WTF is Hypo-Whatever?

A Hypomnema

A hypomnema (High-Pum-Nay-Muh) was a device used by Ancient Greek philosophers to create themselves.

It's kinda like scrapbooking, except with words. We snag the words we see and hear that vibe with us, and then put them in our hypomnema. A person can have several hypomnemata, each dealing with a different subject. Or, like me, each can just be a collection of random things without any actual theme. Or maybe there will be a theme? It's hard to tell when it's a work-in-progress. 

Anyway, unlike the Greeks, I will occasionally toss in an image. Anything italicized in the hypomnema isn't my original writing; I make no ownership claim on anything in italics or any images used. If a text is bold then it's my personal note. 

You might've made a hypomnema without realizing it. It's most common modern form is highlighting/underlining phrases in books and perhaps writing a note in the margin. 

In Ancient Greece, hypomnemata weren't meant to be public, they were personal. They're meant to be re-read by the author from time to time as needed. A hypomnema was occasionally given as a gift --- which is the spirit of the ones on this blog.