Mea cula, mea culpa . . .

mea maxima culpa.

Not at all sure I have the right Latin there, but you get the idea. I've read many books the last couple of months, and haven't posted a single word about any of them. Resolutions and my blog? Very bad combination, seemingly.

But I've been tagged with a book-ish tagging thing, so I figured I should post.

"The Rules:
Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. (No cheating!)
Find Page 123.
Find the first 5 sentences.
Post the next 3 sentences.
Tag 5 people."

I first saw this at work when I had no books whatsoever . . . so I came home, sat down at my computer, and discovered that I had two books equally close to me. No, actually there are three . . . so here you go:

what made him shudder in his veins: He begged for mony to free his friend from the dungeons of Charles of Anjou, where he was awaiting execution. Oderisi allueds to Dante's own exile, when Dante, proud as he is, will likewise be required to do what mortifies him--to subsist upon the generosity of others. (Dante's Purgatory, trans. by Anthony Esolen.)*

We three. We're free. How many sappers die? (Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient)

There was therefore a ready audience for anyone who cared to speak out against what was happening. Reputedly Luther spoke out on 31 October 1517, celebrated in later days in German-speaking lands** as Reformation Day. That day, he may or may not have publicly advertised his intention of setting up an academic disputation on the subject of indulgences by tacking to the Castle Church doors in Wittenberg a copy of ninety-five statements or theses to be disputed--much is uncertain in the anecdotes about these tumultuous years, and not even the doors themselves can bear witness, having been destroyed in a fire in 1760. (Diarmaid McCulloch, The Reformation)

And, with that having done by me, I hereby tag everyone who commented on my last post. Assuming, of course, that they actually visit my blog again after my ridiculously protracted silence. I probably would have given up on me by now. :-)

In other news, I have a church service to play for in the morning--after which I must begin work on an atonal composition, based on either a 12-tone row or an all-combinatorial hexachord. Since my notions of both things are still rather fuzzy--and the composition is due next week (!)--this could be an interesting undertaking. I shall try to post again soonishly.

(Oh, and I've only finished one of the three books . . . I'm only 59 pages into The Reformation and even less on the Purgatory. Novels are so distracting! Especially when they have yellow covers.***)


*The page ends here--hence the lack of the requisite third sentence.

**Also at certain English- and Latin-speaking colleges.

***That was a theatrical reference, for those of you who weren't homeschooled.