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Summer Update

Saturday, June 19, 2010

I haven’t updated in a while. This is mostly due to summer laziness, which I probably can’t afford. Most of my time has been spent either lazily watching netflix or working on the CSTM Website. Most of the glamour of designing the website is done and I am stuck writing and editing page after page of content; course offerings, student aid, application info, etc., which is boring and often (extremely) frustrating; its a bit too much for one person to handle.

On another front, I got a call the other day from the parent of a student I had tutored. He wants to meet about a project. Sounds interesting; a change of pace just might pull me out of this slump.

On the academic front, I have narrowed my choices down for Grad school considerably. While schools such as Princeton and North Carolina are top notch, I realistically have no chance (I think?) of being accepted; I don’t come from a big name school, and although I feel I am adequately prepared, a paper version of my life would suggest otherwise. Besides, UCSB and UCI have good programs, and going home, even amid all the financial chaos, would be nice. Maybe if I ace the GRE and submit a stellar paper I’ll have  a chance.

I’ve also put some other projects on hold for the summer which I need to start working on. My translation and commentary on the Dream of the Rood has been sitting on my desk for 6 months. It really isn’t all that much work to finish and I ought to just sit down a few mornings and finish it. That way I can put it on my site and seem generally more academic.

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Fun CSS Effect

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

I was playing around with some css so that I could spice up the design for the website I am designing, and I came up with something fun and interesting: a 3d text effect using only css. I am sure it has been done before, but I thought I would post it here, just for fun. First the effect:

CSS 3D Effect

The effect is made by using the text-shadow property. The code for the above is:

<span style=”color: #333; line-height: 1.1em; font-size: 4.8em; text-shadow: #000 -0.02em -0.02em 0, #000 -0.03em -0.03em 0, #000 -0.04em -0.04em 0, #000 -0.05em -0.05em 0, #000 -0.06em -0.06em 0, #000 -0.07em -0.07em 0, #000 -0.08em -0.08em 0, #000 -0.09em -0.09em 0, #333 -0.1em -0.1em 0;”>CSS 3D Effect</span>

What we are doing is making a series of shadows on the text which, when layered, create the illusion that the text is 3d.

the css property works as follows: text-shadow: <color> < x off-set > < y off-set> <blur radius>; Now, you may stack these shadows, which is done by replacing the semi-colon (which ends the expression) with a comma, and then inserting the new color, x-off-set, y-off-set, and blur radius like such, text-shadow: #000 -0.02em -0.02em 0, #000 -0.03em -0.03em 0; which puts two solid shadows, one 0.02 ems left and 0.02 above, and the second 0.03 ems left and 0.03 above the text.

I am not really sure how it would be used. It certainly would be annoying as a header, but maybe someone could tone it down and find a stylish use for it.

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Summer Fun

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

I survived the spring semester, although it was close (emotionally) for a while. Unlike the previous couple of summers, I won’t be taking any classes. On the one hand this will give me plenty of time to work on the many side projects I have invented for myself, and on the other, well, I really would like to take another Greek translation course.

I’ll pass the time building, testing and implementing a website for my college (of which the demo is here), preparing for the GRE, and generally figuring out where I want (can) to go after next year.

I do have many good books to keep me company. I have the first two volumes of C.S Lewis’ collected letters and a couple novels to read; I also hope to reread all of Plato and, if I have time, Aristotle.

Yeah. So. Plenty to do.

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General Update

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Made some much needed updates to my site, including: css navigation system, letter-spacing, line-height, and others. Overall I think its readability has dramatically increased. I am exploring possible options for using typekit in the future for fonts, so I am not reliant on the visitor for the content to render correctly, but as they don’t have many of the fonts I wish to use, it doesn’t seem viable atm; I am keeping my eyes and ears open, however.

I had an interesting discussion in my Aesthetics class today about whether Beauty was a transcendental. Most of those present sided with Maritain that Beauty is a transcendental, but I argued against him. He claims that Thomas implies Beauty is a Transcendental, but this seems speculative and altogether unfounded. I can’t help but get the feeling that he is interpreting Thomas in much the same way as Thomas would Augustine, which is to say “creative misinterpretation”. All the same, it seemed unnecessary for him to posit Beauty as a transcendental for his aesthetic theory, so I find it odd that he (Maritain) is so insistent.

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Greek Typesetting

Monday, April 19, 2010

THERE are many wonderful fonts available for free to typeset Greek. Among the best are those put out by the Greek Font Society, Cardo, and Gentium. I have created a PDF document that shows a few of these and how they interact with other common typefaces. It can be downladed Here

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Belated Birthday Present

Friday, April 9, 2010

I JUST RECIEVED a belated birthday present from a friend. It was a very thoughtful gift and I very much appreciate it. I always keep an eye on Aquinas’ commentaries of Aristotle, but can never justify buying one. Having this book, I very much want his commentary on the Metaphysics, which, in my opinion, is very helpful. Now if only I could find some time to read it with the W.D. Ross edition of the Physics as a supplement…


Title: Commentary on Aristotle’s Physics
Author: Saint Thomas Aquinas
ISBN: 9781883357764

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Pindar, Pharr and Updates

Saturday, April 3, 2010

I HAVE BEEN hard at work updating the greek section of my site, including the integration of Study guides/answer keys for Clyde Pharr’s Homeric Greek (here) and A compilation of the text with notes and commentary on Pindar’s Olympian one. There are many other interesting comments/notes on the text, but I am not sure what I am allowed to post online. Nevertheless, Fennell and Gildersleeve are capable and well respected men. It is interesting to compare the greek from the old pdf books on Pindar (on this page), particularly when contrasted with the notes on the text (and the Bryn Mawr Edition). I have already translated Olympian 1 once, but it am unsatisfied with it now, and want to rework it. When I am finished, I will post it here.

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Ancient Greek Scholarship

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Title: Ancient Greek Scholarship
Author: Eleanor Dickey
ISBN-13: 978-0195312935

FOR MY BIRTHDAY (March 14) I purchased a few books. One of them, Ancient Greek Scholarship by Eleanor Dickey, is fascinating. Because I don’t belong to a large institution, sometimes the resources available to me are lacking. My school aims to classically train its students, which is not to train them in classical scholarship. Our classical language classes focus on the comprehension of a text; we use the same critical method whether the text is in greek, latin or English. We don’t comment on obscure dialects, odd grammar, or uncommon words except when they hinder our understanding of the text or they are noted in whatever critical edition we are using.

I LIKE the method. I have always wanted to understand what the author wrote and why, and knowing that this phrase is a genitive absolute, or that some phrase is in apposition to another hardly helps me understand the why. But just as a critical commentary on a work would further aid my understanding of a text, so the understanding of scholia and manuscripts would aid me in knowing its traditional interpretations. And although it is tempting to let other, more capable men (and, of course, women) compile critical editions of greek and latin texts, it is much more satisfying to understand and research primary sources. This book explains the method of scholarship used in manuscripts themselves so that I can better understand and interpret a work. This book has opened up my eyes to a whole world of resources; its pure gold if only for the bibliography.

WHEN I FINISH I will be sure to email Prof. Dickey and thank her properly for all her work in making classical scholarship all the more accessible.

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We Finally Are Printing the College of Saint Thomas More Review

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

AFTER MUCH blood and sweet we are finally printing the first edition of the College of Saint Thomas More Review. The Review, which has been my pet project for over a year now, is a culmination of the creative thought of the College. Now all I need to do is finish the website, www.cstmreview.org. The Review is free right now and, as soon as I can, I will make it available for free on the website.

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