опустевший красный угол и ВИДЫ безумные и двойные рамы из которых половина вынута на лето)) шикарно. правда почему-то представляется старушковый запах.
You should translate (out of copyright) Russian literate into English (if it's not already) and sell the books on LuLu. Your chance to both corrupt our Western tastes and create a revenue stream for yourself as well. What's not to like?
i think that i'm a born un-translator (born not-translator). my pathologic uncertainty made all the years of translating a hell for me. when you translate, you have dozens or hundreds of options at every step that you make, and they all matter. i tried to translate a page of 'door in the wall' while we were in the village, and only confirmed that taking breaks from translating doesn't make it neither worse, nor better. it's always a purgatory!
Maybe you're trying too hard? Translating technical writings probably does require a good degree of accuracy, but with fiction, as long as the plot's the same, I'd think getting the feel of the writing right is all that matters. And there's no reason why your take on the book shouldn't shine though, any more than a film-director's take on a book shouldn't be apparent on the screen.
"Door in the Wall"? It rang a bell, but I was expecting a Russian work - not H. G. Wells! (I read a huge amount of Wells' books when I was young.)
Anyway, have you ever tried translating from Russian to English?
translating technical stuff requires preserving the meaning and the style, but not subtleties, which i think should be preserved in fiction. not all fiction, maybe, but still translators always have a number of options - for any word, turn, construction, everything. that may be not so bad for someone, but my uncertainty makes me stall at every option and worry that i make a wrong choice (spoiling someone else's thing -or even baby - entrusted to me). with all this variety in translation, you're still completely restricted by the original text. in art, you have choices too, and they may be difficult, but since you create an original thing, your choices are mostly unlimited, which means freedom. too many options means you don't need to think of options at all. i've tried translating a few pages of Marina Tsvetaeva memoirs into english a long time ago, and i remember that it in fact was much more fun than the other way around: exactly because i have fewer options when writing in english! or because i don't have a perfect command of most patterns, they are still not fixed, not so overused as the russian ones. creativity shrinks as patterns kick in, and i'm bored by nearly all patterns in the russian language. which means that i cannot use them in any way that is not boring.
i've tried translating a few pages of Marina Tsvetaeva memoirs into english a long time ago, and i remember that it in fact was much more fun than the other way around
There you go!
exactly because i have fewer options when writing in english!
Or maybe just because it's not your native tongue? I would think your knowledge of English would be more formal than those who've grown up with it. Native speakers can get away with mangling it with impunity!
Googles Marina Tsvetaeva... Well, not old enough to steal from. (And it seems there's lots in English already.) What's something you love, is out of copyright and which is unknown of in the West - or at least in the English-speaking West?
And not quite totally off topic. What's the name of the Gilbert & Sullivan song about having a list of names? Should you happen to know it...
right - and now i have to keep a pile of books in the john. when did you switch to rolls? we used papers right until the 90s. composting toilets! but why 'long drop'? because it has to fly the long way down? i need to hurry. this sudden contrast has shown how urban life - coupled with being within the reach of the internet - is corrupting me!
Yep - because the drop is long - until it fills up.
They're mostly outdoors here though, and now mostly found at out-of-the-way campsites - or in the 'bush'. (Term for our forests.) A very typical NZ longdrop...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lomuland/339122948/
except for the sign. :-) And not of the composting type, you'll notice. When it fills up, just dig a new hole and move the dunny to it. ( :-) )
I would think rolls became commonplace here in the 50s or early 60s, though my memory of the matter is pretty hazy. It's like television. I can remember getting our first TV, but not the switch from B&W to colour.
Hmmm. And what about keeping the last scraps of soap and boiling them up when you had enough to make a new cake? I can remember my Mum doing that when I was a child.
As to composting: Did you follow the link on that site - to where they said a composting toilet can cost up to $20,000? One would make a good centerpiece for that house...
However, the composting principal is probably pretty simple and probably explained in detail somewhere on the net.
So, does this place have phonelines in? And would it be good enough to at least get some form of internet connection? Or perhaps satellite's available there? The net's way more important than how good the toilet facilities are!
multipurpose building, indeed dacha toilets in russia are mostly outdoors too. and so are toilets in many villages. the further to the north, the more they should move indoors though (?). *And what about keeping the last scraps of soap and boiling them up when you had enough to make a new cake?* haven't heard about that! but i know for sure that there were illegal soap-boilers, at least in the 40s, and they were prosecuted by the government. we had a b&w tv in the 80s. russian color tvs were mostly huge and notorious for blowing up at add moments of watching. just like cell phones are notorious for interfering with health today.
this english gadget looks familiar.
pay phones are about the only thing they have in every village there. for internet, you have the option of GPRS (cheap set-up, expensive traffic) and GPRS+satellite (expensive set-up, cheap traffic). i would prefer to have only the email there, because browsing, blogging and porn really undermine my workflow. and when i say really here i mean really. so i will opt for the slowest and most expensive connection. so, a nice toilet is far moire important! i don't meant to retire completely, though. i'd like to stay in the country for a month or two until i make a good bunch of toys, then move to the town for a month, until i sell them. funny that our new Cold War could (and probably will?) bring an end to my barely-started career: 100% of my customers are from the USA now.
Long as you've some way to post. We can't go without you for months, you know!
And as for Cold War II, I expect you probably didn't watch the Republican Convention? And thus missed seeing Meg Whitman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meg_Whitman) giving a speech there (http://postcards.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/09/04/meg-and-carly-mccains-other-key-women/). (As I did.) Does that help to explain why China's in the top-tier, PayPal-wise, and Russia's in the bottom? Republicans miss the cold war so very deeply...
But I wouldn't worry too much about a new Cold War - unless McCain gets in, which seems unlikely. It doesn't make any sense for anybody, (arms-producers excepted), the neocons being out of step with everyone else in power in the West.
Oh, and for a sane analysis of current events, see this guy's articles...
quick note before i looked at your links: in a country where bush won *two times in a row*, macain will win for the third! that being said, the usa ain't the only party here who are looking to sour my business. you should see official russian media!
That sounds sad - but is there evidence that your lines of communication are being cut off? (Meaning this, non-political websites and such.) Plus the means to send you money. I can't see Russia being stupid enough to halt incoming funds, though a US blockade might just happen. Except there's way too many Western businesses with their fingers in Russia now for that to be likely, isn't there?
i don't think that they (russian hawks) actually mean to draw an iron curtain at this time - not at all. but they've been playing in such a reckless and impertinent manner, that that may just happen, and - to be quite honest - i don't see how it could *not* happen sooner or later. i don't see any evidence that financial flows are being blocked now, but if the confrontation continues, they of course may be. western business involvement present some hope, probably. but really i shouldn't talk politics - i have no idea what's going on and avoid thinking of it
You're wise, probably. I've been a bit of a political junkie since my teens, and it's never done me much good. And I've certainly appreciated having no TV of late. Going without makes you realise just how much your interests are controlled by what's on the box.
Oh, and NZ is in election-mode at the moment, though you wouldn't know it by reading my LJ, right? Happily, our elections are mercifully short compared to the US ones, which are utterly bizarre, when you think about it.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-03 09:26 pm (UTC)и дорога как петляет
очень красиво
(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-04 04:16 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-03 09:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-04 04:16 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-04 01:27 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-04 04:15 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-04 07:10 am (UTC)и ВИДЫ безумные
и двойные рамы из которых половина вынута на лето))
шикарно. правда почему-то представляется старушковый запах.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-04 12:55 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-04 01:05 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-04 01:08 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-04 07:42 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-04 12:56 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-04 07:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-04 07:56 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-05 02:21 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-05 03:52 pm (UTC)not to be confused with wc though
(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-05 10:25 pm (UTC)Either way though, definitely best inside in a Russian winter.
Would the winters be better or worse there than in Moscow?
(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-05 10:38 pm (UTC)the point is that the toilets are without water, and without toilet bowl. this sort
, but inside the house. so you sort of shit, excusez-moi, under your own house. what do you call such a contraption, englishmen?
(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-05 10:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-05 10:41 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-05 10:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-05 11:04 pm (UTC)Don't worry - your English is very good.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-05 11:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-06 12:18 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-06 10:49 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-06 11:30 pm (UTC)"Door in the Wall"? It rang a bell, but I was expecting a Russian work - not H. G. Wells! (I read a huge amount of Wells' books when I was young.)
Anyway, have you ever tried translating from Russian to English?
Re: Thunderboxes
Date: 2008-09-07 07:58 am (UTC)with all this variety in translation, you're still completely restricted by the original text. in art, you have choices too, and they may be difficult, but since you create an original thing, your choices are mostly unlimited, which means freedom. too many options means you don't need to think of options at all.
i've tried translating a few pages of Marina Tsvetaeva memoirs into english a long time ago, and i remember that it in fact was much more fun than the other way around: exactly because i have fewer options when writing in english! or because i don't have a perfect command of most patterns, they are still not fixed, not so overused as the russian ones. creativity shrinks as patterns kick in, and i'm bored by nearly all patterns in the russian language. which means that i cannot use them in any way that is not boring.
Re: Thunderboxes
Date: 2008-09-07 08:37 am (UTC)There you go!
exactly because i have fewer options when writing in english!
Or maybe just because it's not your native tongue? I would think your knowledge of English would be more formal than those who've grown up with it. Native speakers can get away with mangling it with impunity!
Googles Marina Tsvetaeva... Well, not old enough to steal from. (And it seems there's lots in English already.) What's something you love, is out of copyright and which is unknown of in the West - or at least in the English-speaking West?
And not quite totally off topic. What's the name of the Gilbert & Sullivan song about having a list of names? Should you happen to know it...
(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-05 10:55 pm (UTC)We call them aLong Drop! (http://www.ccc.govt.nz/quickanswers/Waste/Sewage/F792.asp)
And the phone's a nice touch. Sort of the modern version of the toilet-paper made from old newspapers, which were something to read before...
North of Moscow? I suggest you negotiate the price in mid-winter - if you can get there...
(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-05 11:34 pm (UTC)composting toilets! but why 'long drop'? because it has to fly the long way down?
i need to hurry. this sudden contrast has shown how urban life - coupled with being within the reach of the internet - is corrupting me!
Thunderboxes
Date: 2008-09-06 12:13 am (UTC)They're mostly outdoors here though, and now mostly found at out-of-the-way campsites - or in the 'bush'. (Term for our forests.) A very typical NZ longdrop...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lomuland/339122948/
except for the sign. :-) And not of the composting type, you'll notice. When it fills up, just dig a new hole and move the dunny to it. ( :-) )
I would think rolls became commonplace here in the 50s or early 60s, though my memory of the matter is pretty hazy. It's like television. I can remember getting our first TV, but not the switch from B&W to colour.
Hmmm. And what about keeping the last scraps of soap and boiling them up when you had enough to make a new cake? I can remember my Mum doing that when I was a child.
As to composting: Did you follow the link on that site - to where they said a composting toilet can cost up to $20,000? One would make a good centerpiece for that house...
However, the composting principal is probably pretty simple and probably explained in detail somewhere on the net.
So, does this place have phonelines in? And would it be good enough to at least get some form of internet connection? Or perhaps satellite's available there? The net's way more important than how good the toilet facilities are!
Re: Thunderboxes
Date: 2008-09-06 10:39 am (UTC)dacha toilets in russia are mostly outdoors too. and so are toilets in many villages. the further to the north, the more they should move indoors though (?).
*And what about keeping the last scraps of soap and boiling them up when you had enough to make a new cake?*
haven't heard about that! but i know for sure that there were illegal soap-boilers, at least in the 40s, and they were prosecuted by the government.
we had a b&w tv in the 80s. russian color tvs were mostly huge and notorious for blowing up at add moments of watching. just like cell phones are notorious for interfering with health today.
this english gadget looks familiar.
pay phones are about the only thing they have in every village there. for internet, you have the option of GPRS (cheap set-up, expensive traffic) and GPRS+satellite (expensive set-up, cheap traffic). i would prefer to have only the email there, because browsing, blogging and porn really undermine my workflow. and when i say really here i mean really. so i will opt for the slowest and most expensive connection.
so, a nice toilet is far moire important!
i don't meant to retire completely, though. i'd like to stay in the country for a month or two until i make a good bunch of toys, then move to the town for a month, until i sell them. funny that our new Cold War could (and probably will?) bring an end to my barely-started career: 100% of my customers are from the USA now.
Re: Thunderboxes
Date: 2008-09-06 11:45 am (UTC)And as for Cold War II, I expect you probably didn't watch the Republican Convention? And thus missed seeing Meg Whitman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meg_Whitman) giving a speech there (http://postcards.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/09/04/meg-and-carly-mccains-other-key-women/). (As I did.) Does that help to explain why China's in the top-tier, PayPal-wise, and Russia's in the bottom? Republicans miss the cold war so very deeply...
But I wouldn't worry too much about a new Cold War - unless McCain gets in, which seems unlikely. It doesn't make any sense for anybody, (arms-producers excepted), the neocons being out of step with everyone else in power in the West.
Oh, and for a sane analysis of current events, see this guy's articles...
http://www.gwynnedyer.com/articles2008.htm
Re: Thunderboxes
Date: 2008-09-06 11:56 am (UTC)that being said, the usa ain't the only party here who are looking to sour my business. you should see official russian media!
Re: Thunderboxes
Date: 2008-09-06 12:06 pm (UTC)That sounds sad - but is there evidence that your lines of communication are being cut off? (Meaning this, non-political websites and such.) Plus the means to send you money. I can't see Russia being stupid enough to halt incoming funds, though a US blockade might just happen. Except there's way too many Western businesses with their fingers in Russia now for that to be likely, isn't there?
Re: Thunderboxes
Date: 2008-09-06 12:17 pm (UTC)i don't see any evidence that financial flows are being blocked now, but if the confrontation continues, they of course may be. western business involvement present some hope, probably. but really i shouldn't talk politics - i have no idea what's going on and avoid thinking of it
Re: Thunderboxes
Date: 2008-09-06 11:38 pm (UTC)Oh, and NZ is in election-mode at the moment, though you wouldn't know it by reading my LJ, right? Happily, our elections are mercifully short compared to the US ones, which are utterly bizarre, when you think about it.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-11 12:44 pm (UTC)http://alois.livejournal.com/346481.html