We, As Americans, Are Responsible to Know The Truth

It has been too long and I'm not happy about it. I'm deep into the Anxiety Road podcast trying to lay down information that can be useful. That sucker + a work week + doing other stuff makes for a lonely blog.

But I do want to put this item into place so that it can be found six months or six years from now.

You see, I recently saw a video of a speaker having a roomful of white Americans recite that they are not responsible for the actions of their ancestors, that they have nothing to be ashamed about and are proud to be who they are in this space and time.

Before you can disclaim responsibility you have to know what your ancestors did to native people, Africans, Asians, Latino/Hispanic people and a whole bunch of other folks.

You have to know what you are trying to separate yourself from, and when you do understand what your ancestors did then you might feel a little twitchy about what is going on right now with some of your peers.

Now there are reprints of the magazine from NYT but that shipping cost is twice the cost of the magazine. Not to worry. The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting has the magazine posted as a pdf and other educational materials to aid in your education.

For those of you that would like to listen to the content there is an audio series by NYT being delivered by podcast at https://www.nytimes.com/column/1619-project

The second part; they have nothing to be ashamed about.

Dude and Dudette, if you are an American citizen, you need to understand this is a shameful part of our collective history. When you take on being an American whether by birth or choice, you take on part of the shame, no matter who you are. These are fact that cannot be smudged away with with emotional feel good blinders.

Now I know that there are folks that do not cotton to reading. Not to worry. There is a podcast for your alternative access to information.




NPR interviews Nicole Hanna Jones on the 1619 Project.


As to the third item. I can't speak to that.

So yeah, I'm gonna dive in because I know I have culturally induced patches in my historical education. And I am still and American, unless somebody starts messing with an amendment and then yeah, we'll have a situation or two if that happens.

Don't let it happen. 

Trying to Erase Me Will Not Work

I have learned not to responded to each and every dumb ass thing the ignorant belch. Not enough hours in a day.

Let's just say that I've been reading comic books, graphic novels and sequential art for a very long time. 

Longer than some of the craptacular haters have been alive.

I read when I wanted to. I read when it was not cool. I read when my soul told me I needed another infusion of a super hero because I didn't have any near by.

And yet we have grown men telling others that women don't read comic books and they never did. 

There was no such thing as a girl nerd. There was no such thing as a life long female fans of comic books.

Let this be my marker to the haters that want to pretend that they know the past, present and future.

You don't.
You can't even see past your own fears.

Excelsior!

Just How Inclusive Do We Want To Be?

I want to talk about about something that is hard for a non-academic person to articulate let alone try to put into a public post. What does inclusive mean anymore in a public space?

This posts is not about feminism, Miley Cyrus, Fast Company, Twitter or the patriarchy. They do play a part in this musing but not really what I want to talk about.

It is about the audience. We are the audience except when we are not, as in not seen or acknowledge. It is kinda like sanctified pussy. Meaning, you want your cake and eat it too without repercussions.

Who do we perceive as the audience? Bloggers are not exempt musing but this post is mainly about mainstream media publications and content makers.

I think many on-line, off-line publications and mainstream media still believe that the demographics in their media kits totally define who their target audience is or who they desired it to be.

Allowing just demographics to define your audience in 2013 might not be the way to go.  But what do I know? I'm part of the invisible people.

Still, for giggles let's look at the Fast Companies media kit demographics:

Readership is 66% male/34% female
Median Age of Readership is 45+ for print version and 35+ for web version.

Median HHI is $175,275 for print readers
Median HHI is $72,907 for web viewers
Primary readership is managerial/professional level

Would I be perceived as a Fast Company reader? Would an Latino man working in IT be perceived as one? How about an Asian woman working in management that isn't paid the same as her Anglo male co-worker but does exactly the same job?

And even if we were perceived as readers would the expectation be that those of us that don't fit the above demographic profile would come for the content that was tech influenced or connected to business or the intersections of tech, culture and money?

Would we automatically accept that our respective cultures would not be reflected in the publication?

When they came up with that 25 Smartest Women on Twitter listical they had it coming and they got it.  And I'd lay cash money (up to $1) that they still don't know why.

True, Fast Company responded with a second posts that included more diversity and actual Twitter users but yeah, not sure they totally got it enough to be more inclusive on a regular basis.

When this type of question was asked in the 1960's, 1970s, 1980's....(Yes, this is a long dodged question by publishers, television producers and filmmakers. ) 2000s up to the 2013 the usual response has been:

"Sure, we love all of our audience. But we are just one "insert the blank" and we have an obligation to our advertisers and our primary audience which is "insert the blank."  We do what we can to be inclusive but..."

And mainstream media makers got away with that bullshit for a long, long time. That time might be ending. Or not. But change is being forced upon them.

With Twitter and Facebook in play, mainstream publishers cannot put up a wall between themselves and their total audiences. Publications and media outlets are now being called up on the shim-sham.

If they are lucky. Those are the people that care. Angry, but they do care. These are the folks that are telling media makers that you cannot pretend that "the other" does not exist.

The audience stake-holders are talking back.  For example, when ABC News had an expert explain Twerking people became unhinged.

We expect a news channel to aim a little higher than the anal clef. It is a diminished expectation sure, but folks were a little put off just the same. Yes, exercising your butt and thighs is good for you but this is a news item?

African-Americans were rightfully up in agitation because Cyrus not only did not perform the dance correctly but is anatomically ill-equip to compensate for a lack of dance skill. It was another dose of cultural appropriation and it still is distasteful.

And yet, Miley Cyrus name is permanently attached to Twerking by mainstream media and not Big Frieedia.

A moment for the obligatory Big Fredia video. Those with conservative constitutions should not watch this video.  Those who don't want to see true dancing or ass flipping are also cautioned against viewing.

I am not responsible if you get up out of your chair and try this at home without warming up first.





Eh, where was I. Oh, yeah.

Who was the intended audience? Those that voluntarily watched the VMAs. Not me. I'm still not and will never be but it was forced upon me none the less.

It isn't necessarily just about race, gender or affinity. We had black folks acting the fool as well. Russell Simmons was quickly corrected.

I think we underestimate just how strong a pull a male dominated society influences the American culture. When certain white women feminists choose to defend Hugo Schwyzer over women of color that were being victimize by this man for calling him on his shit then we gotta look at the possible reasons why:

In my subjective opinion:

1. A white male ally is worth more television and print time than the value of a black, Latino or Asian woman's voice.
2. Who was the audience they wanted to reach? Not an inclusive one but an audience that fit into their perceived demographic of power. Hugo was the emblem that pushed their agenda and made it palatable to certain viewers.
3. Do some people's voices have to be subjugated in order to advance the cause? That is what some (a fractional few to be sure) have advocated.

Oww. Which lead to more questions like:

• How Inclusive are we in our silos?
• Is it a silo or a bunker mentality? You know people get a little freaky in the bunker right?
• Can we be inclusive and still maintain our identity?
• Can we lean to use citation when appropriating another cultures art forms?

 
There are so many more questions but I have to lay this burden down for a while. 

Not The Buddha or Be Careful of What You Quote

I'm puttering along half doing the dishes, quarter cleaning the bedroom and totally not writing as I should when I find this quote on a web page that I printed out on September 1, 2001:

“Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart give yourself to it.”  Attributed to Buddha.

I like it. Sounds about right.  But then I say it again and it doesn't feel right. I run it though the Googlenator. On the surface all kinds of sites are linking and promoting this quote.

Except one. I am led to this web site called Fake Budha Quotes.com and I start reading.

Oh dear.

Bodhipaksa did the research to make the case that this is a possible misinterpretation of a bad translation.

If it sound good we as humans want to share it. I almost posted this quote to Twitter. I would have been in a long line of people to have done so. It wasn't with malice or evil intent. Still in all the Buddha didn't say it.

Yet this is how lies become truths or at least accepted paths of thought.

Early this morning I got yanked back into a post about the high number of single African American women who have children outside of marriage. I read the original post 10 months ago.

To me this was just one person expressing an opinion based on limited to no facts. I suspect that the author has other agendas besides equating a racial lack of moral compass with her perceived alternative options.

Yet folks read that posts and started to co-sign with what was written. 





If folks went to the New York Times article written in 2012 and looked at one of the sources cited,  Nonmarital Childbearing in the United States, 1940–99 by the National Center for Health Statistics, that report was an attempt to look at this issue spanning decades.

It is 40 pages of information, statistics and history that (in my opinion) due to society pressures may be a bit distorted or skewed. 

If you look at the data every group of women from every racial and ethnic backgrounds have had children outside of marriage. There are times when the numbers jump. There are periods when certain groups are not reported.

The report is not a quick read. If anything, you could use it as a question springboard to what was going on in the 1940 (War comes to mind. Soldiers on leave. Fear and the need to affirm life?)

Like in the above video from 1947 when the fellas want to shun the "bad girl" that comes to the table. She wasn't in the back seat of the car by herself. They can't even articulate the double standard so hey, let's blame the girl.

Compare that time to the 1960s.  Culturally, what was going on then?

See where I going with this? You have to understand the context and the people of the time.

What are the real facts, not the ones that make you feel good or sounds like it is plausible.

It is tricky. It is sticky. The only confirmed fact is that when most men stick their dicky into a fertile vagina without birth control there is a good chance of conception.

I so long for the day when information literacy become a fad that people won't let go of.

Maybe there needs to be a song about critical thinking got them crazy and they won't let go, naw they can't let go.

It Is Time

I was inspired or commanded to try to make this video. I only had a few minutes. The dream version was much better with photos flying in and sound quotes from all over the place.



This is nothing like that. It is simple. Imperfect but close enough.

Open Letter to the Great Goddess of Cinema,

The next time you want to inspire me could you at least give me three days notice? I could have tighten this up a bit and made it the way you showed me in the dream.

I appreciated the heads up about the song but for Election Day I would have liked to made a kapow kind of video.

Yes, I know. Simple is underrated. Yes, I understand I am not capable of kapow at this time. Yes, I remember the grade I got in the 16mm film class.

Anyway, thanks for the idea. I appreciate you thinking of me after all of these years.

Is Videoblogging Passe for Women?

There are days when I feel like a loon. A loon is a strange looking bird that looks like parts of other birds. But it is a loon. Today I started a Vlomo 2012 video gallery located at http://vlomo2012.tumblr.com

I've been up since 4 a.m. That is part of the reason I feel like a loon. Yep. That's me. I feel out of sync but trying to connect. I think I'm failing. But I am not. I am just tired.

I'm still a loon. Now this does have something to do with my question. Being a loon I got to waddle to get in the water.

I loathe to define videoblogging. It gets folks antsy. I don't want to get into a semantic fight with anybody. So here are a few statement and you can pick out the one that appeals to you:

• A blog that contains a video post on a regular basis.
• A video series that is posted by an internet distribution company that allows other people to watch or post the video on their blog.
• A talking head video using videos instead of the keyboard to express their feelings.
• A person using video to express a person, place or thing and then uploads the video for others to see.

So before you get to the question of "is videoblogging passe for women" you first got to ask is it passe?

For some folks yes. And that is okay. These are the folks that have moved on to professional careers in video or media.

Or it could be that because of the time sink it can be (but does not have to be) there just isn't time after work, school, family, bathing and sleeping to cram one more thing in your day.




Or you have said what you needed to say and are done.(PS - Margaret ain't done, she's made two more videos since this one.)

But there is another group that is hesitant to try. I feel that I haven't done a good job of encouraging women to step it up and truly use video to be visible and express themselves.

I'm not giving up Create Video Notebook but I gotta find a better way to engage women and men to take advantage of this time before the gates are closed and we can't communicate with each other.

Why? Because we have foolish old men who do not understand biology. We have women being defined by men into functional boxes of utility; formally known as the kitchen and the bedroom.

That is never a good thing. Not even for men.

The menopause story has got to be told to the Boomer women. The older women needs to tell the young ones how they survived.

Should reality television be our touch post as how women behave?

Nay I say nay! (See, squawking like a loon.)

So maybe the term videoblogging will eventually go away but I hope that folks tell their stories visually once in a while.

It can be slides to narration to video.
It can be you talking in front of a camera with a memory of your favorite dress.
It can be you sipping a cup of coffee as you talk about last night.

You got a smartphone that records audio and video? That is all you need to get started.

Eastwood and Invoking the Isms

I was that kid in the front row chomping down on popcorn during the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. There he was, Clint Eastwood,  10 feet tall blasting the hell out of somebody so some poor folks could stop cowering in fear about the weekly desperado coming to loot up the joint.

My desperados were closer to home. It helped to know some body was doing something about it even if it was in Italy.

Clint Eastwood has made really great movies. It is not like I did not know he was a conservative. But it seemed like this was a guy you could disagree with and walk away with an honest discussion for a memory.

I don't know what to think now. When I see the photo of Clint Eastwood talking down to a chair there is  a twinge in my heart. I know what the chair represents. If you ever sat in a similar chair as a kid, you know that feeling.

Who Did He Think He Was Talking To?

My adult pain is tied up in a political campaign that has sought to alienate a good portion of those of us that are not male, European American or wealthy. We have been told we really don't know or have been correctly educated to understand what this country stands for; and only those that have the privileged of a monetary perspective can truly understand how America should be run.

The current campaign has told me as much through media and coded speeches to the fearful and the opportunistic.

I can get angry because it is the usual suspects. I can ignore them because I want to focus on positive action. I even cut back on blogging my agitation on BlogHer and other places because I don’t want to stir up a heated useless fuss.

I want to share paths to solutions. I can’t do that when I am so very angry. I’ve slipped up a few time but I don’t want to add to the noise. I really don’t.

There is a part of me that flashes back to that kid in the front row chomping down on popcorn during the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. That guy was invoked at the convention. Somebody else showed up.





























I am not stupid. I expect political hyperbole in an election year. I expect that racism will be used as a method to get out the vote. And yes, facts will be an impediment to an successful campaign so ditch them.

I just didn’t expect this mess to come out of this man’s mouth.

It is not the first time somebody has used the invisible chair routine. The Smithsonian blog has a good write up about how the political chair has been used over the years.

The Grid Doesn’t Lie 

You have this film icon of imaginary gunfights and wars talking down to a chair. In that small chair is supposed to be the President of the United States of America. Reducing the image down to its core element you see:

Who is in power and who is the supplicant? Because when an 82 year old white man who has made his living off creating illusions of being the man that rights wrongs tries to chastise and speak for a sitting African American president using what he thinks is the vernacular:

EXCUSE -- WHAT DO YOU MEAN YO, SHUT UP?

I have to tell you it stinks. It is a familiar stench. I never thought that I’d see Clint do the “Old Massa” role.

The Rights of Free Speech

Yes, each citizen has the right to criticize and hold Obama accountable for what was promised and what was delivered. We don’t even have to be nice about it.

And dang skippy if some of y’all have been especially vocal in you disapproval.

There is just one fact that cannot be ignored. Obama is the President of the United States. Not your house boy.

And the icon used in that “performance” perhaps unintentionally, is a reminder of who intends to be in charge and how the old order will be restored.

A small message to those who fund and support the re-establishment of the old world order.

This is our place. Our country as well as yours. It is an inconvenient truth. For those of us that are not white, Christian or abstinent, we’d thought you had understood we live here too.

You might chose to be color blind or diversity hostile but this is where we shall continue to live, grow and prosper. Deal with it.

Mr. Eastwood, maybe you just got carried away in the moment. Maybe you truly feels the country should be rolled back to 1961. I don't know.

We Won’t Go Back.

There is this ember in me that wants to assert it is possible to find solutions that include grass roots networking and corporate relationships. It is possible to generate meaningful employment without giving multi-billionaires and corporations tax breaks or forcing people to work for impoverish wages.

I'm putting that ember in a safe place. America is not ready. Not today.

I’ll be better in a few days because good people will remind me that none of the work of a democracy is easy. This is a long distance run.

I just think we should not wait for something severe to happen that force people out of selfish, myopic visions.

Sadly, I know my history.

Discovering The Little Death Podcast

The crickets have stopped for the night. Only a strangler or two put out last call. I am in-between sleep and being awake so I reach for my music player for something to put me back to sleep.

I'm looking for something different. I came to this podcast a little late but I'm intrigued with a murder mystery set in a future with different rules and beings.

I place the ear bud in and I am taken to the Sextel 69.

In honor of National Masturbation Month 2012 I'm seeking out female friendly erotic podcasts. This one is more literary story than wham bam and that is just the way I like it.

Sometimes.

This is Heat Flash Erotica's "The Little Death," by Helen E. H. Madden.

Lusting Tempos for National Poetry Month

It is National Poetry Month. I don't have to tell regular readers what May is but stock up on the lube just in case. Replace your worn out electronics and for your podcastical dilatation you might want to visit Erotica al la Carte.



It is Friday and it has been a long day. Need something to take the blah out of it. This poem is from Victoria McColley who has a blog at www.poetryauthoress.com.

I don't have anything profound to say. I have been drained by the week and I am looking forward to the L.A. Times Festival of Books so I can walk among the words and the people that carry them.

It is a pain to hike across town but it has been a nice couple of days since the heavy rains. I need to walk this yutz out of my system. It starts with a poem.

Anais Nin's Students A Celebration at Beyond Baroque

If you happen to be in the Venice or Santa Monica areas around 7:30 p.m. you might want to stop by Beyond Baroque for a Celebration by the students of Anais Nin. If your fingers haven't flipped through Delta of Venus you have got a bit of catching up to do. 

If you feel a bit of frost bite in the heart or other regions of the body you really should plunk down money for her books. That is the heathen side of me, paying more attention to the erotic work instead of her other works.

This is Nancy Shiffrin reading a work that you could say was inspired by Nin.

The participants will be Nancy Shiffrin, Leah Schweitzer and Nan Hunt.

For more info or if you are in the Los Angeles area and need a weekly dose of poetical or literary inspiration visit:

BEYOND BAROQUE
681 Venice Blvd. 
Venice, CA 90291

Or check out their Facebook page.

Poetry In Plain Sight - Sean Raymond Hill

Sean Hill has no way of knowing this. I went to school with a roomful of guys with big Afros. I'm sure one of those Afros caused me to almost flunk French.



I came back to the present because it is better in the here and now. Sean is an actor and poet who was one of the guess poets at the most recent get together. This is a poem because today, no matter what day it is, we need a poem.

A Movie Called Poetry on the Finally Friday Freakout

Back in my waning days of watching television I did try to get into some of the Korean televisions shows. They had more stuff going on in ten minutes than an American soap opera would have in a week. I gave up cuz you do need a cheat sheet to get a grip on the characters, culture and the speed at which shenanigans happen.

What lead me to the Korean television shows what that I saw a Korean movie that moved about the same speed but I knew what was going on because I was witnessing it as it happened. I've forgotten the name of the film; it was a long time ago.



This is to say that I stumbled into this trailer for the movie Poetry. There are a couple of stories here, I can tell. I'd lay dollars to donuts it isn't the one I think it is.

It is National Poetry Month, by the way. I'm sure Mr. Campbell and associates have got events lined up and I expect a video or two will be generated on the topic.

These movie clips reminds me that poetry can dig very deep into a person soul if you let it. It is still a one to one transmission method. You have to find your poem or poet. Not easy in a wham bam so long Sam world.

It is still possible. Poetry can be like holding out for your one true love that may or may not show up.



We keep going but we need attention. A poem can do that for you; provided you with a reason to keep going or understand why. This movie was released in 2010 so finding it might be a challenge. Finding an English subtitle version even more.

If you find out where it is please let me know. This film seems to need attention. Just like poetry.

Om Shanti Om on the Finally Friday Freakout

I am not a Bollywood musical fan. I've seen clips of some films but a Bollywood musical film is a cultural specific art form. I am a fan of hot men dancing. This, my friends, transcends culture and speaks directly to my central nervous system.

The gentleman who is getting folks all hot and bothered is Shah Rukh Khan. He is an actor/producer with a worldwide fan base in the billions. I never heard of him until I stumbled into this clip.



This is a segment from the 2007 movie Om Shanti Om in which Mr. Khan is flipping that six pack. He is reminding all of us of the healing properties of water and dance.

The music isn't bad but truth be told that wasn't what I was most focusing on. It was the words in the captions. Honest. They really don't have much to do with the melody but they are kinda trippy.

I might have to re-evaluate my feelings about Bollywood films. I do appreciate half naked men. Singing, dancing or talking it works for me. They don't have to as sculpted as Mr. Khan but you gotta start somewhere.

Peace.

Poetry In Plain Sight - Pete Justus

There is such a richness in Pete Justus poems. He gives you visuals and language. You have to be present and just listen.



This is Pete Justus reading his poem, Section 60.

For more information about Pete check out his Facebook page

This is my Day 5 video for National Videoblogging Posting Month.

Poetry In Plain Sight - Ms. Kelly

It was a good day. The powerful heat retreated and I was able to reassemble bits and pieces of myself. The road is long but I can see that it is going somewhere.

I get freaked out when I can't see the road. It is time for another installment of Poetry in Plain Sight. The Southern California poetry community is diverse, once you get away from the Hollywood side of the fence.


There are a mixture of people that you will not see on Hulu or cable television.

Our voices are no less important.

We are here.

We love.

We ache.

This is a poem called Empty.

Podcasting Literature - Salvation Road

I have been pulled deeper into audio fiction and drama podcasts. There is so much good work out there that I've missed. I'm telling you straight, broadcasts and cable television have lost me.

I have to add the exception of Mad Men;, I don't even have cable and that show rocks. It is up there with Homicide, Life on the Streets, China Beach, Sports Night and sigh, Babylon 5.

In other words. I got nothing to watch in 2010. Not that I don't have stuff to do, I just signed up for a technical writing class.

But a girl needs some fiction in her life. Danger and excitement, a wisp of romance. Super powers and human emotions fused in life and death. Who could ask for more?

I have switched over to theater of the mind with podcast from Phillipa Ballantine. I started out with Erotica al la Carte but I'm currently listening to Weather Child. She is such a good writer I generally listen twice. Once for the story and the second time for the structure.

My old faithful, The Secret World Chronicles, keeps me up if I listen before bed time. Can't help it they are doing a heck of a job.

The last story in the current series has just posted. I kinda hate to listen but the cliff hanger was a doozy. Once I do it is cold turkey until December 2010 as the team works on the new book.

The hard part is finding the good stuff. It is the same problem video folks have. There is good user generated content but sifting it out from the corporate dreak is hard work.

Worth the effort. Definitely worth the effort.

Lessons from The Monty Python Channel on YouTube

This is how you do it. They get it. Or got it. Maybe it was one of their grandkids that brought it to their attention. YouTubers have been snagging Monty Python content for years. I neither approve or condone such actions but yeah I watched.

You get attached to Spiced Ham and then a stinking DCMA notice hits and it gets yanked down. Up and down, from good transfers to crappy Vaseline postings. The fans would not be satisfied. It took time and effort to yank those suckers down too. Only one benefiting was the lawyers typing up those dang DCMA letters.

That is all over, thanks to the wonder of The Monty Python Channel



Somebody said, hey let's post our stuff in the best quality and we'll ask them to buy DVDs of the lot. Now it might seem to some people that this is not a good idea to give it away free. In fact, it is a great idea. See, I remember them because I saw the actual television show on PBS.

But that was years ago. Now I can look at the bit of stuff and decided if it was as good as I thought or not. If it is, I might want to get the DVD so that I don't have to get rump burn trying to watch the clips and videos in my computer chair. I am a potential customer!



But wait, it gets better. What about all the folks that have never seen it and only heard about it from older brothers and sisters. Not sure they would have listened to the parents but ok maybe even them. A whole new generation can be turned on to strange men in women's clothing.

Yeah! Everybody wins. The MPs get introduced to a new generation. The old fogies light ups some memories and cashed is exchanged for DVDs at Amazon.com.

No hate, no eyestrain and you get a wee bit of Monty Python history too.

So your royal purpleness, Prince (not of England) why fight it man? Why feed the lawyers? Can't we all just get along? You know you could put out experimental videos and music just to wet your feet? Take lessons from a bunch of gits. It can work for you.

Words and The Paths Of Desire - Lexographical and Grammatical Musings

I was in bed Sunday night, listening to Latino USA on NPR. I heard an interview with Reverend Ignacio Castuera speaking about tolerance and how words, concepts and perceptions change over time. You can listen to an mp3 recording of the interview.

Toward the end he explained that when the founding fathers said “We hold these truths to be self evident” it was only intended for wealthy male land owners and their sons. However, the words and the concepts behind them grew greater than any man in that room could have imagined.

The words found their path of desire. It is an architecture term used to describe when humans collectively or instinctively create a walking path to a destination. What was impossible is now visible. For example: You have a building. You have a cement walkway pointing toward the building. Yet there is often a diagonal line found in a path of trampled grass that people have created to find their way to the building.

Bingo, that is a path of desire. Building planners can anticipate it but they don’t always get it right. We also build paths of desire with words, concepts and meanings. So here are a few bloggers that, in their own ways, are building language paths of desire.

Prescriptive, Descriptive and How Folks Talk Around Here

If you want to start a fight among word junkies, scientists and historians just ask about what function a dictionary should serve. To tell you literally what a word means or gives you the context to understand the meaning?

Darling Nikki at Grown Up Girl Lost shares her pre-teen confusion on her mom’s insistence on “looking it up in the dictionary.”

Something I never understood was the constant referring to the dictionary. It was like the 70s parents bible to half assed parenting! “Muuuum, how do you spell complicated?” Response? “Look it up in the dictionary!” Are you freakin’ serious? What is it, a state secret?

Erin McKean blogs  at Dictionary Evangelista. She is also an lexicographer and editor of the Oxford American Dictionary. In 2007 at the TED Conference she gave a wonderful presentation about words, dictionaries and the living force of meaning. The presentation is 18 minutes. You won’t be sorry.

 

Heather at Single Multilingual is an Au Pair in Italy and an observer of languages. Her two young charges insisted that her dark brown hair was blonde:

In Italian, there exist the colours blonde, brown and black, but the cut off line between what is actually defined as blonde or brown is different to that in English. Anyone who has seen the colour of my hair will agree that it is a medium to dark shade of brown in English terms. However, when I attempted to explain this to dark haired Marta, I was met with rigid opposition. "Absolutely not,” cried Marta, “There’s no way. I have brown hair! Yours is "biondo scuro" (dark blonde)." "She's right," added Ludovica, "in Italy, anyone with your shade of hair would choose to dye it blonde. It is light enough to be possible. As for us, we have true brown hair."

Yes, location, location, location. I can tell you from my experience, if the locals call it “Water Ice” do not refer to it a “Shaved Ice” unless the is someone shaving a block of ice in your presence and putting flavor syrup around the cone. It is not the same thing, although conceptually, it is. But it isn’t. Honest, trust me on this one. It is not just what the words say they mean but their location and context in the environment used play a huge role in understanding.

There Are Rules and Then There Are Rules to Be Broken

Yes, there are rules about the spoken form of language and the written form of language. And they are necessary.

I try my best but I sense there is a Grammarian out there who would love to put me on typographical lock down. In my defense, and it is a limited one, I type as I speak and revise later. If I forget to shift language modes it can be disconcerting. And I’m not supposed to end a sentence like I just did huh? Dang.

I may not have time to read as much as I want to but I certainly can download a podcast or two. Mignon Fogarty at Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing might be helpful where five different books on grammar and usage have failed me. Not that they didn’t have the answers that I needed I just can’t find the books when I do need help.

If you don’t have a media player, no worries, there are transcripts available at the web site. Merrilee Faber at Not Enough words has a helpful post at Stop! Grammar Time offering aid and assistance to those of us that mix up “passed” and “past.”

A Way With Word with Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett kind of takes us back on the multiple paths of desire that the English language can take you. English is a living language and it gets adapted, changed and reinvented all of the time. This is a podcast that can help you find your paths to all of those luscious words that are just waiting for someone to use.

Language is to be used and loved and snarled. Don’t hate the Grammarians but don’t live in fear of them either. They are nice people, except for the posers. Communicate and take your rightful place on the path of desire, Linguistically speaking.

This post appeared on BlogHer where I am a Contributing Editor.

Caretakers of the National Narrative – National Memory

In a prior post I tried to demonstrate that personal narratives can have an educational and even a healing effect; not just for the storyteller but the recipient of the story as well. That led to the next question. How does a country express the narratives of its people? Who gets to share that story and how is it held in trust for the future? 

I struggled with finding a way to explain this and I happened to land on the Deep Muck Big Rake blog where the writer noticed something interesting between a passage from a Peggy Noonan book and one from a book by Studs Terkle. The short version is if we don’t know our history or the foundation for our beliefs we lose the vision and the purpose of our society.

How do we carry the past forward and incorporate it into our daily narratives?  We make use of existing institutions called universities, libraries, museums and archives. We keep writing and recording.

I am going to try to restrain myself by picking just three narratives that I felt were dominant in 2008 and match them with a “memory keeper” and a blogger or two that represents potential source material for the libraries, museum and archivists of the future. This is purely subjective attempt. I am looking at this from a collection/acquiring perspective.

A Business/Economy Narrative

A few of alumni of Harvard Business School have gotten themselves in trouble on Wall Street this year. I think these were the folks that slid into class just in time to turn in the paper bought from an entrepreneurial student. Unfortunately some of the former alumni got the wrong set of crib notes on the ethics of business class.

I do not wish to cast aspersions on Harvard or the Harvard Business School.  Any university that can have the foresight to create the Baker Business Historical Library is jake with me. The founders of the Harvard Business School understood that business is not just about making money but it is a vital connection point in our society. It is a necessary anchor. Harvard University also had women attending the business school starting in 1937. The library was created to collect books, pamphlets and, yes business stories and business leader profiles to understand trends, concept and long term good business practices. That mission continues today. The library has a public online photo retrospective of its history that anyone can view to witness the higher goals of what good business practices can revel about how we intended to do business.

So who might the future librarians and acquisition staff look for in 2108? They might take a look at Milena Thomas at Quiet the Thunder. She is a libertarian blogger that would like the country to understand the difference between deregulation; government sponsored support of anything and well, check out what she has to say:

The now-soured phrase “unfettered markets” does little to reveal the sources of unfettered-ness. Government deregulation coupled with private profit-seeking are the Bonnie and Clyde of this crisis – but few bother to mention neither of these activities are laissez-faire pursuits in and of themselves. Quality matters. Therefore, not all deregulation and profit-seeking is created equal. Similarly, neither is all regulation created equal. Furthermore, when any of the above activities enables fraud – those involved deserve punishment, not taxpayer support or continued public service as legislators.

They also might want to document the rise and dominance of women in business by reviewing a post by Amy Blais from the Women On Business  site. Amy lists a few steps that will help ethical entrepreneurs to move forward in 2009. Other possible selections could be from Lauren Bloom at the Business Ethics blog or check out Country Parson who did indeed teach a MBA class on ethics.  I think I know where some of his former students ended up. At least you tried Parson but if they walked in the door crooked, well...

Gay, Lesbian, Transgendered and Queer Narratives

What do you do when people try to tell you who you are does not exist? How are you supposed to react when other people cite text from their book of beliefs that invalidates your humanity? Or introduce laws that define the limits of your participation in the society?

Well, first you seek others with similar narratives. Then at some point there is a collection or a centralized place to store those narratives. Perhaps viewing a GLBTQ Encyclopedia  or you might decide to build your own museum. At the Gay Lesbian, Bi-Sexual, Transgendered and Queer Historical Society website is the first stage in the process of building a GLBTQ museum in San Francisco.

You can learn about the origins of the society, watch videos on the GLBTQ YouTube channel, I confess, I got a little distracted in the video section because they had Sylvester singing with Two Tons O’ Fun.

So when the museum is finally built what will be a part of the collection? Certainly some mention of California Proposition 8. Well maybe they will take a look at Moosh In Indy and her perspective:

…Cody is well versed in the laws that are in question as far as the church being a not for profit organization, and a religion’s legal right to get involved in politics. Also an individual’s legal right to be involved in politics. And I’ll let him explain that at a later date if needs be.

As much as I want to scream and yell about this, I’m not going to because I know it’s gut reaction to all the hate that is floating out there in the news and on the internet. I can see both sides. Really, I can. I’m writing this from the dining room of my cousin who has been with his partner for over 10 years.

I have seen plenty of GLBT families who have their crap together WAY more than hetero married couples.  If I had it my way, no one, gay or straight would be allowed to get married unless they were going to take their vows seriously.

I realize a lot of my readers look to me as the token Mormon in situations like this.

Cacilda Jethá and Christopher Ryan counter Pastor Rick Warren’s assertion that marriage has been the same for 5,000 years.

Proposition 8 and similar ballot measures motivated a lot of people. There were million of dollars spent in support of “traditional families.” There is the other side that is represented by California Crusader is an elementary teacher and Proposition 8 grassroots supporter. Jennifer Roback Morse is from Maine and mentions local actions to prevent gay marriages in that state. 

I hope they build the museum with a zettabyte capacity for digital memory. The museum will not lack for subject matter.

Political Women’s Narratives

The mainstream media, both news and entertainment, certainly had an interesting take on women running for political office this year. Either a woman was a nut cracker or a nut cozy. First time in my life that I heard any man say he’d want to do the candidate for the Vice-President of the United States.

According to the National Women’s History Museum there have been 37 other women who have run for the office. You can see photos of the women and learn of paths each of them paved for the next woman to follow. There has been a long term diversity of women in state legislatures.  On the museum’s Women Wielding Power page you can click on a section of the map to find out the pioneering women in your state and their effects on the community and the country.

Anyway, the surface narrative that I heard was of identity or gender representation; especially from conservative women bloggers. They felt that the Republican vice presidential candidate reflected their values, lifestyle and stood solid on their ideology of what they want from the country.

There are more conservative women bloggers, and there is a spectrum of women who consider themselves conservative.  Smart Girl Politics who ask the lyrical question “Do You Travel to the Dark Side and Why?” The dark side being liberal publications and blogs.

I do not, however, go to individual left leaning or liberal websites. What's the point? It's not about their beliefs, it's about mine. I definitely do not go there and try to debate them on their vision of the world. Do you go to the dark side? If you are conservative, do you go to liberal websites and leave comments berating their point of view? Do you go there and call them names, tell them how stupid they are, and they should go back where they came from?

The comments section was very educational. I had no idea I was such a despicable person. Well, you live and you learn. There is also Mom’s on the Right and there are other conservative blogs but I don’t think I’m welcome to do more than lurk. Not sure that they want me to do that, being so close to being evil and despicable.

For the left side you can check out Alicia at  Last Left Before Hooterville or for the centrist among you the Moderate Voice.

Well I guess I want to make sure that Peggy and Studs are resting a little easier no matter which side of the veil they are writing on. I think that if we as a community use and support our institutional memory keepers, the real ones as well as the virtual ones, we will be in good shape.

A version of this post appeared on BlogHer. I made grammatical changes and fixed a sentence or two.

VloMo08 - Day 2 Gore Vidal at Pasadena City College

There are people that you are supposed to know and understand why it is important to know these people. Studs Turkel was one of those people and we just lost him this week.

This guy is another person I have heard of, seen on 1960 and 1970s television interview shows. I had a vague sense of who he was. So when I saw in the newspaper that he was going to be on campus I ran out of excuses. I grab old faithful and jumped a #780.



In this short clip, Gore Vidal is explaining that even with an unusual name you still can be confused with someone else. There is that and the fact that when an 83 year old man talks about "doing me" you tend to pay attention.

The video was recorded at Pasadena City College at an ACLU sponsored gathering. I also bought his book so that I could know his writings beyond what is commonly believed about him.
This is my day 2 contribution to VloMo08, a video a day for the month of November. Recycling is encourage and some days dang near necessary.

I just got to do it, stay on task. Yeah. It is either this or the laundry. Hell of a choice.