Taltos's New Writeups

Bydand (thing)

2003-02-19T17:26:40Z

A motto of the Scottish House of Gordon. It is generally accepted to mean 'abiding'. (There are two mottos for the house, the other being Animo non astutia.)

There are two theories of its origin:

Theory #1: It is a corruption of a Gaelic term. The exact term is uncertain, and, as such, the translations vary considerably. It is usually interpreted as steadfast, but also comes across as enduring, faithful, and abiding. There are further linguistic studies that indicate the more accurate meaning would be 'to stand prepared.' The implication then is that one has been and currently is standing ready, fully prepared for whatever might come. In this sense, it corresponds very closely to the United States Marine Corps motto, Sempre Fidelis.

Theory #2: Bydand is a shortened version of the Scots phrase "Bide and Fecht" meaning to stand and fight. Over the years, it came to be understood that if one were to 'bide,' one was certainly going to 'fecht.'

September 22, 2001 (thing)

2001-09-28T13:54:31Z

September 22, 2001 found me, once again, deep the in the outback of the American Heartland (this is not in and of itself surprising (it being where my home, wife, child, and dog are found), however it still astonishes me on some mornings when I first awaken).

I attended a game convention - FlatCon II. If you are not familiar with the concept, a game convention is simply an event wherein game players congegrate to share their favorite games (board games, role-playing games, miniature games, etc.), learn new ones, and generally have fun. I tried a couple of new games, notably Fairy Meat (what a great idea) and Starmada (excellent, simple system).

The highlight of the day, however, was certainly meeting Gary Gygax. No scratch that. The highlight of the day was role-playing with Gary as the game master. I played with Gary Gygax!. It was his new game Lejendary Journeys, which seemed a bit heavy on die rolling but regardless. Much fun. That evening my wife became…

How much for the little girl? (thing)

2001-08-06T18:09:30Z

MindVague's tale reminds me of one my Aunt tells a story about a trip she, my uncle, and my cousins took to North Africa many years ago.

My oldest cousin is blond and in her late teens at the time. She and my aunt were in a rug shop. Another customer in the store walked up to my aunt and said, "Your daughter, very beautiful."

aunt: "Thank you."
stranger: "How many rugs?"
aunt: "What?"
stranger: "Your daughter. How many rugs?"
aunt: "Ha ha! How many? All of these here." (gestures to a tall stack...)
stranger: "These here?" (with little hesitation...)

At this point the proprietor of the rug shop figured out what was going on and came rushing over, "No, no, he is serious. He will buy your daughter." I imagine he was familiar enough with Western Culture to think that that he may get in trouble...

Unilateral Renal Agenesis (thing)

2001-07-18T13:20:53Z

As a card carrying member of the Unilateral Renal Agenesis club, I have to say that it is a peculiar thing - the day you discover that you are essentially mutant. For me it was very late in life - I was 29.

The thing is, if you live a relatively healthy life, and never need x-rays or scans, then no one looks inside you to discover missing organs. In my case, I had applied for life insurance - it seemed prudent. There were some simple tests, one of which was a urine test. So then I get this cryptic note from the insurance company that I was denied and to seek medical attention. No details, no help, nothing. I had to beg and argue and cajole and get downright rude before the company would even let me know which part of the test showed what so I had something to tell my doctor when I went to see him... I am not going to rant about this now.

Anyway, it seems that I had hypertension (high blood pressure) which was causing my kidneys -…

planitia (thing)

2001-07-17T16:55:35Z

Term used in naming geographic features on other planets (or moons). It describes a large basin or low plain.

The most famous one likely being Utopia Planitia on Mars, this is a real place but is best known as a major ship yard in the fictional Star Trek universe. In the real world, the U.S. Viking 2 landed on Utopia Planitia in September of 1976.

Fossa (thing)

2001-07-17T16:52:25Z

Also used as a term to identify geographic features of other planets to denote long and narrow depressions. A few examples from Mars: