tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84165499006034241942026-10-14T16:51:34.979-04:00 A Place of BrightnessKeith Massey, PhD (University of Wisconsin-Madison).
Latin Teacher, Author, Musician, Eastern Orthodox PriestKeith Andrew Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974660907942721141noreply@blogger.comBlogger735125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416549900603424194.post-65769832165955947962026-09-05T15:30:19.563-04:002026-09-05T15:30:19.563-04:00The Fall of the Roman Empire: Really? September 4 was the anniversary of the fall of the Roman Empire. Not long ago, social media buzzed with the claim that men think about the Roman Empire at least once a day. The Roman Empire was indeed an unparalleled political entity. Starting out as a nondescript city-state among dozens of others on the Italian peninsula, it would expand into an empire that held vast territory in Keith Andrew Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974660907942721141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416549900603424194.post-81558234277235878642022-07-16T07:49:00.000-04:002022-07-16T07:49:18.548-04:00Cold Water CovidHow It's GoingToday, Saturday July 16th, I sit in an apartment in Bucharest, Romania--recovering from Covid. Despite being fully vaccinated and twice boosted, I finally caught this thing. I felt yesterday like I had turned a corner. My fever is gone, my symptoms have become slight. But I have had quite a tough week. I wouldn't say it was the sickest I have ever been in my life, but it was in the Keith Andrew Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974660907942721141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416549900603424194.post-85087407515517292332022-07-09T04:39:00.001-04:002022-07-09T04:46:14.715-04:00The War Next Door I've been in a war. Wars are horrible. But I am currently in Romania for the month of July and I was wondering prior to arrival if I would see any evidence that I am next door to a war.Romania shares a border with Ukraine. I actually illegally entered Ukraine briefly many years ago. We were on an excursion in the Danube Delta, at a place where a river divides the two countries. We crossed Keith Andrew Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974660907942721141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416549900603424194.post-35079419474503259582022-07-02T18:42:00.005-04:002022-07-02T18:53:36.409-04:00Watching Fireworks Across the Lake
Growing up in Madison, Wisconsin, watching fireworks for our family meant taking blankets and heading down to Lake Monona to find a spot to spread out at Hudson Beach and watch the fireworks display across that lake. I would estimate that these were shot off perhaps two miles from where we and so many of the neighbors sat to watch this. This was so far away that in fact, if you were to stretch Keith Andrew Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974660907942721141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416549900603424194.post-21083701645771525162021-07-09T10:42:00.001-04:002021-07-09T10:43:57.691-04:00And May Her Memory Be Eternal My mother, who died in 2004, was a terrific bowler. We know she had a 600 series. If you don't know bowling, that means she once bowled three 200 games (or the average thereof) in a three game set. We know she didn't ever bowl a 300 game, a perfect game of 12 consecutive strikes, but a 600 series is a very significant accomplishment.I also know that she picked up two very Keith Andrew Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974660907942721141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416549900603424194.post-17886956010786104142021-04-20T12:28:00.005-04:002021-04-20T14:04:23.615-04:00Dogs as Pets in Ancient IsraelIt is well known that cats were revered in Ancient Egypt. Ancient Greeks and Romans had domesticated dogs as both pets and household guard animals, evidenced by the mosaic below from Pompeii, Cave Canem, "Beware of Dog."But did ancient Jews up to and including the Roman period have household pets? While the evidence is scanty, in this post I will demonstrate that, despite the status of dogs as anKeith Andrew Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974660907942721141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416549900603424194.post-83713741254925201952020-09-17T13:25:00.000-04:002020-09-17T13:25:36.557-04:00Why You're Seeing So Many Dead Squirrels on the Road Right NowAnecdotally, people are reporting seeing an unusually large number of squirrels, hit by cars and killed, on the road right now. I killed one myself just this morning on the way to work. This happened in the center lane of an interstate with three lanes going each direction. That squirrel had no business being there!And if I had attempted to avoid running over that pool fellow, I would have Keith Andrew Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974660907942721141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416549900603424194.post-37603423182737138612020-08-25T12:39:00.003-04:002020-08-25T12:43:55.577-04:00Learn a Language with Dr. MasseyIn my continuing mission to help promote language learning, I have made some videos describing how I first began learning languages and how people can achieve this worthy goal themselves.Learn a Language with Dr. Massey: The Hows and/or Whys:
Learn a Language with Dr. Massey: Practical Methods for Success:
Follow the links in the descriptions of the videos to go to my language learning Keith Andrew Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974660907942721141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416549900603424194.post-23698874642947635582020-05-16T15:25:00.002-04:002020-05-16T15:25:22.360-04:00COVID-19, He or She?Now, in English, the title of this blog post makes no sense. But for Romance languages, in which everything has gender (and in Romanian, still a neuter without gender), a word must have a gender so we know what forms of adjectives to use when we describe it.
I stumbled upon the interesting issue of the French Language Academy (L'Académie Française), charged with authoritatively issuing rulings Keith Andrew Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974660907942721141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416549900603424194.post-8160276191189140622020-05-10T18:41:00.002-04:002020-05-10T18:41:45.841-04:00The Story of the Novel "A Place of Brightness"
Introduction
I am married to a Romanian-American and, as school teachers, we spend our Summers there (though unfortunately not this Summer, due to COVID-19).
In the Summer of 2010, while we were in Romania, I happened to see on the television a story about how, in 1962, the Communists there finally managed to crush an anti-Communist insurrection that had struggled for some years against the Keith Andrew Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974660907942721141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416549900603424194.post-62348415220545989092020-05-03T11:04:00.001-04:002020-05-03T11:05:25.697-04:00A Latin Language Version of "Here Comes the Sun" - Latin Teachers Greet their Students During Quarantine!
As I was nearing completion of the music side of a Latin language cover version of George Harrison's "Here Comes the Sun," the idea struck me that the video version needed to be a way for Latin teachers to greet and encourage their Latin students as we all struggle through this unprecedented experience of Distance Learning.
With the help of Meghan Kiernan, who is a better connected Keith Andrew Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974660907942721141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416549900603424194.post-47744051908825394042020-03-31T17:12:00.003-04:002020-04-03T19:15:39.380-04:00Actual Footage of Teachers...In this post I will be presenting a series of video tributes to fellow teachers managing through difficult times with ingenuity and grace.
Actual Footage of Teachers Exhausted from Distance Learning Yet Knowing this Won't be Over Any Time Soon:
Actual Footage of Teachers Preparing to Teach Through Distance Learning with Very Little Warning:
Actual Footage of Teachers Preparing for Keith Andrew Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974660907942721141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416549900603424194.post-88822216101678570952020-03-24T18:11:00.001-04:002020-03-24T18:11:39.869-04:00A Bit of Positivity...In 2004, as I was getting ready to go on my deployment to Iraq, I had told the manager of my apartment building that I had a plant that I would like to leave with them to water in my absence.
I was over the Atlantic when I remembered that, in the midst of all the details of leaving, I had forgotten to bring it to them. I can remember taking a sip from the glass of wine I had in my hand andKeith Andrew Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974660907942721141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416549900603424194.post-56058239169483133292020-02-06T18:30:00.000-05:002020-02-06T18:30:11.865-05:00An Italic Etymology of the word PIZZA
Pizza is an amazing combination of textures and tastes, affording
one an almost limitless variety of ways to combine ingredients to personalize
their experience. But where did pizza as we know it come from? More
specifically, what is the origin of the word PIZZA? In this post I will offer a
new proposal for the etymology of PIZZA. I will suggest that pizza as we know
it--and call it--is far Keith Andrew Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974660907942721141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416549900603424194.post-26030671542877076992020-02-05T09:17:00.000-05:002020-02-05T09:17:00.410-05:00My For-Educational-Use-Only Latin Language Version of YesterdayHere is the video of my latest Latin language cover song, Yesterday (Lennon/McCartney)
Below the video you can find the lyrics, English and Latin. If you are a Latin teacher, I hope this video enlivens the language for your students. If you are not, I hope you are entertained.
Yesterday (Lennon-McCartney)
Heri
Yesterday, all my troubles seemed
so far away.
Keith Andrew Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974660907942721141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416549900603424194.post-81372649028370212772020-01-01T13:25:00.002-05:002020-01-01T13:46:43.259-05:00A New Decade Has Indeed Begun - And Another Begins Next YearI've seen a number of case where someone has talked about the new decade beginning, and someone jumps in to "correct" them, informing them that, no, the new decade does not actually begin until 2021. Here's an exploration of these matters.
Definition of the Word Decade
Our word decade comes to us from the Latin word decas (genitive decadis), meaning "a set of ten." The Romans had borrowed Keith Andrew Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974660907942721141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416549900603424194.post-56699368521501622842019-12-31T15:18:00.002-05:002019-12-31T15:18:12.580-05:00Latin Quotes Worth Knowing: De BibendoWhile we of course suggest moderate enjoyment of the fruit of the vine, on the occasion of New Year's Eve, I figured I would explore some of the quotes worth knowing about the subject of drinking.
The first go to classic is, of course:
nunc est bibendum.
Now is the time for drinking.
(Horace, Ode 1.37)
Now, that's not a literal translation, which would be, rending the gerundive construction, "Keith Andrew Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974660907942721141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416549900603424194.post-84986352156712485572019-12-30T15:24:00.006-05:002020-05-08T16:50:21.282-04:00Latin Quotes Worth Knowing: The Best Made Plans...Publilius Syrus was a slave brought from his native Syria to Roman Italy and managed to earn his freedom, become educated and famous, and leave us with a delightful collection of moral maxims.
Here is one worth knowing:
malum est consilium quod mutari non potest.
It is a bad plan which cannot be changed.
(Maxim 469)
This is advice worth noting as many of us are making New Year's Resolutions. Keith Andrew Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974660907942721141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416549900603424194.post-13857807523585740412019-12-29T14:42:00.001-05:002019-12-29T14:42:13.617-05:00Latin Quotes Worth Knowing: Each One is the Craftsman of Their Own Fortune
As we approach the beginning of the New Year 2020, I will highlight a few important quotes particularly significant for positive resolutions in the upcoming year.
We begin with 4th century BCE Roman statesman Appius Claudius Caecus.
The historian Sallust, in a letter to Caesar, preserves the quote for us from lost works of Appius:
Appius ait, "Fabrum esse suae quemque fortunae."
AppiusKeith Andrew Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974660907942721141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416549900603424194.post-63009088729277719302019-12-27T17:24:00.000-05:002019-12-27T17:24:22.544-05:00Latin Quotes Worth Knowing: Caecilius Statius on "Trees"Cicero, writing in his treatise Cato Maior De Senectute (1.24 [Concerning Old Age]), quotes a playwright whose works are only known to us through scattered quotes such as what he provides us here:
Caecilius Statius:
Serit arbores, quae alteri saeclo prosint.
He plants trees, which benefit another generation.
The idea is, a tree will not benefit you yourself, but you enjoy trees today because Keith Andrew Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974660907942721141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416549900603424194.post-28777124364757197752019-12-26T16:08:00.000-05:002019-12-26T16:08:24.525-05:00Regarding Widows, Widowers, and What If?The word 'widow' is well-attested throughout the Indo-European family, recognizably cognate to the English. Note the following:
English
widow
Latin
vidua
Russian
вдова (vdova)
Sanskrit
विधवा (vidhava)
Persian
بیوه (viveh)
The Proto-Indo-European antecedent can likely be reconstructed as being close to the Keith Andrew Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974660907942721141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416549900603424194.post-42267192072170784102019-12-24T15:15:00.000-05:002019-12-24T15:23:59.587-05:00Boris Johnson Recites a Passage of the Iliad in Ancient Greek from Memory: Should We Be Impressed?Even though the interview in question was in 2013, I see circulating on Social Media today competing opinions regarding Prime Minister Boris Johnson's ability to recite, impromptu and from memory, a lengthy passage from the Iliad. Watch the performance here:
Some were, not surprisingly, impressed. The day's study of this seems to have been prompted by this Twitter post, which does indeed Keith Andrew Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974660907942721141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416549900603424194.post-63028804784373768462019-12-23T12:39:00.002-05:002019-12-23T12:39:55.984-05:00My Latin language of Jingle Bells (Tinniat) -- Reused in Three Fun Ways!My Latin language version of Jingle Bells (Tinniat) is doing very well this holiday season. The Youtube version has passed 180,000 views and it is getting hundreds of streams on Spotify daily!
I only recently learned, however, that my version of the song has been used by other Youtubers to produce new content. And I describe my absolute favorite last.
Firstly, Daniel LaBelle has produced three Keith Andrew Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974660907942721141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416549900603424194.post-77850664050105078662019-12-01T14:42:00.002-05:002019-12-01T14:42:24.350-05:00A Latin Language Version of Rudolph the Red Nosed ReindeerI have been on a hiatus from producing new Latin cover songs ever since I was ordained a cleric in the Russian Orthodox Church. Balancing the demands of my full-time teaching job and my parish responsibilities had for a long time knocked me out of production mode on what I do truly adore doing--making videos both fun and educational for the promotion of Latin language learning.
But I'm back! &Keith Andrew Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974660907942721141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8416549900603424194.post-71117944478369010932019-10-15T18:12:00.005-04:002019-10-15T18:13:17.491-04:00Latin Quotes Worth Knowing: Vitae Necisque Potestas (The Authority of the Pater Familias)
The Pater Familias
In ancient Rome, the oldest living male in one's paternal family was known as your Pater Familias, "The Father of the Family."
And the power the Pater Familias wielded was absolute and severe within the family.
It was described, in Roman custom as Vitae Necisque Potestas, The Power of Life and Death. And by death, we mean the right to kill.
Vitae Necisque Potestas
The Keith Andrew Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974660907942721141noreply@blogger.com0