Two Knights and a Non-Knight

I am pretty far into THE MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN SARAGOSSA and there have been no owls, even though there are owls on the cover. But there are plenty of other things! Like, these two knights are talking and this one knight is like, "Alas, we all must die. Only the hour of our death is not certain." And the other knight is like, "Wait, who has told you all these pleasant novelties? It must be a mortal with an extraordinarily witty turn of conversation. Is he often invited out to supper?" And when I read that, I thought, "Hey! 'Is he often invited out to supper?' must be the 'He must be fun at parties' of the 18th century!" And then I thought, is that something people even say: "He must be fun at parties"? I think I've said it. I think, for example, when I went to see Dr. Theresa get an award - before she was a doctor! - and the speaker at the ceremony, for some reason, was a guy whose whole life was spent studying the sense of smell in lobsters... on that occasion, I do believe that as he went on for some time about the sense of smell in lobsters, I turned to our friend Chuck, who was seated next to me, and said, "He must be fun at parties." So I did a "google search" for the phrase "must be fun at parties" and turned up 145,000 matches, so I guess it is something that people say. More and more often, since my little medical hiccup, I wonder whether I know certain things or only think I know certain things. On the other hand, maybe I was never sure. As I type this long series of thoughts, I am in unbearable suspense about whether the "internet" will stop working, as it often does now, thanks to the good folks at AT&T, ties with whom I am assiduously working to sever forever as we speak. (As further evidence of my mental state, I just looked up "assiduous" to see if it means what I think it means, and it does, almost.) Oh! So a few pages later in THE MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN SARAGOSSA, someone (not a knight) is playing a cithara, which took me straight back to the "blog's" big cither/citer/cithern/cittern/kithara/zither craze of 2010. (Citterns were poised to make a comeback in 2011, but it didn't take. Though I will say that as I continue to examine the "blog" for zombie "links," I am astonished to find that the "Frequently Asked Questions about the Renaissance Cittern" webpage not only survives, it was updated - ! - as recently as April 2023. I guess they found out something new about renaissance citterns.) Now, did I immediately assume that the cithara I read about in THE MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN SARAGOSSA was identical with a kithara? Good God, no! I learned my lesson back when I stupidly assumed that a cither and a cithern were the same thing ("click" on "link" after "link" for the incredible details). I'm so glad we had this talk. Postscript: Yes, as predicted above, the godawful AT&T "internet" ceased to work at a vital juncture in the composition of this delightsome bagatelle. (Continuing a theme: I second-guessed myself about the existence of "delightsome" as a word and did not find it in the dictionary that came with this laptop. When the "internet" began to work again, however briefly, I checked out the OED online, which cites numerous uses of the word - well, maybe "numerous" is going a bit too far - beginning in the 15th century and ending only a few years ago, in what seems to be an advertising brochure: "our Sheraton Lagos Hotel teams have come up with a line-up of delightsome and inspiring culinary options." Ugh! Now I see why my computer doesn't want me to use "delightsome.")

Citterns Are Back and Bigger Than Ever

So this Robert Jordan novel has a cittern on page 243. I thought I'd never have a reason to "blog" about citterns again. Thank God I was wrong!

No Slop on Aquaman

I like things that exist. I am always like, "I am glad you exist, thing!" The cittern FAQ is a great example. Here is another one: this guy's place where he reviews superhero action figures. I found out about it through our "fave" Aquaman "blog," natch! Says the reviewer, "I can’t find any slop on Aquaman. Everything from his face to his feet is painted very well. The skin is a nice tan, with a great matte finish, and the hair is sandy blonde with a very nice wash... the black shorts are a flat matte, so the contrast between the gold shirt, black shorts, and green pants comes off very well... the only reason he is not a 10 is because I would prefer an orange shirt and darker green pants and gloves." Also (because Aquaman's arch-nemesis comes in the same box): "Getting two enemies in one pack allows battles to occur immediately upon opening them. I really didn’t think Black Manta would interest me too much, but because of his rubbery coating I just don’t want to put him down."

The Center Citer

With all this talk of citers, cithers, zithers, citherns, citterns, and kitharai - yes, that's the plural of kithara! - I am afraid that some of you may have missed "clicking" on the "link" that would have taken you to this, which I think (I no longer pretend to be a "know-it-all" about citers cithers, zithers, citherns, citterns, and kitharai) is a Chinese citer (center):

Look At This Guy Jamming Out on a Kithara

Of course it's all moot because Plato was talking about a kithara, and none of these other items we've been discussing. Kithara! That's where we get the word for guitar! I think wikipedia said that. So I believe it. My friend from Hubcap City's "cither" is closer in pronunciation to kithara than my "cithern." But according to the cittern FAQ, "Renaissance musicians may have seen the instrument as a rebirth or renovation of the ancient Greek kithara, which can be seen from... the 'scrolls' found near the neck of the cittern resembling vestiges of the 'wings' on the kithara." This looks like a job for THE OXFORD CLASSICAL DICTIONARY. But I'm so tired.

Lute vs. Zither

From what I can tell, then, a cittern or cithern is more like a lute while a citer or cither is more like a zither - two very different things! Observe the cithers laid flat upon the table. Obversely is the cithern held aloft. Therefore it would make no sense for Plato to hate lutes yet love citherns and I was wrong in oh so many ways to "correct" things.

Cittern FAQ

"Click" here for your FAQ about citterns. Example: "What does the cittern sound like? The cittern has been described as 'sprightly and cheerful.'"

The Four C's

There are so many citers, citterns, cithers, and citherns on youtube. I feel terrible about not knowing. What else don't I know? Other things, possibly!