destination aspiration 1 – mt. kynthos
on the 4th i mostly sat around the house reading, looking at the stuff i wasn’t packing, and buying backpacks that i will probably send back (more on that when they arrive, i imagine). i didn’t feel like going to the parade, and couldn’t remember when it started anyway, so i enjoyed the day at home.
the amateur fireworks started going off as soon as it was anything like dusky (which means somewhere around 9:30 in this new DST-powered Indiana summer), but i didn’t pay them much mind. the yokels across the street from me have been shooting them off for days. one of them landed on my porch once, which was a little jarring.
when i heard the much more thunderous booms that signalled the start of the stadium show, however, i was drawn from my shell. i walked outside and wandered down the street in search of a better view. i ended up walking down to where lincoln dead-ends at the tracks, and from there i could see everything that shot above the apartments on the other side, which was most of the interesting stuff, so it was a nice show.
there was someone else sitting on the ground when i got there, but he didn’t notice me at first, and i didn’t say anything because fireworks aren’t necessarily a conversational activity, after all, so for a few minutes we just stared separately at the sky.
then someone else walked through, making more noise than i had because she was wearing heels and i was barefoot, and also because i think she was slightly intoxicated, which led her to mutter “oh!” and giggle to herself when she saw us there, and then she just kept picking her way through the rocks to another destination.
the other person and i acknowledged each other then, and we made small talk along the lines of “ooh! that one’s cool!” for the rest of the show. he asked me if i lived nearby and i said yes, and it reminded me of how little i know my neighbors, which sometimes makes me sad. he asked if i was in school and i said i had just graduated, and mentioned the upcoming trip to scotland.
he got excited and said that he loved scotland, and had spent a fair bit of time there, and he asked more questions and we talked a bit more as we got up to walk away after the grand finale, which was mostly red, white and blue flickering below our line of sight.
his name was james, and when i told him mine he said “were your parents hippies or classicists?” which struck me as both amusing and astute. i said “hippies, but my mom’s name is pallas because my grandfather was on a greek mythology kick when she was born, so i guess he was the classicist, and they decided to keep up the theme.”
which is true.
he asked if it had something to do with dogs because the greek word for dog is apparently ????, which is kind of like the beginning of my name. but i said no, i didn’t think so. i have seen it spelled both ?????? and ??????, but never as ku-on-thia, or whatever it would have to be to be a relative of dogs.
i didn’t say that the new age baby name book says that it means “moon child,” and my dad wrote a song for me with that title when i was a baby, because i have decided that there is no etymological basis for that interpretation, and i didn’t have another one to offer, and our conversation was ending anyway.
i went home, read the declaration of independence (i always make myself do this on the 4th of july. this year it made me a little somber…), finished watching a movie that i had started earlier, and went to bed. i felt like it was a good omen of sorts, to randomly bump into someone on the street and start talking about traveling and find some small kinship in that. it’s a good reminder that the way to find friends is just to start talking to people, and that there are lots of friends out there just waiting to be met.
so that was a nice end to the evening.
then, the next day, i was greeted by an email from james, saying that he hoped i was the right kynthia (because you know, there are a lot of us out there to choose from), and he just wanted to pass on that he had been curious about my name and so he’d done a little research, and he hopes that i will be able to make a little pilgrimage to greece while i’m abroad so that i can climb mt. kynthos, on the isle of delos, “just so you can say that you did.”
here’s a picture of the sacred mt. kynthos and, well… lemme just say that, being from colorado and all, i am tempted to quibble with their nomenclature. but given that “mt. kynthos” does seem to reflect the grandeur of the name of kynthia pretty well, i can forgive them for going with that instead of something like “kynthos hill” or “lump o’ kynthosity”
and i agree wholeheartedly with the idea that i should go climb it.
so i hereby inaugurate the “destination aspiration” list, wherein i will keep track of recommended or discovered potential destinations for my journey.
because that sounds like fun, huh?
finally, writing all this did make me wonder about the whole “moon child” bit, for the next time my name becomes a conversation piece, which will surely not be too long from now. i did a bit of poking around, and it turns out that it is because Kynthia was one of the names for Artemis, the goddess of the moon, and she was born on Mt. Kynthos.
so yeah, climbing it will make for a good story.
and then there’s that whole going to the greek islands part of the deal. that’s a nice bonus.
thanks, james!
July 8th, 2006 at 1:30 am
KUN is the root for Cynic, too, isn’t it? Which is suppose to be somehow related to dog. Diogenes sitting in his little barrel with the strays.
July 10th, 2006 at 12:09 am
Derech Agav, I hope this guy was good looking or something. Had I brought up the etymology of your name or the apparent Hellenism of your family, I would probably be sitting in Guantanamo right now.
I checked out your dad’s BroadJam page. You should’ve linked to the Moon Child song. It’s sweet. You’re lucky. Some degree of thought went into your name, rather than getting stuck with the moniker of some dead relative.
Is Nerice pronounced like the god Nereus, or… differently, or what?
July 10th, 2006 at 10:12 am
the difference, dear guest, has nothing to do with looks. it is rather that, were you to begin talking about the etymology of my name, there would still be the whole matter of me NOT HAVING ANY IDEA WHO YOU ARE.
neither familiarity nor anonymity bother me; your signature blend of the two is the only thing with which i have ever taken issue.
:)
i didn’t link to the song because it’s usually much sappier to people who have not been falling asleep to it since they were born, and also, honestly, because i couldn’t find it online right away and my dad and i are of different minds about intellectual property. his broadjam page currently links to three other songs, but not moon child. but yes, if you search for it from the homepage, you can indeed find it. huh.
how did you find it, though? without knowing my dad’s first name, it proves rather difficult, and i didn’t even hint that it was out there to be found…
anyway, i have my own copy, so i just listened to it myself, which always makes me cry, so i called my dad and told him i was glad that i had it, and that it was nice to know that i would be able to listen to it while i’m traveling if i get lonely or homesick.
awwww….
nerice is pronounced nuh-REESE.
kind of like the spanish word for nose.
it is not greek, to the best of my knowledge.
and yes, i enjoy the originality of my name, and not only because i have relatives with names like algae, and well… that would make for conversations of a whole different color.
July 11th, 2006 at 12:41 am
The always unreliable internet says it’s Greek and means ‘from the sea’. It’s been ages since high school and any interest I might’ve once had in Greek mythology but I fell under the impression it was the name of Nereus’ mermaid daughters. And since the second line from your dad’s song is ‘daughter of the sea’… well, you can see where I could get mixed up.
I’m just harping on my humilating first comment here as an inside joke to myself. I understand fully that I should’ve appreciated that just because I sandwich Planet Info between Mentalblog and Gil Student’s blog doesn’t mean you’d be just as accustomed as they to comments from strangers. And I am sorry for all of that.
July 11th, 2006 at 11:58 am
huh.
well, maybe it IS greek.
that would be good to know.
“daughter of the sea” came from the definition of the name that was given in the name book, so that is indeed where the line in the song came from – you weren’t making it up. i was just unaware of it’s hellenic roots.
i have always liked it, though, because i love the water, so it seems somewhat fitting.
and i have forgiven you for your comments, so consider your apology accepted. i will just continue to scratch my head and reserve the right to tease you as long as you continue bringing it up.
seems fair to me!
:)
July 12th, 2006 at 1:24 am
I think your parents are classicists as well as hippies. Being philosophers a/k/a lovers of wisdom, perhaps more so.
As I remember it, “daughter of the sea” was inspired by the fact that you were born under the sign of Cancer. Isn’t it interesting how astrological influences could be considered both classical and hippie/new-age?
Thanks to Guest for noticing the care that went into your naming.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxomom
ps I think your dad would be proud to have you share his song.
July 13th, 2006 at 7:30 pm
Wow. Not sure where to start with this, so I’ll start with the destination theme and suggest, since you’re going to Greece, you might stop by Crete and visit Villa Kynthia. Here’s the link. Your mom found it. http://www.greekhotel.com/crete/rethymno/kynthia/home.htm Might need a tinyurl.
Everything everyone is saying about your name rings true. So many layers of meaning. We wanted something beautiful, meaningful, and unique, like you. You came a month early, as you know, so we had to give up the Leo name, Denebola Kaime (I mean I had to give it up. I think your mom might have vetoed it). Its an astrological/greek theme — moon and water — for a water sign with a greek-named mama. All the entries bring to mind the zen/taoist moon on the water thing. Kynthia Nerice, in my world, translated to moon child, daughter of the sea, for the song. (Thanks for the call. Made me cry.)
As for intellectual property, the song is copyrighted, and registered with ASCAP, but I hereby assign all rights and interests in any revenue from the song to you. I’m not assigning the copyright, just the income (I don’t want you to be burdened with owning a copyright). So far it has generated a total of $0.00 (US), so its still priceless. I’ll keep you posted. I haven’t made and CDs to sell, I just burn them and give them to friends. I’ll stop doing that, though, because it might affect your retirement. You, of course, can share it as you choose.
Will you have a cell phone so you can call from the summit of Mt. Kynthos? You better.
Love you