the following months.