#166 words

[maybe-a-madman]

Day 3

Looking back on all my old projects now. I have a much clearer view of their personal meaning and their quality, or lack thereof in some cases.

Sometimes it takes a bit of time and distance to appreciate and fully understand Art.

I find this is especially true of art you make yourself. It never really makes sense until it’s had some time to settle into your subconscious. Until it’s had time to live in a reality outside of your own mind.

This Instrumental composition has been (in)complete for almost a year now, and i’m only now realizing how much growth, and experience came out of this one small musical experiment.

Recently I haven’t had much time for personal projects or experimental explorations, but I really am starting to believe that the only way to learn and improve is to try your best, and make mistakes.

The Arts are all about making mistakes, and learning from them. Growing and improving every step of the way.

If only I had the time to let myself grow.

[soundofez]

confusing words that make me sad when they get mixed up, and maybe some derivatives to help with instinctive recognition, part 1 of ????

wander/wonder “I wander the forests of Nottingham.” “I wonder what time it is. It's a wonderful world.”

peek/peak/pique “I peek through the curtains. You peek out from behind the curtains.” “I traveled to the peak of Mt. Everest. Your career peaked in the 90s.” “You have piqued my interest.

cue/queue "Don’t miss your cue. That is my cue to leave.” “I am queuing to board the train. There is a queue at the restaurant.”

definite/defiant “I am defiant in the face of wrongs. You defy all expectations.” “I am definitely trying. I would like to define our boundaries.”

rain/rein/reign “It is raining.” “The horse is on a rein.” “The king reigns from his throne.”

principle/principal Principles refer to fundamental truths or propositions thereof, usually abstract ideas, or other things relating to fundamentals (of religion, of mathematics, of science, etc) Principals are basically everything else.

[misterssamuels-blog]

Dissociative Identity Disorder (inspired by x)

It's a fact that two different persona's share the man legally named Adrian Samuel's body. It can not be disputed, having been diagnosed by Doctor Hopper, the town's authority on all things psychological in the town. Most people would be taking medicine, to try to help their mind regain unity, a sense of singular identity, or at least to keep personalities like Caspian's in check.

But the one thing they both agree on is to refuse to accept tranquilizers that will mess with their minds. Both identities are intelligent, and have a stubborn streak to them, and both realize the very real risk of their half of Adrian Samuels disappearing forever, if meds try to get the personalities under control. They'd rather struggle to coexist than to be erased forever.

The very unusual struggle unites them, the one thing that keeps them from trying to destroy one another. It is the risk that they themselves might vanish, if they try to do away with the other.

[twowug]

Grammatical Gender Part II

What about languages with grammatical determiners for inanimate objects, which do not have natural genders? I decided to do a little reading about this.

I discovered that a Harvard professor named Karl Guthke studied this—specifically related to perceptions of death. In German cultures, where death takes a masculine determiner, death is more likely to be personified as a man. In Spanish and French cultures, where death requires a feminine determiner, death is—surprise, surprise—more often than not represented with a woman (x).

A linguist named Roman Jacobson studied the cultural perception/gender connection, too, with Slavic languages. He found that ‘day,’ which is grammatically masculine in Russian, is associated more often with prototypical manly adjectives, while ‘night,’ which is grammatically feminine, is often supplemented with characteristically feminine adjectives (x).

I think the connection between grammatical gender/culture is very interesting. How strong is the relationship between the two? I don’t think it has had a huge impact on culture, but there is definitely some minor influence.

[stareandwrite]

High up a winding mountain road in a coffee-growing town three volcanoes beyond San Salvador, a priest's voice bellows from giant speakers aimed out the front door of the largest church. Nobody pays attention. Too much is going on. Horses wearing canvas diapers pull carriages of families enjoying this steamy Sunday. Amplified singers fight to be heard over each other's overly loud voices and distorted music. A father blows bubbles from a wand for his son. Young lovers eating ice cream cuddle on a bench. This weekly festival attracts people to Juayua from miles around, mostly for the food. Hundreds of plastic-tarp-covered stalls surround the crowded square. A snake handler draws passersby to pose for photos with a huge python draped over their necks. Young girls approach strangers, desperate to sell potted plants and local fruit. Pistachio vendors beg for a sale. Sudden laughter springs from a corner as people revel in the racy lyrics of a singer flirting with a pretty bystander.

- Larry Shushan yesterday in Juayua, El Salvador. He's participating in a Central American medical mission with Prevention International: No Cervical Cancer.

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