I’m taking my own advice for writers: Read. Read. Read. I recently got on a Polish writer kick. And began with Olga Tokarczuk. She won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2018. So a good place to start. Title Image: Olga Tokarczuk by Adrianna Bochenek/Agencja Gazeta/Reuters. No copyright infringement intended. How did I get on […]
To continue ringing in the New Year my theme today is alcohol. Particularly, in the context of watching various foreign language movies and series over the past 10 months. How strange it was for me to be watching a Norwegian series last week and to learn the name of my drink of choice, namely vodka […]
Title image: my physical notion of Covid comfort, namely a daily zoom yoga class. In an earlier blog, I made the point about how whatever we were doing before the pandemic, we’re doing the opposite now. Most all of my pre-pandemic routines have changed. My eating habits have certainly changed. And just recently I noticed […]
Doctors come in many varieties. On Saturday the issue of who gets to call herself Doctor arose when the Wall Street Journal ran a pretty darned stupid opinion piece. As you have no doubt heard by now, the writer of the op-ed chastised Dr. Jill Biden for insisting people refer to her by her degree. […]
Title Image Creator: Evan Vucci / Credit: AP / copyright: AP2006 Today I’m reposting a blog from September 13, 2017. The original inspiration for it came from watching coverage of Hurricane Irma. The American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter at the news conference, below, received a lot of attention. My current inspiration for reposting the blog […]
Welcome back, Rose Vane! Her blog today on Nosferatu is her third on Romanian mythology. We hope this series sparks the imaginations of creative writers of all types. So, let’s get to it! I don’t want to wait until Halloween for this juicy topic. Rose Vane writes: Nosferatu: But First, Voldemort Voldemorting is a new […]
Rose Vane is once again our guest blogger. In this period of global pandemic, adventuresome travel is less available for many of us. So I’m reaching out to fellow writers and friends who live in wonderfully interesting places. Today we’re going to armchair travel to Romania and learn about iele. Title Image by Kalab Francisc, […]
I’m delighted to have guest blogger Rose Vane share her timely meditation of the role of Fates and Fairies during this period of global pandemic. JTA Title Image: A Golden Thread by John Strudwick, 1885, property of the Tate Museum, London The Fates: Some Origins In the last few months I’ve heard the word fate […]
African American Vernacular English (AAVE) has a number of names, including Black Vernacular English. For many decades now linguists have studied AAVE. They understand it not as a defective form of Standard English. Rather it is a variety of English in its own right. It has its own lexicon, grammar and syntax. Title image: William […]
My tag line touts love, language, adventure … out of the ordinary. Over the years I’ve shared with you experiences I’ve had around the world. From Kazakhstan to Cuba to California. But now? How does one engage in world travel in the present circumstances? World Travel: The Current Reality Europe is opening back up to international […]