Updatia

[ellyssian]

So, yesterday, while heading south on the New York Thruway (or Throughway, or however they spell it,) I started feeling a little sleepy. And then I see the sign for the next exit: RIP VAN WINKLE BR and that explained a lot.

Then I started paying attention to signs (after consuming a highly caffeinated beverage,) and I started wondering the kind of things you start to wonder 170 miles into a 330 mile solo road trip. Like CATSKILL CREEK. Did they kill a lot of cats? Did a roving pride of cats kill a lot of something else? Or do they have one of those vocational schools that teach you things like how to land on your feet, eat small rodents like ding-dongs, and have a complete focus on something while feigning total disinterest?

The last was really ruled out as a valid interpretation when I went across the WALLKILL, but that still leaves you with violence against or perpetrated by walls.

Of course, if you really wanted to go out on a limb, you could think of the Dutch influence in the area, and you could propose that "kill" is just Dutch for "creek," but that would be silly, because than the state would have signs that read, in translation, "CATS CREEK CREEK." That's almost as absurd as if somebody called their chai "Chai Tea" which translates to "Tea Tea." Silly, silly, silly. Preposterous, even.

Anyway, I'm home, and my mind may or may not be intact. I did go around a corner near Springfield, MA and could suddenly hear out of my left ear. Still stuffed, though, so it's nowhere near 100% normal.

I stocked my cd collection with the ones I inherited from my dad - almost doubling the classical section - and as I'm putting them on the shelf I think to myself: "Wow, dad will really be impressed with this collection when he comes down next time. I bet there's a lot here he'd like to listen to." I suppose it would make a good "People Unclear on the Concept" cartoon (Mr. Boffo, I think?)

One of the discs is a two-cd set of Dvorak's symphonic poems - all folklore and faerie tales - that I bought about 12-15 years ago. My dad didn't discover I had it until I had moved down to PA, and he really liked it, always wanting to listen to it, so I gave it to him for a birthday or Christmas 7-9 years ago, and he was thrilled. We joked about me getting it back as part of my inheritance, so it was really more of a loan. Wasn't supposed to get it back so soon.

In other news, Justin decided to break his own nose, smacking himself right in the safety glasses with a crowbar. He's got two or three bloody marks, and it's starting to swell.

Comments

[wolfette]

when my mother died, I kept wanting to call her to tell her about my latest dressmaking project.

[(Anonymous)]

I've had similar inclinations with both parents -- to tell my father about something I've done or tell my mother about something else. (I know that my mother isn't really dead, but since her body is just a shell, it's similar in that I can't really share things with her.)

But in a way, thinking about what we want to tell them is good; it keeps them alive for us in our hearts.

[silme.livejournal.com]

Sorry, that anonymous comment was from me.

{{{Ellyssian}}}

[salegamine.livejournal.com]

That doubling of a descriptive in a place name is quite common.
There is Torpenhow hill in the UK that the etymological meaning of is:
tor: Gaelic tòrr == hill
pen: Welsh pen == hill
how: Norse howe == hill

So the place is called Hillhillhill Hill.
*grin*

I hope Justin will heal promptly from his mishap, it sounds quite painful.

Re: {{{Ellyssian}}}

[(Anonymous)]

It's patrixa, visiting ellyssian after I logged out!
I got a good laugh about Torpenhow Hill. My question: who was first, the Norse or the Gaels..? and pity the poor Welsh, stuck in the middle!

[(Anonymous)]

don't quote me on this, but I think "kill" is dutch for "mountain". Been a long time since I knew anything about the area, though.

[dreadpiratetait.livejournal.com]

Nope. Actually, it's lake (or generic waterway). I used to live on Staten Island, not far from Arthur Kill, which ironically, is right next to the infamous dump.

[benponder.livejournal.com]

anonymous comment re: "meaning of kill" was me. LJ did that silly secretly-log-me-out thing again.

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

According to a FAQ for the Catskill area and the Wikipedia, it means "Cat Creek", although if you look up "kill" in Dutch you get "kill" in English - or nothing. If you look up "kil" you get:

1. kil [a] (cold) used of physical coldness; having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration.



2. kil [a] (black, bleak, dim) offering little or no hope.



3. kil [a] (chill, chilly) uncomfortably cool.



4. kil [a] (cold) marked by errorless familiarity.



5. kil [a] (chilly, unfriendly) lacking warmth of feeling.

I guess if I was in the tourist bureau, I'd want to look for another name... but that makes more sense: "Catskill Creek" --> "Chilly Cat Creek"!!! =)

[benponder.livejournal.com]

kind of makes sense, as well as "cold wall" for wallkill. it is cold up there.

Did you see the link I sent about the Saab with the computer mounted in the sub trunk? The comp that is the entertainment center, as well as a user interface for the turbocharger blower settings and fuel injection and such? I sent it in reply to one of your comments when Iw as talking about becoming a mechanic. Full tech specs, could probably be adapted for any vehicle. Thought you'd find it interesting.

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

I have the link, but I still have to check it out... sound interesting!

I found this definition as well.

[salegamine.livejournal.com]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Kill \Kill\, n. [D. kil.]
A channel or arm of the sea; a river; a stream; as, the
channel between Staten Island and Bergen Neck is the Kill van
Kull, or the Kills; -- used also in composition; as,
Schuylkill, Catskill, etc.

So yep, cat's creek creek it could quite well be,
:)

[sage-and-sea.livejournal.com]

My mom's been gone for 5 years now and I still find myself trying to call her, or thinking "mom would really like this, I should pick it up" occasionally. It happens.

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I kind of figured that kind of thing lingers indefinitely.

I'm not sure if it's a good thing - keeping them alive in memories - or a bad thing - bringing it up all over again. I suppose that's pretty much how everything is over the long term, a mixed bag of positives and negatives, and it all depends on which aspects you want or feel the need to focus on.