eccaleobion (eh kal ee oh BEYE uhn) n. Even if you were up on your Greek, you’d never guess what this strange word means: “egg-hatching apparatus,” a contraption for hatching eggs by artificial heat instead of brood hens. It was invented circa 1839 by a man named Bucknell. Either the inventor or a scholarly friend coined the name from the Greek sentence Ekkaleo bion, meaning “I evoke life,” a pretty fance name for a hatchery. Ekkaleo is the first person singular of the verb ekkaleisthai (to evoke), and bion is the accusative of bios (life).
Eccaleobion is the latest incarnation of my personal site and blog. I started blogging in the winter of 2001 and found a home of sorts in the amateur design community. The intarwebs have changed quite a lot since I first created an account on NeoPets and many (myself included, sometimes) consider blogs to be a large part of the scum clogging up the tubes. But I’ve realized again, as I have many times before, that I miss having a blog. So here it is. It will not be updated regularly and I will not make any particular effort to cater to any audience, but I’ve come to accept that this is what having a personal blog means.
I have no illusion that Eccaleobion will adhere to the purposes for which I have resurrected it, but here they are anyway. I mean for this blog, primarily, to be a place where I can document the progression in my cooking and baking skills. I have been meaning to start a food blog for the better part of the last year, and I am very excited about it. But I am sure that there will be a little smattering of everything here.
There really is no metaphorical or deeper meaning of the name of this site. I just think eccaleobion is a hilarious word.