war

late O.E. (c.1050), wyrre, werre, from O.N.Fr. werre “war” (Fr. guerre), from Frank. *werra, from P.Gmc. *werso (cf. O.S. werran, O.H.G. werran, Ger. verwirren “to confuse, perplex”). Cognates suggest the original sense was “to bring into confusion.” There was no common Gmc. word for “war” at the dawn of historical times. O.E. had many poetic words for “war” (guð, heaðo, hild, wig, all common in personal names), but the usual one to translate L. bellum was gewin “struggle, strife” (related to win). Sp., Port., It. guerra are from the same source; Romanic peoples turned to Gmc. for a word to avoid L. bellum because its form tended to merge with bello- “beautiful.” The verb meaning “to make war on” is recorded from 1154. First record of war time is 1387. Warpath (1775) is from N.Amer. Ind., as are war-whoop (1761), war-paint (1826), war-path (1775), and war-dance (1757). War crime first attested 1906. War chest is attested from 1901; now usually fig. War games translates Ger. Kriegspiel (see kriegspiel).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper

gun

1339, gunne “an engine of war that throws rocks, arrows or other missiles,” probably a shortening of woman’s name Gunilda, found in M.E. gonnilde “cannon” and in an Anglo-L. reference to a specific gun from a 1330 munitions inventory of Windsor Castle (“…una magna balista de cornu quae Domina Gunilda …”), from O.N. Gunnhildr, woman’s name (from gunnr + hildr, both meaning “war, battle”); the identification of women with powerful weapons is common historically (cf. Big Bertha, Brown Bess, etc.); meaning shifted with technology, from cannons to firearms as they developed 15c. Great guns (cannon, etc.) distinguished from small guns (such as muskets) from c.1408. First applied to pistols and revolvers 1744. Meaning “thief, rascal” is from 1858. The verb meaning “to shoot with a gun” is from 1622; the sense of “to accelerate an engine” is from 1930. Gun-shy is 1884, originally of sporting dogs. Son of a gun is originally nautical. Gun-metal (commonly an alloy of copper and zinc) used attributively of a dull blue-gray color since 1905. Gunboat is from 1793; gunboat diplomacy is from 1927, originally with reference to China.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper

just a small excerpt from something I’m working on…

Now to a good memory:

her standing by the nightstand, she’s fingering something, a necklace, it’s coiled like a snake under her hand, a single white bead playing between her thumb and forefinger. Hip jutting out, under pale pink nightgown worn thin and soft from so many nights- the thin lace is broken on the shoulder, its end falls limp just by the tiny freckle near her collarbone. It rises with every breath in, it sinks in her sigh. Her lips are pursed, serious, in concentration, some thought, some nagging idea, it’s taking her focus from everything else. She’s staring full gaze at the wall, she’s staring at the indefinable phrase- unutterable proclamation. Her fingers keep rolling that bead, they keep at it like they’re in prayer- worry- her worry bead- but this moment- this moment- is the moment before he knows what she’s worried about. And it’s a beautiful memory- this moment- his most intimate- when it was only the two of them- the future weight about to crash down- but not yet- not yet.

She turns her head, her hair falls cross her face- she releases the bead to brush it away. Her mouth opens- there’s a pause- a breath (the last gasp)- her voice comes out

and stop.

That’s all- that’s all that’s necessary- in remembering- that’s all for now.

- Jessamyn Fiore, Excerpt from The Pessimist

roots: David Bradshaw

“Ruger AC 556K—-Mini-14. “K” stands for “kurtz”—-13″ barrel. Caliber .223 Renington. Full auto. Winter 1981-82. Gun got so hot that touching the trigger without a glove was uncomfortable. I call this the “gut hold”—-wherein you snuggle the pistol grip just above your navel for over-the-bore pointing.”

- David Bradshaw

Everyone has their influences- and I was lucky enough to have grown up around a full fleet of artistic characters who had mainly sprung (creatively speaking) from the streets and lofts of downtown NYC 1970s. And there were many paths taken, diverging roads that led from that spot and crossed the world- and in my memory- in my heart- a few of these stars will always burn bright. Like David Bradshaw- who when I was small seemed so unbelievably tall- huge in my mind- strong- with his long speech and clear eyes- great stories, great laugh, great heart. David is a true artist through and through he creates constantly like breathing he travels always on the road writing crossing up and down from Louisiana to Vermont and back again in his red pick up truck yellow legal pad on the steering wheel dog at his side. His art is guns and explosives- steel and smoke- precision. I remember traveling to northern Vermont to watch him detonate sheets of steel in the four foot snow- the power causing the metal to curl open like a flower- stood up as sculpture the sheets were at the same time so fragile and so strong- such force. And later in life I again journeyed to northern Vermont this time in the summer to join many others, and David, in shooting an old piano- another memorable experience. David teaching myself and my friend how to shoot- from A-Z – to learn to respect the weapon, to control it. I know to others it sounds odd, but knowing David is makes perfect sense- his work is profound- it always sparks conversation- debate- this power our power- combined with control- discipline- focused energy- the discipline is the power- control is the force. He has been giving me works of art my entire life- signed photos- writings on yellow legal paper- steel with bullet hole- a five wine bottle instruction set on how to make a Molotov cocktail- a portrait of Burroughs- I love and treasure every one. He sent me this image today with the accompanying text- it is the first virtual artwork I have received from him- the first non tangible piece- and so in recognition I’d like to hang it up on this virtual wall- this blog- and say quite simply that he is an artist who inspires me.

Jessamyn