Kindly Yahoo helps Clueless Parent understand emo.
Or rather, he/she/it tells you where to go. Really, the wrath emo inspires! I suggest reading the hate mail at the site KY sends you to.
And the fashion tips! No more Cosmo! (Actually, Cosmo gives you sex tips and hot men to look at whereas emo just shows how to slit your wrists and describe blood as 'crimson'.)
Thursday, 31 May 2007
Saturday, 19 May 2007
I Work Nights
I don't understand it really. What is this discomfort we have when it comes to women working late at night? Does it always have to be associated with prostitution? Single mothers trying to make ends meet?
What's really wrong with being a single mother anyway? (Let's not debate prostitution.)
Banning Night Shifts for Women
Forget unconstitutionality, discrimination, job loss.
This is simply an example of putting a band aid (a used, dirty one) on a bruise that is as large as it is deep--a band aid on a cancer.
And I'm not being dramatic.
Let's be honest. The problem is with perverts; people who think that it’s okay for women to compromise on simple choices; people who think it’s not their fault they can’t control themselves; those who think that lust only exists because women are around.
“If only women covered themselves up and stayed at home, this would never happen…”
This reminds of the time I was forced into attending a Christian retreat and this utterly ridiculous woman (I insult her because she insulted me.) told us that if girls dressed provocatively (and this included sleeveless clothes, tightish jeans, coloured hair), it invited trouble. More importantly:
"If you make a man lust after you, however inadvertently, it is your sin as well."
What happened to resisting temptation? I remember being a kid and being told at Sunday school that temptation is everywhere and that part of being Christian is fighting it.
I mean, anyone can live without sin if the world is temptation-less. O, lookit me! I’m not a rapist. But I’ve never met a woman/young boy to rape before! I live in a cave!
<tires of Christian talk>
***
You are not solving problems by making these laws. You are merely saying you don’t care, that you’d rather not work. You refuse to acknowledge the greater problematic of social power. We can’t make people stop demeaning you, but we’re really, in our hearts, against this sort of disgusting behaviour–-is that what you’re saying?
Or alternatively, do you think it’s really our problem and do you think you’re being kind to us by saving us the trouble of getting insulted, molested, raped?
The law is not kind to women. It merely pretends to be.
What's really wrong with being a single mother anyway? (Let's not debate prostitution.)
Banning Night Shifts for Women
Forget unconstitutionality, discrimination, job loss.
This is simply an example of putting a band aid (a used, dirty one) on a bruise that is as large as it is deep--a band aid on a cancer.
And I'm not being dramatic.
Let's be honest. The problem is with perverts; people who think that it’s okay for women to compromise on simple choices; people who think it’s not their fault they can’t control themselves; those who think that lust only exists because women are around.
“If only women covered themselves up and stayed at home, this would never happen…”
This reminds of the time I was forced into attending a Christian retreat and this utterly ridiculous woman (I insult her because she insulted me.) told us that if girls dressed provocatively (and this included sleeveless clothes, tightish jeans, coloured hair), it invited trouble. More importantly:
"If you make a man lust after you, however inadvertently, it is your sin as well."
What happened to resisting temptation? I remember being a kid and being told at Sunday school that temptation is everywhere and that part of being Christian is fighting it.
I mean, anyone can live without sin if the world is temptation-less. O, lookit me! I’m not a rapist. But I’ve never met a woman/young boy to rape before! I live in a cave!
<tires of Christian talk>
***
You are not solving problems by making these laws. You are merely saying you don’t care, that you’d rather not work. You refuse to acknowledge the greater problematic of social power. We can’t make people stop demeaning you, but we’re really, in our hearts, against this sort of disgusting behaviour–-is that what you’re saying?
Or alternatively, do you think it’s really our problem and do you think you’re being kind to us by saving us the trouble of getting insulted, molested, raped?
The law is not kind to women. It merely pretends to be.
Wednesday, 16 May 2007
Nourish Your Writing
Those silly ideas of writer’s block seem to have disappeared, and I’m glad. It is important to constantly nourish yourself so that you can always write, even if the result is mediocre. Nourishing means reading not just poetry, but novels, non-fiction, Wikipedia even. Learn about new cultures, myths, countries and languages. Learn languages. See. Notice details, watch people moving, talking and emoting.
Nourishing also means eating—there is no point in starving.
Nourishing also means eating—there is no point in starving.
Friday, 11 May 2007
Hesitation has a vocabulary.
Do you um, er, euh or aa?
It's a genuine question that came out of a real situation: I was asked to hesitate in one way and not another.
I've been learning French for almost three years now, and have reached that all-important Diplôme Supérieur stage at the Alliance Française--a stage where you have to get as French as possible. I now know French politics better than I do Indian politics. I know a little bit of their philosophy; I can tell you why they don't like Americans; I have a fair understanding of their eating habits and slang--in fact, I speak French better than I do Hindi. And I've never been to France.
Despite all of this knowing and wanting to know, there are somethings I simply can't do. Or that I confuse, anyhow.
One of my professors of French is a Frenchman and after I explained something to the class, as was asked of me, he said: "Well, you have a good fluidity when you speak. But you know, the way you hesitate--um, um, um--it's very British. The French say euh. If you have to hesite, say euh."
The Linguistics of Hesitation
Of course, I laughed. He wasn't really being a prick. I can understand how amusing it would be to hear someone speak Hindi or Kannada interjected with euhs and bons and bens.
But the confusion of knowing how to hesite when!
A month or so ago, when I was at college and not at this boring intern desk job, I had to make a presention on EM Forster's understanding of the word 'fantasy' in the novelistic genre--in English, of course. When I sat down, my friend said: "Don't ever do that to me again!"
"What? Was it that boring?"
"No, the euhs! What was that?"
"The euhs?"
"Yeah. Next time you're thinking of what to say next, don't say anything. I didn't get a bit of what you were saying because I kept waiting for the next euh."
Imagine my surprise to know I use euh when I'm speaking English and um when I'm pontificating in French.
It really got me thinking. The French go on about la richesse linquistique and la richesse lexicale. Now, there's une richesse linguistique/lexicale d'hésitation. Or am I confusing the terms?
Indians usually say aa or so I'm told (My ums are apparently British.). And I'm sure that since we have a diversity of languages, we also have a diversity of hesitation-syllables. Aai, mm, hai and made popular by Bollywood, the very emotional, coded and comical Kkkiran.
Then again, I wonder, do Indians really hesitate? Most of those syllables are associated with irritation more than hesitation. Indians rattle off what they're saying seemingly without having to stop or think; this seems to be the case with vernacular languages, and not so much Indian English.
(J'hésite. Donc, je ne suis pas indienne? --> I hesitate. Therefore, I am not Indian?)
In my case, I have a syllable for written/typed hesitation: er. Er is part of my writing (thankfully not my poetry), my chat conversations, my emails and now, my blog. It is a powerful syllable that occassionally replaces um and euh of speech. Er does not just communicate hesitation, but also, irritation, irony, embarrassment, "Excuse me?" and "You're an idiot."
A semantic flood.
Hesitation has a vocabulary.
That is undeniable. It has occurred to me that I can write a kooky paper on this.
As for French, I think what one of my classmates said after class sums it all up:
Il faut hésiter en français!
(One should hesitate in French!)
***
I live with ums and euhs. My sentences struggle between them, like perfect roses pushing against masses of weed. In the garden of my speech, there are very few blossoms. It is the ums and euhs that...
Er.
I'm a bad, bad pote.
It's a genuine question that came out of a real situation: I was asked to hesitate in one way and not another.
I've been learning French for almost three years now, and have reached that all-important Diplôme Supérieur stage at the Alliance Française--a stage where you have to get as French as possible. I now know French politics better than I do Indian politics. I know a little bit of their philosophy; I can tell you why they don't like Americans; I have a fair understanding of their eating habits and slang--in fact, I speak French better than I do Hindi. And I've never been to France.
Despite all of this knowing and wanting to know, there are somethings I simply can't do. Or that I confuse, anyhow.
One of my professors of French is a Frenchman and after I explained something to the class, as was asked of me, he said: "Well, you have a good fluidity when you speak
Of course, I laughed. He wasn't really being a prick. I can understand how amusing it would be to hear someone speak Hindi or Kannada interjected with euhs and bons and bens.
But the confusion of knowing how to hesite when!
A month or so ago, when I was at college and not at this boring intern desk job, I had to make a presention on EM Forster's understanding of the word 'fantasy' in the novelistic genre--in English, of course. When I sat down, my friend said: "Don't ever do that to me again!"
"What? Was it that boring?"
"No, the euhs! What was that?"
"The euhs?"
"Yeah. Next time you're thinking of what to say next, don't say anything. I didn't get a bit of what you were saying because I kept waiting for the next euh."
Imagine my surprise to know I use euh when I'm speaking English and um when I'm pontificating in French.
It really got me thinking. The French go on about la richesse linquistique and la richesse lexicale. Now, there's une richesse linguistique/lexicale d'hésitation. Or am I confusing the terms?
Indians usually say aa or so I'm told (My ums are apparently British.). And I'm sure that since we have a diversity of languages, we also have a diversity of hesitation-syllables. Aai, mm, hai and made popular by Bollywood, the very emotional, coded and comical Kkkiran.
Then again, I wonder, do Indians really hesitate? Most of those syllables are associated with irritation more than hesitation. Indians rattle off what they're saying seemingly without having to stop or think; this seems to be the case with vernacular languages, and not so much Indian English.
(J'hésite. Donc, je ne suis pas indienne? --> I hesitate. Therefore, I am not Indian?)
In my case, I have a syllable for written/typed hesitation: er. Er is part of my writing (thankfully not my poetry), my chat conversations, my emails and now, my blog. It is a powerful syllable that occassionally replaces um and euh of speech. Er does not just communicate hesitation, but also, irritation, irony, embarrassment, "Excuse me?" and "You're an idiot."
A semantic flood.
Hesitation has a vocabulary.
That is undeniable. It has occurred to me that I can write a kooky paper on this.
As for French, I think what one of my classmates said after class sums it all up:
Il faut hésiter en français!
(One should hesitate in French!)
***
I live with ums and euhs. My sentences struggle between them, like perfect roses pushing against masses of weed. In the garden of my speech, there are very few blossoms. It is the ums and euhs that...
Er.
I'm a bad, bad pote.
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