Ramadhan is here and, even though I've been fasting for a month before, it always seems like it caught me off-guard. I'm not sure really where do things go wrong in my life during Ramadhan, but exhaustion and the lack of time is always hindering me in Ramadhan. Even though I do fast in a month or two before Ramadhan (in the past 3 years) and in conditions harder than in-Ramadhan conditions, yet, it is always in Ramadhan that I do suffer sleeping hardships and the lack of time to do whatever I want. Probably it has to do with the rest of the population around me and their timing as well! Not sure...
Meanwhile, after fixing the AC in the car, the honk went off and fixed a fuse or so for that thing, and the backward sensor is now off. I didn't care much about it but the honk is important to get it fixed! But now, I've decided to drop some amount of money out of my pocket for some good cause: a new PC.
Financially, it is a burden now to have such a PC. The costs were in fact higher than fixing my car's compressor at the agency itself! But well, thinking ahead, in the month of Ramadhan I have to deduct an amount of my total sum for something called Khums (Arabic: fifth), which is due in the middle of Ramadhan. After giving that due amount I don't think I will be in for much spending afterward, thus it is better to finish this plan now at once.
The specifications are put to the extreme somehow (hence the price) and I would need time to settle down with it when I receive it. I'm trying to do a slow move from the old PC to the new one. I'm looking forward to this move, as with the specifications in the new PC I would be able to stitch bigger panoramas and doing HDR panoramas would be just a piece of cake! All what would be left is, inspiration and photography!
Typically, the headache that got the best out of my time is using the Vello 33' cable. Even though it worked fine when I used to work with the peeling effect with my mug last week, it decided to, simply, not work this time!
Anyway, it seems that somehow I've began to realize the problem (or so I think!). At the end the cable did work and I was able to control the speedlite from the camera. The speedite was situated above my head just like I positioned it before in the peeling experiment. At this moment, I'm thinking that probably the hotshoe of the cable has a tiny alignment problems making the pins of the speedlite not touching the hotshoe properly to be connected, and only when I place the speedlite horizontally (with a lateral arm), the weight of the speedlite would help on nudging the pins in their proper places inside the hotshoe. This is what I think for the time being but I'm not sure yet. Just speculating!
Now, to some commentary about the images taken. Lot of shots were taken with changing distance and direction of the hair light. Hair light here, of course, points to the speedlite above my head which was fixed with a reflector and a diffuser. It was hard to decide what I really wanted (and now as I write these words, it seems to me that it was better to have a portrait orientation with half face). Anyway, Scopa! above is one image from the set that I liked because of the element of mystery in it. Careful here if you are using some old laptop (with gamma level other than 1.8) that the shadows might be lighter than they really are!
There were some shots when I turned my other speedlite (430EXII) on and placed it in various positions in front of my face but probably I didn't like the results as much as I liked Scopa! shot, but Scopa!! probably was the best taken with the addition of 430EXII speedlite. Mental note: more lights, do not mean necessarily a pleasant image. Scopa!! by the way is not taken in portrait, but it became like it after the crop!
There had been an idea of a panorama still cooking but I'm not sure when I shall start with that. It is a panorama indoors, and for this I need to wait for a proper time when I can get the place clear. Also, the problems with my current PC makes me awry about stitching a panorama for the time being, but I might as well use my relatively-new laptop to do this. We shall see about this matter!
Another matter had been going around is the change in the possessive articles which I've developed earlier (a month or two ago?). The articles were completely different than the regular pronouns, but then after some long thought about it I've decided to pull it back and stick to a coherent grammatical structure.
In the beginning of creating this conlang, I had a vent for some Turkic characteristic to put in this conlang; mainly the arrangements of prepositions. In most Turkic languages, prepositions come after the word (and combined with it). Example (from modern Turkish):
I: Aya
My Book: ŠCAB Ayaw'
I guess it is somehow ironic how such a small preposition can change the whole meaning of a sentence by placing it in different places. I'm not deeply into Turkic languages, but I wonder if this is the case too for them. After working for some time with Ayvarith (the original conlang for which this blog was created!), I've discovered that some words I've made up did indeed exist with exact or close meaning (and some with completely different meaning), like the word ša, which is an interrogative question beginning in Ayvarith (equal to the Arabic: Hal [هل]), but in Akkadian this word means a conjunctive "who".
I'm on the verge of finishing the last book in my queue. Still, it keeps inspiring me in the field of humanities. What I like about this book is the directionality and practicality. The fields of humanities was somehow frowned upon from my side in college days but probably this is due the educational system we have, but it is welcome when it comes in the form of such book like the The Handbook for Classical Research by David M. Schaps. I have to say I'm skipping the sources section at the end of each chapter because I'm not going deeply into the matter of such studies, but the arguments and the discussions in various fields that Schaps makes in this book provides a journey for the mind into the current world we live in through the gate of his knowledge in Greek and Roman cultures. We differ, in the east, a lot in many aspects from these two cultures but it makes someone like me realize why the west is so different, and/or why what's accepted from one side is not so on the other side. Some things got roots deep into antiquity.
With the end of this book, I'd be in, let's say, hot water. A dilemma. I have no further books to read and I'm not going to order any more soon because of the heavy purchases I've made this month; from which I need some time to recover. Probably I'm going to turn back to my very old language books and try to refresh my memory about some stuff, or maybe I'm going to spend my time at work in front of Wikipedia and amuse myself with various topics. The bad thing here is, playing with Wikipedia is completely random; Start with one topic and you might end up with a completely different field without knowing. I prefer books.
It feels like if my health is deteriorating at the current time. Bleeding nose has been a nocturnal routine in my life now. I'm not sure if this is caused by the high blood pressure or simply some injury inside that caused it all. One thing for sure though: it is giving me more stress. With the coming of Ramadhan and Mom's dialysis schedule, I wonder if I will have the time to look after myself and just go to the clinic to check. I had plans to check for my sight in general and see forward if there are any signs for retinitis pigmentosa but so far, none of these plans is achieved. Talk about living single and lonely, surrounded by people...
Meanwhile, after fixing the AC in the car, the honk went off and fixed a fuse or so for that thing, and the backward sensor is now off. I didn't care much about it but the honk is important to get it fixed! But now, I've decided to drop some amount of money out of my pocket for some good cause: a new PC.
Financially, it is a burden now to have such a PC. The costs were in fact higher than fixing my car's compressor at the agency itself! But well, thinking ahead, in the month of Ramadhan I have to deduct an amount of my total sum for something called Khums (Arabic: fifth), which is due in the middle of Ramadhan. After giving that due amount I don't think I will be in for much spending afterward, thus it is better to finish this plan now at once.
The specifications are put to the extreme somehow (hence the price) and I would need time to settle down with it when I receive it. I'm trying to do a slow move from the old PC to the new one. I'm looking forward to this move, as with the specifications in the new PC I would be able to stitch bigger panoramas and doing HDR panoramas would be just a piece of cake! All what would be left is, inspiration and photography!
Scopa!
Last week, as I was working on the peeling effect with my mug, I had an idea that had been cooking in my mind since then. A shot of myself with Scopa cards; One of my favorite cards games. Too bad I don't play it now as, simply put, I have no one to play with. The first headache to be dealing with is, as always, setting up the configuration. I didn't have a clear vision of what I wanted to do really but one idea in my mind: cards, and me. |
| Source: B&H |
Anyway, it seems that somehow I've began to realize the problem (or so I think!). At the end the cable did work and I was able to control the speedlite from the camera. The speedite was situated above my head just like I positioned it before in the peeling experiment. At this moment, I'm thinking that probably the hotshoe of the cable has a tiny alignment problems making the pins of the speedlite not touching the hotshoe properly to be connected, and only when I place the speedlite horizontally (with a lateral arm), the weight of the speedlite would help on nudging the pins in their proper places inside the hotshoe. This is what I think for the time being but I'm not sure yet. Just speculating!
 |
| Scopa! Canon EF 50mm, f/14, 200-1sec, ISO100. |
Now, to some commentary about the images taken. Lot of shots were taken with changing distance and direction of the hair light. Hair light here, of course, points to the speedlite above my head which was fixed with a reflector and a diffuser. It was hard to decide what I really wanted (and now as I write these words, it seems to me that it was better to have a portrait orientation with half face). Anyway, Scopa! above is one image from the set that I liked because of the element of mystery in it. Careful here if you are using some old laptop (with gamma level other than 1.8) that the shadows might be lighter than they really are!
 |
| Scopa!! Canon EF 50mm, f/11, 200-1sec, ISO100. |
There were some shots when I turned my other speedlite (430EXII) on and placed it in various positions in front of my face but probably I didn't like the results as much as I liked Scopa! shot, but Scopa!! probably was the best taken with the addition of 430EXII speedlite. Mental note: more lights, do not mean necessarily a pleasant image. Scopa!! by the way is not taken in portrait, but it became like it after the crop!
There had been an idea of a panorama still cooking but I'm not sure when I shall start with that. It is a panorama indoors, and for this I need to wait for a proper time when I can get the place clear. Also, the problems with my current PC makes me awry about stitching a panorama for the time being, but I might as well use my relatively-new laptop to do this. We shall see about this matter!
Back to Geltani
The progress on the Geltani front is going on but slowly. Specially after a hectic week like this (with some health issues) that mad me dedicate more time to my camera rather than sitting down and think about aspects of Geltani (or any other conlang). The main issue remains here about fixing the syllables and sounds yet I can say that I've developed a temporary transliteration system just to record the major outline, away from concerns about the sounds. The transliteration system would be simply in the form of: XY, where "Y" is the driving add-on or sound for "X". Some values for these syllables had been fixed already, for example LX is pronounced Liŋ (and originally the two are derived from a specific arrangement in between Arabic and Latin letters). However, this combination just for the time being might be written as Lx. I guess it is some of the remains of my mathematical mind from old college days still persisting on involving math in matters of conlangs and con-scripts.Another matter had been going around is the change in the possessive articles which I've developed earlier (a month or two ago?). The articles were completely different than the regular pronouns, but then after some long thought about it I've decided to pull it back and stick to a coherent grammatical structure.
In the beginning of creating this conlang, I had a vent for some Turkic characteristic to put in this conlang; mainly the arrangements of prepositions. In most Turkic languages, prepositions come after the word (and combined with it). Example (from modern Turkish):
Ev ("the" home)
Evde (at "the" home)
Another property I'm borrowing from Turkic languages is the absence of a definitive article (like The in English or like Al in Arabic) and the introduction of an indefinite article. Example (also from modern Turkish):
Ev ("the" home)
Bir Ev (a/one home)
Bir Ev (a/one home)
Anyway, back to the preposition which hold the key to the change I had in mind about the possessive articles (my, your...etc). Probably forgot to the mention that also in Turkic languages in general, the possessive articles come at the end of the words as well (in Arabic as well), thus I've decided to go along that line but simplifying the matter meant lengthening the process a bit.
The new idea of possession involves the preposition W', which stands for "for" or "to". The preposition W' (where the " ' " is a simple schwa) is attached to the pronoun after the word to make a possession statement. Better illustrated in some example:
Book: ŠCAB
I: Aya
My Book: ŠCAB Ayaw'
The literal translation of the statement in Geltni for My Book would be [Book I-for]. Notice that in the transliteration process I've combined Aya and w' as one word, but in logograms, they are not merged together.
The funny part begins actually when I change the position of the preposition. With changing word placement, the (comprehensive) meaning is changed:
ŠCAB Ayaw' = My Book
Aya ŠCABw' = I'm for (the) Book
(well, can be meaningless for the time being but it's not!)
(well, can be meaningless for the time being but it's not!)
Ayaw' ŠCAB = For me, (a) book
(here, a comma is not used in the original Geltani but I suppose it should be understood as such!).
(here, a comma is not used in the original Geltani but I suppose it should be understood as such!).
Finale
 |
| Source: Amazon |
With the end of this book, I'd be in, let's say, hot water. A dilemma. I have no further books to read and I'm not going to order any more soon because of the heavy purchases I've made this month; from which I need some time to recover. Probably I'm going to turn back to my very old language books and try to refresh my memory about some stuff, or maybe I'm going to spend my time at work in front of Wikipedia and amuse myself with various topics. The bad thing here is, playing with Wikipedia is completely random; Start with one topic and you might end up with a completely different field without knowing. I prefer books.
It feels like if my health is deteriorating at the current time. Bleeding nose has been a nocturnal routine in my life now. I'm not sure if this is caused by the high blood pressure or simply some injury inside that caused it all. One thing for sure though: it is giving me more stress. With the coming of Ramadhan and Mom's dialysis schedule, I wonder if I will have the time to look after myself and just go to the clinic to check. I had plans to check for my sight in general and see forward if there are any signs for retinitis pigmentosa but so far, none of these plans is achieved. Talk about living single and lonely, surrounded by people...
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