(no subject)

I did a bunch of housekeeping and computer housekeeping yesterday. So why is there as much again to do today?

I want a weekend day today. I have five more books and about 6 articles to read then I hae done my reading for the encyclopedia thingie. This means I have extracted crucial information from 45 books in two days, not to mention the articles. I had this grand dream of getting the article done tomorrow and I could. But then I would pay the physical price. I don't want even moderate pain this week. So today is an almost-weekend day. Gentle work. No pushing. I need to remember the flu-thing and my normal limits and that I am teaching heaps this week. I need to remember dates and times and months and things too. It's a busy time of year.

You know what I think? I think I need help remembering. My mother uses a cool electronic device. I might fall back on older methods. The cookbooks can stay where they are- you are about to get some rhymes in my next posts so that you, too, can remember things.

My memory devices

From Harley 2341

"Thirti dayes hath nouembir,
April, iune, and septembir;
Of xxviii is but oon,
And all the remenaunt xxx and j."

From Harley 2251 - handy for medicine *and* character design (except that I would lay bets on the author of this having red hair and a sanguine visage)

"Sanguineus:
Off yiftes large, in love hath grete delite,
Ocunde an gladde, ay of laughyng chiere,
Of ruddy colour meynt somdel with white;
Disposed by kynde to be a champioun,
Hardy I-nough, manly, and bold of chiere.
Of the sangwyne also it is a signe,
To be demure, rigth curteys, and benynge.

Colericus:
The Coleryk: froward and of disceyte,
Irous in hert, prodigal in expence,
Hardy also, and worchith ay by sleyght.
Sklendre and smalle, ful light in existence,
Right drye of nature for the grete fervence
Of heete; and the coleryk hath this signe,
He is comunely of colour cytryne.

fflevmaticus:
The fflewmatyk is sompnolent and slower,
With humours grosse, replete, ay habundant,
To spitte Invenons the flewmatik is knowe,
By dulle conceyte and voyde, vnsuffiaunt
The sutill art to complice or haunt;
ffat of kynde, the flewmous, men may trace,
And know hym best by whitnes of his face.

Malencolicus:
The Malencolicus this men espye:
He is thought and sette in covetise,
Replenysshith full of fretyng envie;
His hert servith hym to spende in no wise,
Trayterous frawde full wele can he devise;
Coward of kynde whan he shuld be aman,
Thow shalt hym knowe by visage pale and wan."

Again for writers, it's handy to know what your characters were supposed to be doing before they got lured away into that quest-thing:
Oxford, Digby, 88

Each line represents a month, starting with January, and ending (oddly) with December. Even more oddly, the months are in calendar order.

"By thys fyre I warme my handys;
And with my spade I delfe my landys.
Here I sette my thynge to sprynge;
And here I here the fowlis synge.
I am as lyght as byrde in bowe;
And I wede my corne well I-now.
With my sythe my mede I mawe;
And here I shere my corne full lowe.
And with my flayll I erne my brede;
And here I sawe my where so rede.
At Martynesmasse I kylle my swyne;
And at Cristesmasse I drynke redde wyne."