7 posts from March 2008

Discretion is the better part of valour

Mar 25, 2008
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The art of courage and discretion is a clarion cry for individuality, a turning away from slavish adherence to every fashion or beauty trend. Courage and discretion go hand in hand: the courage to dare to be yourself, the discretion not to overdo; the courage to do something unusual, the discretion to temper it.

Anne Fogarty (among other things the author of Wife Dressing: The Fine Art of Being a Well-Dressed Wife, 1959) expounds on this wise old saying. She is talking of clothing and personal style, but really it's advice that could go anywhere.

Disclaimer: I am not a wife.

Peer pressure

Mar 24, 2008
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Mob Rule | Futility Closet

http://www.futili...

When Charles Lamb's farce Mr. H failed disastrously on opening night, he joined in the hissing — because, he said, he was "so damnably afraid of being taken for the author."

So how long did it take me to discover "Vox This"?

Mar 24, 2008
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Only eight months. With a Vox This bookmarklet installed, now I might be able to dispose of my Clipmarks clutter altogether!

Although... if you compare the Peer pressure post above with the Real duels post below you have to admit that the Clipmarks "blog this" function is prettier and easier to read. Furthermore, the Clipmarks function allows for the addition of distinct commentary (i.e. a blog entry) in the one step, while Vox This requires one to edit the post once the link has been made. Vox This also annoyingly repeats the heading for the link. So perhaps no decluttering just yet...

Easter Sunday

Mar 24, 2008
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From over at Thomasina's Last Waltz...

Do you fight real duels?

Mar 20, 2008
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clipped from www.martinez-destreza.com

Yes. We fight serious and deadly duels. The challenge can come at any time from these our mortal enemies: Ego! Falsehood! Prejudice! Compromise! Vanity! Cowardice! and Ignorance!

Our weapons of defence against these are: Self-control! Truthfulness! Understanding! Firmness! Humility! Bravery! and Knowledge!

I discovered this when I took up fencing in 2001. A reasonable, if somewhat romantic, question. And this answer comes from what appears to be one of the few schools that teach classical, or historical, fencing as opposed to Olympic fencing. The main difference being that Olympic fencing is basically a sport, and if you were to follow its techniques and principles in a real duel you would surely be killed, whereas classical fencing is a martial art, such as would have been practised by young men centuries ago as they equipped themselves for self defence and general aggression.