Wednesday, August 17, 2022

benevolent king edward

 

According to the Google dictionary, 

benevolent means well meaning and kindly and has the following roots:

diagram shows roots of benevolent from Latin to Old French to Middle English. Details in main text.


Both parts are from Latin.

"bene" meaning well; "velle" meaning to wish. 

bene volent = well wishing

benevolent.

Something said about royalty, as in "He was a benevolent ruler."

As king, he acted in ways which showed he wished well upon his subjects.



But who needs Latin, when you can speak French.

The word "bene" is quite similar to the French "bien", which in English is "good"

The French word "volent" means to steal.

So benevolent could also mean "good thief"

Something also said about royalty, as in, "He was a good thief."

As in, the king was good at stealing. So good, that no one even thought of him as a thief. 

Not even when he stole millions of acres of land from Indigenous peoples around the world. Or when he stole the lives of millions of people by enslaving them...


Just something to think about ...

Monday, August 15, 2022

[more about the fauntleroy residence]

 

This post has nothing to do with the main theme of this blog, which is an exploration of exclusion and embrace. This is about another love of mine - architecture.

I recently came across a well-designed house by Heliotrope Architects, featured in several magazines. 

Image of Fauntleroy Residence from the street. Showing driveway and wood-covered garage portion, and concrete walls leading to front door. Upper floor is an offset box with vertical wood siding. A small opaque glass box is attached to the upper floor, above the garage. A large deciduous tree is in the front year; portions of coniferous trees appear behind the house. In the distance is the view of the bay and the Southworth - Fauntleroy ferry terminal

They all have great pictures similar to this one. One of the articles also includes floor plans of the main floor and lower level, but not of the upper floor. So I created a possible version of the second floor, based on pictures and description from the articles along with the footprint and layout of the lower floors. Am sharing it here for anyone else who appreciates this house and is wondering what the upper floor might be like.