I’m slightly belated relative to the beginning of the season of Advent, but Christmas hasn’t come yet, so it’s not too late for a few thoughts on the music of the season! As a second-language Welsh speaker, I was at first unfamiliar with Welsh music, but learning the language gave me entry to an entireContinue reading “Plygain for Peace: Appreciating Welsh Christmas Music”
Category Archives: Language
O Dewch i Ben y Mynydd
Early in my journey of learning Welsh, I encountered a poem by the 19th century bard Mynyddog (given name Richard Davies). Though he enjoyed some notoriety during his own lifetime, he wasn’t an astounding poet and isn’t particularly remembered or celebrated as such today. And yet, he made some contributions to Welsh culture that have,Continue reading “O Dewch i Ben y Mynydd”
The Many Names of October 31
Autumn and the Halloween season always put me in the mood for horror movies. I love the way that the best of them – the really thoughtful, compelling ones – enable us to face our deepest fears, to sit with them and better understand them. There are other kinds of horror circulating at this timeContinue reading “The Many Names of October 31”
Hunaniaeth o’ch Dewis
Read this post in English here. Yn sgil sylwadau angharedig yn newyddion diweddar y Deyrnas Unedig, mae’r iaith Gymraeg wedi bod yn bwnc o ddiddordeb cyhoeddus, ac oherwydd taw Mawrth 1af yw Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant, dw i wedi cael fy symbylu i feddwl am hunaniaeth Gymreig. Ni fyddaf yn anrhydeddu’r sylwadau yna gyda dolenniContinue reading “Hunaniaeth o’ch Dewis”
The Identity You Choose
Darllenwch y post yma yn Gymraeg. Thanks to some unkind commentary in the UK news recently, the Welsh language has been a topic of interest, and as March 1 will be St David’s Day (the national holiday of Wales), I’ve been prompted to think about Welsh identity. I won’t dignify the aforementioned “unkind commentary” withContinue reading “The Identity You Choose”
Introducing the Welsh Tattoo Handbook
In my last post I talked a bit about my history with the Welsh language, why I speak it, and about getting the chance to write a book, but I didn’t go into great detail on the book itself. I’d like to give a shout out to the Geeky Gaeilgeoir for inspiring me to doContinue reading “Introducing the Welsh Tattoo Handbook”
Pam dw i’n siarad Cymraeg
Read this post in English here. Dw i’n siarad Cymraeg. Dw i’n ei siarad er gwaetha byw yn yr Unol Daleithiau. Mae’r rhan fwyaf o bobl — gan gynnwys pobl Gymreig — yn synnu ar hyn. Fe ddechreuais astudio’r Gymraeg pan oeddwn i yn y prifysgol. Fe ges i set o CDs a dechrau gwrandoContinue reading “Pam dw i’n siarad Cymraeg”
Why I Speak Welsh
Darllenwch y post yma yn Gymraeg. I speak Welsh. I do this even though I’m from the United States. Most people — including Welsh people — are surprised by this. I first started studying Welsh when I was in grad school. I got one of those sets of CDs and started listening to them inContinue reading “Why I Speak Welsh”
The Carousel
Rainer Maria Rilke wrote a famous poem in German, for which I have yet to read what I would consider a satisfying English translation. The original is an extraordinary work of art. Its poetic diction is so ineffably German, the poem itself so sui generis, that any attempt at translation is bound to suffer. TheContinue reading “The Carousel”
Thoughts of Rob 