Imagination

Igneous Petrology - the overflowing lava rushing down with the head of a snake. What is the right form of head for each animal? Are there visions while making these? 

Game

 poker course

poker for wall street

Mind map of learning Japanese

 mind-map-levels-1-5

Today I thought of using Harada template for grouping words to gether. eg

looking at this Shohei Ohtani high school Harada map

wesleycrobertson's jlpt-n4-kanji-book.pdf

Many words for the same concept

 I was wondering if we have many words for the same concept, so that our brain can prevent itself from tuning out, by listening to new words. Language kind of catering to brain limitations. It is like fixing hardware problems with software.

Google ad says stop hunting ... takes us back to the evolution instinct.

friend chatgpt to rescue ---

🧠 Why do languages have many words for the same concept?

There are a few major reasons:

1. Avoiding repetition keeps people engaged

Humans do tune out when they hear the exact same phrasing repeatedly. Varying words helps:

• keep attention

• maintain interest

• emphasize new shades of meaning

• prevent the mind from “glazing over”

This is well-studied in psychology and rhetoric.

Relevant theory: Habituation

If we encounter the same stimulus repeatedly, our response decreases.
Applying this to language: repeated wording becomes “background noise,” so variation keeps attention.

---

2. Synonyms aren’t truly identical — they carry different shades of meaning

Words accumulate:

• emotional tone

• politeness level

• cultural connotations

• levels of formality

• poetic effects

• context-specific nuance

Example: ask, question, interrogate, grill, inquire — all mean roughly “ask,” but they feel different.

Theory: Semantic differentiation

Even when words overlap in literal meaning, they drift into different niches of use.

---

3. Languages evolve through contact, borrowing, and history

English has synonyms because it absorbed vocabulary from:

• Old English (Germanic)

• Norman French

• Latin

• Greek

• Many other languages

So we end up with triple synonym sets like:

• kingly (Germanic)

• royal (French)

• regal (Latin)

This isn’t about attention — it’s about historical layering.

Theory: Lexical borrowing / etymological layering

---

4. Novel phrasing signals importance or emphasis

Writers and speakers often vary wording intentionally to highlight or reframe ideas.

Example:

“The economy is slowing… in fact, growth is stalling.”

Two words for the same concept, but the shift adds emphasis.

Theory: Rhetorical variation / stylistic variation

---

5. Our brains like novelty — and process repeated language less deeply

This is connected to your intuition.

• Repetition → lower neural response (habituation)

• New wording → slightly “surprising”, activates attention systems

• Variation → helps encode information in memory, since each phrasing creates a new association

Relevant theory:

The “novelty effect” in cognitive psychology.

---

📚 So what’s the name for the idea that “varying words keeps people from tuning out”?

There isn’t a single official label, but it sits at the intersection of:

• Habituation (psychology)

People respond less to repeated stimuli, including repeated words.

• Novelty effect (attention psychology)

New stimuli get more attention, including new phrasing.

• Rhetorical variation / lexical variation (linguistics & rhetoric)

Effective communication often involves purposeful word-change to keep listeners engaged.

• Synonymy and semantic drift (linguistics)

Languages naturally produce multiple words that overlap but differ in nuance.

If you want one simple phrase that describes the phenomenon:

👉 “linguistic novelty for attention”

or

👉 “avoidance of habituation in language use.”

Those are the clearest descriptions of the core idea.

---

If you'd like, I can also explain:

• why English has more synonyms than most languages

• how writers use lexical variation strategically

• or what brain imaging says about novelty and repeated words

Chapter 16

 The beasts in the Marukami's walls book - the word itself shows the generalization of them and not domesticated or treated as differenct species but clubbed together, and no shadow.

"We walked down hill for a time, and the clear-cut road peterd out, replaced by an indistinct, overgrown footpath" reminds me of a hiking starting point here. 

"Even on the slopes that rendered me breathless, you walked on casually, your steps calm and even, with your healthy young legs and heart, and it was all I could do to keep up" reminds me of a place that is a  steep mountain and a good cardio workout.

When do you know a language, when you read something in it and it takes you elsewhere like this? 

The narrator's curiosity about the city - is it only because of the connection to her? about its rules/town hall and who made the rules? not as a cartogrpaher wanting to know its boundaries/population.?

pg 83 - there was a time when there was no wall

I am able to go to the Japanese book and find the sentences I like.

That pool is the sea no? Questioning the earth as a city?

what happens if the beasts are not burnt? they have to deal with it, bcause the city dwellers cant go out of the city? question our origin stories like the town's with contradictions.

pg 88

Theme park - back from sea world.

We derive hope from nature, continuing on in the face of adversity. 

loneliness longing and love

yet to come across this line-- “The wall is there to protect you from the world. But who will protect you from the wall?”

Telugu poetry translation

 Hibiscus on the Lake

Oriental Mythology (The Masks of God, Volume 2)

 page 1 - "There is therefore, nothing to be gained either for the universe or for man, through individual originality and effort".

The push towards community reminds me of God's Debris.

Make a Myth

 Japan writers conference 2025

Charles Kowalski
How to Make a Myth

This made me look up how to make a myth. I am reading The city with its Uncertain walls by Murakami. Initially the dream reader's eyes are weakened (I do not know what happens in the future). My take on why?

As I leave the building in the winter dark in the evening, a giant construction with connected columns is in front of me. In the daylight, I only see cars but now with the empty space and the lighting, it looks like a new building.

The light shows what the lightkeeper wants you to see. The dream reader needs to look at dreams differently as they are cryptic, to understand them. The dream reader has no need of light in a place where shadow chases light. In such a place, a shadow is not needed. No entry to shadows and light.

kaalame chikati la kallalo chorabadina from c naryan reddy ghazal 22

కాలమే చీకటిలా కన్నల్లో చోరబడిన

when time enters yours eyes forcefully like darkness

sea dragons difficult to classify. At the SanDiego Zoo, the bus tour guide told us about a bird species that needed to be DNAed to finf the gender. Why does the city evase? Why does the city shape shift? A city's shape is its borders. The wall a fortifier. 

Zuijitsu

 Zuihitsu

Sea world

 Having been to sea world recently, I wodnred about any sea world in Japan Interesting to see the orca understand the play of sharing food when asked for

I heard a mom teaching a toddler, in Chinese the words 

Tiger 老虎 Lǎohǔ

Lion 狮子 Shīzǐ

at the zoo store.

That sounds like a great idea to learn like kids.

Shadows

 While reading about the shadows in The City and its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami.

 "Drinking Alone by Moonlight" (月下独酌)

Chinese (Original):
花间一壶酒，
独酌无相亲。
举杯邀明月，
对影成三人。
月既不解饮，
影徒随我身。
暂伴月将影，
行乐须及春。
我歌月徘徊，
我舞影零乱。
醒时同交欢，
醉后各分散。
永结无情游，
相期邈云汉。

Pinyin (Romaji):
Huā jiān yī hú jiǔ,
Dú zhuó wú xiāng qīn.
Jǔ bēi yāo míng yuè,
Duì yǐng chéng sān rén.
Yuè jì bù jiě yǐn,
Yǐng tú suí wǒ shēn.
Zàn bàn yuè jiāng yǐng,
Xíng lè xū jí chūn.
Wǒ gē yuè pái huí,
Wǒ wǔ yǐng líng luàn.
Xǐng shí tóng jiāo huān,
Zuì hòu gè fēn sàn.
Yǒng jié wú qíng yóu,
Xiāng qī miǎo yún hàn.

Translation (by Witter Bynner):
A pot of wine, among the flowers,
I drink alone, no friend with me.
I raise my cup to invite the moon,
And my shadow, who is my only friend,
We drink together as three.
The moon does not understand drinking,
And my shadow follows me in vain.
We take the moon as companion,
And with it, I must be happy before spring.
I sing, and the moon lingers near me,
I dance, and my shadow is in disarray.
When sober, we share joy together,
When drunk, we part ways.
We part ways and wander alone,
Making a long-lasting bond in the heavens.

Wedding of the Foxes: Essays 

Katherine Larson finding new metaphors

Elsewhere "team is a metaphor for community"

A tanka book that inspired someone

 天才による凡人のための短歌教室

book link

「最高の一首をつくるのは僕ではない。

さいこう いっしゅ

zuì gāo 

최고

choego

tối cao

この本を開いたあなただ。

あなたという短歌の天才が目の前に立ちはだかる日を、僕に参りましたと言わせてくれる日を、僕は待っている。」木下龍也が創作のすべてを伝える短歌教室。開催すれば毎回満席となるこの講義が大幅な加筆と書き下ろしを加え一冊になりました。短歌をつくる技術はもちろん、アイデアの発想法、歌人としての生き方、短歌とお金などなど、、、短歌って何ですか？　という方から楽しめる新たな「文章読本」の登場です。【著者の紹介】木下龍也(きのした・たつや)1988年山口県生まれ。歌人。歌集に『つむじ風、ここにあります』、『きみを嫌いな奴はクズだよ』（共に書肆侃々房）。小社刊行書籍に、岡野大嗣との共著『玄関の覗き穴から差してくる光のように生まれたはずだ』、谷川俊太郎と岡野大嗣との共著『今日は誰にも愛されたかった』がある。

I wanted to translate and learn new words here. After reading this ‘Order a tanka poem’ service results in book article to see if the book by Tatsuya Kinoshita would show poetry writing exercise.

After reading an article, I tried looking up tanka poetry exercises on Google Books to see if that book would come up, but instead I ended up reading about pivot words and pillow words.

記事を読んだ後、短歌の練習問題を見つけようと Google Books に探していたら、代わりに掛詞や枕詞について読んでしまった。

Kiji o yonda ato, tanka no renshū mondai o mitsukeyou to Google Books ni sagashite itara, kawari ni kakekotoba ya makurakotoba ni tsuite yonde shimatta.

Pivot words	掛詞（かけことば）	Wordplay using one word with two meanings
Pillow words	枕詞（まくらことば）	Traditional poetic epithets placed before specific words

Yesterday I learned the two words ‘sagashite’ and ‘mitsukete

昨日、「探して」と「見つけて」という二つの言葉を学んだ。

Kinō, “sagashite” to “mitsukete” to iu futatsu no kotoba o mananda.

I like writing. I have to write. If I were to impose on myself to write in Japanese. Brilliant

Wow, 4 hours just went by and I have not opened th Murakami walls book.

 Myths_Legends_of_Japan

Unpacking Puns: Translating Kakekotoba in the Hyakunin Isshu

A hundred verses from old Japan - being a translation of the Hyaku-nin-isshiu

yesterday's experience as poem

poem 22 

I tried to write an experience I saw as a poem. In the end I figured out that poem 22 of the hyakunin expresses what I was saying. I went from must in the English to thudi (in the end Telugu), saath (with, go with Hindi)

poem 22 hurricane - hurries catches what I was trying to say, that the wind rushes the process of the dried leaves fall(could be called pivot word due to the season)ing down.

More ways to learn Japanese

 kanji.garden

Word match

Love this  kanshudo wordmatch game

Ina Jpanese crossword out of 16, I was able to get 4 right.

multi lingual crosswords.

I started a German crossword and knew one word of 3 letters.

More Japanese-word-games

Chinese character etymology

jlptgrammarlist

ichi.moe

Using search by radical, I am able to get the meaning of kanji at takoboto

The Murakami Project

 From Chatgpt - 

Great! Here’s a simple weekly study plan that you can follow using City and Its Uncertain Walls (in both English and Japanese). This plan assumes you have around 30–60 minutes per day to dedicate to this study. You can adjust based on your availability!

Weekly Study Plan: Learning Japanese with Murakami’s Novel

---

Day 1: Get Started

Focus: Overview of the book and setting up your learning tools.

• Task:

  • Read the first chapter of the English version to get a feel for the plot, characters, and writing style.

  • Set up your learning tools: Make sure you have access to a good dictionary (like Jisho) and note-taking apps.

• Goal: Don’t worry too much about understanding everything perfectly; focus on getting comfortable with the book.

---

Day 2: Translation Practice (1st Paragraph)

Focus: Translating the first paragraph of a scene or chapter from English to Japanese.

• Task:

  • Read the first paragraph in English.

  • Translate it into Japanese by yourself. Focus on expressing the meaning naturally, rather than word-for-word translation.

• Goal: Identify tricky phrases and look them up in the dictionary. Try to use the vocabulary you learned to create a natural flow.

---

Day 3: Compare and Reflect

Focus: Comparing your translation to Murakami’s Japanese text.

• Task:

  • Find the same paragraph in the Japanese version.

  • Compare your translation with Murakami’s Japanese.

    • What are the main differences?

    • Did Murakami use a different tone, word choice, or structure?

• Goal: This is where you start learning nuances. Write down words/phrases that were different or surprising.

---

Day 4: Read Aloud and Pronunciation Practice

Focus: Improve your fluency and pronunciation by reading aloud.

• Task:

  • Read the Japanese passage aloud from the book.

  • Try to match the natural flow and rhythm of Murakami’s sentences.

  • Record yourself if possible, and listen to your pronunciation.

• Goal: Focus on how the sentences sound. Does your reading sound natural? If you struggle, note down which parts need work.

---

Day 5: Deep Dive into Grammar & Vocabulary

Focus: Grammar and vocabulary review.

• Task:

  • Pick out 5–10 new words or phrases from the passage you’ve read.

  • Look them up and review their meanings and usage.

  • Write example sentences for each new word.

  • Review the grammar points you’ve encountered (sentence structure, particles, etc.).

• Goal: Focus on expanding your vocabulary and understanding grammar patterns. Create flashcards or make a vocabulary list.

---

Day 6: Apply Your Learning

Focus: Use your Japanese in writing.

• Task:

  • Write 3–4 sentences based on the English passage you read. Try to incorporate the new vocabulary and grammar you learned.

  • You could write a short diary entry about the story’s events or your thoughts on the characters.

• Goal: Use what you’ve learned to practice producing your own Japanese sentences. Try to express your thoughts in Japanese.

---

Day 7: Review & Fun Activity

Focus: Review and relax.

• Task:

  • Revisit everything from the week: review your translations, vocabulary, and grammar points.

  • Watch an interview with Murakami or listen to a podcast where they discuss his books in Japanese.

  • Optional: Try a fun activity like watching a Japanese movie or drama related to themes in Murakami’s work (if you enjoy that).

• Goal: Relax, absorb the language passively, and reflect on your progress.

---

Repeat the Cycle for Next Week

Every new week, move onto the next chapter or section of the book, applying the same methods — translating, comparing, and reflecting.

---

Additional Tips:

• Track Progress: Consider keeping a language journal where you track what you learn each week. You can write down what went well and what you want to improve.

• Stay Consistent: Even if you only have 30 minutes, consistency is key. Even if one day feels slower, you're making progress.

The New Cassell's German Dictionary: German-English, English-German (English and German Edition) 

I bought thus at the library and already used it for 2 words. 

Das Ich ist das Gefährlichste was wir besitzen. Wir sind nie fertig mit seiner Vertreibung.

Elias Canetti

Gefährlichste - dangerous

besitzen - possess

 

Pablo Neruda's death alone poem

Death Alone

 "There are lone cemeteries,

tombs full of soundless bones, the heart threading a tunnel, a dark, dark tunnel : like a wreck we die to the very core, as if drowning at the heart or collapsing inwards from skin to soul."

****

They are not lonely, may be that is the point of a cemetery, to offer company in groups. Oh ya bones get creaky, before its time to get into the box.

wreck - a state of ruin. Do we realise the peak of great, right before we start down hill or cliff.

Looking at Spanish

"Hay cementerios solos,

tumbas llenas de huesos sin sonido,
el corazón pasando un túnel
oscuro, oscuro, oscuro,
como un naufragio hacia adentro nos morimos,
como ahogarnos en el corazón,
como irnos cayendo desde la piel al alma.

****

In English, there's tunnel dark dark tunnel while in Spanish its oscuro, oscuro, oscuro why did the English translator not write obscure, obscure, obscure - I can see the why language wise but culture wise is it the English language or the people who want the less rambling? Also next 3 lines in Spanish go como but that structure is not used in English, why?

ChatGPT said:

That’s such an excellent, perceptive question — you’re reading like a poet, not just a reader. 🌿

You’ve noticed something that sits at the very heart of translation philosophy:
how language, culture, and rhythm of thought shape what’s considered “poetic.”

Let’s unpack why Neruda’s “oscuro, oscuro, oscuro” becomes “dark, dark, dark” — not “obscure, obscure, obscure” — and why como… disappears from the English version.

---

🌑 1. “Oscuro, oscuro, oscuro” — Why Not “Obscure”?

a. Lexical nuance

In Spanish, oscuro literally means dark — both physically (no light) and metaphorically (mysterious, hidden, deathlike).
In English, obscure sounds abstract, intellectual, even clinical.

So while oscuro is an image — something you see — obscure is an idea — something you think about.

Neruda’s Spanish rhythm is visceral, not analytic.
So “dark, dark, dark” keeps the physical, sensory pulse of the Spanish line.

b. Musicality and mouthfeel

Say them aloud:

Oscuro, oscuro, oscuro — the “o” vowels and rolling rs echo a cave, a tunnel, breath, repetition, dread.
Obscure, obscure, obscure — stops the mouth with hard consonants; it feels cerebral, not elemental.

“Dark, dark, dark” is simpler and heavier, truer to Neruda’s rhythm of elemental being — less thought, more heartbeat.

c. Cultural texture

Spanish poetic culture (especially Latin American modernism) embraces repetition and incantation.
It’s closer to prayer, chant, or sea-surge.
English poetic culture, especially mid-20th-century translation norms, often sought tightness and restraint — fewer “rambling” or overtly musical repetitions.

So the translator likely thought:

“In English, ‘dark, dark, dark’ sounds haunting and primal — ‘obscure, obscure, obscure’ sounds odd and Latinate.”

He was balancing fidelity to Neruda’s mood over literal word-for-word equivalence.

---

🪶 2. The Missing “Como” Structure

In the next three lines, Neruda writes something like:

como túnel, como pozo, como abismo…
(like a tunnel, like a well, like an abyss...)

In Spanish, that repetition of “como” (like/as) creates rhythm — a building up of darkness through parallel syntax.
It’s musical and cumulative — almost Biblical in cadence.

In English, repeating “like, like, like” can feel clunky or childish, unless done deliberately for effect (as Whitman or Ginsberg might do).

So translators often compress the similes, making them part of a smoother English phrase:

“a tunnel, a well, an abyss…”

It’s not about laziness; it’s about how English cadence tolerates repetition differently.
Spanish repetition feels lyrical; English repetition can feel insistent or heavy-handed unless artfully balanced.

---

🌎 3. Cultural Poetics Behind It

• Spanish poetic voice tends toward incantation and accumulation — rhythm builds emotion.
  It values the music of recurrence and the sensuality of words.
  Neruda’s Spanish breathes — it’s oceanic, circular.

• English poetic voice, especially in translation norms of the 20th century, tends toward clarity and distillation.
  It values image and precision more than rhythmical accumulation.

So when a translator moves Neruda into English, they have to navigate two competing aesthetics:

Spanish: emotional resonance through repetition.
English: emotional resonance through compression.

---

🕯️ 4. What This Reveals

Translation isn’t just language transfer — it’s cultural modulation of rhythm, feeling, and expectation.
The translator’s task is to ask:

“What will make an English reader feel what a Spanish reader feels — not necessarily read what they read?”

That’s why oscuro, oscuro, oscuro becomes dark, dark, dark — the emotional equivalence, not lexical equivalence.

And como, como, como becomes the imagery itself — because in English the repetition of “like” distracts from the image rather than building it.

Translation journey begins with a bilingual journal

After mother tongue,  learnign any other tongue, I guess all language learning is translation.

I have Hatuki Murakami's The CIty and its Uncertain Walls in English and will have the Japanese version tomorrow. I asked chatgpt for the best way to learn Japanese fast.

🌱 Step 1: Read in English first (for comprehension)

• Purpose: Understand the meaning, tone, and emotional flow of each scene.

• How: Read one paragraph or scene at a time, making sure you fully understand what’s happening.

• Tip: Note any phrases or emotions that stand out — Murakami often has subtle shifts in tone or mood that are great to track.

---

✍️ Step 2: Translate it yourself

• Purpose: Practice expressing the same meaning in Japanese.

• How:

  • Write your own Japanese version of a short section (even 1–2 sentences).

  • Don’t worry about being perfect — focus on natural expression and meaning.

• Tools: Use a Japanese dictionary (like Jisho.org) instead of a translator at first; it helps you learn word nuances.

• Goal: Think, “How would a Japanese person say this naturally?” rather than literal translation.

---

📖 Step 3: Compare with Murakami’s original

• Find the same passage in the Japanese book.

• Compare:

  • Vocabulary choices

  • Sentence structure

  • The rhythm and feeling of his phrasing

• Notice where your translation differs — that’s where you learn the most.

🧭 Ask yourself:

Why did Murakami choose this word or this phrasing?
Does his Japanese sound more poetic, abstract, or direct than mine?

---

🗣️ Step 4: Read aloud

Murakami’s writing has a distinctive rhythm in Japanese. Reading aloud helps you:

• Improve pronunciation

• Feel sentence flow

• Absorb natural phrasing and intonation

You can even record yourself and compare to audiobook versions if available.

---

🪞 Step 5: Keep a bilingual journal

After each session, write:

• A few lines in English (what you learned or felt)

• The same in Japanese, using words or grammar from the passage

This helps move what you read into active usage — your own Japanese.

Discussion with a friend

 3 types of truth

inyeon 인연 fate

kin-selection-psychology

tirōdhānakarīśvarī