Hannah

Geologist. Member of Texas diaspora. PCA gal. Casual tweeter. Looking for a husband, accepting suitors who like pot roast & cherry 🥧 .

[Hannah @hannerzC]

2026 #PCAGA Bingo Cards are here! Make your own here: https://t.co/NbD49HXvyd I do two cards a page, and it makes 5 pages so the whole family can play along while watching the #pcaga livestream. Please share with everyone you know!

[NASA @NASA]

On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the Moon.

[NASA History Office @NASAhistory]

One giant leap for mankind

History was made on July 20, 1969, when Apollo 11's Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first to set foot on the Moon.

For more than 5 decades, the total number of moonwalkers has remained at 12. NASA will change that with Artemis IV.

[RedditCFB @RedditCFB]

Tweets from 1066, 1113, 1119, 1173, 1194, 1204, 1214, 1217, 1242, 1297, 1324, 1415, 1475, 1492, 1513, 1523, 1544, 1549, 1558, 1627, 1692, 1704, 1745, 1759, 1778, 1781, 1805, and 2026.

[Alex Petkas @costofglory]

I believe in Homer. I believe such a man named Homer existed.

Here's how you can believe that and still gain much insight from Greg Nagy's theories.

-Nagy didn't invent the "Homer not one guy" thesis, which goes back at least to Friedrich August Wolf in late 18th century Germany (and actually deep into antiquity if you keep pulling on the thread).

-In modern scholarship it's called the Analyst school (as opposed to the "one genius Homer" Unitarians). Many shades of grey between.

-There's no doubt Homer comes from a tradition of Indo-European epic bards, a tradition older in Homer's day than the Western literary canon is now.

-Homer's stories weren't invented out of thin air, nobody sane thinks this, but rather developed over centuries (well, millennia) of 'audience testing'.

-In Best of the Achaeans (1978, excellent), Nagy explains how the Iliad and Odyssey both represent a relatively universal Greek Heroic epic tradition - they are mutually exclusive and, in some sense, collectively exhaustive.

In other words, they resemble something coming from one "mind" (singular or collective).

-In particular, "Monro's Law" holds that the Odyssey studiously avoids mentioning any episode or event that occurs in the Iliad. (It's not so strict in the other direction)

For example, there's no Trojan Horse reference in the Iliad, but many in the Odyssey.

-The poems are fundamentally in a competition for who is the "Best" of the Greek heroes (the Achaeans) from the Trojan War.

The Trojan Horse (Odysseus' game-winning idea) makes Odysseus seem like the "best", so it makes sense this appears in one and not the other.

-The simplest explanation is "Homer wrote the Iliad first and then the Odyssey." And maybe add "his perspective changed somewhat. But not too much." This is more or less the ancient perspective found in Longinus On the Sublime (~ 2nd c. AD). (Iliad written by young Homer in his prime, Odyssey from the reflection of old age).

On this view, Homer can still be an oral poet inheriting a vast tradition (in which the Iliadic tradition and the Odyssean tradition interacted for a long time, probably many generations). But "Homer" is the crucial oral poet who decided to write this stuff down. (Maybe he was blind or illiterate and a scribe did it for him, who cares.)

-You can get into the details of the Analyst school, text criticism, scholars rejecting books as 'spurious', multiple layers, etc. etc. You can read about Milman Parry and Albert Lord. You should, it's very interesting. You should definitely read Nagy (esp. if you know some Greek).

But at the end of the day, even if you accept most of Nagy's work (and the work of many Homeric scholars in general—he's just a good representative), you can still meaningfully treat the Iliad and the Odyssey as the works of "one guy," written in that order.

[cue Midwit Meme]

To "believe" in the ancient sense more often meant "to trust" or "to obey." In other words, you can act as though it's the case, and that's still worth doing—including about things you can't have certain knowledge of.

And get on with it.

(Also I believe Homer cares about you, different story)

[Hannah @hannerzC]

@AdrienneRoyer As long as it remains a story well told and still has the spirit of the original audiences are very forgiving with changes and adaptations.

[Jonathan Pageau @PageauJonathan]

@areallycoolspot The value of a Trojan Horse depends on what side you are on. This movie wears a thin postmodern veneer to tell a story of the return of order.

[Hannah @hannerzC]

@MWellertXc One great thing about the book is that Melanie is an angel who will never let you down.

[Shawn Eni @ShawnEni]

OK. So Helen’s beauty sparks a war.

Athena is a strategic goddess guiding Odysseus.

Penelope embodies clever loyalty.

Circe turns men into pigs, which frankly is still the most realistic female character arc in literature.

Calypso traps the hero on an island for seven years.

Cassandra can literally see the future but nobody listens, making her the first woman in recorded history to experience a meeting.

The Sirens weaponize music.

Nausicaa saves Odysseus when he washes up naked and useless.

Andromache gives one of the most devastating anti-war speeches in the Iliad.

Hecuba is basically the emotional wreckage of empire in human form.

Aphrodite starts half the problems in Western civilization by being hot and petty.

Hera is running divine opposition research.

Thetis gets Zeus involved because Achilles is having a workplace dispute.

But apart from Helen, Athena, Penelope, Circe, Calypso, Cassandra, the Sirens, Nausicaa, Andromache, Hecuba, Aphrodite, Hera, and Thetis...

WHAT HAS HOMER EVER DONE TO GIVE FEMALE CHARACTERS ATTENTION?

[James Lindsay, anti-Communist @ConceptualJames]

You've probably heard this before, but it's always worth repeating. Something extremely cool about the "Star-spangled Banner," the American national anthem, is that it asks a question, and it's the question at the heart of everything in the American worldview.

"Oh, say, can you see
By the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed
At the twilight's last gleaming..."

So the anthem begins with a question and a scene. One man, a patriot, is asking another man, another patriot, "can you see it?" at sunrise after a long, dangerous night.

The "it" in question is going to be revealed to be the flag, our "star-spangled banner," which they had last fully recognized and honored as the sun set, daylight failed, and night crept over them the evening before.

Can you see it? Say! Can you see it?!

IS IT STILL THERE?!

"Whose broad stripes and bright stars
Through the perilous fight
O'er the ramparts we watched
Were so gallantly streaming..."

Here we find that the "it" is in fact the flag, our star-spangled banner, and we learn why the question is being asked.

The flag is described as having flown and streamed gallantly over ramparts of war through a perilous fight. All could have been lost. The flag, and even the fledgling country for which it stands, one nation under God and indivisible.

Say! Can you see it? Now that the light is back?

IS IT STILL THERE?!

"--And the rockets' red glare,
The bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night
That our flag was still there!--"

They could see it through the battle in the light of the rockets and bombs that threatened them, here and there in quick glimpses. But it was still there throughout! But now? At dawn?

Say! Can you see?

IS IT STILL THERE?!

"Oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free
And the home of the brave?"

The urgency is palpable with every refrain. They have to know. It's the first thing they must know as the sun begins to light the sky, even before it rises.

IS IT STILL THERE?!

Say! Say!! Can you see? Can you see it?!

At the heart of every American beats the fundamental truth and reality that what we have here is precious, that it's worth fighting for, to the death if necessary, and that it's fragile. That at any moment it can be lost. That we have to remember to look for it because last night might have been the night in which it failed.

Every day, every year, every generation.

The American fight for freedom, to live in self-governance within ordered liberty, is ongoing and never-ending. The price of the land of the free is that it must be the home of the brave. We have to defend it, defend it, and defend it again, against all enemies foreign and domestic, because what we have is amazing, rare, fragile, and worth every cent of treasure, every drop of blood, and every risk to our sacred honor to protect it.

Our anthem is not a declaration. It is not a proclamation. It is not a statement.

It is a question.

Every time we sing our wholly unique national anthem, we as American ask the question again. IS IT STILL THERE?! Are we still America? Does that star-spangled banner yet wave?

Because it's a question, the answer is not known. It is not a guarantee. It cannot be taken for granted and isn't. And what an honor to ask and take up our part in the story, in the American Experiment, in the greatest country the world has ever known.

For tonight, the last night of our first 250 years, as the sun gave way to twilight's last gleaming and darkness overtook our land once again, the answer was still yes. We can see it even tonight in the red glare of rockets, with small bombs bursting in air, fill the sky with the noble tribute of fireworks once again.

And we all ask ourselves, will it still be flying at dawn?

This is what it means to be an American.

Happy 250th, America! Now for many happy returns!
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[Hannah @hannerzC]

I wanted to let people know that the movie 1776 is on Disney+. While not fully historically accurate, it is a fun movie and yet depicts the weight of the decisions the founding fathers made that we benefit from 250 years later. #1776 #july

[Hannah @hannerzC]

@sanandreafault

[Dr. Matthew M. Wielicki @MatthewWielicki]

"Climate change causes earthquakes" is the kind of headline that destroys public trust in science.

Earthquakes are driven by plate tectonics and faults—not atmospheric CO₂. Yes, changes in ice loads or groundwater can, in some places, subtly influence stresses on existing faults, but that's a world away from claiming "massive climate-induced earthquakes are brewing beneath our biggest cities.

Stop turning every natural disaster into climate clickbait.

Sensationalism isn't science.
https://t.co/BZnEFmd7qg

[Hannah @hannerzC]

@thisisfoster Any of the Papas restaurants, or for fajitas: Lupe Tortillas

[Hannah @hannerzC]

I've been distracted by my neice, but I did get a bingo. #PCAGA #IntenselyPresbyterian

[Hannah @hannerzC]

@TheCigarDeacon Me neither.

[Hannah @hannerzC]

CDM is missing out on an opportunity to have a PCA singles retreat. #pcaga #growthechurch

[Hannah @hannerzC]

@itsme_urstruly Strictly "Moo Cows" in my vehicle.

[byFaith Online @PCAByFaith]

The report of the Overtures Committee, including its recommendations and rationale, is now available online. #pcaga https://t.co/rASq5El5e7

[Hannah @hannerzC]

@msbuncle1980 https://t.co/nqXP7w94dX

[Hannah @hannerzC]

2026 #PCAGA Bingo Cards are here! Make your own here: https://t.co/NbD49HXvyd I do two cards a page, and it makes 5 pages so the whole family can play along while watching the #pcaga livestream. Please share with everyone you know!

[Hannah @hannerzC]

Showing my new neice the joys of polity and #pcaga bingo.

[Hannah @hannerzC]

A wonderful way to fill the "Spot an elder from your church" Bingo Square!

[byFaith Online @PCAByFaith]

Ruling Elder Mel Duncan has been elected moderator of the 53rd General Assembly. #PCAGA
https://t.co/MLB2QPmcZX