Noosha's Blog: 2019

Friday, December 13, 2019

Building...

On December 21^st, 2018, I went outside, took a shovel from the shed, and started digging. I wanted to dig the perimeter of my future cabin, 20' x 20', then work my way through the middle. The hole had to be 18 inches deep. The ground was so rocky that after two whole hours of hard work, I'd barely made a dent in it. I could barely fit my foot, or rather my boot, in the hole I'd created, and it was only eight inches deep. I grabbed my phone, took a picture of it, and went back inside to take a shower. As the hot water was soothing my sore muscles, I decided to create a blog and document every step of what seemed to be a long, and painful, process. I set up the blog and wrote my first post. Then I proofread it. As I was reading it a second time, I realized my words depicted the disappointment I felt with the inadequate outcome of such hard work. I didn't want the blog to convey a negative experience and I definitely didn't want to feel discouraged by my own words, but I still wanted to document the progress of the work, so I chose to include only pictures showing the advancement. There was no other way for me to stay completely objective and maintain a positive attitude at the same time. https://newstudioproject.blogspot.com/

I hadn't shared my plan to build a new cabin with anyone, except a neighbor who'd claimed he had done a lot of construction work in the past. I'd asked him to come over and make sure the space I'd chosen for the cabin was acceptable. It was the only place in my half-acre land where I'd only have to cut down one tree, and, in this case, the tree was sick and had to be cut anyway. I thought it would be a good spot, with minimum damage to the environment. He'd tried to discourage me, saying it was going to be hard work, it wouldn't be something I could do, and the material was going to cost a lot. I'd thanked him. Then I'd sat down and written the reasons it had to be done, just to make sure I wanted to go through with it. This is what I'd written that day:

Current Cabin: Current Problems 12/13/18

foundation

There is none. The cabin is sitting on broken pieces of cinder blocks and rotten pieces of wood.

bathroom:

The shower is too small. I can't even lift both my arms at the same time to wash my hair.

There is no sink. I have to use the hand-held shower head to wash my hands and face and to brush my teeth.

kitchen:

There is not enough counter space. The cabinets are a waste of space because they occupy the whole area under the counter, and there are no shelves installed. I tried to put shelves and little drawers to organize non perishable grocery items in that space, but the cabinet doors are too narrow, and nothing fits through them.

The kitchen sink is ridiculously small. Anything I wash makes the water splash all over the counter. If the counter were empty, it would be easy to wipe it. It is not, though. My toaster oven, coffee maker, instant pot, range, and refrigerator are on the counter. Wiping the whole counter every time I wash a plate is super annoying and a definite waste of time.

other:

There are smaller issues, too. For instance, most of the electric outlets are located in places that can't be reached. No matter which way I put my bed, it covers three of the four outlets in the room. Another example is the toilet. Both the bowl and the tank have problems, so the toilet needs to be replaced completely. These could be fixed, but considering there are too many things to repair at a high cost and fixing all the little things would end up costing a considerable amount of money, it wouldn't make sense to spend any money on the current cabin. It would be like the painting the walls of a place that is about to fall down, a complete waste.

All of these combined with the fact that I need a little more space for a desk and a comfortable chair and the fact that I've always loved fireplaces convinced me that I needed a new cabin, one that would be designed and built exactly the way I want.

That's why about one week later, on December 21^st, 2018, I went outside, took a shovel from the shed, and started digging. It took me five months to dig and one month to clean up the hole and even the sides. Then I had to measure everything and prepare the ground for the slabs I was about to build. Everything had to be level. I also had to make forms for the slabs.

Once all the measuring was done and everything was marked, I used gravel to level the ground in the areas where it was not level. Then I started making the slabs one by one when I could afford the concrete for each slab and when the weather allowed me to work. I couldn't work when it rained or even when it was too humid, and with all the rain that comes down in this area and the high cost of concrete, making the slabs took about six months.

Today marks one year since I made the decision to build a new cabin. After my first day of digging, on December 21^st, 2018, I told myself I'm lucky if I finish just digging the hole and making the slabs by this time next year. I'm happy that I've managed to finish that part of the process within my own time limit. It hasn't been easy, and I still have a very long way to go, but I'm feeling proud that I've come this far and motivated to continue.

The next steps are laying three rows of blocks to elevate the cabin, getting the plumbing and electric work ready, and pouring the concrete, and my deadline is March 19.

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Book Review

I will never be able to thank Steve Bivans enough for writing The End of Fear Itself. It came to me when I really needed it, and it helped me in a way that seemed impossible then, but simply makes sense now.

Reading The End of Fear Itself helped me get from my current struggles all the way back to their roots step by step and understand each step as it was demystified, or as the author calls it “unexplained.” What better way to solve problems than to acknowledge, understand, and break them down? I was able to address my problems, all of which stemmed from various kinds of fear.

As a linguist, I appreciate words and the way they influence us. The author beautifully demonstrated the power of words and how deeply words affect us depending on the part of speech to which they belong. Recognizing the effects of words can help us minimize, in a simple way, the impact of negative language and thoughts which prevent us from living our full potential.

The topic of this remarkable book relates to anyone and everyone. The language used in the book is unpretentious and the words just flow. The author has a brilliant sense of humor. The informative nature of this book and the author's style make it a page turner.

If you are struggling with anything at all in life, read The End of Fear Itself. You won't regret it. I consider the time and money I spent on this book as one of the best investments I've made in my life, and I truly enjoyed the reading and learning experience.

I give this book five stars.

Below is the link to the book. Enjoy.

mybook.to/EndOfFearItself

Friday, November 15, 2019

Vertigo

One day, years ago, a friend of mine, Marie, asked me if I could give her a ride to the store because she wasn't feeling well. It was Sunday, and I wasn't working, so I picked her up and drove her to all the places she needed to go. In the car, she told me she had vertigo, which made her dizzy and unable to drive.

Dizzy? I thought. I know dizzy. That's when everything around me turns, and I have to immediately sit down or I might fall. I've always had low blood pressure, and if I don't eat when I have to, I get dizzy, to the point that I can't drive or walk straight.

Little did I know.

Two weeks after I moved to Arkansas, about eighteen months ago, I woke up dizzy in the morning feeling the whole room was turning around me, but not in any way I'd experienced before. I was feeling dizzy, but not like I felt when my blood pressure was low. I was off balance, my head spinning, like I was turning in all directions, like I was on both an out-of-control merry-go-round and a Ferris wheel going at the speed of light, combined. It felt like I was being thrown into space, moving incredibly fast with no control over anything. I kept my eyes shut and held on as tightly as I could to my bed frame and the edge of the wall to avoid being thrown out of orbit. When I finally felt like I was spinning less and tried to slowly get up, I fell down and threw up while falling to the floor. I crawled on all fours over to the door of my cabin, lifted myself just enough to reach the door knob, and managed to open the door so that the dogs could go out. I'd never let them out on their own in the woods and I was worried that they might go farther than they should, but they knew something was terribly wrong, so they did their business and ran back to me.

I heard a car coming, and I saw it was a neighbor. I immediately held my hand up, waving to get the driver's attention. He saw me down on the floor and stopped his car. I told him I was feeling extremely dizzy and I couldn't get up. He helped me up, and I turned my head away from him just in time to throw up again, this time on the wall. I felt embarrassed and helpless and thankful he was there, all at the same time.

He asked if I wanted him to take me to the hospital. I asked him to get me my phone from the counter so I could ask an old friend, a doctor in California. I texted my friend, knowing it was early in the morning in California. I just wrote “extremely dizzy and nauseated... the whole world is turning” He immediately wrote back “Call 911 and get yourself to a hospital NOW. RIGHT NOW. PLEASE.” I asked my neighbor to give me a minute while I covered the area where I had thrown up and hadn't yet cleaned with a towel and took my purse. I handed my neighbor the keys asking him to lock the door and take me to the hospital. On the way there, not knowing what was happening to me, I asked him to take care of my dogs if I didn't make it back home.

He dropped me off, gave his phone number to the front desk, and went to work. A few hours and several tests later, after I gave the hospital staff a wonderful demonstration of what I was feeling by throwing up in front of them every time they tried to move me to run tests, they gave me pills for sea sickness and told me there was nothing seriously wrong based on the test results. I called my neighbor and asked him to pick me up whenever he could. An hour later, I was in his car on my way to the drugstore to pick up the pills the doctor had prescribed. I also picked up frozen and canned food for the next few days for me and the dogs.

My doctor friend told me based on the tests done at the hospital that I probably had vertigo. Vertigo? I immediately called Marie. I described everything that had happened, and she said that was exactly her experience with vertigo. She shared how scared she had been the first time, not knowing what was going on. She'd been living with it for a decade now and had consulted many doctors about her condition. She told me what her doctors had told her and that stress might be a major cause. She sent me physical exercises to do as well as a list of foods to avoid. She had also been given the same kind of sea sickness medicine they gave me.

Sadly, those sea sickness pills didn't work for me as well as they'd worked for her. I stayed that way for about five days and the dizziness slowly diminished in intensity, or level of dizziness, and in frequency, until it went away on its own.

Since that first time, these episodes have come and gone several times. One time, it lasted three whole weeks. It was terrible. I wasn't able to drive or even walk. I eventually learned to live with it. I prepared myself for it by stocking up on all kinds of canned foods (meat, vegetables, beans, evaporated milk), dried foods (rice, beans, pasta, nuts), and bottled water and juices. I built a fence around a small area next to my cabin and installed a doggy door. The dogs have learned to use their little door when I can't accompany them. I'm so thankful to the person who invented the doggy door. I also learned that when I didn't move my head at all, I felt a little better, so, during these episodes of various lengths, I occupy myself with tasks that don't require moving, like reading, listening to audio-books, watching movies, writing, and even proofreading.

This past Monday, I woke up off balance again. The last few days have been terrible. I couldn't even stand up on my own until this morning. I don't even know how many times I've thrown up these past days. The temperature here has been very low and the most challenging and exhausting task this time has been to put clothes on my three fidgety dogs before sending them out in the cold through the doggy door, four or five times a day. I woke up this morning and stood up, somewhat dizzy, but finally able to walk. Hopefully, it's starting to go away.

Thursday, October 31, 2019

No Book Review

Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries - Kory Stamper

I spent a lot of time writing and editing a review for Word by Word because I wanted to be eloquent in my expression of admiration for both the book and its author. Before posting it, though, I looked at other reviews of the book and immediately found many of my words and phrases in them, so I decided against posting mine. I had nothing new to offer in terms of praise for this book that I'd so enjoyed reading. If you read all the raving reviews posted online, you'll know what I mean.

All I will say is this book resonated with the nerdy word-loving grammarian that I am. I recommend it to all my fellow writers and word lovers. I took my time reading the book, savoring every word, enjoying every chapter, and delighting in the author's sense of humor. Some passages and footnotes made me laugh out loud.

Reading Word by Word also brought back many memories of my childhood and adolescence. As the daughter of an etymologist and lexicographer, I spent fifteen years of my life in the middle of stacks of books and piles of paper and boxes filled with index cards. From that period of my life, most memories I have of my father involve him sitting at his desk, a red pencil in his hand, either underlining words in books or reviewing semantic variations of words based on evidence.

I'm glad Kory Stamper “authored” this book (see the footnote on p.187 of the book), and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Living in the Woods: 10 Fun Facts

Living in the woods requires certain behaviors that can be unfamiliar to people such as myself who have never had the experience and have never even gone camping. These new behaviors become habits after a while, of course. I've been living in the woods for over sixteen months now. I've learned a lot and I'm still learning about the changes in the weather, all the animals around here, and even the language used by locals. It's true that culture affects language. I haven't moved to a new country, but I'm learning so many new words. My first year here, I was writing daily in my journal about life in the woods. Early this morning, I was looking for a piece of information in my journal to add to my WIP and I came across a page I'd titled “10 Fun Facts” and it's dated June 29^th, 2018, which is exactly one month after I arrived at the cabin.

1. No matter who the president is, here, the insects rule.

2. Cortisone has become my new body lotion.

3. I have to inspect my body for ticks at least twice a day, every day. If a tick stays on a human body more than a few hours, it can be deadly. I have to check the dogs every night before they go to bed.

4. I'd never seen ninja squirrels before.

5. These tiny frogs are so very cute.

6. I have learned about insects and reptiles a lot more than I ever wanted to, and now I have to unlearn all of it just so I can sleep at night.

7. I have to be careful not to step on snakes or they'll make me regret it in the worst way, and they're hard to see.

8. Fireflies make the evenings beautiful.

9. At night, the only sounds I hear are those of nature, and they're loud.

10. A beautiful cedar tree has been my carport for a month now, and I haven't seen a single bird poop on my car yet. Either the birds here have manners or they are constipated.

Four hundred and fifty five days later, all these facts remain true. I have, however, learned to reduce the number of insect bites by covering myself better, so although I use Cortisone regularly, it is, thankfully, no longer my “body lotion.”

Sunday, October 6, 2019

Before & After

Before I moved to the woods in the Natural State, I was a college professor in California, a very active one. My typical day consisted of teaching and driving. I was teaching three classes, three hours each, every day, at three different colleges, and the total commute time between each college and home added to about four to five hours a day. I left the house at 6:30am and got home at 10pm, but I also returned home after each job to take the dogs out and give them something to eat, little treats during the day and a meal in the evening. I felt guilty every time I left the dogs, but it was inevitable. When I got home at 10pm, I spent every minute with the dogs: no work, no phone. After their evening walk, we wrestled and played, and then we went to bed together.

Now, living in the woods, I tutor a few students online, working no more than an hour a day. I also do some proofreading when I get an assignment. In between these jobs, I read, write, cook, clean, mow and treat the lawn, and watch movies. I go to town once a week to buy groceries and pay a visit to the library, where I borrow lots of books and movies. I'm never apart from the dogs. They are always with me, everywhere I go. I only leave them inside the cabin when I need to mow the lawn because they'll get in front of the mower and it's not safe. When I go out to mow the lawn, I see their three little heads in the window frame watching me through the screen. If I leave their range of sight, the three of them start howling like little wolves and they only stop when I reappear, and this goes on until I've finished the whole area around the cabin.

Being a workaholic, I loved my active life in California. My schedule was set for me, but I loved teaching and I enjoyed every minute of my job. Reading a book for pleasure only happened in the form of listening to it during my commute, though, and all the rest of my time outside the classroom was spent planning lessons and grading papers. I never had enough time to sit down and write. I could only write if I stole five minutes here and ten minutes there from my very busy schedule.

Now, I have my own schedule. I don't have to feel guilty anymore; I can spend all my time with my dogs. Also, I'm glad I have time to read all the books I want, and I can set aside a couple of hours to sit down and write every day. It's a completely new way of living for me, and it took me a whole year to get used to it, but looking back, I realize that, since I moved out here, I have read more than a hundred books and I'm close to finishing the first draft of my book that seemed interminable before. I make time to do all the things my previous lifestyle didn't allow me to do, and I do everything when I want. I'm enjoying every minute of my new life and feeling grateful.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Hoppoo

My dog Hoppoo is really afraid of thunder, and we live in an area where there are several thunderstorms a week, all year round. The first time he experienced a thunderstorm, Hoppoo started shaking and wouldn't stop, no matter how tightly I held him and hugged him. A nine-pound Terrier Chihuahua, he's tiny and very delicate. Eventually, I found out that walking around while holding him seemed more effective than just sitting down. My other dogs aren't afraid at all. Sure, that first clap of thunder may startle them, as it does me, but it doesn't scare them. Sometimes, they get uncomfortable and pull a blanket over their head or crawl under a pillow, but it's just to muffle the sound; sometimes, they sleep through it. Hoppoo, on the other hand, starts to show signs of fear as soon as he hears that first rumbling sound. His tail, always up like a perfect question mark, goes down, and he starts to walk around to find a corner where he can hide. We live in a cabin in the woods, a tiny home of 196 square feet, 225 if you count the porch, so there's really no room for him to walk around or hide. Hoppoo ends up in my lap, begging me with his eyes to hold him, get up, and walk. Since there's no room to walk, I put some dance music on, as loud as possible, to cover the sound of thunder, and dance with him singing along really loudly. That works a little better, and, usually, by the third song, he calms down a bit. I sometimes turn on the air conditioner and the fan if we have power; I do anything I can do to stop the loud thunder sound from reaching his ears. After about forty-five minutes of dancing, I feel exhausted, and start to slow down, but, sadly, the thunderstorm doesn't go away just because I get tired. The only thing that keeps me going is the fear I see in Hoppoo's eyes when he feels I might sit down, so I keep dancing, thanking the universe that the other two dogs, much more Terrier than Chihuahua and therefore much heavier than Hoppoo, aren't afraid of thunder. Finally, when the storm is over and we sit down, Hoppoo starts licking my hands and giving me kisses to show his appreciation. His tail goes up again and forms a question mark. He's happy again, maybe because the thunder has stopped or maybe because I've stopped singing.

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

Book Review

When I Was Lost: A Mother's Struggle with Bipolar Disorder, by Glenna Gill, is the story of a woman whose life falls apart when her husband announces he's leaving her. What makes this memoir so powerful is the author's honesty in describing everything she goes through: her feelings during her depression, her ignoring every red flag when she knows better, the way she justifies her every decision, how she sees herself, her awareness of her own dishonesty with herself and with others, the realization that she is burning every bridge as she gets in deeper, and recognizing where she is headed if she doesn't change her ways. The author takes the reader through it all and shows the impact of her choices on others, her relationship with her loved ones, and the kind of strength and determination it takes to get out of a hole that deep. Every character in this true story teaches the reader something about life.
This book should be required reading for all high school students. I recommend it to everyone, teenagers and adults, both male and female, because it shows how easy it is to lose your way and how hard it is to find it again.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Blogs Worth Reading... #9

Today's blog...

Meet Deanna Molnar, a member of the #WritingCommunity.

She is an environmental activist and created her blog "to bridge the gaps between environmental issues and culture."

Check out her blog: https://naturemeetsmind.com

Thanks for sharing your blog with us, Deanna. 💙

Sunday, August 25, 2019

The Very Ugly Mr. X

I recently had the opportunity to chat with the writer of a movie that a friend of mine had directed, and by chat, I mean exchange short text messages via Messenger after my friend the director, D, introduced us to each other. “X, my friend Noosha has some questions about the film.”

I'd been very impressed with this movie, so I'd googled it, curious to know who else, besides my friend, had helped bring this to the screen, and I'd noticed everyone involved was around my age. Cool, I'd thought. This is what happens when a bunch of creative people get together.

As someone who's always been fascinated by movies and written half a dozen unfinished screenplays, which are now safely tucked away somewhere, I felt honored to be able to ask this genius, this talented screenwriter, some questions. As soon as he sent me a message asking how he could help, I greeted him and typed my first question; he answered it. Then I typed my second question, to which he also replied. As I was typing my third and last question, this “genius” asked me if I wanted to sleep with him. What? I read the message again, almost sure I had misread it the first time. Nope! I hadn't.

I suddenly felt angry, not at him, but at myself and how I'd given him so much credit and idolized him in my mind for being so creative and writing such a powerful screenplay. Of course, being creative has nothing to do with being a gentleman, but I'd built this person up in my mind and created certain expectations. My first thought, of course, me being my sarcastic self, was Do you not own a mirror? When's your birthday? I'll buy you one.

So you can imagine how shocked I was when his next sentence started with the words, “My birthday is tomorrow... ” Crap! What's happening? Is Messenger reading, typing, and sending my thoughts to this guy? Thankfully, he continued, “My date had a family emergency, so she won't make it. I'm looking at your Facebook photo right now, and you look even better than her.” Creepy! What a pig! No offense to pigs.

And here I'd imagined him as this great man, this great philosopher who'd come up with a wonderful way to illustrate his thoughts on the screen. Silly me! I realized he was waiting for an answer. So I deleted my half-typed third question and, instead, replied, “No. I'm sorry you misunderstood. I only have film-related questions and zero interest in anything else.”

Maybe I'm old fashioned, but is this how people are? Mr. X didn't know anything about me, except maybe that I'm a film nerd, and I know that my friend D, having known me for several years, hadn't told him anything implying I was easy. He knows me too well. This man didn't even know whether or not I was in a relationship, and this was his behavior? I'm not saying people shouldn't show interest in someone they feel attracted to. I'm just asking: Do they have to do it in such a distasteful way?

Flashback to 2002, when I'd been in a car accident and I was sitting at home with two broken ribs and a paralyzed left hand talking on the phone to a lawyer who was telling me his office being far didn't matter because he would come to me, take me to dinner, offer me wine and flowers, and then take me home. This was when I had just greeted him and asked him if I needed to go to his office, concerned because I didn't have a car and was in no condition to drive. I hadn't even given the lawyer my name yet, and he was taking his clothes off.

Back to my chat with the genius... At this point, I didn't even care if I got an answer to my next question. This talented screenwriter had already lost my respect. I just wanted to end the chat in a polite manner, given that he worked with my friend, … my friend who would never hear any of this from me. A new message came from him. Maybe an apology? It definitely wasn't an apology: “If you sleep with me, I'll let you ask me anything.” Wonderful! The more this guy wrote, the uglier he got in my mind. I need to end this now! I thought. So I wrote, “Thank you for your time. I'm being called into a meeting. It was great chatting with you. Happy Birthday! Thanks again.”

I immediately put my phone away, feeling uncomfortable and disgusted. I had thought so highly of this man before I chatted with him, and now he seemed so ugly. I tried to focus on the fact that some of my questions had been answered and that I had just learned that how people act has nothing to do with how talented or artistic they may be.

I occupied myself with other things to avoid thinking about this bad experience and soon found myself focused on my writing. A little while later, I went to check my Twitter notifications, when I saw I had an unread message on Messenger. I opened it. It was from the now Very Ugly Mr. X. It read, “Your loss!”

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Book Review

Norma Nikutowski, a member of the #WritingCommunity, sent me a digital copy of her book Turn Your Happiness ON in exchange for a review, which I agreed to... somewhat reluctantly. It sounded like a self-help book, and I've read many of those, very few of which I've found helpful. I'd given my word, though, so I started reading it. I admit I was immediately drawn to the author's honesty about her own feelings and the simplicity of her suggestions.

The author shares stories about her upbringing and her life experience. She draws conclusions based on the outcome of her own trials and errors. She also uses her professional experience and research to discuss happiness. She starts each chapter with a quote, and, after sharing an anecdote, gives the reader practical advice, a checklist, and a chapter summary, all of which make her approach effective in its simplicity and practicality.

Everyone is always looking for happiness like it's lost. Some believe it's hidden in unreachable worldly possessions; others look for it in high positions of power. And then there are those who believe there's no hope for happiness given “their” particular situation. This book shows the reader how happiness is a state of mind and can be attained very simply by making small changes, step by step, toward more joy in life.

I've always had the good fortune to feel content with very little. My lifestyle shows it: I have very few possessions and live in a tiny home. My hobbies involve taking walks with the dogs, watching movies, reading books, and writing. Therefore, many parts of the book, mainly about decluttering, which I know can be helpful to many of my friends, or gratitude, which so many people I personally know can benefit from, don't help me much.

Also, positive thinking and developing a positive attitude, are not, in my opinion, as easy as the author makes it sound, or maybe they are but take a long time to reach, so the results of taking small steps may not be immediately visible and verifiable.

However, some parts of the book resonated with me. I especially liked the chapter on decision making. I also liked her views on failure. I have paid more attention to my choices and decisions since I've read this book, and I can honestly say reading this book has been beneficial to me.

Turn Your Happiness ON is an easy read, filled with heart-warming stories and feasible action steps. I find it worth reading. Once you read it, you'll know which parts can be effective in your life and help you personally. I recommend giving it a try... because how often can you say you got closer to your goal in life by spending a couple of hours reading an affordable book?

Friday, July 26, 2019

... the rest of my tweet...

Writing certain parts of my WIP, Reflections, is emotionally exhausting, so I try to make the process as enjoyable as possible...

When I sit to work, my view is a little stream about twenty feet away from my window. I have the pleasure of getting the occasional visit from the playful squirrel, which my three dogs never fail to greet, and the cardinals, whose daily visit is motivated by the sunflower seeds I strategically place right in front of my window. The hummingbirds are always around enjoying the nectar I leave them hanging from a branch, also visible from my window.

I enjoy the scent of my favorite candle, nibble on fresh cherry tomatoes and crispy green beans picked from my tiny garden, and listen to memorable songs from the 80s as well as my favorite singers and bands: Chris de Burgh, Ebi, Patricia Kaas, Dalida, Dariush, Mylene Farmer, Julio Iglesias, Queen, U2, etc.

Despite all these pleasant additions and distractions, I need to take frequent breaks from work to just clear my mind and breathe.

A week ago, to keep my sanity, I decided to spend some time on a side project, just to take a longer break from Reflections, my main WIP. I'm still in the research phase for this side WIP, which involves a lot of reading. I've been able to make some progress, but since it's not my main work, and I intend to finish the first draft of Reflections by the end of the year, I've given myself a deadline, August 5^th, to finish both the research for this side book and the re-reading of a previous proofreading job that went through some changes. Then I'll have a couple of book reviews to write before I can get back to working on Reflections.

Wish me luck.

Noosha

Monday, July 15, 2019

Blogs Worth Reading... #8

Today's blog...

Have you met Barbie Beaton?
She is a memoirist, a creative nonfiction writer, and a member of the #WritingCommunity.

"Words are vessels of identity—I write to give thought a place to land."

Check out her blog: https://barbiebeaton.com/

Thanks, Barbie, for sharing your blog with us.

Thursday, July 11, 2019

Polite & Respectful

Being polite to someone and respecting them are two different things.

I know that most dictionaries list these two words as synonyms, but let's look at the etymology of the word “polite.”

The word “polite” comes from the Latin “politus,” which means “polished,” or “made smooth.”

While a fact is being “polished,” it is losing some of its authenticity.

I prefer maintaining the exactness of the unpolished version to diminishing its veracity, meaning I prefer brutal honesty to polite lies, also meaning I prefer being blunt to being polite.

The way I see it, the polite, or polished, version of anything is not completely true and is, therefore, an untrue statement. Delivering an untrue statement to someone is not a sign of respect toward that person in my book.

So now, here are a few questions:

1. When you are polite to someone, as opposed to blunt, are you really honest with them?

2. When you are polite to someone, as opposed to blunt, do you really respect them?

3. Which do you prefer?
a) a person being polite to you

b) a person respecting you

Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Bababozorg

Today is the seventeenth anniversary of my grandfather's death. He was over 96 years old when he passed, so what I say may sound funny, but his death was sudden and unexpected.

Until three weeks before he died, my grandfather was healthy and active. One June morning, he woke up complaining that his back hurt. My grandmother, who had lived with him for sixty-eight years and had never heard him complain about any pain, was shocked and immediately called my uncle. Soon after, he was taken to the hospital to see a doctor. Sadly, my grandfather never made it back home.

I didn't know any of this at the time, though, because my grandmother had forbidden my family to tell me about it. She knew we were very close and she didn't want me to worry since I was, at the time, living “on the other side of the world” and there was no reason to disrupt my life.

What I know is that one Thursday morning I woke up earlier than usual from a disturbing dream. It involved my grandfather, a hospital bed, and a crowd around it. After my shower that morning, I called my grandparents' house and my grandmother picked up the phone right after the first ring.

I chatted with her for a few minutes, as I did about once a month or so, and then asked to talk to my grandpa, whom I called Bababozorg. She said he wasn't home at the moment, but that she would tell him I'd called. I thanked her and lied that I would call back the following week. I knew something was very wrong. Seven o'clock in the morning for me, in California, was about seven in the evening for them, in Iran. My grandfather would never go anywhere at that time without my grandmother, and I was aware my grandmother often kept secrets from me and ordered others not to communicate bad news to me.

So I got creative and called my aunt's house. My cousin picked up. I avoided all chitchat, saying, “Hi. It's Noosha. What's the name of Bababozorg's hospital?” My trick worked because the urgency I created caused him to immediately give me the name of the hospital, to which I just replied “Thanks!” and hung up. It was then that it hit me. My grandfather was really ill, in a hospital, and it had to be serious because they were hiding it from me.

I got ready for work, and right before I left the house, I called my uncle in France who was at work. He answered the phone knowing there had to be something important for me to call him at that time when I knew his work schedule. He hadn't been to Iran in many years and didn't have any plans to visit any time soon, so I thought if he didn't know, he should.

After delivering the news to my uncle, I drove to work thinking about what I should do next. I had to take time from work and, to do that, I had to find a substitute for my classes. I also had to get a plane ticket as soon as possible, but it was too early in the day to call my travel agent. First, I had to talk to my supervisor.

A few hours later, I had gotten my supervisor's approval, found a sub, written her detailed instructions on what to do with the students for each class for a whole week, and gotten my ticket for Saturday, returning the following week on Sunday. My ticket was to Tehran, though, and I needed to go to Mashhad. It was only a one-hour flight, but Mashhad being a holy city, getting tickets to go there is always a challenge. I called a friend of mine in Tehran and asked for her help.

My friend was at the airport waiting for me when I landed in the middle of the night. She had the ticket to my connecting flight in hand. I had two hours to kill and we hadn't seen each other for a few years, so we went to a coffee shop and chatted a little. I realized then that I hadn't even called my dad, who lived in Tehran, to tell him I was going to Iran. So, after my friend left, I called my father from the airport, even though it was only five thirty in the morning, and told him that I was in Tehran, knew about Grandpa, had a ticket to Mashhad departing in a few minutes, and looked forward to seeing him in a few days, on my way back. He said he himself had been going back and forth, and he had just returned from visiting my grandparents the night before.

Since I hadn't told anyone I was going, nobody had come to the airport in Mashhad, so I took a cab to my grandmother's house, and she was shocked to see me appear at her doorstep at seven in the morning. I, on the other hand, was pleasantly surprised to see my uncle was already there from France. Apparently, after talking to me on the phone, he had gone home, picked up his passport, and gone straight to the airport. He'd arrived the following day, less than twenty-four hours after I'd told him his father was ill, while it had taken me three whole days, due to the longer distance. I put my bag down, showered quickly, and only a few minutes later, we were on our way to the hospital to see Bababozorg.

I stayed in Mashhad five whole days and was at the hospital with my grandfather all day, every day. He had good days and bad days. On his good days, he would say he was fine and ask when we were going home. On his bad days, he couldn't even remember my name. I tested him every few hours, asking him who I was. Sometimes, he would say, “Thank you, Noosha, for coming all the way to see me.” Other times, he looked in my eyes as if to tell me that he knew me, but he wouldn't answer, and when I insisted he say my name, he would say, “Love... Your name is Love.”

I eventually saw all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins, who came to visit my grandfather at different times of the day over the next few days. Each visit was short, but I was glad I got to see everyone in my family. After five days, I went to Tehran and spent a little time with my dad, who had been unable to go back and visit Bababozorg because he had to give lectures at some international conference that was taking place during those days.

On my way back to California, I knew I would never see my grandfather again. He and I had a special bond. We never needed to talk much to communicate. He understood me and supported me all the time in everything I did. He had been my rock ever since I was a child. I knew my life would never be the same without him in it, and I was right.

Tuesday, July 2, 2019

Blogs Worth Reading... #7

Today's blog...

Have you met SJ Lomas?
She has interviewed several great authors who are valuable members of our #WritingCommunity.

I enjoyed reading her fascinating interviews.
If you like author interviews, you need to check out SJ's blog.

https://www.sjlomas.com/blog

Thank you, SJ, for sharing your blog with us.

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Blogs Worth Reading... #6

Today's blog...

Meet Lisa Marie Runfola, the author of A Limitless Life in a Powerless World and a member of the #WritingCommunity.

In addition to her memoir, LM Runfola has written beautiful posts on her blog:
https://www.lisamarierunfola.com/category/blog/

Thank you, Lisa Marie, for sharing your blog with us.

Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Blogs Worth Reading... #5

Today's blog...

If you're a member of the #WritingCommunity, you probably already know Emma Lombard.
If you don't, you should.

Her blog, https://www.emmalombardauthor.com/blog, has all kinds of information for all writers. Emma also has a section on her blog for those new to Twitter, Twitter Tips for Newbies, which I recommend.

Thank you, Emma, for sharing your blog with us.

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Blogs Worth Reading... #4

Today's blog...

Meet Monica Johnson, one of the members of the #WritingCommunity I admire the most.

I recommend her blog to anyone and everyone:

https://www.monicasjohnson.com/blog

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Blogs Worth Reading... #3

Today's blog...

Meet Sarah Elwell, "a child of the old westering hills, the rain & the left-behind ghosts" as she calls herself, and check out her simply elegant blog.

https://knittingthewind.blogspot.com

Attention #WritingCommunity, Sarah also offers editing services.

Thursday, May 30, 2019

Blogs Worth Reading... #2

Today's blog...

Meet Carla, a member of our #WritingCommunity!

She writes about her life and posts short stories and photos regularly.

Her blog is simply beautiful, and so is her writing.

https://carlakirklandwriter.com

Thank you, Carla, for sharing your blog!

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

May 29

A year ago today, I arrived at my current residence, a cabin in the woods, in the Natural State. I bought this cabin, along with half an acre of land, without personally seeing it, trusting its description and the not-so-trustworthy selling agent, while I was still living in California, and I had no idea what living in the woods meant in practical terms. I just knew there was some land for my three dogs to run around during the day and there was a shelter for our nights.

I remember the home-sweet-home feeling I got when I saw the tiny home with my own eyes for the first time the day I arrived here, May 29, 2018, after spending five nights at different motels along the Interstate Highway 40 and being on the road for five days in my Camry, which carried the dogs, three containers filled with only the essentials, two boxes of books and dvds, and me.

I also recall, a few days later, asking my new neighbor which day of the week the trash was picked up. He just stared at me for a few seconds, shook his head, and said, “You college people don't even know how to get rid of trash. Burn the shit!” He'd heard from his former neighbor, the previous owner of my house, aka the seller, that I was a college professor, hence the “college-people” remark. After laughing wholeheartedly at his comment, I asked him how I could do that in a safe way, without starting a fire in the forest, and that is the first of many things I've learned over the last year about living in the woods.

My cabin is small, 225 sqf, and I love it. The area surrounding it is peaceful. I am literally in the middle of the woods, with nature all around me, and by nature, I mean big trees and colorful birds, but also all kinds of other creatures from chiggers, which I had to Google a few days after my arrival, to bears, not to mention snakes, which, to me, are the scariest creatures in the world. I try not to focus on the scary stuff and just enjoy the cardinals and blue jays during the day and the fireflies in the evening.

I didn't know much about nature before living here. A year later, I still don't know much, but I am living in the Natural State, and I'm learning something new every single day. I've learned about birds, the installation of septic tanks, and the way to effectively grow various vegetables depending on the season.

Having lived in California most of my adult life, I'm used to sunshine, the beach, and flip flops with a side of earthquake. However, in the year I've lived in Arkansas, I've experienced all four seasons and, in each season, been exposed to way too many thunderstorms, which scare my dogs and usually lead to floods.

Today, as I'm writing this blog post, there's a thunderstorm and the worst flood I've seen so far in this state, and, to spice things up a bit on my one-year anniversary, the universe just sent me a tornado warning.

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Blogs Worth Reading... #1

Today's Blog...

Our very own Tara Neilson, a wonderful member of the #WritingCommunity, has an amazing blog.

After reading only a few random posts from her blog, I feel like I've known and been friends with this wonderful lady all my life.

Her posts, which include simple yet beautiful pictures, reflect her fantastically interesting life.

If you haven't yet had the opportunity to see her blog, click on the link below:

http://www.alaskaforreal.com/

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

A Few Good Blogs...

I asked members of the #WritingCommunity and #amwriting to share the links to their blogs...

Wednesday, May 1, 2019

Positive Power Potential

I decided to dedicate this week's blog post to a book I just finished reading, Super Human by Dan Pouliot. I'll post my review on Amazon, but I want to share my thoughts with everyone in our #WritingCommunity, of which Mr. Pouliot is also a member. This is a book I wish I had read when I was in my teenage years. If you haven't read it yet, do so, and share it with others. It's free if you have Kindle Unlimited. If you don't and you can't afford it, wait until it's free on a promotion day, or, better yet, ask your local library to order it so it becomes accessible to you and all the teenagers, as well as their parents and teachers, in your area.

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

In Case You Need a Bigger Toolbox... #WritingCommunity

In his excellent book On Writing, Stephen King advises us writers to have a few useful books, such as a good dictionary and The Elements of Style by Strunk & White, in our toolbox.

💙In case you need a bigger toolbox, though, here are a few other good books on writing:

On Writing – Stephen King

The Hero's Journey – Joseph Campbell

The Right to Write – Julia Cameron

Bird by Bird – Anne Lamot

The Hero with a Thousand Faces – Joseph Campbell

Your Life as Story – Tristine Rainer

Writing Down the Bones – Natalie Goldberg

The Sound of Paper – Julia Cameron

Daemon Voices – Philip Pullman

💙And here are some more books recommended by friends in the #WritingCommunity:

Reading Like a Writer - Francine Prose

Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style - Benjamin Dreyer

Thanks, Deborah! 💙

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

A Few Contributions...

These are only a few of the many brilliant people from the Spanish speaking world and their contributions (just a quick list I put together in response to a comment I saw by an ignorant person):

Dominican Republic

Julia Alvarez

https://www.juliaalvarez.com/

https://www.notablebiographies.com/news/A-Ca/Alvarez-Julia.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/20/books/in-praise-of-julia-alvarez.html

https://www.biography.com/people/julia-alvarez-185850

Guatemala

Miguel Angel Asturias

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1967/asturias/biographical/

https://www.nndb.com/people/766/000113427/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Miguel-Angel-Asturias

Mexico

Frida Kahlo