Joe (the good-looking guy on the left), Jeff (posing),
and a diminutive Spanish gentleman of great dignity.
Puerta Del Sol, Madrid. November, 1991
As a result of some Google searches, I've come to the embarrassing realization that I had misnamed my blog when I created it.
A few people have asked me why I've titled my blog Aun Estamos Vivo. It is supposed to mean We Are Still Alive, as in those of us Catholics who have not yet given up on the Second Vatican Council.
Like I said, it has come to my attention (I think) that the correct way to say this is Aun Estamos Vivos, with "vivo" pluralized. Duh. My High School Spanish teacher would have been horrified... and to think that I was proud of myself for not calling it Ya Estamos Vivo... Yeeesh... At any rate, anyone who has been generous enough to link me can leave it the way it is. I still haven't decided if I liked it better with my mistake or not. The mistaken way sounds better to me somehow.
My wife Anne doesn't really like the fact that I blog. I suspect that this is typical for bloggers with spouses. No woman likes to talk to the back of man's head while he's looking at a computer screen. Anyone have any advice on that?
Anyway, one of the things that she teases me about is the title. "Why did you give it a Spanish title?" she asked. "People will think you're in Opus Dei." I replied, "No, I really don't think that they will."
9 comments:
Wow... Don't feel bad. I was a professional translator for seven years and I didn't notice either. Sometimes I think one's brain fills in what's not there.
Funny, for some reason (liberation theology, I guess), the Spanish title makes me think you would be a raging leftist.
Appartently Catholic blogs with Latin titles (like mine) are usually very conservative if not extremist traditionalist (unlike mine). I say, do what you feel right about and let those with prejudices miss out on the good stuff.
Does your wife read your blog? When I write something I think is halfway good, I have to force imperatrix pulcherrima Africae occidentalis to read it.
Jeff in Opus Dei ... :-)
I took Spanish in high school but didn't notice any problems with the title either.
Maybe your wife would feel differently if you encourages her to have her own blog? Mark Goodacre and his wife both blog and sometime Mark "guests" on Viola's blog.
Hi Liam and Crystal,
You’re right, I think most Catholic blog titles in Latin are intended to make a traditional statement. I thought that the Spanish was the right way to go for me, because the rest of the title box quote (“Dios es como la fuente…”) was attributed to St. John of the Cross. I love the Carmelite Spanish Mystics and the early Spanish and Basque Jesuits. They might describe France as “the Church’s eldest daughter”, but for me somehow, the Church’s heart and soul is Spanish (St. James, Pray for Us). I like the Latin American association too. I love Latin American Church art and music, and I appreciate most of the LT theologians.
imperatrix pulcherrima Africae occidentalis
Most beautiful west african queen?
Should I make sure Anne reads my better posts? She’s a professional editor. I’m afraid she’d take out her little red pencil and slice me to ribbons with it. :-) She really should have a blog of her own, though. That’s a good suggestion. She’s the writer in the family, and she’s a better religious education teacher than I am too.
What I’d really like, however, is for her to get around to writing that big blockbuster mystery novel she’s been mulling over so that I can think about retiring someday. She’s a big M.C. Beaton and P.D. James fan, and an anglophile. Mystery novels are right up her alley. :-)
Almost... Most beautiful West African Empress.
Or better yet, "Most beautiful empress of West Africa."
Maybe you should suggest Anne to blog also??? Anyway, invite her to read your blog. Really.
Hi Paula!
She really should blog, she'd do a good job with it. She's a busy mother of six, and to tell you the truth, in a lot of ways she mothers her father, her great aunt and her younger brothers too. She's pretty tired by the end of the day, but you know the saying. If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it.
As for my ideas, she's heard 'em all for years. :-) She keeps good tabs on me. Everything I do is in the clear. She knows who y'all guys are. :-)
My regards to Anne. She appears to be a wonderful woman.
Thank you, Paula.
The children and I are very fortunate. :-)
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