New blog: The Rambling Medievalist

I have created a new blog, where many of my thoughts on medieval studies will be presented in rough form and will be developed for publication. My first post is from an abstract of my dissertation.

Here is the link: gregoriusmagnus.blogspot.com.

The text as performance

From Arturo Vasquez's blog:

Jorge Luis Borges, in his short essay, El culto del libro , writes that a watershed moment in the history of human thought is when St. Augustine found that St. Ambrose could read a text without moving his lips or reading aloud. Being a man of the world, one could only assume that St. Augustine found this to be an unusual skill. But to be mentioned in St. Augustine’s Confessions, it has to be more significant than just a cheap parlor trick. Borges explains:

Aquel hombre pasaba directamente del signo de escritura a la intuición, omitiendo el signo sonoro; el extraño arte que iniciaba, el arte de leer en voz baja, conduciría a consecuencias maravillosas. Conduciría, cumplidos muchos años, al concepto del libro como fin, no como instrumento de un fin.

(That man passed directly from the written sign to the intuition, omitting the audible sign; the strange art that it initiated, the art of reading to oneself, would lead to marvelous consequences. It would lead, after many years, to the concept of the book as an end, and not a means to an end.)

Read the rest here.

Vincent Price on Racial and Religious Prejudice

Not PC, just good common sense and decency from an American actor who was a class act.

Hat tip: John Beeler

Per Signum Crucis

Per signum crucis de inimicis nostris libera nos, Domine!

We praise the, O Lord, and we bless thee, for by thy Holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world!

Mark Shea: "The Economy is so bad that..."

From Mark Shea's blog

The economy is really bad!

How bad is it, Lou?

It's so bad that....

I got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.

I ordered a burger at McDonald's, and the kid behind the counter asked, "Can you afford fries with that?"

CEO's are now playing miniature golf.

If the bank returns your check marked "Insufficient Funds," you have to call them and ask if they mean you or them .

Hot Wheels and Matchbox stocks are trading higher than GM.

McDonald's is selling the 1/4 'ouncer'.

For more gems, read here.