Welcome to Mern Þonke.
The late twelfth- or early thirteenth-century author Layamon tells us that as he sat reading by the banks of the Severn it came into his merne þonke 'deep thought' that he would write his Brut, or history. To me Layamon’s inspiration comes from a confluence of his studies and his observation of the events of world around him as they took place, flowing through the river of time. This metaphor serves as the inspiration for my web log, where I will record the mern þonke that arises from the confluence of my own studies and my observations of the world around me.
I started this web log in order to create a space for the expression of thoughts and observations which I can not give voice to in the classroom because of lack of time, because my thoughts are too tangential to my teaching goals, or because these thoughts are of too personal a nature to be given expression in a teaching context. I hope that by making these ideas public in their raw state, I will be able to communicate more dynamically than I do in my professional context. Those wishing to know how this web log relates to my position as assistant professor of English at California State University, Northridge should read my disclaimer. So I wish readers a warm welcome and hope that they find this log interesting. If you have any comments feel free to send me feedback.
--Scott Kleinman
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