Dealing with cards *ha, pun!*
Today it was a card-y day. I tried to work on the OOP practice I have to hand over on the 19th, because I'm really behind, but in the end I got distracted by shiny Internets. Again.
The point is, I made one exercise, and it was one about creating a deck of baraja (una baraja española, para aclarar). It was kind of weird because my knowledge of it comes from the Minor Arcana (BTW, I never mentioned I bought myself a beginner's Tarot deck last month), and the Spanish cards in a Tarot are different than the ones on a Baraja in two things: a) barajas have no Queens, and b) the wand suit are different in Spanish depending of the deck -they're "bastos" (think of trollish clubs) in playing cards, and "varas" (wooden sticks, proper wands) in Tarot.
I learned this today, by homework. Most people learn by card games. I clearly suck at life. Incidentally, popular card games here are, obviously, played with barajas and not the usual French decks. Which is so bizarre for me because I'm used to them and not the Spanish decks. You can find barajas everywhere and not the hearts-diamonds-clubs-spades darlings.
Another thing:
Go and catch a falling star,
Get with child a mandrake root,
Tell me where all past years are,
Or who cleft the devil's foot,
Teach me to hear mermaids singing,
Or to keep off envy's stinging,
And find
What wind
Serves to advance an honest mind.
If thou be'st born to strange sights,
Things invisible to see,
Ride ten thousand days and nights,
Till age snow white hairs on thee,
Thou, when thou return'st, wilt tell me,
All strange wonders that befell thee,
And swear,
No where
Lives a woman true and fair.
If thou find'st one, let me know,
Such a pilgrimage were sweet;
Yet do not, I would not go,
Though at next door we might meet,
Though she were true, when you met her,
And last, till you write your letter,
Yet she
Will be
False, ere I come, to two, or three.
By John Donne. Yes, Howl's Moving Castle people, the poem and the author EXISTED in real life. And this is the full version.
I was surprised when I saw it on Neil Gaiman's Stardust. That tipped me about the realism of it. Probably more English native speakers knew about this fact, but as someone who was never taught English literature and poetry, I had no idea.
Offtopic: Anyone knows of good fic authors who write about Alabasta characters? I'm thinking genfic and/or Kohza/Vivi. I just don't know where to start, and I don't dare poking around.
The point is, I made one exercise, and it was one about creating a deck of baraja (una baraja española, para aclarar). It was kind of weird because my knowledge of it comes from the Minor Arcana (BTW, I never mentioned I bought myself a beginner's Tarot deck last month), and the Spanish cards in a Tarot are different than the ones on a Baraja in two things: a) barajas have no Queens, and b) the wand suit are different in Spanish depending of the deck -they're "bastos" (think of trollish clubs) in playing cards, and "varas" (wooden sticks, proper wands) in Tarot.
I learned this today, by homework. Most people learn by card games. I clearly suck at life. Incidentally, popular card games here are, obviously, played with barajas and not the usual French decks. Which is so bizarre for me because I'm used to them and not the Spanish decks. You can find barajas everywhere and not the hearts-diamonds-clubs-spades darlings.
Another thing:
Go and catch a falling star,
Get with child a mandrake root,
Tell me where all past years are,
Or who cleft the devil's foot,
Teach me to hear mermaids singing,
Or to keep off envy's stinging,
And find
What wind
Serves to advance an honest mind.
If thou be'st born to strange sights,
Things invisible to see,
Ride ten thousand days and nights,
Till age snow white hairs on thee,
Thou, when thou return'st, wilt tell me,
All strange wonders that befell thee,
And swear,
No where
Lives a woman true and fair.
If thou find'st one, let me know,
Such a pilgrimage were sweet;
Yet do not, I would not go,
Though at next door we might meet,
Though she were true, when you met her,
And last, till you write your letter,
Yet she
Will be
False, ere I come, to two, or three.
By John Donne. Yes, Howl's Moving Castle people, the poem and the author EXISTED in real life. And this is the full version.
I was surprised when I saw it on Neil Gaiman's Stardust. That tipped me about the realism of it. Probably more English native speakers knew about this fact, but as someone who was never taught English literature and poetry, I had no idea.
Offtopic: Anyone knows of good fic authors who write about Alabasta characters? I'm thinking genfic and/or Kohza/Vivi. I just don't know where to start, and I don't dare poking around.