Done

I had really hoped things would be better, that cruelty wouldn't win. But it did.

When I started this blog, it was to make connections and share things that amused me. The latter isn't really happening anymore because now I have to shift into survival mode. And I'm sick--SICK--of hearing how it won't be so bad, and "none of us is going to die!" Because that is bullshit of the highest order. If you think that, you're in a place of privilege, because a lot of us ARE going to die during the next four years. I absolutely don't want to, but fuck. They want me dead or in prison.

They want to take away my health care. I am not worthy of life to them. I write stories with queer characters. They want to imprison me for that because being queer is something criminal, especially if children see it as something that shouldn't be condemned. This is not speculation. These are things they've directly said.

It isn't fair. Don't go telling me that I have to resist and keep fighting, because I shouldn't have to fight just to survive--yet here we are. I want to be happy and write stories, but this country is so racist and sexist a highly qualified woman of color can't get elected over a senile convicted felon who's also a rapist and wants to crash the economy to make the rich even richer while the rest of us can't afford cereal.

If you want to contact me, follow me on Bluesky at jeoneil, otherwise my friends know how to email me if they want to chat or have something that needs beta reading (I hope you do). I'll try to visit your blogs on occasion if I can.

Burn So Long Stink Town GIFfrom Burn GIFs

Language Of Confusion: Per-, Part IX

Could it be? Are we actually looking at the last set of words descended from the Proto Indo European per-, forward? I can’t believe it is!
 
First we’re going to look at frame. Yes, like a picture frame, though that didn’t show up until the mid seventeenth century, while when it showed up in the thirteenth century it meant to profit or to benefit, and then parts of a structure fitted together in the fifteenth, which then started to mean an enclosing border in the seventeenth century, and then a picture frame. The word itself is from the Old English framian, which means to further or to profit or benefit, and that’s from fram, which means forward or, uh, from. Yeah. Frame is from from. And from is from can be traced to per-, we just went over it a while ago.
 
Next is furnish—it’s about time these got weird. Furnish showed up in the mid fifteenth century, coming from the Vulgar Latin fornire/fromire, which is actually from the Germanic frumjan and Proto Germanic fram-, which is where frame and from come from. I mean, I can almost see the logic of forward turning into furnish, but it’s a hell of a walk. And of course furniture is from the same place, having shown up in the sixteenth century meaning the act of supplying or providing, and then starting to mean household furniture fifty years later—interestingly, English is the only language that has this. Other languages words for furniture are related to mobile (because you can move furniture). Anyway, it’s from the French fourniture, supply, from the Old French forneture and its verb form fornir, which comes from the same place furnish does.
 
Another word from furnish? Veneer. Yes, like to cover something with a veneer. It showed up in 1702 from the German Furnier, and its verb form. That’s actually also from fornir, meaning veneer and furnish are pretty closely related for words that have very little in common.
 
Now, for the last word: fret—not like a guitar fret, which is different, but worrying fret. It comes from the Old English fretan, to devour, and that’s what it meant originally, before it started to mean to worry (it does eat away at you). Before fretan, it was the Proto Germanic fra-etan, with the fra- meaning completely and being from per-. This is certainly an odd one.
 
Sources
Online Etymology Dictionary
Google Translate
University of Texas at Austin Linguistic Research Center
University of Texas at San Antonio’s page on Proto Indo European language
Tony Jebson’s page on the Origins of Old English
Old English-English Dictionary
Encyclopaedia Britannica

November Goals

Well, today’s it. If not now, then sometime in the next few days we’ll learn which party will win, the wishy-washy morons who can’t get anything done, or the ones who actually want me dead. Yes, I’m hoping for the morons who are actually held accountable for their misdeeds and aren’t actively hurting people.
 
Whatever. Goals.
 
October Goals
1. I’d like to get another 30K down in my new project.
Yes, I did this. I’d be more excited if I wasn’t terrified of death.
 
2. Hopefully find some time to edit an old project.
Did not have time for this. Too busy. Worrying takes up a lot of time.
 
3. Actually get back to editing my last WIP.  Not sure I’ll have time though.
Wanted to, but I wanted to distract myself from the horror more. You know how it is.
 
Not particularly successful. It’s been a tough month.
 
November Goals
1. Get to editing my old WIP. Seriously this time.
 
2. Find some time to write something. I guess.
 
3. Thanksgiving. Maybe it’ll be fun this year. But probably not.
 
Kind of sucks that conservatives are so awful to others. I wish people were nicer, but fat chance of them actually caring about those who don’t fit their mold.