Member: Stevia

Stevie -- check this out:

http://www.teach12.com/ttcx/CourseDescLo...

I just completed it. Good stuff!

posted by Garp83 at 7:48 am (EST) on Mar 9, 2009

holy s--t!!! that's 114 F ... I'm melting ......

posted by Garp83 at 9:57 pm (EST) on Feb 8, 2009

Is this anywhere near you?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb...

yikes!!!!!!!!!

posted by Garp83 at 8:11 pm (EST) on Feb 8, 2009

Hey Stevie: this looks right up your alley:

http://www.amazon.com/How-Rome-Fell-Deat...

its the new book by Adrian Goldsworthy ...

Did you ever find a good Sappho collection? Let me know if you do because what I own is only parts in collections and there are barely any annotations. I know so much more about the classical period, but for the archaic period I need every footnote I can muster!

Ciao!

posted by Garp83 at 7:48 am (EST) on Jan 16, 2009

Hehe, thanks. It was taken at an old farm complex outside of Gamla Uppsala, Sweden; I'm actually "reading" a brochure on the town. Couldn't pass up the photo-op for what was essentially the largest outhouse I've ever seen in my life! :-D

posted by Feicht at 8:45 am (EST) on Jan 7, 2009

Sorry for the broken link ...

http://www.classicpersuasion.org/pw/sapp...

this is a really good site. Note like all of the Greek stuff translation often produces radically different versions of the same poem

Ciao -- Garp

posted by Garp83 at 6:19 am (EST) on Dec 29, 2008

Hey Stevie -- did you get any good books for Christmas? Did you get internet access? (lol) ... Hope you had a great holiday -- Garp

posted by Garp83 at 11:40 am (EST) on Dec 27, 2008

good to know you are still kicking about in our virtual library ...

posted by Garp83 at 6:27 am (EST) on Dec 16, 2008

Hey Stevie -- r u still up on LibraryThing? You've been so quiet ....

rgds,

Garp

posted by Garp83 at 2:16 pm (EST) on Dec 15, 2008

HI. IM M.S. CAN WE BE FRENDS?

I LIKE HISTORICAL, CLASSICAL, ESOTERIC, ARCANE & RELIGIUOS BOOKS. I LIKE MODERN NOVELS ALSO SUCH AS JOHN GRISHAM'S BOOKS. & I LIKE ROCK MUSIC.

posted by MS22ROCK at 5:23 am (EST) on Nov 25, 2008

Have you tried Google Maps Ancient Rome yet? I figured you'd be navigating that space day one!

posted by Garp83 at 6:08 am (EST) on Nov 24, 2008

Yeah, it turned out to be a five-day a week intensive Greek course at a local university that in one semester had you reading classical Greek well and in two semesters had you reading it very well. While I have a B.A. in history with a minor in political science, I have learned almost everything I know from independent study, primarily reading but also by listening to not-for-credit college courses from The Teaching Company (great stuff btw: www.teach12.com). I have never formerly studied the classics, but have made my way entirely from my own dedicated study and feel pretty good about it -- except for language! I know I need a classroom to master that and there just aren't a lot of quality ancient Greek courses to pick from, especially given my schedule.

I own a computer services company that focuses upon the residential computer client. We "rescue" people. If you got a virus on your laptop, we would rescue you ... if you were geographically closer, of course. I also build custom computers for clients, which is kind of fun. I started the business seven years ago when I discovered that I would never be any good working for other people. Business ownership has its stressful moments, but there is also enormous freedom that does not exist in typical employment scenarios. It lets me make my own schedule, within my own self-imposed discipline, of course. It has permitted me to pursue my own studies at my whim, which has gotten me from the Bronze Age to the later classical period in Greece. I look forward to the next chapters, as they unfold.

How much school is still ahead of you? And what country are you in this semester?

posted by Garp83 at 6:51 pm (EST) on Oct 8, 2008

Glad all is going well for you. I had to drop Greek on the first session unfortunately because it turned out it was a five day class not a two day class. I somehow misunderstood the way it was posted. Running my own business prohibits five day classes .... very sad ... ;-(

But ... I am looking for another venue for study. I will keep you posted.

posted by Garp83 at 8:11 pm (EST) on Oct 7, 2008

So ... how's school going this semester. Are you winning or losing (lol)?

posted by Garp83 at 8:28 pm (EST) on Oct 6, 2008

Hey -- wanted to let you know I'm taking Greek at a university this fall. I found I couldn't do language on my own. Maybe -- if I can get thru it -- I can work my way to Latin so I can read Cattalus too!

posted by Garp83 at 6:38 pm (EST) on May 23, 2008

Aussie, eh? My daughter's there now doing a semester abroad in Brisbane -- she has done a bit of travelling while there, Cairns, Alice Springs, Uluru, Sidney -- and she has nothing but wonderful things to say about your country. It sounds like a great place to live1

I didn't mean to imply admiration for Alexander in my comment, although he's a fascinating historical personage. All in all, world conquerers don't impress me much. But I do find it compelling to imagine myself back in the fourth century reading the classics in the classic language ...

When I get to the Roman period, I will definitely seek out your recommendations further. The closest I've come to that so far is Robin Lane Fox [The Classical World: From Homer to Hadrian] which after Greece & the Hellenistic period delivered a brushstroke of Rome that was unfortunately a rather boring treatment.

posted by Garp83 at 7:46 am (EST) on May 9, 2008

Hi Stevie --

13 Hour Days -- I admire your committment! I have an undergrad degree in History but have been pursuing my studies on my own since then, reading and taking Teaching Company Courses such as:
[http://www.teach12.com/ttcx/coursedesclo...]
I've taken more than a dozen of these and they are wonderful, especially if you discipline yourself to do a lot of exploratory reading. I read all of Herodotus & Thucydides plus a fair bit of Xenophon in tandem with these courses.

Naturally, I do envy your actual classroom work. If I didn't run my own company which eats up so much of my time I would go back for grad work, just for fun. I am considering taking ancient Greek classes locally, though, because I can't seem to make any headway just out of a book so far. I want to read the Iliad in Greek, like Alexander!

I am guessing from your slang that you are in the UK? Am I right? Are you in London or out in the country?

I look forward to hearing more about your university work. I am fascinated by the classics. I am working my way through Greece & hope to make it to Rome (figuratively!) one day. Stay in touch!

posted by Garp83 at 8:04 am (EST) on May 7, 2008

So Stevie -- have you read the Greek tragedies yet? For my birthday, I received the Teaching Company Course [Masterpieces of Greek Literature] taught by Prof. Schenker [http://www.teach12.com/ttcx/coursedesclo...] and I decided early on that I would actually read the works discussed. (This is part of my ongoing attempt to get the classical education I never got in school!) I had already read Iliad & Odyssey, plus a reasonable selection of Hesiod. For the course, I read some Homeric lyric poems, plus some Sappho, Archilochus and Alcaeus poetry. When I got to drama, I decided the read the complete tragedies discussed as we went along. The only Greek tragedy I had read previously was [Agamememnon], by Aeschylus, so I read the rest of the [Oresteia], plus [Ajax] and [Philoctetes]. Then when we got to Sophocles I read [Oedipus] and I am just starting on [Oedipus at Colonus]. My comment is: this stuff requires a lot of focus to move your way thru it without leaping off a ledge somewhere. As a classics major, what's your take?

posted by Garp83 at 1:37 pm (EST) on May 4, 2008

Hi Stevie -- love your profile pic!

posted by Garp83 at 11:37 am (EST) on Mar 30, 2008

Stevia - Good luck with the Classics major - I approve, of course :) I hope you're enjoying Seneca; I'm a big fan both of the plays and the letters, even though I'm usually not a philosophy fan. Where are you hoping to go abroad? Rome? To the Centro? At any rate, good luck with that too!

posted by scaifea at 7:52 am (EST) on Mar 27, 2008