Hello there faithful reader of this little known blog :) ‘Sup *cool head nod* How’s it going? Great? Perfect. :D This is just a brief entry to inform you that WE HAVE MOVED TO WORDPRESS.COM!! I expect all my minions to follow me there too! A lot of great stuff is happening on that other side, where the grass is greener. Much, much greener…oh wait it’s a carpet...bummer! :D
Anyhow, check out the new blog here. But what will happen to my favourite blog entries? You may ask. You will find them there. With illustrations (hoping that I’ve actually put one on your favourite post :) ). What about that masterpiece of a comment that I made on my favourite entry? Another frequently asked question :D Fret not, your comments still remain on the entries. What happened is that I exported all the contents of this blog, including your comments to Wordpress using a very detailed and complicated process very similar to rocket science and what our good friends at NASA do everyday. I’ll be blogging at Wordpress.com from now onwards. Maybe later on, get my own domain, but let’s cross the bridge when we get there. Ok, ON YOUR MARKS, SET, GO!! www.ednagicovi.wordpress.com
p.s. For all non-Swahili speakers, 'tumehama' means 'we have moved'. :)
Friday, April 15, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Feelings and emoticons
I have a lot to say about emoticons, which may be ironic because they are used to express what words cannot or do not. For those who may not be in the know, an emoticon or a smiley is a representation of a facial expression such as :-) (representing a smile), formed by various combinations of keyboard characters and used in electronic communications to convey the writer's feelings or intended tone. Yes, it’s in the dictionary and thesaurus…at least the recent ones.
Who invented them? Who decided that a colon and parenthesis looked like a smile and could be used in written conversation? Who decided that a semicolon could make a naughty wink, a star could make a kiss, and so on? You’ll be surprised to find out that the digital smiley face turns 29 this year, which is older than many of you reading this…and the writer as well (I take pride in my youth :P).
One professor Scott E. Fahlman from Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania claims (well he also admits that there’s no hard evidence that he was the one who started the smileys, and that it’s possible that someone else could have had the same idea) that he was the first to use three strokes - a colon followed by a hyphen and a parenthesis - as a horizontal "smiley face" in a computer message, according to msnbc.com’s Associated Press.
This Fahlman dude apparently posted the emoticon in a message to an online electronic bulletin board at 11:44 a.m. on Sept. 19, 1982, during a discussion about the limits of online humour and how to denote comments meant to be taken lightly. Scintillating.
Moving along...not necessarily in a swift manner, I feel that these genius little creatures have really changed the face of communication as we know it.
Anyhow, there are a number of matters pertaining to emoticons that I’d like to address.
The Inappropriate
As genius as they may seem, I find some of these emoticons inappropriate. For example ;-( I don’t know who came up with this one, but don’t you find it rather inappropriate to be winking when sad? Unless you have some sort of eye disorder or are psychologically disturbed, it is quite unusual.
The Noseless
It seems that I’m the only one who has noticed that noseless emoticons seem more expressive than…well, nosed ones. There’s something about their lack of this mid-facial protuberance...AHEM :D…that somehow portrays more emotion than their nosed counterparts. I’m talking about :-( vis-à-vis :( Doesn’t the latter seem sadder? Same goes for :D and :-D. Doesn’t the former seem much happier? How about :-* , doesn’t :* seem kissier? And so on…you get the picture. I rest my case.
The Strange
It seems hese little creatures have not been left behind in the online revolutions (well, from back then :). This :-) is the conventional emoticon. There have been several variations of it including the noseless one. For instance (: which, apart from being noseless, is upside down. There’s =) (which I find rather cute :) and also :o) :>) :=) :4) Notice how the nose changes. Revolutionary, isn’t it? FYI, I made the last one up - the one with the number 4 nose…viva la revolution de emoticon! :D
Other strange ones...that need to be done away with are :-[ :-< and ;> …seriously, wharrathiz?
Still on the revolutionary emoticons, you’re probably aware of the 3D and the active/animated emoticons (some of which I find a little bit creepy). Next, I think we should have talking emoticons…and do away with writing altogether as these emoticons make a forceful take over of written communication as we know it.
Emoticon overuse
A large number of people, yours truly included, are guilty of emoticon overuse and misuse. I blame it on my friendly nature. I always want people to be at ease around me and I do the same thing virtually, I suppose. Most of my online conversations involve a vast array of emoticons, sticking out my tongue, and what not.
What do some mean?
For a while, I was at loss as to what some of these emoticons really meant. Do we need some sort of emoticon civic education for the online population in our country? Maybe.
I learnt not so long ago that this :-“ means blushing. Why and how? I do not know. I also had no idea that %-) means dazed or silly, %-( means confused and :-X means lips are sealed. Apparently :-# also means the same.
Bet you didn’t know these: :P
!-( means black eye
!-) means proud of black eye...SMH
$-) means won the lottery, or money on my mind
%-{ means ironic (how now??)
((())) Lots of hugging (initials or the name of the one being hugged can be put in the middle)...(very interesting)
(::()::) means band aid, meaning comfort..(awww :)
:+( means got punched in the nose
+:-) means priest
+O:-) means The Pope
-) and :-J mean tongue in cheek
%-6 means brain-dead
%-\ means hung over
=====:} means snake
=):-)= Abraham Lincoln
( 8(|) Homer
This is by no means a comprehensive list. I just picked the ones I found to be of interest. You can find the rest somewhere on the World Wide Web.
Replacement with words
Some emoticons feel so real. Every time someone goes like O_o , I can actually feel their raised eyebrow. This particular emoticon has also led to me raising my eyebrow a lot more in actual conversation…but that’s beside the point. Also when people use O_O when talking to me, I can feel their eyes bore into me. I may be taking these too seriously, though that is also not the point I was making here. Will these creatures ever replace words? Will someone ever invent an emoticon alphabet, say in 2018? There are endless emoticon possibilities in the foreseeable future.
Emoticons for disease and other states
I think we should have emoticons to express disease and other states. For instance, could :-.( be used to say that, “I have a zit on the top of my lip?” Could ::| be used to say that “I’m seeing double?” : ( to indicate a long face (literally)… Or :-{D be used to say that “I’m growing a moustache?” You be the judge.
My own inventions
I once came up with my own emoticon inventions in my secret lab. People don’t seem to understand them though. Or maybe they’re just haters. I think that’s it. I came up with :-? to indicate a questioning look. Pretty nifty huh? Yeah I know. Wait till I patent/copyright/TM it.
Oh wait there’s also :4) which I made up earlier. Can someone say emoticon revolution…uh…up in here? (Evidently, I’m not so great at being cool :| )
If a picture is worth 1000 words, an emoticon has to be worth at least 937.
Who invented them? Who decided that a colon and parenthesis looked like a smile and could be used in written conversation? Who decided that a semicolon could make a naughty wink, a star could make a kiss, and so on? You’ll be surprised to find out that the digital smiley face turns 29 this year, which is older than many of you reading this…and the writer as well (I take pride in my youth :P).
One professor Scott E. Fahlman from Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania claims (well he also admits that there’s no hard evidence that he was the one who started the smileys, and that it’s possible that someone else could have had the same idea) that he was the first to use three strokes - a colon followed by a hyphen and a parenthesis - as a horizontal "smiley face" in a computer message, according to msnbc.com’s Associated Press.
This Fahlman dude apparently posted the emoticon in a message to an online electronic bulletin board at 11:44 a.m. on Sept. 19, 1982, during a discussion about the limits of online humour and how to denote comments meant to be taken lightly. Scintillating.
Moving along...not necessarily in a swift manner, I feel that these genius little creatures have really changed the face of communication as we know it.
Anyhow, there are a number of matters pertaining to emoticons that I’d like to address.
The Inappropriate
As genius as they may seem, I find some of these emoticons inappropriate. For example ;-( I don’t know who came up with this one, but don’t you find it rather inappropriate to be winking when sad? Unless you have some sort of eye disorder or are psychologically disturbed, it is quite unusual.
The Noseless
It seems that I’m the only one who has noticed that noseless emoticons seem more expressive than…well, nosed ones. There’s something about their lack of this mid-facial protuberance...AHEM :D…that somehow portrays more emotion than their nosed counterparts. I’m talking about :-( vis-à-vis :( Doesn’t the latter seem sadder? Same goes for :D and :-D. Doesn’t the former seem much happier? How about :-* , doesn’t :* seem kissier? And so on…you get the picture. I rest my case.
The Strange
It seems hese little creatures have not been left behind in the online revolutions (well, from back then :). This :-) is the conventional emoticon. There have been several variations of it including the noseless one. For instance (: which, apart from being noseless, is upside down. There’s =) (which I find rather cute :) and also :o) :>) :=) :4) Notice how the nose changes. Revolutionary, isn’t it? FYI, I made the last one up - the one with the number 4 nose…viva la revolution de emoticon! :D
Other strange ones...that need to be done away with are :-[ :-< and ;> …seriously, wharrathiz?
Still on the revolutionary emoticons, you’re probably aware of the 3D and the active/animated emoticons (some of which I find a little bit creepy). Next, I think we should have talking emoticons…and do away with writing altogether as these emoticons make a forceful take over of written communication as we know it.
Emoticon overuse
A large number of people, yours truly included, are guilty of emoticon overuse and misuse. I blame it on my friendly nature. I always want people to be at ease around me and I do the same thing virtually, I suppose. Most of my online conversations involve a vast array of emoticons, sticking out my tongue, and what not.
What do some mean?
For a while, I was at loss as to what some of these emoticons really meant. Do we need some sort of emoticon civic education for the online population in our country? Maybe.
I learnt not so long ago that this :-“ means blushing. Why and how? I do not know. I also had no idea that %-) means dazed or silly, %-( means confused and :-X means lips are sealed. Apparently :-# also means the same.
Bet you didn’t know these: :P
!-( means black eye
!-) means proud of black eye...SMH
$-) means won the lottery, or money on my mind
%-{ means ironic (how now??)
((())) Lots of hugging (initials or the name of the one being hugged can be put in the middle)...(very interesting)
(::()::) means band aid, meaning comfort..(awww :)
:+( means got punched in the nose
+:-) means priest
+O:-) means The Pope
-) and :-J mean tongue in cheek
%-6 means brain-dead
%-\ means hung over
=====:} means snake
=):-)= Abraham Lincoln
( 8(|) Homer
This is by no means a comprehensive list. I just picked the ones I found to be of interest. You can find the rest somewhere on the World Wide Web.
Replacement with words
Some emoticons feel so real. Every time someone goes like O_o , I can actually feel their raised eyebrow. This particular emoticon has also led to me raising my eyebrow a lot more in actual conversation…but that’s beside the point. Also when people use O_O when talking to me, I can feel their eyes bore into me. I may be taking these too seriously, though that is also not the point I was making here. Will these creatures ever replace words? Will someone ever invent an emoticon alphabet, say in 2018? There are endless emoticon possibilities in the foreseeable future.
Emoticons for disease and other states
I think we should have emoticons to express disease and other states. For instance, could :-.( be used to say that, “I have a zit on the top of my lip?” Could ::| be used to say that “I’m seeing double?” : ( to indicate a long face (literally)… Or :-{D be used to say that “I’m growing a moustache?” You be the judge.
My own inventions
I once came up with my own emoticon inventions in my secret lab. People don’t seem to understand them though. Or maybe they’re just haters. I think that’s it. I came up with :-? to indicate a questioning look. Pretty nifty huh? Yeah I know. Wait till I patent/copyright/TM it.
Oh wait there’s also :4) which I made up earlier. Can someone say emoticon revolution…uh…up in here? (Evidently, I’m not so great at being cool :| )
If a picture is worth 1000 words, an emoticon has to be worth at least 937.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Of Interviews and Chocolate croissants
In my line of work (construction :P) I, at times, get to interview people for profile articles. I have had a few interesting experiences as a result of this, which I suppose may warrant a blog entry or two. This is not one of those ‘How to’ pieces. Well, maybe it is. You decide.
Interviews are great! Mostly. You get to meet many interesting people and get to know many intimate details of their lives without having to tell them yours. It’s quite fascinating really, the amount of information you can get people to give you about themselves in the name of an interview. It is, in a sense, a polite form of snooping. Professional snooping.
But I digress…disregarding my previous sentiments about interviewing, what you need to know is that it is getting people to tell their story through you, and hopefully inspire others or solve a problem somewhere, depending on the needs of the reader. Don’t only think of big shot celebrities here. One of my lecturers rightly said that everyone has a story to tell, so it could be anyone from Jeff ‘All Kenyan’ Koinange to the guy who roasts maize by the roadside. In my course of interviewing, I have made several observations.
I have met a good number of my interviewees in restaurants and have resolved never to say this “Do you want to order first?” Never say this. Seriously, don’t. It is a vague and ambiguous statement that you may have to pay for. Literally. I once interviewed someone, let’s call him 4d (X gets old) and I made the aforementioned statement. When the bill was brought he said, “Thanks by the way.”
I could not bring myself to tell him that when I said that I did not mean that I was going to pay. Plus he’s a really nice guy…a real nice guy…*staring into space*…anyway, I paid for his drink. Thank God he had the heart not to order something expensive. That’s not even the worst part. It happened again! Yeah, I know :|. The second time was with someone else who I will call 7r (I really had no problem with algebra so allow me to use these abstract labels). I was very careful not to make THE statement but somehow I ended up paying for his beverage, and I realized it two days later after finding the receipt in my wallet. I must’ve been quite moneyed (I’m avoiding the term balling here) at the time. I don’t know how that happened. Thankfully, both of these really nice guys never ordered anything expensive. I still laugh at myself when I think of those two incidents. Point is, be very clear that you are not going to pay for anything. Unless you want to.
Still on the restaurant vibe (I hate to use these expressions but sometimes they seem so fitting) ensure that you finish your food before the interviewee gets there. In essence, get there well in advance, more so if a restaurant is your rendezvous (oh yeah! I cannot quite tell you how great it feels to use that word in a sentence :D )
If you, like me, love to enjoy your food, and sometimes close your eyes as you chew and swallow…as the chocolatey goodness of that warm chocolate croissant melts in your mouth and your taste buds explode with…sigh…I digress for the umpteenth time, what I’m saying is that you will at one time or another meet for an interview in a restaurant and you will want to order that chocolate croissant you have heard so much about. You will want to enjoy that croissant with that creamy café latté…and you will not be able to do this with a complete stranger sitting across you. Getting there early (enough to eat) is always a good thing.
Sometimes, you’ll interview someone who has similar interests and you will be tempted to talk about yourself. Trust me, you will get the urge to say stuff like, “Me too!!”, “I thought I was the only one who did that!” or even “You too?!” Don’t do it. It’s not cool. If you really have to, don’t do it more than twice.
Maybe it’s just me, but at times there seems to be this...uh...gesturing with my hands here but you can’t see it :( ...let’s call it date-like awkwardness that accompanies interviews, more so when they involve people of opposite sexes (I refuse to be dragged into the pettiness of including the ‘other’ option :P). You don’t know me. I don’t know you. I’m here to tell you about myself. That situation comes with a bit of awkwardness and tension. Don’t crack jokes if they are not your forte. You WILL make it more awkward. On the other hand, the interviewee may be kind enough to give a polite “ha ha” so you may try it I suppose. Small talk is great. I’m great at small talk and it seems to have worked for me so far. I will go on and on about how great the chocolate croissant I had earlier was and how you should try it...and no, I will not pay for it.
Last observation, people will always be curious about you. Don’t expect to get away with all that info about someone without giving him or her some of your own (I know what I said earlier, but it’s not always the case). I’ve been asked how long I’ve been writing, how long I’ve worked, do I like dogs (that’s not really true) et cetera. Don’t be shy. Give appropriate answers. Don’t be stingy with information, but also don’t go on and on about yourself.
All in all, my interview experience has been great. I have made great contacts, met remarkable individuals, been inspired, and had one too many chocolate croissants, and for that I am thankful. :)
Interviews are great! Mostly. You get to meet many interesting people and get to know many intimate details of their lives without having to tell them yours. It’s quite fascinating really, the amount of information you can get people to give you about themselves in the name of an interview. It is, in a sense, a polite form of snooping. Professional snooping.
But I digress…disregarding my previous sentiments about interviewing, what you need to know is that it is getting people to tell their story through you, and hopefully inspire others or solve a problem somewhere, depending on the needs of the reader. Don’t only think of big shot celebrities here. One of my lecturers rightly said that everyone has a story to tell, so it could be anyone from Jeff ‘All Kenyan’ Koinange to the guy who roasts maize by the roadside. In my course of interviewing, I have made several observations.
I have met a good number of my interviewees in restaurants and have resolved never to say this “Do you want to order first?” Never say this. Seriously, don’t. It is a vague and ambiguous statement that you may have to pay for. Literally. I once interviewed someone, let’s call him 4d (X gets old) and I made the aforementioned statement. When the bill was brought he said, “Thanks by the way.”
I could not bring myself to tell him that when I said that I did not mean that I was going to pay. Plus he’s a really nice guy…a real nice guy…*staring into space*…anyway, I paid for his drink. Thank God he had the heart not to order something expensive. That’s not even the worst part. It happened again! Yeah, I know :|. The second time was with someone else who I will call 7r (I really had no problem with algebra so allow me to use these abstract labels). I was very careful not to make THE statement but somehow I ended up paying for his beverage, and I realized it two days later after finding the receipt in my wallet. I must’ve been quite moneyed (I’m avoiding the term balling here) at the time. I don’t know how that happened. Thankfully, both of these really nice guys never ordered anything expensive. I still laugh at myself when I think of those two incidents. Point is, be very clear that you are not going to pay for anything. Unless you want to.
Still on the restaurant vibe (I hate to use these expressions but sometimes they seem so fitting) ensure that you finish your food before the interviewee gets there. In essence, get there well in advance, more so if a restaurant is your rendezvous (oh yeah! I cannot quite tell you how great it feels to use that word in a sentence :D )
If you, like me, love to enjoy your food, and sometimes close your eyes as you chew and swallow…as the chocolatey goodness of that warm chocolate croissant melts in your mouth and your taste buds explode with…sigh…I digress for the umpteenth time, what I’m saying is that you will at one time or another meet for an interview in a restaurant and you will want to order that chocolate croissant you have heard so much about. You will want to enjoy that croissant with that creamy café latté…and you will not be able to do this with a complete stranger sitting across you. Getting there early (enough to eat) is always a good thing.
Sometimes, you’ll interview someone who has similar interests and you will be tempted to talk about yourself. Trust me, you will get the urge to say stuff like, “Me too!!”, “I thought I was the only one who did that!” or even “You too?!” Don’t do it. It’s not cool. If you really have to, don’t do it more than twice.
Maybe it’s just me, but at times there seems to be this...uh...gesturing with my hands here but you can’t see it :( ...let’s call it date-like awkwardness that accompanies interviews, more so when they involve people of opposite sexes (I refuse to be dragged into the pettiness of including the ‘other’ option :P). You don’t know me. I don’t know you. I’m here to tell you about myself. That situation comes with a bit of awkwardness and tension. Don’t crack jokes if they are not your forte. You WILL make it more awkward. On the other hand, the interviewee may be kind enough to give a polite “ha ha” so you may try it I suppose. Small talk is great. I’m great at small talk and it seems to have worked for me so far. I will go on and on about how great the chocolate croissant I had earlier was and how you should try it...and no, I will not pay for it.
Last observation, people will always be curious about you. Don’t expect to get away with all that info about someone without giving him or her some of your own (I know what I said earlier, but it’s not always the case). I’ve been asked how long I’ve been writing, how long I’ve worked, do I like dogs (that’s not really true) et cetera. Don’t be shy. Give appropriate answers. Don’t be stingy with information, but also don’t go on and on about yourself.
All in all, my interview experience has been great. I have made great contacts, met remarkable individuals, been inspired, and had one too many chocolate croissants, and for that I am thankful. :)
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Interesting things that I have thought of doing with my blog
Happy New Year minions!! That’s what I’m calling followers (seriously, just check on your right) and readers of this blog. Cool huh…don’t answer that…moving along in the speed of light, this is my first blog post this year. I hope your year has started out well and that you are evolving, not in the Darwinian sense, but growing or developing into a better you.
So here are several things that could happen on this blog in 2011…or some other year.
1. Turning it into a social networking and blogging site. Mark Zuckerberg has been such an inspiration to me, hence the many false references I, at times, make of our interactions, on Facebook, and sometimes in conversation (I am not proud), so I felt that I could somehow fuse the blogging and social networking factors and have a place where people could do both at the same time. A social networking blog that I'd call Blogbook (no inspiration whatsoever from Facebook). The activities that the bloggers/social networkers will undertake on this genius site will be discussed in a later entry. A much later entry.
2. I have, many times, contemplated moving to Wordpress. No offense e-blogger, but Wordpress has really cool templates and stuff. And their whole lay out, sigh, it's just really neat, for lack of more profound words to describe it. That said, please do not close my blog and blame it on something lame like inappropriate content. If that happens, I will have to report it to a higher power (probably an old bearded guy in blog heaven who fights for bloggers rights) with claims of having been assanged (a term recently coined after the Wikileaks fiasco: Assange;(verb): To prosecute someone for one thing, when you really want to prosecute them for another. Use in sentence- "My client was assanged your honour")
3. Having blogetitions (notice how I fused the words blog and competition) where readers would say which was their favourite entry (I know they’re only six but we can make it work) and why, then I would pick the best reason. The winner would win. What, you so rightly ask? The satisfaction of knowing that he or she beat tens (my readership is not as high as I would like it to be) of other readers to be the best. My best. Nothing in this world can beat the anticipation, the suspense, the sweaty palms as you await the outcome…then the joy and exhilaration of being declared the best, and the adrenaline rush as you walk up to that virtual podium to be declared the winner.
4. Using visual aids…as soon as I figure out how to do it. We’ll have endless photos of me (narcissistic tendencies) doing things that are deemed mundane, like clipping my nails…but things that, nonetheless make you aware that you are alive. You wouldn’t clip your nails if you were dead, now would you?
5. Have my readers suggest other cooler things I could do with my blog?
Tell us how we can serve you better…because blogging is cool. (Sorry they were out of cool slogans)
Once again, have a great 2011…we’ll get back to serious blog stuff soon :)
So here are several things that could happen on this blog in 2011…or some other year.
1. Turning it into a social networking and blogging site. Mark Zuckerberg has been such an inspiration to me, hence the many false references I, at times, make of our interactions, on Facebook, and sometimes in conversation (I am not proud), so I felt that I could somehow fuse the blogging and social networking factors and have a place where people could do both at the same time. A social networking blog that I'd call Blogbook (no inspiration whatsoever from Facebook). The activities that the bloggers/social networkers will undertake on this genius site will be discussed in a later entry. A much later entry.
2. I have, many times, contemplated moving to Wordpress. No offense e-blogger, but Wordpress has really cool templates and stuff. And their whole lay out, sigh, it's just really neat, for lack of more profound words to describe it. That said, please do not close my blog and blame it on something lame like inappropriate content. If that happens, I will have to report it to a higher power (probably an old bearded guy in blog heaven who fights for bloggers rights) with claims of having been assanged (a term recently coined after the Wikileaks fiasco: Assange;(verb): To prosecute someone for one thing, when you really want to prosecute them for another. Use in sentence- "My client was assanged your honour")
3. Having blogetitions (notice how I fused the words blog and competition) where readers would say which was their favourite entry (I know they’re only six but we can make it work) and why, then I would pick the best reason. The winner would win. What, you so rightly ask? The satisfaction of knowing that he or she beat tens (my readership is not as high as I would like it to be) of other readers to be the best. My best. Nothing in this world can beat the anticipation, the suspense, the sweaty palms as you await the outcome…then the joy and exhilaration of being declared the best, and the adrenaline rush as you walk up to that virtual podium to be declared the winner.
4. Using visual aids…as soon as I figure out how to do it. We’ll have endless photos of me (narcissistic tendencies) doing things that are deemed mundane, like clipping my nails…but things that, nonetheless make you aware that you are alive. You wouldn’t clip your nails if you were dead, now would you?
5. Have my readers suggest other cooler things I could do with my blog?
Tell us how we can serve you better…because blogging is cool. (Sorry they were out of cool slogans)
Once again, have a great 2011…we’ll get back to serious blog stuff soon :)
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Get your club out!
“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club,” said Jack London, an American short-story writer and novelist of the early 1900s. There I was, a few hours ago waiting for the needed inspiration to somehow dawn on me and help me come up with an article that could end world hunger, create better housing in slum areas or something life changing. Inspiration wasn’t forthcoming, so I switched to the “club approach” which also didn’t work very well.
I’m not sure what exactly won the war over my writing, if at all there was a winning. Writing is a wearisome task. Writers are always faced with the challenge of writing new material. As if that’s not hard enough, they may have to write about mundane topics like relationships or Barrack Obama and end up racking their brains for days (or even months) searching for something that has never been said about these topics before. Then there’s the writer’s worst nemesis, according to me, Writer’s Block.
After reading some of the articles in our local dailies and magazines, it seems to me that the youth (who largely constitute these writers) are being faced by lack of inspiration for writing. I can’t remember when I last came across a piece of writing that, and I lack the words to say exactly what I mean here, to say the least blew my mind. Consequently, I feel there’s a large number of youth out there, including yours truly, who are being faced by lack of writing inspiration, which I mostly refer to as Writer’s Block.
Writer’s block is like a recurring disease that you never get completely cured of. This article may for the most part be a result of this ‘disease’. For me it counts as a contemporary social issue, seeing that it affects many youthful writers of my day. So address it I shall. Writer's Block is actually more serious than you may think and has been found to be closely related to depression and anxiety, according to neurologist and author of The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer’s Block, and The Creative Brain, Alice Weaver Flaherty.
There are chronic cases of Writer’s Block, considering the case of Henry Roth, another American novelist and short story writer, who suffered from it for sixty years. It was caused by unwillingness to solve past problems and depression. What I’m trying to say here in so many words is that if you find you are suffering from what you will probably think is a case of chronic Writer’s Block (till you read the story of Henry Roth), you should evaluate yourself. There may be underlying issues that may be troubling you inwardly and causing you to lack inspiration for writing and well, other things in life.
Away from chronic cases of Writer’s Block, here are four simple causes of it given by writing-world.com. Writers are sometimes not ready to write. You may not know what you want to write about at times, which means you are not ready to write yet. Writers are sometimes also afraid to write as a result of various factors including comparing themselves with other great writers. Thirdly, writers often try to compose in their heads and fail to go through the stages of effective writing that are prewriting, planning, composing, editing, and proof reading. Lastly, writers sometimes start in the wrong place. You don’t always have to struggle with the first sentence. You can start elsewhere and work on your first sentence when you have the rest of your work. This doesn’t necessarily mean that starting with the first sentence is wrong.
All is however not lost. You probably expected this last paragraph to give you some workable solutions, to your “chronic problem”, and so I shall not go against writing norms. Writer’s Block does have a cure. Cures, to be more accurate. Some will leave you shaking your head at their absurdness. You may be well aware of others, like taking a break from your computer or writing station to get your thoughts in order, or going for a walk. There’s one suggested by Merlin Mann on his blog 43folders.com which I found quite hilarious- explain to a stuffed animal or cardboard cut out what you’re really trying to say. There’s also the very commonly used free writing approach, where you sit down and write anything that comes to mind. It would not be possible for me to exhaust the numerous remedies available. You should nonetheless know that Writer’s Block happens to the best of us, and should thus not beat yourself up over it. Inspiration is, after all, what you should be going after with a club, at least according to Jack London.
Note:
This was part of my final project from my Magazine and Feature Writing class. I decided to post it here because:
1. Writer's Block is not cool. It took me roughly three hours to write this, after racking my brains for a looong time...then at the 11.5th hour, I saw a bright white light...that turned out to be a passing car...then after a while, I decided to write about Writer's Block.
2. I want to look like I'm doing something with my blog.
3. Lists are cool :D...I'm not really making any point here.
Note (2): It was in 2008 when Obamamania was all the rage, hence the reference.
I’m not sure what exactly won the war over my writing, if at all there was a winning. Writing is a wearisome task. Writers are always faced with the challenge of writing new material. As if that’s not hard enough, they may have to write about mundane topics like relationships or Barrack Obama and end up racking their brains for days (or even months) searching for something that has never been said about these topics before. Then there’s the writer’s worst nemesis, according to me, Writer’s Block.
After reading some of the articles in our local dailies and magazines, it seems to me that the youth (who largely constitute these writers) are being faced by lack of inspiration for writing. I can’t remember when I last came across a piece of writing that, and I lack the words to say exactly what I mean here, to say the least blew my mind. Consequently, I feel there’s a large number of youth out there, including yours truly, who are being faced by lack of writing inspiration, which I mostly refer to as Writer’s Block.
Writer’s block is like a recurring disease that you never get completely cured of. This article may for the most part be a result of this ‘disease’. For me it counts as a contemporary social issue, seeing that it affects many youthful writers of my day. So address it I shall. Writer's Block is actually more serious than you may think and has been found to be closely related to depression and anxiety, according to neurologist and author of The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer’s Block, and The Creative Brain, Alice Weaver Flaherty.
There are chronic cases of Writer’s Block, considering the case of Henry Roth, another American novelist and short story writer, who suffered from it for sixty years. It was caused by unwillingness to solve past problems and depression. What I’m trying to say here in so many words is that if you find you are suffering from what you will probably think is a case of chronic Writer’s Block (till you read the story of Henry Roth), you should evaluate yourself. There may be underlying issues that may be troubling you inwardly and causing you to lack inspiration for writing and well, other things in life.
Away from chronic cases of Writer’s Block, here are four simple causes of it given by writing-world.com. Writers are sometimes not ready to write. You may not know what you want to write about at times, which means you are not ready to write yet. Writers are sometimes also afraid to write as a result of various factors including comparing themselves with other great writers. Thirdly, writers often try to compose in their heads and fail to go through the stages of effective writing that are prewriting, planning, composing, editing, and proof reading. Lastly, writers sometimes start in the wrong place. You don’t always have to struggle with the first sentence. You can start elsewhere and work on your first sentence when you have the rest of your work. This doesn’t necessarily mean that starting with the first sentence is wrong.
All is however not lost. You probably expected this last paragraph to give you some workable solutions, to your “chronic problem”, and so I shall not go against writing norms. Writer’s Block does have a cure. Cures, to be more accurate. Some will leave you shaking your head at their absurdness. You may be well aware of others, like taking a break from your computer or writing station to get your thoughts in order, or going for a walk. There’s one suggested by Merlin Mann on his blog 43folders.com which I found quite hilarious- explain to a stuffed animal or cardboard cut out what you’re really trying to say. There’s also the very commonly used free writing approach, where you sit down and write anything that comes to mind. It would not be possible for me to exhaust the numerous remedies available. You should nonetheless know that Writer’s Block happens to the best of us, and should thus not beat yourself up over it. Inspiration is, after all, what you should be going after with a club, at least according to Jack London.
Note:
This was part of my final project from my Magazine and Feature Writing class. I decided to post it here because:
1. Writer's Block is not cool. It took me roughly three hours to write this, after racking my brains for a looong time...then at the 11.5th hour, I saw a bright white light...that turned out to be a passing car...then after a while, I decided to write about Writer's Block.
2. I want to look like I'm doing something with my blog.
3. Lists are cool :D...I'm not really making any point here.
Note (2): It was in 2008 when Obamamania was all the rage, hence the reference.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
A quick, simple meal for the busy campus student, the guy who just moved out, and the girl who…uh...has better stuff to do? :|
My alarm usually went off at 7.30 a.m. but there were a lot of times that I remember making great use of the snooze button, and waking up at 8.30; never mind that I had an 8.45 class. I would run around trying to get ready, miss breakfast and sit in 3 hour classes with my stomach noisily grumbling about all the meals it had been denied in its lifetime.
Before I knew it, it was 4 p.m. and a coke was the only thing I had to 'eat' the whole day. That was life for me when I moved to the self-catering hostels of our campus and realized that cooking for myself and juggling my busy schedule would be quite a challenge. I had to learn the art of cooking simple but yummy meals. The 'smokie stew' was something of a delicacy for the residents of the self-catering hostels. It wasn't really a stew, but the name stuck anyway.
It is quite easy to make and will come in handy many times. All you need is pasta (spaghetti, macaroni or whichever type you prefer), two smokies, an onion, two cloves of garlic (optional), two green peppers (pilipili hoho) two tomatoes, and whatever kind of seasoning you like whether it's black pepper or tumeric or rosemary, the choice is yours. Seasoning is also optional though.
Usually I placed my sufuria on the gas cooker, poured a little cooking oil then turned the music on while I waited for it to heat up. At this point I had chopped up the onions, garlic, peppers, tomatoes and smokies into little pieces and placed the pasta in boiling water in a separate sufuria.
Bobbing my head to the blaring music from my phone, I fried the onions, garlic, and green peppers for five minutes before adding the tomatoes, and the smokies three or so minutes later. Every time I added a new ingredient, I would mix it up with the rest. Salt and seasoning followed and I let the smokies cook for three to four minutes.
I would then drain water from the now cooked pasta then pour into the smokie mixture. After this, all that is required is mixing everything up with the pasta and letting it cook for two to three minutes and voila, you have a very tasty meal in less than twenty minutes.
I would always have this exquisite meal with spinach. You may make a face and turn up your nose but green vegetables are very essential in your diet. Also, your mom will be impressed that you're eating your greens. Spinach is very tasty when well cooked. I would buy it already washed and cut up (remember we're trying to save time). Fry onions for two minutes and add the spinach and a little salt. Mix them up and cook for five to six minutes and you have a little more health and colour in your meal.
To make the meal tastier, you could grate cheese on it, add some ketchup, or add fresh avocado to it. The cooking experience can be made more interesting by dancing, and singing along to your favourite music with the wooden spoon as your 'mic'.
Note:
1. Any other type of processed meat (brawn, sausage etc) can be used in place of the smokie.
2. This meal serves one. You can increase the proportions as you see fit if you're cooking for more people.
3. My book 'Quick, simple meals for the busy campus student, the guy who just moved out, and the girl who…uh...has better stuff to do?' is in selected stores. Hurry, while stocks last. Comes with free DVD, music CD of fun songs to listen to while cooking, and a free wooden spoon. I will be having a book signing….Ok none of that stuff is true. I wish! : D
Before I knew it, it was 4 p.m. and a coke was the only thing I had to 'eat' the whole day. That was life for me when I moved to the self-catering hostels of our campus and realized that cooking for myself and juggling my busy schedule would be quite a challenge. I had to learn the art of cooking simple but yummy meals. The 'smokie stew' was something of a delicacy for the residents of the self-catering hostels. It wasn't really a stew, but the name stuck anyway.
It is quite easy to make and will come in handy many times. All you need is pasta (spaghetti, macaroni or whichever type you prefer), two smokies, an onion, two cloves of garlic (optional), two green peppers (pilipili hoho) two tomatoes, and whatever kind of seasoning you like whether it's black pepper or tumeric or rosemary, the choice is yours. Seasoning is also optional though.
Usually I placed my sufuria on the gas cooker, poured a little cooking oil then turned the music on while I waited for it to heat up. At this point I had chopped up the onions, garlic, peppers, tomatoes and smokies into little pieces and placed the pasta in boiling water in a separate sufuria.
Bobbing my head to the blaring music from my phone, I fried the onions, garlic, and green peppers for five minutes before adding the tomatoes, and the smokies three or so minutes later. Every time I added a new ingredient, I would mix it up with the rest. Salt and seasoning followed and I let the smokies cook for three to four minutes.
I would then drain water from the now cooked pasta then pour into the smokie mixture. After this, all that is required is mixing everything up with the pasta and letting it cook for two to three minutes and voila, you have a very tasty meal in less than twenty minutes.
I would always have this exquisite meal with spinach. You may make a face and turn up your nose but green vegetables are very essential in your diet. Also, your mom will be impressed that you're eating your greens. Spinach is very tasty when well cooked. I would buy it already washed and cut up (remember we're trying to save time). Fry onions for two minutes and add the spinach and a little salt. Mix them up and cook for five to six minutes and you have a little more health and colour in your meal.
To make the meal tastier, you could grate cheese on it, add some ketchup, or add fresh avocado to it. The cooking experience can be made more interesting by dancing, and singing along to your favourite music with the wooden spoon as your 'mic'.
Note:
1. Any other type of processed meat (brawn, sausage etc) can be used in place of the smokie.
2. This meal serves one. You can increase the proportions as you see fit if you're cooking for more people.
3. My book 'Quick, simple meals for the busy campus student, the guy who just moved out, and the girl who…uh...has better stuff to do?' is in selected stores. Hurry, while stocks last. Comes with free DVD, music CD of fun songs to listen to while cooking, and a free wooden spoon. I will be having a book signing….Ok none of that stuff is true. I wish! : D
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
The shamed blogger
I am hiding my face in shame as I type this. I suppose I wasn't up to the demands of blogging. I have no good reason to excuse the lack of posts for…by Jove!! Has it been a month already? Sigh, moving along swiftly…I really have been thinking of what it is I should be blogging about and I have decided on the following…No, I shouldn't tell you. What will keep you coming if you know what to expect? The thrill is in the unpredictability of the whole affair. What will she blog about next? That should be the question.
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