Month: April 2020

Haikubes – April 30th, 2020

Theme and Direction A reflection on . . . my childhood. Sweet gardenias Indelibly on the brain, Unfading fragrance.

Odyssey Podcast #127: Nisi Shawl on Dialect & Representation (Part 1)

Doing Dialect and Dialogue Correctly with Nisi Shawl. 🙂

Odyssey Writing Workshop Blog

mp3Odyssey Podcast #127

Nisi Shawl was the Jeff Pert Memorial Guest Lecturer at Odyssey 2019 and spoke about dialect and representation. In this excerpt, the first of two parts, Nisi discusses dialogue, what dialogue can reveal, and the special concerns and challenges that arise when using dialect. Nisi explains that dialogue is idealized and compressed speech. Dialogue can “tell,” as with “as you know, Bob” dialogue, when one character tells another something they both know. This can feel more natural when characters talk at cross purposes or argue. When dialogue “shows,” it can reveal setting, action, and character. Dialogue can reveal a character’s ethnicity, class, country of origin, gender, ability and more. All this can be done without attempting to write in dialect. Nisi leads the class in an exercise to explore these concepts. Then she discusses some concerns surrounding dialect. If you’re only depicting certain speech patterns phonetically, you’re…

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Let’s Talk about Stress

At this time, all I have to say is “stress sucks”. It may be inelegant, but it’s the truth. Especially after reading these annoying and unhelpful quotes about stress: “You must learn to let go. Release the stress. You were never in control anyway” and “It’s not stress that kills us, it’s our reaction to it.” Oh puh-leeeze do shut up! Thank you, Charles, for telling it like it is!

Legends of Windemere

Cruella Devil

Stress is brutal.  In small doses, it can drive us ahead, but how often do we get the proper amount?  The longer I live, the more I meet people who are either unstressed to the point of being unmotivated and those who are on the verge of a collapse.  It’s like we aren’t able to truly relax any more because we’re either bombarded by negativity on social media or made to feel like resting is a sin by those around us.  Many times, I’ve wondered if my high stress levels are the only thing keeping me alive because I begin to freak out when I calm down and become highly aware of my pulse rate.  Not healthy at all and it only happens when I’m exhausted . . . So Thursdays.

Stress eventually becomes a way of life for people and that’s when mental issues stir.  It can…

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Haikubes – April 26th, 2020

Theme and Direction A reflection on . . . my (former) work life. Several years ago, I used to have two jobs: teaching full-time and instructing Zumba Fitness classes part-time. Now, I workout at home por moi. As a FFK (Former Fat Kid) I know what it's like to notice when the chub-chub rolls are … Continue reading Haikubes – April 26th, 2020

Haikubes – April 25th, 2020

Theme and Direction A reflection on . . . my family. Sunrise to sunset Ichi-go ichi-e, to Moonrise to moonset.

Haikubes – April 24th, 2020

Theme and Direction A reflection on . . . my work life. Tout kod gen de bout. Crystallize me if you dare, but even ice shifts.