text:
Kohonen network
Teuvo Kohonen and Timo Honkela (2007), Scholarpedia, 2(1):1568. doi:10.4249/scholarpedia.1568 revision #127841 [link to/cite this article]
Curator: Teuvo Kohonen
Timo Honkela
Ke CHEN
Graham W Griffiths
Daniel U. Thibault
Jeff McKinstry
Dr. Teuvo Kohonen, Academy of Finland
Dr. Timo Honkela, Helsinki University of Technology
Figure 1: The array of nodes in a two-dimensional SOM grid.
The Self-Organizing Map (SOM), commonly also known as Kohonen network (Kohonen 1982, Kohonen 2001) is a computational method for the visualization and analysis of high-dimensional data, especially experimentally acquired information.
3 Mathematical definition of the SOM
4 Useful instructions when applying the SOM
5 Software packages
6 Extensions of SOM
The Self-Organizing Map defines an ordered mapping, a kind of projection from a set of given data items onto a regular, usually two-dimensional grid. A model \(m_i\) is associated with each grid node (Figure 1). These models are computed by the SOM algorithm. A data item will be mapped into the node whose model is most similar to the data item, i.e., has the smallest distance from the data item in some metric.
Like a codebook vector in vector quantization, the model is then usually a certain weighted local average of the given data items in the data space. But in addition to that, when the models are computed by the SOM algorithm, they are more similar at the nearby nodes than between nodes located farther away from each other on the grid. In this way the set of the models can be regarded to constitute a similarity graph and structured 'skeleton' of the distribution of the given data items.
The SOM was originally developed for the visualization of distributions of metric vectors, such as ordered sets of measurement values or statistical attributes, but it can be shown that a SOM-type mapping can be defined for any data items, the mutual pairwise distances of which can be defined. Examples of non-vectorial data that are amenable to this method are strings of symbols and sequences of segments in organic molecules (Kohonen and Somervuo 2002).
The SOM algorithm grew out of early neural network models, especially models of associative memory and adaptive learning (cf. Kohonen 1984). A new incentive was to explain the spatial organization of the brain's functions, as observed especially in the cerebral cortex. Nonetheless the SOM was not the first step in that direction: one has to mention at least the spatially ordered line detectors of von der Malsburg (1973) and the neural field model of Amari (1980). However, the self-organizing power of these early models was rather weak. The crucial invention of Kohonen was to introduce a system model that is composed of at least two interacting subsystems of different natures. One of these subsystems is a competitive neural network that implements the winner-take-all function, but there is also another subsystem that is controlled by the neural network and which modifies the local synaptic plasticity of the neurons in learning. The learning is restricted spatially to the local neighborhood of the most active neurons. The plasticity-control subsystem could be based on nonspecific neural interactions, but more probably it is a chemical control effect. Only by means of the separation of the neural signal transfer and the plasticity control has it become possible to implement an effective and robust self-organizing system.
Figure 2: Left image: Models of acoustic spectra of Finnish phonemes, organized on an SOM.
Right image: Calibration of the models into phonemic classes. The symbol # stands for the stop consonants /k,p,t/.
Nonetheless, the SOM principle can also be expressed mathematically in a pure abstract form, without reference to any underlying neural or other components. The first application area of the SOM was speech recognition (see Figure 2). In its abstract form, the SOM has come into widespread use in data analysis and data exploration (Kaski et al. 1998, Oja et al. 2003, Pöllä et al. 2007).
Mathematical definition of the SOM
Consider first data items that are \(n\)-dimensional Euclidean vectors \[ x(t) = [\xi_1 (t), \xi_2 (t), \ldots , \xi_n (t)] \ .\]
Here \(t\) is the index of the data item in a given sequence. Let the \(i\)th model be \(m_i (t) = [\mu_{i1} (t), \mu_{i2} (t), \ldots , \mu_{in} (t)]\ ,\) where now \(t\) denotes the index in the sequence in which the models are generated. This sequence is defined as a smoothing-type process in which the new value \(m_i (t+1)\) is computed iteratively from the old value \(m_i (t)\) and the new data item \(x (t)\) as
\[ m_i(t+1) = m_i(t) + \alpha(t) h_{ci}(t) [ x(t)-m_i(t) ].\]
Here \(\alpha (t)\) is a scalar factor that defines the size of the correction; its value decreases with the step index \(t.\) The index \(i\) refers to the model under processing, and \(c\) is the index of the model that has the smallest distance from \(x(t)\) in the Euclidean signal space. The factor \(h_{ci} (t)\) is a kind of smoothing kernel, also called the neighborhood function. It is equal to 1 when \(i = c\) and its value decreases when the distance between the models \(m_i\) and \(m_c\) on the grid increases. Moreover, the spatial width of the kernel on the grid decreases with the step index \(t\ .\) These functions of the step index, which determine the convergence, must be chosen very delicately: cf., e.g., (Kohonen 2001). The initialization of the \(m_i(1)\) is a problem also discussed in (Kohonen 2001).
Although the above iterative algorithm has been used with success in numerous applications, it has turned out that the scheme termed the Batch Map produces essentially similar results but is an order of magnitude faster. The basic idea is that for every node \(j\) in the grid, the average \(\overline{x}_j\) of all those input items \(x(t)\) is formed that have \(m_j\) as the closest model. After that, new models are computed as
\[m_i = \sum_j{n_j h_{ji}} \overline{x}_j / \sum_j{n_j h_{ji}}\]
where \(n_j\) is the number of input items mapped into the node \(j\ ,\) and the index \(j\) runs over the nodes in the neighborhood of node \(i\ .\) For the updated \(m_i\ ,\) this scheme is iterated a few times, always using the same batch of input data items to determine the updated \( \overline{x}_j\ .\)
The mathematical theory of the SOM is very complicated and only the one-dimensional case has been analyzed completely (Fort 2006). Only for a modified adaptation rule, in which the matching is averaged over \(h_{ci}\ ,\) can the SOM be derived from a specific potential function (Heskes 2001). Apparently, the SOM belongs to the "ill posed" problems in mathematics.
Useful instructions when applying the SOM
It is advisable to pay attention at least to the following recommendations in order that the resulting mappings are stable, well oriented, and topologically correct.
Form of the array: A hexagonal grid of nodes is to be preferred for visual inspection. The edges of the array ought to be rather rectangular than square, because the "elastic network" formed of the nodel vectors \(m_i\) must be oriented along with the distribution of the input \(x\) in the signal space. On the other hand, since the \(m_i\) have to approximate to the distribution of the \(x\ ,\) it is further desirable that the width and the height of the array at least roughly correspond to the major dimensions (e.g. the principal components) of the distribution of \(x\ .\)
Scaling of the vector components is a very subtle problem. One may easily realize that the orientation, or ordered "regression" of the model vectors in the input space depends on the scaling of the components (or dimensions) of the input data vectors. Especially if the data elements represent variables of different kinds and are therefore given in different scales, there does not exist any simple rule to determine what kind of rescaling is best before entering the training data into the learning algorithm. One may try heuristically justifiable rescalings and check the quality of the resulting maps, e.g., by means of Sammon's mapping (Sammon 1969) or the average quantization error. Often the normalization of all input variables such that, e.g., their variances become equal, is a useful strategy.
Learning with a small number of available training samples: In some problems, e.g., when making maps for items defined by a finite set of attributes, one does not have a large set of training samples. However, for a good statistical accuracy, the learning process may require a rather large number of training steps, and if the number of available samples is much smaller, the samples can be used reiteratively in training. The samples may be applied cyclically or in a randomly permuted order, or picked up at random from the basic set with replacement (this is called bootstrap sampling). It has turned out in practice that ordered cyclic application of the available samples is not noticeably worse than the other, statistically stringent sampling methods.
Quality of learning: Different learning processes will be obtained when starting with different initial values \(m_i(1)\ ,\) and applying different sequences of the training vectors \({x(t)}\) and different learning parameters. Of course it would be desirable for the resulting map to always be the least ambiguous one. It is obvious that some optimal map for the same input data must exist. When comparing maps with the same array structure and definition of \(h_{ci}\ ,\) the mean of \(|| x - m_c ||\) (quantization error) over the training data is a useful performance index. Therefore, an appreciable number (say, several dozen) of random initializations of the \(m_i(1)\) may be tried, and the map with the least quantization error selected.
Notice, however, that there would be no sense in comparing quantization errors for maps with different structures or \(h_{ci}\ ,\) because, e.g., it is a trivial fact that the error is minimum if \(h_{ci} = \delta_{ci}\) (Kronecker delta). When using this singular kernel, however, there is no self-organizing power left, because the algorithm will be reduced to classical vector quantization.
Data analysis, clustering and visualization by the SOM can be done using either public domain, commercial, or self-coded software. The use of self-coded software is not encouraged as there are many subtle aspects that need to be taken into account and which affect the convergence and accuracy of the algorithm.
The SOM_PAK is a collection of tools for the correct application of the SOM. This original program package was created by the SOM Programming Team of the Helsinki University of Technology especially for very large problems and it is available for download at http://www.cis.hut.fi/research/som_lvq_pak.shtml.
The SOM Toolbox is a more flexible, general-purpose software library for MATLAB implementation of the SOM algorithm, and it uses the MATLAB graphics. The SOM Toolbox software package is available for download at http://www.cis.hut.fi/projects/somtoolbox/.
Although many commercial implementations of the SOM exist for specific applications, it must be cautioned that in many of them there are fatal flaws, because all of the above precautions have not been taken into account.
Extensions of SOM
Numerous variants of the basic SOM have been suggested (cf. Kaski et al. 1998, Oja et al. 2003, and Pöllä et al. 2007). They are too many to be reviewed here. The main alternatives for the definition of the SOM models are the Generative Topographic Map (Bishop et al. 1998) and the information-based computation of the SOM models (Van Hulle 2000).
The structure of the SOM array can be made adaptive ("growing maps", Fritzke 1991), or alternatively the neighborhood relations can be defined in the input space (Martinetz et al. 1993).
The SOM principle can be modified to analyze subspace relations (Kohonen et al. 1997) or dynamic patterns (Hammer et al. 2004).
In its basic form, the SOM described in this article, as contrasted with its many variants, is in a special position because it continues the classical methods such as principal component analysis (Hotelling 1933) or multidimensional scaling (Kruskal and Wish 1978), and directly visualizes the clustering results as an easily comprehensible geometric display.
SOM variants are often introduced in the WSOM (Workshop on Self-Organizing Map) conference series that is dedicated to reporting research related to the Self-Organizing Map. Latest publications include (Laaksonen and Honkela 2011) and (Príncipe and Miikkulainen 2009).
Amari, S. (1980). Topographic organization of nerve fields. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, 42:339-364.
Bishop, C. M.; Svensén, M.; and Williams, C. K. I. (1998). GTM: The Generative Topographic Mapping. Neural Computation 10(1): 215-234.
Fort, J.-C. (2006). SOM's mathematics. Neural Networks, 19(6–7): 812–816.
Fritzke, B. (1991). Let it grow - self-organizing feature maps with problem dependent cell structure. Proceedings of ICANN 1991, Amsterdam: North-Holland, pp. 403-308.
Hammer, B.; Micheli, A.; Sperduti, A.; and Strickert, M. (2004). Recursive self-organizing network models. Neural Networks, 17(8-9):1061-1086.
Heskes, T. (2001). Self-organizing maps, vector quantization, and mixture modeling. IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks, 12:1299-1305.
Hotelling, H. (1933). Analysis of a complex of statistical variables into principal components. Journal of Educational Psychology, 24: 417-441, 498-520.
Kaski, S.; Kangas, J.; and Kohonen, T. (1998). Bibliography of self-organizing map (SOM) papers: 1981-1997. Neural Computing Surveys, 1: 102-350.
Kohonen, T. (1982). Self-organized formation of topologically correct feature maps. Biological Cybernetics, 43:59-69.
Kohonen T. (1984). Self-Organization and Associative Memory. Berlin: Springer.
Kohonen, T. (2001). Self-Organizing Maps. Third, Extended Edition. Springer Series in Information Sciences vol. 30, Berlin, Germany: Springer-Verlag, ISBN 978-3-540-67921-9
Kohonen, T.; Kaski, S.; and Lappalainen, H. (1997). Self-organized formation of various invariant-feature filters in the adaptive-subspace SOM. Neural Computation, 9: 1321-1344.
Kohonen, T.; and Somervuo, P. (2002). How to make large self-organizing maps for nonvectorial data. Neural Networks 15(8-9): 945-952.
Kruskal, J. B.; and Wish, M. (1978). Multidimensional Scaling. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.
Laaksonen, J.; and Honkela, T. (eds.) (2011). "Advances in Self-Organizing Maps, WSOM 2011", Berlin: Springer.
von der Malsburg, C. (1973). Self-organization of orientation sensitive cells in the striate cortex. Kybernetik, 14:85-100.
Martinetz, T. M.; Berkovich, S. G.; and Schulten, K. (1993). "Neural gas" for vector quantization and its application to time-series prediction. IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks, 4: 558-569.
Oja, M.; Kaski, S.; and Kohonen, T. (2003). Bibliography of Self-Organizing Map (SOM) Papers: 1998-2001 Addendum. Neural Computing Surveys, 3: 1-156.
Pöllä, M.; Honkela, T.; and Kohonen, T. (2007). Bibliography of Self-Organizing Map (SOM) Papers: 2002-2005 Addendum. Neural Computing Surveys, forthcoming.
Príncipe, J. C.; and Miikkulainen, R. (eds.) (2009). "Advances in Self-Organizing Maps, WSOM 2009", Berlin: Springer.
Sammon, J. (1969). A nonlinear mapping for data structure analysis. IEEE Transactions on Computing, 18(5):401-409.
Van Hulle, M. M. (2000). Faithful Representations and Topographic Maps: From Distortion- to Information-Based Self-Organization. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Braitenberg, Valentino (2007). Brain. Scholarpedia, 2(11):2918.
Schreiber, Rob (2007). MATLAB. Scholarpedia, 2(7):2929.
Teuvo Kohonen's website
Timo Honkela's website
Adaptive Resonance Theory, Associative Memory, Bayesian Learning, Neural Networks, Self Organization
Reviewed by: Dr. Jeff McKinstry, The Neurosciences Institute, San Diego, CA
Retrieved from "http://www.scholarpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kohonen_network&oldid=127841"
Feedforward Networks
Eponymous
"Kohonen network" by Teuvo Kohonen and Timo Honkela is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license are described in the Terms of Use


The project was carried out on the instruction of an overseas client whose family were moving to the U.K.
The existing house had a complete interior re-fit including bathrooms, kitchen, swimming pool, gym, sauna and new interior decorations and furniture. Existing mechanical and electrical services were upgraded and a new fully integrated intelligent building management system was installed.
Approval was obtained for a new car lift and the surrounding gardens were redesigned and landscaped.


Lindbergh Bay Hotel and Villas is ideal for vacationers and business guests alike. Conveniently located five minutes walking distance from Cyril E King Airport, gracious hospitality and a complimentary rum punch await your arrival. Shopping in downtown St. Thomas is a short two and a half miles away. The hotel offers everything you need for an unforgettable family vacation, romantic escape or business trip. There are garden view or ocean view rooms, or the more secluded privacy of rooms closer to the pool. All rooms feature private balconies or terraces so guests can enjoy the refreshing sea air and the Caribbean breeze. Additional amenities include sumptuous dining at Oceanside Bistro with captivating Caribbean views, an outdoor pool perched at the edge of the Caribbean Sea, concierge services and a lobby internet-equipped computer station.
Room amenities include air-conditioning, alarm clock radio, coffee/tea maker, telephone, full bathroom, hairdryer, iron/ironing board, cable television, and balcony/patio. Complimentary cribs available upon request, rollaway beds ava ilable upon request for an additional fee.
Maximum Occupancy: 4 adults, 2 children, 4 total.
Oceanside Bistro - Oceanside Bistro showcases a wide variety of dishes that celebrate the bounty of the Virgin Islands for breakfast and dinner.


Ever wondered how the Konkan coast looks like or what it would be to drive along that shoreline? Inspired by my travel along the coastline in Europe, I ventured out on my own along the Konkan coastline. Come with me and surprise yourself on this journey through this extensive coast of my country.
I started late around 9:00 AM from home in Mumbai and had a quick breakfast stopover at Shri Dutta Snacks around the circle before hitting NH 66. An early start could have saved me from the traffic within Mumbai roads. The recently repaired road towards Alibag helped me drive smoothly and it was a steady ride, considering I am always used to famous Mumbai's potholed roads. Rather than driving through the Alibaug town I decided to take a left turn much before and head towards the southern beaches.
Before you turn towards Revdanda from the Alibaug road, there are two petrol stations on each side so tank up on fuel right here.
Driving past the beautiful coconut palm lined roads alongside the village of Nagaon beach, I reached Revdanda beach at 1:00 PM. You can drive through a very small driveable lane to this beach at the end of which is a temple up on the cliff. The beach was flat with coarse dark coloured sand with no crashing waves. You can go in, I didn't. Hordes of white feathered sea birds lined up on the shallow waters of the beach and it looked beautiful. After a lazy stroll, I head back to my car and drove alongside of the road inside the fort town. One can see the remnants of the Revdanda fort walls with many small lanes allowing entry to the main fortification area. I didn't want to get inside and so I moved on.
The next beach on my route was Korlai and the view is hidden by the villages. One has to get off the main road to hit the beach by driving downhill. As I drove past the village, the road moved up and gives away to a fantastic panoramic view of the shoreline. This uphill drive curving towards and away from the sea-face at different intervals continued for a few hours and the view kept me amazed. Driving next to coastline while coming down I hit Murud where I stopped by for a quick lunch. In my mind I just had that I need to stop before it gets dark and it was already 3:00 PM.
Post lunch as soon as I resumed my journey, I could see Agardanda ferry crossing on road-side boards. It was a great relief to know that I would be able to cross the river and save a few kms extra drive. While on my way at one of the intersections I was suddenly distracted by these magnificent tombs standing on the hilltop. These Kokari tombs were built in 1600s by the Siddi Rulers of this area but are gated now. Make sure to stop by to take few pictures. Don't take right at this intersection but keep driving straight to the port. It was my first experience in India at the Agardanda-Dighi ferry crossing where I had to drive up the car into a boat and sail so felt quite unnerved and excited at the same time. The locals at the ferry crossing were very supportive so I was confidently able to park my car onboard the ferry.
It took 15 minutes to cross the river and reach Dighi. The road from here runs up and down at equal intervals beside the rock-face coastline. I crossed two pristine white flat beaches, Adgaon and Velas, with absolutely no habitat along the shoreline. It made me think, why don't we keep our beaches as clean as these ones. The sun was turning crimson and I thought of pulling over for the night. I stopped by at the next closest beach, Diveagar. On my way I could spot Exotica Beach resort run by the MTDC. It had the best location as the beach access was just across the road from this property. This beach otherwise is lined with thick plantations there's no sea view possible from the resorts. Quickly after checking in I headed to the beach and enjoyed my tea at the mobile beach shack while enjoying the first sunset on this drive.
After a healthy breakfast of poha and sheera, I started driving at 9:30 AM. Honestly, I wasn't expecting the road to be in such good condition. Cruising along the winding hilly roads of Shrivardhan I hit the Harihareshwar beach at 10:30 AM. After enjoying all the clean beaches on this journey, I was disappointed here. This dark coarse sand beach had trash all over though I could spot lot of local tourists at this beach. I didn't stay much longer on this beach and moved towards the next Vesavi-Bangmandla ferry crossing point.
It was 11:30 AM when I reached Harnai Beach. It was a very steep drive coupled with broken roads along the winding hill slopes and many hairpin bends. The uphill bumpy ride slowed me down considerably but the magnificent open expanse of the sea-face made up for all the hard work behind the wheels. This difficult ride is worth the view since its not interrupted by any tall trees or any plantations.
After crossing the next port Dabhol-Ghopave ferry crossing I could again experience a smooth drive at a good height with breathtaking view. I had to step out of my car for a while to soak in the moment before I came down the hill again.
It was already 4:00 PM and I knew I don't have much time but do the next ferry crossing before the sun sets.The Jaigad-Tavassal ferry point is supposedly operational on new site only for a year now. Please check with locals for directions or you would get lost like me and end up on deserted pier.
Having reached on time for my last ferry crossing on this journey I found lots a bikers, from Harley to Bullet to Honda, all waiting to get on board. I had a tough time as others because we couldn't fit in. Getting us all on one ferry took much manoeuvring and the ferry got delayed for nearly 30 minutes. It was like travelling on a overcrowded bus. All other ferry crossings on this route close at around 6:30 PM and have hourly ferry service unlike this one, which stays open till 10:00 PM. Each time I pulled in on the ferry and drove out, I felt more and more confident.
Jaigad has a famous fort on its sea-face but the sun was about to set, so I moved quickly after I pulled out of the boat. It was already 7:00 PM when I could spot some resorts along the coastline. I decided to stop by at Madachya Banat as I had heard about this place before. Had a lovely homemade local dinner and called it a night.
After an energizing treat of traditional thaalipeeth at breakfast next morning, I started at 9:00 AM to swiftly drive to Ganapatipule, the most famous beach of Maharashtra. I drove past the beach and the temple. It is a white beach but not so clean as I have seen in last two days. Driving past the town I reached an interesting driveway road called Aarey Warey road. Driving along the cliff edges reminded me of my tour along the Ireland's Gallway area to the Cliff's of Moher on the Atlantic coast.
This road to Ratnagiri is 25 km long well maintained road giving you a magnificent view of the Arabian sea. I stopped by a couple of times to enjoy this view and the virgin clean beaches that came along the way.
Around noon time I reached Ratnagiri and I was driving on the sun-baked plateau where landscape is more or less yellow tall grasslands and burnt orange rocky soil with a few occasional villages passing by. I reached Vijaydurg where a fort built by Adilshah and later captured by the Maratha king Shivaji in 1653 AD still stands. The road to the fort has been recently relaid so its smooth drive but the landscape still remains sun-baked dry. Though I kept driving close to the shoreline as much as possible but I was mostly on top of a plateau so a sea-view was a few hundred feet drop not visible from the road.
After a few hours ride I found roads lined with mango plantations and I realised that I have reached Devgad. This region produces the best quality Alphonso mangoes in all of Maharashtra. This Malvan area is on a considerable height from the sea level so one can feel the heat even while driving in an AC car. The famous Sindhudurg fort is a short detour from the main road and it stands on an island.
I decided to take a break for lunch as soon as I reached the next beach at Tarkali.
This beach is famous for scuba diving and its a long bay area jutting into the sea which is lined with resorts. I drove through the sleepy village road and settled on a small fish thali place for lunch, just where the road was turning away and heading inlands.
The southern part of Tarkarli is called Devbag beach and has many boutique resorts as the billboards promoted.
The drive after lunch was slow and rickety on a stretch riddled with potholes all along, it was impossible to drive faster than 30 kmph and there's no beach view from here. Also known as 'Sagari Mahamarg' this Maharashtra SH4 is in a very bad condition in this stretch.
I soon touched the next beach Vengurla at 4:00 PM. It's pure white fine sand beach. Though tourists were enjoying water sports but this beach is not so busy with resorts and shops unlike the previous one. After the busy town of Tarkarli, Vengurla is refreshing for its laid-back village lifestyle.
Vengurla is the last known beach in Maharashtra before you hit Goa though Shiroda is the last beach on this side of the state border. From here the road again entered the winding hills and I drove past a few villages to end my journey at Morjim beach in Goa.
Though shoreline of Goa is always full of activity but the quiet, clean, lonely beaches and the calm waters of the Maharashtra coastline will always remain etched in mind.
Here's a snapshot of some of the interesting moments from my journey.
Adios! Till my next escapade!
SwatCat, lovely writing..I can smell the sea and taste the lovely food. The photos are amazing. Keep writing …Wishing you more wonderful journeys!!!


text:
The hardest thing about writing is being sure that your reader will get something from the marks on the page similar to what you had in mind when you made them.
I have a bit of a problem as a musician. You see, people listening to me play don't hear the music I think I'm playing. And if I listen to a recording of my performance, it isn't nearly as good as what I thought I played. This is generally not a problem since I never try to accompany anyone else.
But a writer faces a similar but more daunting challenge. Unlike playing music for someone where you can get some idea from their expression as to whether they're enjoying the music or not, a writer must encode ideas and mental images as words on a page in a medium that can be consumed at another time and place. There's little opportunity to respond to feedback once the words have been printed and distributed. Much of the art and craft of writing comes down to learning the techniques and conventions that have been generally successful at conveying ideas to readers.
Put more simply, figuring out what I want to say is often easier than figuring out how to say it so that you'll come away thinking about roughly the same thing I had in mind.
Image: Photography by BJWOK / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Posted by Deren Hansen at 6:00 AM No comments:
Labels: free-form
[I wrote the following in March, 2009]
I've been thinking about voice as I've caught up on my Newbery reading. I was particularly struck by the voices in Niel Gaiman's The Graveyard Book and in Savvy by Ingrid Law.
Savvy is the kind of 1st person narrative that comes first to mind when we talk about voice. The 13-year-old narrator sounds like a unique individual from the beginning.
The Graveyard Book is 3rd person (with occasional narrative intrusions), but it has voice too. How so? I don't have specific examples, but it's easy to imagine that the story would have been much less charming if told differently.
The notion that voice = characters-with-attitude is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg (if it doesn't miss the point entirely). I think voice = storytelling.
Go back to the primordial camp fires. What has always set the storyteller apart from the rest? The way they tell the story. In the old days, every one knew the story but some could tell it better than others.
This gets to the heart of voice--your voice as an author: it's about how you tell the story. What do you include? What do you leave out? What do you emphasize? How do you describe things? (And a thousand other details.)
There's an analogy with photography. A thousand people might snap a shot of something but it's the photographer that produces the memorable image. Why? They say it's because he or she has an eye. What they mean is that the photographer has an interesting way of looking at things and framing images.
A photographer's eye, an author's voice; it seems to me it's about how you express your unique perspective.
Writing Wednesday
This is a very good question; one everyone with any pretense of scribbling and getting paid for it should consider carefully. With the advent of the Internet, there are more ways to share one's writing with others than ever before. Publishing in the commercial market is a trying and exhausting undertaking, and yet I've met far more people aspiring to publication than the ones who think they should be professional musicians even though the requirements for success are similar.
Why do people believe they should be published?
I heard one writer say that many people confuse their passion for reading with a desire to write.
There's a related tendency to think that because you can write, you can write better than the trash churned out by the publishers.
Many people who say they dream of being a writing really mean that they dream of having written and then basking in the glow of that accomplishment.
Like many things that take skill and dedication, it's not as easy as it looks.
If you should manage to finish a long-form writing project, it's very hard not to be sucked in by the "cute kid" syndrome: you can't believe that everyone else doesn't love your baby as much as you do.
So why do I want to publish my work?
I've thought long and hard about my own motivations. I've concluded that I want to write for the commercial market because I want economic permission to keep playing in the universe of my imagination--much like the intrepid explorer presenting the findings from one expedition to the geographical society to convince them to support subsequent expeditions.
Labels: writing
A book called The Checklist Manifesto* has been getting a fair amount of attention recently. And rightly so: its message that complexity can be managed through the time-honored (if often only in the breach) pattern of a check list.
Here's what Steven D. Levitt at the Freakonomics blog had to say about the book:
The book's main point is simple: no matter how expert you may be, well-designed check lists can improve outcomes (even for Gawande's own surgical team). The best-known use of checklists is by airplane pilots. Among the many interesting stories in the book is how this dedication to checklists arose among pilots.
I have not read this book yet, but I wanted to mention it to show that I'm not the only one who thinks checklists are a good idea.
But in the particular context of little systems, I wanted to lead off with an example with which people should have some familiarity. A check list, you see, is a canonical example of a little system. Like the mark etched on the coffee pots, check lists simplify a process by reducing it to a series of small steps or checks.
The magic is not in the list, but the steps. A list like:
Find site for evil lair
Recruit minions
Invent doomsday device
Take over world
Isn't a check list because the steps are both large and nebulous. The steps in a check list need to be small and concrete. Ideally, the steps shouldn't require much thought: is an item present or not? is the system functioning or not.
It's not that little systems like check lists take away our responsibility to think, it's that they help us simplify what would otherwise be a complex situation.
What common activities can you simplify with a check list?
* I receive no benefit for the Amazon link. I've provided it simply as a courtesy.
Image: luigi diamanti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Labels: techniques
Systems and structures have been a fundamental part of the way I understand the world for as long as I can remember. If it's not the innate product of some gene, then the genesis of my systematic perspective probably dates back to the Lego™ set I had as a child.
I received both formal and informal training in systems at school: I was influenced by the book, Gödel, Escher, Bach, and I took a course called Systems Dynamics. After all of that, I can give you the following brief definition: a system is a set of symbols and the rules by which those symbols may be manipulated.
That may sound pretty abstract, but in simple, concrete terms, a system is a game. The symbols are the pieces or the players, and the rules are ... the rules.
If you stop and think about it, practically everything in the human world is a system: all our technology, our laws, our businesses, and most kinds of social interactions involve things that can be manipulated and rules for manipulating them.
Even things that appear to be single objects can be systems in both their structure and the sequence of operations by which they are produced.
A systematic perspective is at the core of the practical arts of the makers. Put another way, to be a maker, you must understand the relationships between the whole and the parts.
Politics has always been a dangerous game, but of late the sport as played in the US seems to have become increasingly divisive.
That said, I have some good news for young people who feel trapped in a teenage wasteland: some of the stuff you come up with may have lasting value.
Case in point: in high school, Anthony Ferro and I decided that our school government needed an infusion of nerd energy so we ran for student body president and VP. Since we thought more broadly than many of our class mates, the first order of business was to form an appropriate political party: RSMSLWALF (pronounced "rams-walf").
RSMSLWALF stands for the Right Side of the Middle of the Stream Left Wing Apathetics Liberation Front.
Given the pundit-fueled shouting matches parading by on the evening news that pass for political discourse, and how little I care for people who are more concerned with disagreeing than solving problems, perhaps it's time to liberate like-mined apathetics; perhaps it's time for RSMSLWALF!
For me, The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster was an early experience with a something surreal that said more to me than the real.
Even as a child, I knew that the story was about abstractions, but that didn't stop it from being a hyper-real experience. I was there with Milo as he conducted the chromatic orchestra and saw the vivid hues of the proper sunrise and well as the unreal colors when the orchestra got out of control. And even though I was on-board 100% with the closing message of finding the wonder in the world around us, the melancholy I felt when Milo left Rhyme and Reason and drove back past the toll booth was lightened by the hope that I might receive a toll booth in the mail one day.
Published in 1961, it might come off as a bit too didactic by current standards. But that doesn't stop the book from having a cherished place as a classic in my personal library.
While looking up the references, I came across a note that Warner Brothers is developing a remake of the Phantom Tollbooth. And a plea on the Normality Restored blog for Hollywood to leave this one alone. I say, "amen."
Why do I write fiction? Because sometimes the jester is the only one in the court who can speak the truth. And because sometimes the untrue is more true than the true.
One of the fundamental rules of writing is, "Show, don't tell." This is actually a fundamental rule for life; people are much more willing to adopt an idea if you show them how to arrive at the notion themselves than if you hand it to them finished, polished, and ready to place on their mantle. A story can be spun that shows how concepts affect the lives of one's characters much more clearly than trying to find an example in the life of an actual person.
One of the things I learned in graduate school is that there is no such thing as "objective" history; every attempt to recapture the past is an interpretation in which some things are emphasized more than others. We build models for the same reason: to emphasize some aspects of the thing being modeled while ignoring others. In other words, models are a simplification of reality. Fiction is the literary equivalent of model making.
What are your favorite examples of a work of fiction that expresses a truth better than reality?
Time and again, I'll learn of a new idea, particularly in software development, only to find that it's something I'm doing or already understand, though perhaps not in quite the terms or with quite the eloquence of the new explanation.
I had that experience years ago when I read Jim McCarthy's Dynamics of Software Development and came to his discussion of little systems.
Jim gave the example of a pair of coffee shops in Seattle (this was before all coffee shops were Starbucks shops--sometime in the late Cretaceous, I think). In one shop, the coffee was consistently excellent. In the other, it was hit-or-miss. The shops were the same in all material aspects: similar facilities, locations, offerings, staff, and clients. The only difference was that in the consistently good shop all the pots had been etched with a line about half-an-inch from the bottom and there was a standing rule that if the level fell below the line the staff was to brew a new pot.
That line made a significant difference because when things got busy in the hit-or-miss shop the staff wouldn't notice they were out until they drained a pot. Then customers had to wait until the staff brewed a new pot. If there were too many people in line, the temptation to pull the pot early would become irresistible.
In terms of software development, Jim pointed out that where big, complex development systems generally only succeed in preventing productivity, small systems can provide a big productivity boost.
The coffee pot system is about as simple as they come: one mark and one rule. If I hadn't labeled it as a "little system," you might likely have barely noticed it if you were being trained to work in that shop. The key point is that little systems blend into the background and become nothing more than "the way we do things here." If the system requires enough ceremony that you notice when you use the system, it's too big.
You probably already use a number of little systems. I, for example, make a point of paying when I receive a bill when I receive it (arguments about earning every micro-cent of interest by waiting till the last moment aside) because it gives me the mental space to focus on my writing without worrying that I've forgotten to honor an obligation.
What little systems have you developed? I'm particularly interested in the ones that help you when you're making.
Sometimes, it's easier to define something in terms of what it is not. In the case of makers, they stand in opposition to users.
Where makers believe that, at some level, a thing has intrinsic worth and thus a right to exist apart from all other things, users believe that things have a right to exist only as a means to an end.
Here's a simple example: many of the settlers of European descent coming into the western part of North America declared vast portions to be "wastelands" because they couldn't be used for agriculture.
Now, to be clear, in an absolute sense we are all users. At meal time, we generally don't concern ourselves about the rights of the animals and vegetables we consume to exist independently because they have become a means to the end of our own existence.
The difference I'm trying to get at is, at one level, a relative one, but at another it's deeply significant: for the users, nothing is sacred. The contrast is illustrated in the (perhaps apocryphal) story that the Indian hunter would apologize for killing the deer, thanking it for what he needed to feed his family while the buffalo hunters simply slaughtered the animals because they were a nuisance.
Users see the value in a thing as long as it serves their purposes.
Makers, like parents bringing a child into the world, look forward to the day when the thing they created takes on a life of its own.
I felt compelled to comment about the genre of young adult literature after listening to the March 14th Writing Excuses Podcast,* not because I take exception but because I think I have a crisper definition of "young adult."
Under the title of "Writing for Young Adults," they touched on the conventions that define the genre in terms of age (young adult = teenagers) and subject matter (high school with its social dynamics, particularly first loves). To their credit, they tried to get beyond those conventions. They talked around several important ideas but didn't land on what I think is the key distinction: young adult is essentially about the transition between childhood and adulthood.
Of course, not every story involving a teenager is about the transition. In fact, there are lots of stories about teenagers who never really change. Those stories are "young adult" only in the loose sense that their protagonists and most of their characters fall into the right age range.
But in a broader sense, because the transition between childhood and adulthood is such a fundamental part of those years, it's difficult to tell stories involving young people without at least touching upon the fact that they are in the middle of becoming something other than what they were.
Besides the rich opportunities for conflict (and the clichés of angst-ridden, perpetually depressed teenagers), one of the reasons I enjoy spinning stories in and about the great transition is that it is a time of life that is essentially hopeful: change is unavoidable and carries the prospect of becoming something better and more wonderful than you ever imagined. Adults, on the other hand, have largely shaped themselves into that they will be: change is much more difficult and hence much rarer.
Because of the hopeful possibilities implicit in the transition between childhood and adulthood, I've focus my efforts on producing thoughtful books for people navigating the Great Between.
* A transcript of the podcast is available at the A Word in Your Eye blog.
Today's theme doesn't guarantee humor. Free-form Friday is analogous to the "Potpourri" category on the game show Jeopardy. In that vein, I offer an entry in my future FAQ.* While it may seem dangerously close to counting one's chickens before they hatch, here is my answer to one of the questions I anticipate after I've published a number of books.
Which of your books is your favorite?
If you tell me which of your children is your favorite, I'll tell you which of my books is my favorite.
"Wait," you say, "that's not fair!"
My point exactly.
If you're still not going to let me off the hook, may I say, "All of them?"
No? I can only name one? Then I'll say, "The one I'm currently writing."
*FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions
Influential Book: The Chronicles of Prydain and Taran Wanderer
One of the series I read after The Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings was Lloyd Alexander's The Chronicles of Prydain.
I owe my sense of Wales as a magical place almost entirely to Mr. Alexander's books.
When I read the entire series to my son several years ago, I saw with my adult eyes that they are perhaps not the pinnacle of literary expression but they still spoke to me. They spoke to me in a powerful way when I read them for the first time as a young person. I was captivated by Taran's journey from assistant pig-keeper to King of Prydain. I think the theme of growing and becoming resonated strongly with me as I undertook my own journey through the great between we call the teenage years.
Perhaps that's why the fourth volume, Taran' Wanderer is my favorite. The story of Taran's attempts to find his place in the world through a series of apprenticeships directly addressed my own hopes and fears. As I followed along with Taran, it was almost as if I were reading a guide to maturation and an introduction to manly virtues.
I think this is more a commentary on me and what I brought to the books than on the books themselves. But isn't that what makes a work influential: what you bring to and take away from the experience of the work?
Posted by Deren Hansen at 6:00 AM 1 comment:
Of those who suffer from the pretense (or compulsion) to scribble, some undertake to produce the kind of longer works we call books. If it is a bit presumptuous to think that someone else will want to read a blog entry or article, it must be the height of presumption to think that someone else will want to spend eight to ten hours reading your words.
But you can weave a sort of magic with long-form works; you can conjure a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts. Think of a symphony where a motif reappears, juxtaposed with a different theme and suddenly it speaks to you in a whole new way. Or consider the way two people who who have known each other a long time and speak volumes with a word, a gesture, of even a glance.
You see, at a fundamental level, context creates meaning. Why are your children more significant to you than other children? You know their context, sometimes even better than they do.
Long-form works can provide more context, which can make their key moments more meaningful. Notice the conditionals? The long form doesn't guarantee greater significance, it only makes it possible.
One of the fundamental ideas I want to consider and share in my writing is the basic notion of getting beyond one's self. One of the first ways to do so is to become aware of your context. While there are short stories about enlightenment (most religions traditions have a number of such stories), a full exploration practically demands the longer form.
Put another way, learning is much like a journey. You can learn a few things from a short trip. You can learn many things from a longer excursion. The difference comes from the number of opportunities for learning you can embrace in a given amount of time.
I have a lot that I would like to share--stories to tell and ideas to consider--and so I invite you to join me for the journey. I hope to delight you with the long-form as characters and events weave together into a whole that says more than any one of the parts.
Posted by Deren Hansen at 8:44 PM 2 comments:
I acquired my first laptop in 1998. It was a state-of-the-art Pentium II with 64 MB of memory and a 4 GB hard drive. Most phones now have more computing power than that.
I mention this old system because as the years passed, I took increasing pride in keeping it running and doing useful work for me. Once it could no longer run the current Windows operating system, I found a small version of Linux and had a perfectly capable system that could browse the internet and support the usual reading and writing tasks. Of course as newer laptops became lighter and more powerful it became more challenging to find tasks that weren't too much trouble to do on the old laptop.
I thought I'd found a perfect use for the old system as the mobile text editor on which to draft my book. The Linux distribution gave me a character-mode editor, the system was old enough that it was easy to turn off all internet-related distractions, and as a laptop, I could take it to a quiet part of the house where I wouldn't be distracted by the work-related materials that littered my desk.
The arrangement ended when the laptop's screen died. The tragedy was that the system worked just fine with an external monitor. But since mobility was a big part of the value the system provided me, I reluctantly decided that it was time to upgrade.
Because I have other computers, I chose a netbook: specifically, an Acer Aspire One AOD250*. I've provided a link and the image to give you a point of references, and not to recommend this particular system above other netbooks.
Some people call netbooks underpowered laptops and claim that they can barely keep up with modern applications. That may well be. I did remove a fair amount of shovel-ware**. But because I use the system as a text editor, it's been more than powerful enough for my needs.
That's what I expected. What I didn't expect is how useful the fact that it's small, light, and will run for eight to nine hours before the battery needs to be charged would be. Put another way, I've found myself using the netbook far more than I anticipated.
So, if you're looking for a writing platform, you may want to think seriously about a netbook.
* I have no connection with Acer and received no consideration for this mention.
** Shovel-ware: software of variable value included with a system by the manufacturer.
Posted by Deren Hansen at 6:00 AM 2 comments:
In the charter statement for this blog, I wrote:
In order to focus on the quality and integrity of a thing it needs to have some intrinsic worth. In philosophic terms, it must, in some sense, be an end in and of itself. Quality becomes accidental, or at best conditional, when the thing is merely an means to some other end.
Integrity? Means? Ends?
Let's be clear on these ideas.
Many people think integrity means being honest. Good sailors and science fiction fans know the term, "hull integrity." While a sailor might say that, "She's an honest ship, good and true," they're not really talking about the moral character of the boat. They're referring to the soundness of the design and construction.
Integrity really means wholeness or completeness. So, a person who is morally complete would be honest, but that's only a facet of their integrity.
The object or goal of one's efforts. The purpose for which something in undertaken. What you're trying to do.
The methods by which one can pursue or achieve their ends. How you're trying to do it.
It's probably clear that not all possible goals are good. That's why, for example, it's hard to believe the over-the-top villain who wants to destroy his own world (and presumably himself in the process).
Many people, however, get hung up on the problem that even when we have an end we all agree is good, not all means of achieving that end are good. Hence the aphorism that the ends don't justify the means.
Utilitarianism presents a related but more subtle trap: attributing no worth to a thing that doesn't serve a purpose.
Makers, of course, are keenly aware of utility: if a thing doesn't function as intended its making isn't finished. But makers also comprehend the beauty of a thing in itself, apart from any particular utility. That is how they come to know and understand its integrity.
I should probably begin by explaining the flotilla of flummoxing flamingos.
Here's the offending line:
The next morning, Penderwick's front walk was blocked, again, by a flotilla of flummoxing flamingos.
It all came about because my friend, Pat Martinez, invited us to play with the present participle in adjective form.
"We can take a plain old verb and change it to a present participle by simply adding ing. We can then use it to modify a noun. Notice the fun language and description that comes to life."
It was a fun little exercise, but fun can lead to trouble: now I need to know who Penderwick is and why he seems to be afflicted with flamingos.
Image: Darren Robertson / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
The first fantasy book that captured and catalyzed my imagination was the last book in the Chronicles of Narnia. I stumble upon The Last Battle in my elementary school library after exhausting their meager collection of books on World War II. I think it was the "battle" in the title that originally caught my eye.
I was mesmerized by the apocalyptic themes (it was easy to entertain apocalyptic notions during a time when everyone assumed nuclear war was inevitable) and enthralled by the conceptual scope of the fantasy. I found the theme of ever expanding vistas of worlds wider and richer than the one we know to be particularly compelling.
The transcendental surrealism (not a label I had at the time) of the story was far more effective than a mind-expanding drug. I got my first taste of the way in which one could understand something more deeply and vibrantly if they were unencumbered by the constraints of ordinary experience.
And that was it: one (metaphorical) puff and I was hooked.
What was the first fantasy novel you read?
Why do I write? The simplest answer is that, like everyone else, I need to express myself. And of the many modes of self-expression, I prefer those that are more permanent (than, say, a dance) when I need to "sound my barbaric YAWP over the roofs of the world."*
Indeed, if we define writing as assembling sequences of symbols in some medium--signatures, lists, notes, messages, letters, email, presentations, reports, and so on--almost everyone writes. Like ants who live in an exquisitely complex world of chemical signals, we live in a constant stream of encoded symbols.
But very few of us call ourselves writers. That's because "writers" produce a particular kind of writing: work that is consumed by people in general instead of someone in particular.
There is a question everyone who has ever flirted with the fantasy of writing for general consumption must answer for themselves: "Why do you think you can and should write things that others will want to read?"
There are many answers, but after you peel away motives like vanity and fame that can't endure the grueling course that is the life of writing, the only sustainable answer is that you write because you must.
I write because that's the only way to appease, at least for a time, the voices in my head.
* Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, Stanza 52
Let me begin by confessing that I'm still trying to work out what topics are appropriate for this theme. So, in the interim, I'm going to dive right into some technology. (Yes, it's the blogging equivalent of the magician waving a handkerchief to distract you while the assistant wheels the elephant onto the stage.)
I started playing with computers when green screen, character-mode displays were state-of-the art (I preferred amber over green, but that's another story). The original Macintosh (yes, that's what they were before they became hip enough to afford a three-letter name), splashed onto the scene with a full-time graphical user interface (GUI).
A few years later, folks from the English department at the University of Delaware published a study in which they argued that the quality of freshman papers written on a Macintosh was lower than those written on PC-class computers with character-mode displays. Oh, the papers produced on Macs looked better with well-laid-out text and proportional fonts, but (so the authors of the study claimed) the content of those papers was less well-thought-out than the papers composed without the graphical blandishments.* They suggested that this was because the students tended to believe that their papers were good (and more importantly finished) because they looked good.
The study and its claims were controversial. But I think there was a kernel of truth in the observation that there's value in a writing system that gets out of the way between you and your words; that removes even the little distractions life formatting.
Of course, now that we all use graphical interfaces the point may seem moot or at best hopelessly retro. Perhaps, but there are several applications for various platforms that give you a full screen with nothing there but your words.
I used a package called Write Monkey** on my Windows systems to finish drafting my current manuscript after I fell under the oppression of gainful employment and had substantially less time to write.
Having an editor in which I could focus entirely on my words helped me use my limited writing time well. You can achieve a similar effect with the Full Screen mode in your standard word processor. Perhaps it was the retro angle, but I enjoyed the way, Matrix-like, that the black background faded away and the words seemed to float free.
Of course, life is ever as simple as it should be and Write Monkey has its drawbacks, most of which come back to the fact that it is a text editor, not a word processor. This means that you get plain double quotes instead of the nice opening and closing quotes that Word supplies as you type. Also, Write Monkey doesn't convert a pair of dashes into an em-dash (again, like Word). I turned this liability into a feature: after writing about a chapter with Write Monkey, I import the text into Word and use the fact that quotes and em-dashes need to be corrected as an excuse to edit the new material.
For those of you who prefer Macs, I understand that Writeroom provides similar functionality. There's also JDarkRoom, which is written in Java and should run on your platform of choice.
What tools have you found that help you concentrate on your writing?
* Graphical Blandishments - that's how the animators for the Charlie Brown specials were credited.
** I have no connection with Write Monkey and received no consideration for this mention.
The simple (and simplistic answer) is someone who makes. Of course, the problem with a simple answer is that it doesn't work as often as it works.
What do I mean?
Consider the analogous question, "What is a writer?"* If we answer in an equally simplistic fashion, that a writer is someone who writes, then we've included everyone who arranges letters into words, from a thug scrawling graffiti to the author of a thousand page tome, in the definition. Implicit in the question is the qualifying assumption that others must find some value in your work to be a writer.
So, to play with the analogy, a maker would be someone whose work others value. That definition, at least, allows us to exclude, for example, people who make messes.
Oh, you might say, you mean creative types: artists, musicians, designers, etc.
Yes, but I also mean engineers. You see the making I'm getting at involves both hemispheres of the brain: on their own, right-brain passion and left-brain pragmatism produce works devoid of life. Both must be involved to bring a new thing into the universe.
Put another way, bright ideas (generally valued at a dime a dozen) are only the genesis of making. A true maker has both the skill and the fortitude to do the work (sometimes hard, sometimes tedious) to realize the idea and bring it to its final form.
To illustrate with writers, many people have ideas that could be great stories or books. What sets the writer apart from the many people is that they do the work to turn a, "Wouldn't it be cool if ...," into three or four hundred pages of coherent, entertaining prose.
Does that make sense? What do you think?
* We're speaking colloquially here. It would be more accurate to ask, "What set of activities and attributes are necessary and sufficient to call someone a writer?"
In the world of work, Friday is often acknowledged as the end of the week with a relaxation of formality (e.g., casual or dress-down Friday). In the interests of not breaking too many traditions, my theme for Friday will be free-form. I'll lean toward fun and try not to stray into frivolous, although I shouldn't be too surprise if a flotilla of flummoxing flamingos made the occasional appearance.
For reasons that will become clearer with time, makers are more open to the worlds, both internal and external, and the wonders therein.
Similarly, the best writers are often also the best readers; literary omnivores.
On Thursdays, we'll look at books--primarily middle grade and young adult fiction, but we won't necessarily limit ourselves to those categories. We'll strive to improve our craft by appreciating good (and occasionally not-so-good) examples of others' work.
What recent books would you like to talk about?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


At Royal Dumpster, we strive to bring you the best service at the best price available. We have a wide selection of dumpster sizes in stock in Pellville, KY, with flexible & timley pickup and delivery. Give us a call today for all your dumpster rental and roll off needs.
It is crucial for us to help dispose the particular waste the moment it obtains piled up. Waste generation within number of projects like property renovation, backyard cleanup, and also construction projects is inevitable; your disregard to dispose the throw away in environment friendly manner in the least amount of time possible will increase the results of pollution about the environment of the state.
You may rent a dumpster to try and do your business reconstruction. Whether you are tearing apart a place of work or other kind of service building, you need a 20 Yard Dumpster Rentals in Pellville, KY. With roof structure as well you simply must rent a dumpster. Depending on the size of your online business or business building will determine the dimensions of dumpster you will need to rent. If your roof or maybe business reconstruction is less than 2 tons of throw away than you'll be able to rent a small dumpster. If your amount of throw away is about a few pickup truck a lot than you need a 15 cubic backyard dumpster to rent. 5 pickup truck a lot or 3 a lot or a smaller amount of debris could be hauled together with the medium measurement dumpster. For huge renovation projects in Arlington, Virtual assistant, you will need to rent the bigger dumpster. This is great if you are getting rid of very large items such as a mattress, desks, dressers, cabinets, and many others. The large dumpster is definitely 20 cubic lawns and contains approximately 10 truck loads or maybe 4 tons of dust.
There are a lot associated with precautionary actions that you should bear in mind when you are managing waste. One of the biggest causes of incidents is incorrect working out with and these incidents can lead to leg pain, back pain, as well as equip pain. It's possible to avoid these kinds of injuries by using a dumpster to complete the cleaning up. Injuries induced whilst tidying up can lead to further problems, which is also feasible that it will cause additional expense.
Make sure you get to hold the dumpster with no further charge for a minimum of two weeks so you have got time to get the bathroom renovation concluded. Check before hand with the dumpster corporation you are planning to rent through on how extended you get to make use of the dumpster.
Before going for virtually every 20 Yard Dumpster Rentals in Pellville, KY company please check that no matter if keeping dumpsters are permitted in place or not, if it's not allowed than go for alternate option of junk bin. You will find companies that work in specific areas and lots of which are working in every talk about and area as well. The costs policy furthermore depends upon company to company, some organizations charge on weekly base while some fees on every single dumpster or bin they take. You need to choose as per your requirement to avoid the annoyance of recognizing on a celebration day that you cannot make use of service since the type of program you selected.
A number of local government bodies will require website visitors to apply for a allow before they have got any rent some sort of dumpster units added to their property. Most likely this will only apply if your dumpster is going to be designed into or nearby the street, but you should always consult with the local building permit workplace regarding the prerequisites in your specific instance, since failing to acquire a permit can result in hefty charges.
Professional dumpster support companies are quite simple to locate whenever you match them certain references. These companies have a professional method of dealing with the actual clients. That they target with saving any time of the consumer and giving quality intend to the customer in the best selling price in the market. These businesses will have different modes associated with lines just like phone obtain, email requests, web requests to assist in the customers easy journey through available 20 Yard Dumpster Rentals in Pellville process throughout Connecticut.
A different service that a lot of junk remover companies offers are construction destruction. Although many local rubbish removal industry experts only accomplish demolition products and services on a little scale--knocking down sheds, garages, verandas, pools, etc.--they'll most likely present to clean upward all of the trash as part of their support. This will present you with increased living space on your property, therefore you won't even need to deal with the actual headache associated with deconstruction or clean-up. A local, insured demolition contractor will truly you could make your construction challenge a whole lot less difficult.
Maybe you present furnished condominiums to your house renters. You'll have to throw out the bedroom mattresses every now and then. When you rent some sort of dumpster this is an good way to throw out huge and cumbersome mattresses. Another old pieces of furniture can easily be thrown out in the dumpster also.
Do your homework. For anyone who is just starting out being a contractor, make certain you ask around with regard to 20 Yard Dumpster Rentals in Pellville company testimonials and referrals. Other building contractors will know which the most dependable companies to utilize are and also who to watch out for. Don't just are satisfied with any company from the phone book. Do some research first and create a narrow your search of dumpster companies that have strong potential.
You will find a need for every sector in the society i take deterring action up against the pollution that's generated in the united states, specially in designed nations just like US. It is predictable for the nation to continue industrialization even with generating polluting of the environment. It is unattainable to stop the actual generation in the waste totally. The only way to mitigate the effect in the pollution on the environment is to recycle the actual generated squander in Eco-friendly fashion. The entire obligation of decreasing the pollution doesn't lie entirely with the industrial sectors; action should be taken starting from the house entrepreneurs. The squander is created in different initiatives such as household renovation, development project, environment friendly yard squander and business waste. Appropriate action should be taken at each and every sector to help recycle the actual generated squander to mitigate the effects associated with pollution. Dumpster rental coming from a professional 20 Yard Dumpster Rentals in Pellville company is the best strategy to recycle the actual waste in the Eco-friendly manner. Most of these professional 20 Yard Dumpster Rentals in Pellville firms in the market provide 20 Yard Dumpster Rentals in Pellville for a interval specified by you and get your squander dumped into the dumpster to sell it throughout environmental friendly manner.
There exists going to be trash to remove. Whether it be items remaining in the house ahead of purchase or waste taken off during the remodeling process, there is going to be trash, and that trash can come at a cost. Most non commercial trash treatment services will not pick up specific household trash, or if they do, it comes for a great purchase. Landfills will most likely charge you with regard to dumping exactly the same material, and so either way, this is an extra purchase you were not accounting for. So how could you cut bad spending on squander removal? Use a reliable 20 Yard Dumpster Rentals in Pellville organization.
A solution taken goes in waste unless it can be supported by required action. And so just going for a resolution to guard the environment won't add virtually any benefit to environmental surroundings if it is not sustained by tasks these kinds of hiring dumpster to be able to mitigate the pollution.
These companies take the info you've offered them, by entering it over a simple kind, and find the hottest deal and location of any perfect dumpster for your requirements. The company you pick will leave the dumpster, then pick it up all over again once it truly is full. This business will usually become a local one particular so it's more affordable and quicker than obtaining a roll off 20 Yard Dumpster Rentals in Pellville, KY from many remote place hundreds of mls away, or even out of state. As you get your price they will without a doubt want to know in case you have all garbage, some recyclables, precisely what types have got the latter. It's always safer to recycle supplies when you can.
Whenever spring arrives, we generally want to do many renovation. I guess it's in tune for the saying "spring cleaning". It probably is in the air, the way the bloom blooms and the plants are just so happy. Doing some renovation also brings precisely the same good emotion. It's like there is something new at all to look forward to. Although renovating your house may require the help of the most competent 20 Yard Dumpster Rentals in Pellville, KY company.
Do not procrastinate finding a local dumpster support if your home is in a crucial state. Excessive garbage, garbage, and chaos only leads to more debris and an harmful situation. Nobody actually wishes to live this way, especially if you will find children and pets concerned.
Waste is probably the major contributing factors of the environmental pollution in the world. Different commercial and residential tasks do bring about the source regarding environmental pollution. A couple of them include construction tasks, business cleansing, business renovating, house renovation, house cleaning, yard cleaning.
Leaving a vintage house will make movers know just how much rubbish they have how they want to throw-away. They will be thinking about how they built up so much goods. When changers get to the brand new place sometimes they have boxes and other things to throw away. This is another justification to have a dumpster.
Are you currently thinking about doing away with one-off items like home equipment or huge pieces of furniture? This stuff can be extremely hard to move around, and perhaps they are not things that your regular garbage service will probably pick up. As an alternative to lugging them to the dispose of yourself, have you thought to let the dumpster company help you with the ? When you know you'll be doing away with items like household furniture or home equipment, rent a dumpster. Subsequently, all you have to concern yourself with is getting the offending content into the jar.
No matter what project you have at home to complete, you ought to rent a dumpster for the job in an prepared and secret.
You may not be doing any renovating at all whilst still being need to rent the dumpster. You could be sorting through your downstairs room. Perhaps ones basement experienced flooding difficulties. A lot of the products in your downstairs room may have been ruined and are at this point starting to mildew. You need to get eliminate the items rapidly. Thankfully you will find next day dumpster corporations to call getting to work and obtain the moldy things out of your home immediately.


text:
@interface ZJNavigationViewController : UINavigationController

@end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


All solo piano, quiet, very close miced and measured in feel.
The cover explains more. The piano he used is a custom built instrument made by David Klavins in 1987. It's enormous, the longest strings are 10ft long. The blue diagram shows its layout.
As it's played, other small sounds can be heard from the mechanism. That's not unusual in piano music, but with Frahm's style, those working sounds are more obvious. Space between notes opens your ears to the shape and construction of each key press.
This entry was posted in Music and tagged CD review, Piano, solo. Bookmark the permalink.


Look how beautiful! We should go out dancing or something since Benny has his tux on and Lily is wearing her Sunday best.
You two look amazing. Handsome and beautiful.
You look as though you are going to attend a formal ball.
Oh you two look fanstatic!!
You are the pawfect image of sophistication!
Whoa --- were you off to meet the President ? You look good all dressed up!!!
Are you off to give a speech?!?
Oh I just LOVE that photo!
Very nice! Is there a formal event coming up?
Well, don't you look posh!
Benny and Lily you two Frenchies look absolutely smashing....and so Hollywood!! Benny I just love a man in a bowtie and Lily I love me some polka-dots.
Oh my, I feel underdressed reading this in just my fur! Very sheik!
OMD!! Are you goin' to the Emmy's?????
We just love that photo!
Don't you both just look so adorable?
So very sophisticated and chic!!


text:
NYPD Officer Busted With Underage Prostitute Faces 67-Count Indictment
A New York City cop is facing charges after being arrested for having sex with an underage girl and recording their sexual exploits.
The officer, Raul Olmeda, 40, was arraigned on a 67-count indictment and is currently being held on $250,000 bail, reported the New York Daily News.
New York City Police Commissioner James O'Neill blasted the officer for his behavior and alleged crimes.
"The nature and scope of the charges in this indictment are egregious," O'Neill said. "The fact that the defendant is an NYPD officer evidences an unconscionable violation of his oath to uphold the law and protect the public."
According to the report, Olmeda paid the girl for sex 5 times between January and April, including twice after police searched his apartment in the Bronx. Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said that the older man "preyed on the vulnerable young woman and videotaped his demeaning and dehumanizing act."
"It is especially disturbing that these crimes are alleged against a member of the NYPD," Clark added.
The victim is younger than 16, and officers say that they uncovered the crimes while conducting a prostitution investigation.
Even though he was caught on video, Stuart London, an attorney representing Olmeda, said his client denies the accusations "from the bottoms of his feet to the top of his head."
London tries to deflect the attention from the criminal cop and cast doubts on the underage girl.
"It's a very heavy indictment, which is evidence of nothing," London said. "This isn't numerous underage women. This is one underage woman, and we don't know her credibility at all."
Olmeda is facing a huge list of sex offense charges including use of child in sexual performance, rape and patronizing a minor for prostitution. He is also facing charges for the unauthorized use of a computer and official misconduct after he allegedly attempted to use an NYPD computer to try and see what evidence had been collected against him.
In a search of his apartment, police seized a cell phone, computer, video camera and multiple encrypted external hard drives. Authorities also uncovered a recording in which Olmeda, who clearly appears to know the girl is a minor, urges her not to talk to the police, Assistant District Attorney Meagan Powers noted in court.
Powers said that two other files were also found, including one that had the names, pictures and birthdays of women he had slept with since 1989. Another file was his own investigation into how the Internal Affairs Bureau is investigating him for tax fraud.
Olmeda, who has been with the NYPD for over 3 years, was stripped of his gun and shield and put on desk duty about six months ago. With the arraignment he was formally suspended without pay.
Source: http://countercurrentnews.info
LAPD Officer Charged With Sexual Assault of 15-year-old girl Who Was a Cadet
1st Grader Suspended for Pretending to Shoot an Imaginary Bow and Arrow
Judge Dismisses Charges Against Cop for Molesting 3-yo – Jails Victim's Dad for Being Angry About It


text:
Born in 1864 and trained in botany, George B. Sudworth began his forestry work in 1886 when he entered the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Division of Forestry. At the time of his death in 1927, he was chief of dendrology of the Forest Service and was considered the dean of the forestry profession in the United States, and a distinguished authority on American trees. For the last 15 years of his life he was an active member of the Federal Horticultural Board.
Sudworth and assistant on mules in Hassic Meadow, Middle Tule, Sierra Forest Reserve, 1901.
During his 41 years with the Forest Service and its predecessors, Sudworth penned numerous publications on dendrology and other phases of forestry. A Check List of the Forest Trees of the United States became a classic authority on the nomenclature and range of American trees. His other works included: Forest-Trees of the Pacific Slope, Cypress and Juniper Trees of the Rocky Mountain Region, Spruce and Balsam Fir Trees of the Rocky Mountain Region, and Pine Trees of the Rocky Mountain Region.
Sudworth discovered and named a large number of new species and varieties of American trees. His dendrological work was based on wide exploration and an intimate knowledge of the forest regions, many of which he travelled on foot.
A founder of the Society of American Foresters, Sudworth was also a member of the Washington Academy of Sciences, the Biological and Botanical Societies of Washington, and an honorary member of the Finnish forestry association, Finska Forstsamfundet.


Muovo is a design agency founded by Anni Kääriä and Sanna Lehti. Muovo specializes in pattern and product design. Back in 2009 we started off with our own textile collection. Nowadays Muovo's focus is on designing patterns and products for other companies. We have customers all over the world. Please visit the Muovo website for more info.


text:
District Attorney Hoovler Announces State Prison Sentence in
Port Jervis Shooting Case
Defendant Pled Guilty to Possessing Illegal, Unlicensed Firearm and Shooting at a Home
Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced that on Tuesday, July 19, 2022, Christopher Sicina, 22, of Port Jervis, was sentenced to eight years in state prison and five years post-release supervision in connection with his guilty plea in Orange County Court to one count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree and one count of Reckless Endangerment in the First Degree.
On November 3, 2021 at approximately 10:30 pm, officers from the Port Jervis Police Department responded to shots fired in the vicinity of Hammond Street. Their investigation revealed that multiple gun shots were discharged into a residence on Hammond Street, narrowly missing occupants inside. Through the investigation, the police developed Sicina as a suspect and learned that hours prior to the shooting, several residents of the house that was targeted by Sicina had physically assaulted him. It is believed that the shooting was retaliation for the earlier assault. When police attempted to take Sicina into custody, he fled from the authorities before he was ultimately arrested. At the time of his plea, Sicina admitted to possessing an illegal, unlicensed and loaded firearm and recklessly engaging in conduct which created a grave risk of death to another person by discharging the firearm in the direction of people inside the home.
District Attorney Hoovler thanked the City of Port Jervis Police Department for their investigation and the arrest of Sicina.
"The possession and use of illegal handguns deserves appropriate punishment," said District Attorney Hoovler. "While no one was injured by this defendant's criminal actions, his behavior was nonetheless violent and dangerous. I am glad that an illegal handgun, and the person responsible for possessing and using it, are both off the street. I thank the Port Jervis Police for their diligent investigation and helping to make for a safer City."
The case is prosecuted by Chief Trial Assistant District Attorney Richard Moran.
A criminal charge is merely an allegation by the police that a defendant has committed a violation of the criminal law, and it is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the State of New York's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
⇐Previous DA Hoovler and VA Healthcare System create a Coalition to Prevent Veterans from Committing SuicideNext⇒ District Attorney's Office Provides License Plate Reader For Use in the City of Port Jervis


text:
'I love watching him play': Martin Keown raves about Chelsea FC star
Martin Keown praises Antonio Rudiger following his sparkling recent form for Chelsea FC this season
By Martin Caparrotta
Monday 13 December 2021, 23:30 UK
Ex-Arsenal defender Martin Keown (Photo: BT Sport)
Martin Keown has praised Antonio Rudiger for his impressive form for Chelsea FC this season after the defender won two penalties in the 3-2 win over Leeds United on Saturday.
The German centre-half has been one of the Blues' top defenders this season after having been given a regular run in the first team at Stamford Bridge following the appointment of Thomas Tuchel back in January.
Rudiger has scored two goals in 15 Premier League games for the south west London side to help them to challenge Manchester City and Liverpool FC at the top of the table.
The defender was brought down in the box in second-half stoppage time as he won a penalty against Leeds United on Saturday, with Jorginho stepping up to convert the spot-kick and earn the Blues all three points.
Former Arsenal defender Keown has been very impressed by what he has seen from Rudiger this season, highlighting the German as one of the Blues' most important players.
Speaking on Match of the Day, as quoted by Metro, Keown said: "He's a real driving force for Chelsea – I love watching him play.
"I was an aggressive defender myself, but I think this guy takes it to another level.
"When he gets the ball, he likes to run forward. The fans love him there because he makes things happen.
"Defensively – he's so aggressive. He just shuts the door. So aggressive, strong, and he really leads from the back.
"He's a nuisance to play against and he's been outstanding for them."
Rudiger's situation at Chelsea FC has become something of a talking point in recent months as the clock ticks down on his current deal at the club.
The German's contract is set to expire at the end of the season and it remains to be seen whether he will pen a new deal with the south west London side.
Meanwhile, the defender admitted that the Blues must step up their performances at the back after they conceded twice against Leeds United at the weekend.
"In terms of mentality, we matched their [Leeds'] game, in terms of quality, no because the goals we conceded were too easy," said Rudiger.
"These days we concede a lot of goals which are too easy and we have to address this. If you want to compete for trophies you should not do that type of mistake. We know we need to improve things as quickly as possible.
"We do silly mistakes, we punish ourselves and give away goals. It's not that the opponents are killing us or outplaying us.
"Obviously we are missing players, this is clear, but I don't look for excuses. We have a good squad and this is the chance for people now and everyone has to take their chance."
MORE: Latest Chelsea FC news and views
Fabrizio Romano provides fresh update on Paul Pogba's Man United future
David James predicts where Chelsea FC will finish this season


text:
Wednesdays 9:00 PM on ABC
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. News
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Reviews
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Spoilers
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Watch Online
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Episode Guide
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Quotes
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Cast
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Pictures
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Videos
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Round Tables
Follow Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Facebook Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Twitter
Kora - Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 7 Episode 12
This photo is to be used in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 7 Report Card.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 7 Episode 12: "The End is at Hand"
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Photos, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 7 Episode 12 Photos
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 7 Report Card: Best Surprise, Saddest Death, and More!
Sarah Little
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 7 Episode 12 Quotes
Sousa: [kisses Daisy] Didn't know I was gonna do that.
Daisy: I'm glad you did.
Permalink: Didn't know I was gonna do that.
Daisy: Kora.
Mack: How'd she get up here?
Daisy: I don't care. She's not gonna stop me from getting back Simmons.
Mack: And Deke.
Daisy: Sure.
Permalink: And Deke.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 7 Episode 12
Watch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Online: Season 7 Episode 12
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Series Finale Review: What We're Fighting For
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 7 Episode 12 Photos
The End is at Hand
Watch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 7 Episode 12 Online


text:
The New Year is approaching. What else is new? Or a chip off the old block
Word Origins And How We Know Them
Anatoly Liberman's column on word origins, The Oxford Etymologist, appears on the OUPblog each Wednesday. Subscribe to Anatoly Liberman's weekly etymology articles via email or RSS.
By Anatoly Liberman
Many things are new. The vocabulary of the Germanic languages shows its great potential when new objects have to be described. Even to characterize people wearing shiningly new clothes English has a picturesque phrase, namely, he/she has come (or stepped) out of the bandbox. A bandbox, as dictionaries explain, was a light box, made of pasteboard or thin flexible pieces of wood and paper, for holding caps, bonnets, or other light articles of attire: so called because originally made to contain the starched bands (that is, ruffs) commonly worn in the sixteen-hundreds (so The Century Dictionary). A person exquisitely neat and dressed in clothes seemingly straight from a tailor's shop does look as though he or she has just left a bandbox of old. Originally, mainly or only clergymen kept their linen in such boxes, and, when something "came out" of them, it looked "very smart, spick and span." Spick and span, a most curious idiom! I'll leave it for dessert.
"This is the front pane of the famous eighth-century Franks casket. We can see the ancient blacksmith Wayland or Völund(r) in it. No doubt, everything he produced in his furnace was 'fire-new.'" Image credit: Franks Casket front by John W. Schulze. CC by 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Perhaps the most common English expression for something quite new is brand-new, occasionally appearing in the form bran-new (but this is only a phonetic variant). Today, brand is perhaps remembered mostly not as "a piece of burning wood" (though compare firebrand), but as "trademark" (brand name springs to mind at once) and the verb (for example, to brand cattle; those interested in cattle branding may look up the origin of the word maverick on the Internet). In Old English, brand also meant "sword" (Italian brando "sword" is a borrowing from Germanic), perhaps with reference to the gleaming blade and flashing when wielded. Such is at least the prevailing opinion. Other Germanic languages had the same word. In Old Germanic poetry, swords were called flames and gleams of battle and were described as flashing, shining, blazing, and the like. If we look at the German for burn, we will find brennen. Then the connection between bran-d and bren-nen (by ablaut) will become immediately obvious. In English, r follows the vowel in the word burn, but this is a peculiar English change. When vowels and consonants play leapfrog, this process is called metathesis.
"We are used to branding cattle, but not too long ago branding people was a common punishment." Image credit: Brandmarkung der Soldaten, Brandzeichen by Johann Jacob von Wallhausen & Flavius Vegetius Renatus. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
The idea of brand-new seems to be "fresh out of the furnace." The cautious Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology says perhaps about this connection, but it also says perhaps about why brand also meant "sword." Most likely, the situation requires no such guarded remarks. In 1876, Frank Chance, an active and successful etymologist of the second half of the nineteenth century, participated in the debate about the origin of the adjective brand-new and took to task a certain W. M., who attacked Archbishop Richard C. Trench, famous for his study of words and proverbs and for the idea that inspired what we know as the OED. I will quote the opening salvo for the sake of its style. The same pugnacious rhetoric marked the publications of Walter W. Skeat, James A. H. Murray, and many of their contemporaries. "W. M. is indubitably wrong, and Archbishop Trench right." Among many other things, Chance collected words like brand-new: Dutch brand-nieuw, German funkel-neu and funken-neu (Funke "spark"), that is, so new as to glitter or give out sparks.
Adjectives with a reinforcing first element are numerous, but the message of the reinforcement is not always clear: consider Engl. stock–still (exactly which stock is meant?) and German fuchs-teufels-wild "furious": Fuchs is "fox," Teufel is "devil," and wild is "wild," but are foxes known for outbursts of bad temper, or does this fuchs have nothing to do with foxes? Many German adjectives synonymous with funkelneu have –nagel "nail" inserted in the middle. Is the reference to a straight and shining nail or to an object as though just nailed together? Dutch is instructive because in addition to nagel-nieuw it has a series of adjectives with elements denoting "splinter." Splinters or perhaps spikes in this role also occur in the Scandinavian languages. They bring us closer to spick and span.
The origin of this somewhat enigmatic phrase and its close analogs has been discussed for centuries. Some of the early conjectures are curious, even "wild." Horne Tooke (1736-1812), the author of many fanciful derivations, wrote that spick and span new means "shining new from the warehouse." He combined a Dutch word with a German one, but it remains unclear what the warehouse has to do with the whole. The Swede Johan Ihre (1707-1780), a learned and reliable scholar, explained the analog of spick and span as a chip just cut. He had a much better idea than the one brought forward by the German etymologist Georg Wachter, even though he looked upon Wachter's work as his source of inspiration. Wachter traced span to a verb meaning "to milk," so that the result was "new as the first milk after calving." (Those who know the German word Spanferkel "sucking pig" will recognize the misleading root.) Ihre, it appears, hit the nail on the head. English philologists also knew the true origin of spick and span long ago. The dialectal synonym spliter–new, Low German spiker-neu, and Icelandic spann "chip; spoon" told the researchers that the English adjective has something to do with spikes (or chips) and spoons. (Old spoons were, naturally, wooden. We too have plastic silverware.)
"Archbishop Richard Chenevix Trench. We owe him the idea of what later became the OED." Image credit: Drawing of Richard Chenevix Trench, December 1, 1863 by John Richardson Jackson. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
The binomial was spick and span; new was added later for emphasis. Span-new appeared in English dialects as early as the thirteenth century. Later the phrase was extended, and spick and span new appeared: it must have been tempting to add an alliterating near-synonym to the first adjective, even though three-element phrases of this type are all but non-existent. Usually we encounter phrases like stone-deaf, stone-broke, and the already cited stock-still. The source of spick-new is Scandinavian. In the pre-Skeat editions of Webster's dictionary, the following explanation was given: "Quite new; that is, as new as a spike or nail just made, and a chip just split." Engl. spick "spike" existed, but Swedish spik means "nail," which returns us to German funkelnagelneu. Dutch has spik-splellder-nieuw and spik-splinter-nieuw. At one time, Engl. spelder "splinter or ship" also turned up. Frank Chance says: "Chips and shavings are commonly new, as they are usually burned up as fast as made." But this explanation is hardly needed, for shavings are new by definition, whether burned or not, and, while cutting wood, we see chips flying in every direction; those are also new.
"Were such ruffs kept in bandboxes?" Image credit: Equestrian Portrait of Philip III by Diego Velázquez. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
It will be seen that phrases like brand-new, "nail-new," and "shavings-new" are current all over Germanic. Some must have ben borrowed. Is it possible that at one time they were part of the lingua franca, that is, the professional language of itinerant carpenters, blacksmiths, and other artisans? I suggested a similar idea in connection with the etymology of the English word ajar, which too has a puzzling number of seemingly superfluous near-homonyms, all meaning the same (see the post for August 22, 2012). Those who have access to my etymological dictionary will find more musings on this subject in the entry adz(e).
Who said that there is nothing new under the moon?
Featured image credit: "Full Moon Evening Sky Moonlight Moon Mood" by kasabubu. CC0 via Pixabay.
Ana toly Liberman is the author of Word Origins And How We Know Them as well as An Analytic Dictionary of English Etymology: An Introduction. His column on word origins, The Oxford Etymologist, appears on the OUPblog each Wednesday. Send your etymology question to him care of [email protected]; he'll do his best to avoid responding with "origin unknown." Subscribe to Anatoly Liberman's weekly etymology articles via email or RSS.
John Cowan 20th December 2017
stock in stock-still is surely 'a piece of wood', corresponding to and alliterating with stone. see oed2 A.I.i.abc.
L Okkerman 24th December 2017
spik-splellder-nieuw is a small typo, it should be spik-spelder-nieuw I assume, because a splellder isn't anything in Dutch.
Great Piece as always!
CLARA HERRERA 13th January 2018
I just sent you emails in regard to research I'm doing for a colleague's book. The emails will be from acidneutral…@gmail.com.
If you could peruse the information and get back to me, I'd sincerely appreciate it. Have a joyful day!


text:
Q: I can't display member of List in c# using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

namespace Kelime_Türet
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            List<string> Words = new List<string>();
            for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
            {
                string word = CreateWord();
                Words.Add(word);
            }

            foreach (var item in Words)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(item);
            }

            Console.ReadLine();
        }

        static string CreateWord()
        {
            string Word = "";
            string Letters = "qwertyuıopğüişlkjhgfdsazxcvbnmöç";

            Random r = new Random();

            for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
            {
                int index = r.Next(0, 32);
                Word += Letters[index];
            }

            return Word;
        }
   }
}

I'm able to display same member of the List, I can't display all member via foreach loop. I'm sure that i have added items to the List but i can't display them. I can see List content when i use breakpoint. The problem is when i try to display all members of the List, i only can display same member.

A: The problem is in the new Random(). Each time you create Random it's initialized by system timer value.
If you routine is fast enough, you have all Random r having same seed and that's why generating same values.
// Don't create local Random instances, keep just one static field instead
static Random r = new Random();

static string CreateWord()
{
    // Don't create local Random instances here, use static Random

    string Word = "";
    string Letters = "qwertyuıopğüişlkjhgfdsazxcvbnmöç";

    for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
    {
        int index = r.Next(0, 32);
        Word += Letters[index];
    }

    return Word;
}

Fiddle yourself
https://dotnetfiddle.net/DJCtgK

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange