Originally published at C.S. MacCath.

This third, much-delayed post in the ConLangs 101 series is intended to introduce you to the biology of sending and receiving communication as it relates to constructed languages. I'll be covering speech production and reception along with other biological mechanisms capable of participating in the communication process. I'll also be introducing you to the Primordial World Sea People, the ancient species from which my World Sea People, Twilight Sea Old People and Day Sea New People descend.

Originally published at C.S. MacCath.

I bought two beautiful new books at An Là Mòr yesterday and won a third in a door-prize drawing. Very exciting! Am Mabinogi is a mid-level hardcover book in Gaelic with full-page illustrations, Gaelic Folk and Hero Tales from Argyllshire is primarily comprised of Fenian tales in Gaelic with English translations, and the book I won, Brìgh An Òrain is a history of the great Nova Scotian singer and storyteller Lauchie MacLellan, with songs and stories both in Gaelic and English.

Originally published at C.S. MacCath.

Note: My Gaelic class last night was really great. Shay taught us how to make two herbal medicines that we foraged, cut and prepared ourselves. I thought I'd share one of her recipes with you, but I just can't write it in English after her careful, Gaelic instruction. So for better or worse (and it's probably worse!), here it is anns a' Ghàidhlig. You can read my English translations by hovering the text.

Rinne mi ìocshlaint sa mhadainn seo. Sè Bearnan Brìde a th' ann. Tha i math airson cnàmh, 's sè mòran mèinnireach a th' innte.

Originally published at C.S. MacCath.

Please Note: My work on the next ConLangs 101 entry is ongoing, but it will probably be another week before I post it, and I'll be moving to a monthly posting cycle for that series going forward. The research and writing for those entries is somewhat time-intensive, and there has been some minor movement in my efforts to place my novel series (though certainly nothing reportable as yet), so I'm eager to stay on that task. Thanks for understanding, and I hope you enjoy this Activism Update. ~ C.S.M.

In this edition of Activism Updates, I'm reviewing Will Potter's book Green Is the New Red: An Insider's Account of a Social Movement Under Siege. Potter is a journalist who begins investigating the "Green Scare" after being threatened with a domestic terrorist label for participating in a peaceful leafleting campaign against animal testing lab Huntingdon Life Sciences. His investigation leads him to associate the targeting of environmental and animal activists with the McCarthyism of the 1950s, and while he doesn't gloss the sabotage of property some activists have perpetrated, he does make a compelling argument against the escalation of anti-green rhetoric by uncovering its origins.

Originally published at C.S. MacCath.

I've written before that my husband engages in vegan advocacy online by way of direct interaction with people and the issues they discuss around the topic. Often this approach works well, but as with all conversations on the Internet, sometimes it brings the bridge wardens out from underneath their charges, if you know what I mean.