5000
5000 words. I have a vague idea of what that means.
A few months ago I was asked to write a much briefer article for a local art council publication. I was asked to write something about digital media as a painter choosing to use a computer for art. First I got a phone call from a woman who previously printed some stuff I wrote, at her request and encouragement. She then sent a letter with about ten questions that were meant to prompt me to write what she wanted. I found the questions fairly uninteresting however I did try to find in them something I could refer to. The letter ended with a request that I keep my "article" to 400 words or less.
It consumed an unreasonable amount of time attempting to say anything relevant and incorporate the designated subject in 400 words or less. But now I have 5000 words.
Word count does seem like an awfully odd way to define writing.
I am up to 181words
770 characters
By the place I finish this sentence I will have achieved more than a thousand characters (with spaces). Is this relevant? Is it useful information. I certainly would not have bothered to observe these character and word counts if I were not writing on a computer. Then again I wouldn't be writing this if I weren't writing on a computer.
Words = 269
Characters = 1194
Characters (with spaces) = 1493
Paragraphs = 10 (according to the machine)
Lines = 28
Oops, but the count changes as I write. So even with the tool menu the idea of counting the process becomes complicated.
In Hebrew a scribe is called sofer.
It means counter.
The word also is the same root as book and story.
This sort of nonsense may not be useful or relevant.
There is a place on the South coast of the Brittany peninsula called Carnac. Rows of large stones run for kilometers.
Rows and rows of stones.
It wouldn't make sense to say they are old stones since stone in general is quite old. But it isn't the age of the stones that fascinates tourists and archaeologists.
The thing that seems important is that people put the stones in rows a long time ago and we don't know why they did it.
We know the stones were set up a long time ago.
It was not recorded by scribes.
So, we do not know why the stones were put in rows.
Why did people put lots of big stones in long rows.
This sort of nonsense may not be useful or relevant but it is kind of interesting.
Like the stones. They're really interesting to look at and walk around.
Hypertext
Carnac
Data
[I just had to appropriate this aerial photo since the author put it mid page.
The site was untitled and had DRAFT on the top of the page.]
http://lamar.colostate.edu/~bradleyg/one_1.html
"Carnac Stone Alignments, Brittany, France, 2500 BC
Over a thousand, possibly three thousand individual stones aligned in rows extending a distance of several miles in the northeastern region of France represent one of the largest stone organizations of the period. Individual stones, called menhirs, are a local granite, placed in the ground in an upended manner. The precise purpose of the alignment is unknown. It has, however, been theorized that the organization may have ritualistic importance, possibly even the presence of sacrificial activity. Since it was so massive and could be seen from a great distance, Carnac may also be understood as a beacon, drawing one to it as a focus. Once there one may have been drawn along the linear arrangement to a destination. Marking space as a boundary, not as enclosure or for protection is also a possible explanation. Free movement through and around the stones occurs, not allowing the composition to act as a wall. The huge alignments, according to another theory, may represent individual soldiers commemorating some great battle. Other theories tie the stone alignments to the stars, the planets, the zodiac, and the thirty year cycle of the Druid people."
[more photos]
http://www.bretagne.com/english/doc/mega/rows.html (rows)
http://www.bretagne.com/english/doc/mega/guide.html
http://www-subatech.in2p3.fr/~photons/subatech/soft/carnac/
"Carnac is the most famous and the largest megalithic site in France. This site dates back to some seven thousand years when people started to move stones and to place them in the landscape, stones of up to 180 tons in weight. For what reason we don't know, despite many theories."
[ Is it art? Is it data?
Maybe the stones were set up to count bodies or something.
Dead friends or killed enemies.
Like the stone buildings in Hawaii had to have a human body planted under each corner. Slaves seemed to be sufficient. ]
[Here is another Carnac page.]
http://epicws.cped.ornl.gov/codes/ccc/ccc2/ccc-238.html
"RSIC CODE PACKAGE CCC-238
KEYWORDS: REACTOR ACCIDENT; NEUTRON
1. NAME AND TITLE CARNAC: Calculation of Flux and Neutron Spectra in the Case of Criticality Accident.
4. NATURE OF PROBLEM SOLVED
"CARNAC was designed to evaluate the dose received by personnel after a criticality accident, especially for neutrons, by determining the neutron radiation field at the spot. The fluence and spectrum of neutrons at a point are calculated and a maximum dose of corresponding irradiation is estimated."
[ 5000
Even if there is little agreement about why these stones were put there,
when they were put there and even how many stones there are
I thought it was a cute synchronicity that vincent in australia uses the number
5000 here.]
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~focus/france/fr_re_15.htm
"But it is in Carnac that you will find the most astonishing alignment of raised rocks - this site has over 5000 of them... Take a look at these long, impressive rows of stones; contemplate their mysterious arrival, the strangeness of their existence..."
h y p e r t e x t h y p e r t e x t
