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I've noticed that "all is not" is often used when the person really means "not all is." And it always stops me in my tracks. I don't know if those people realize the difference. The first is a blanket statement, while the latter points out a specific segment. For example: "All is not well." means "Everything sucks." versus "Not all is well." means "Not everything sucks, but here is what does." Another example in which the order of the word, i.e.* where a word falls within a sentence, is vitally important to the meaning is the placement of the word "only." Spot the difference between these sentences? "Only Pat and I will go to the mall." "Pat and I will go only to the mall." "Pat and I will only go to the mall." That concludes another episode of "Teresa's Pet Peeves"...hahaha! But guess what? Barnes & Noble is having another one of their preorder sales! If you want to preorder DISGUSTOLOGY and get 25% off, join their free rewards program and use code PREORDER25 at checkout! *i.e. stands for "that is" and not "for example," as some folks mistake it for
Do you have grammar pet peeves? Let me know!
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As I've mentioned in previous posts, I participate in a fun challenge called #HaikuSaturday. It was started on the platform formerly known as Twitter, but is played on other social media as well. I prefer to stick with Bluesky myself. I don't just post a poem, either; I try to engage, too. I share, and sometimes reply to, the posts by friends and people who follow me. For those whom I'm not "friends" with, I Like at least one of their poem per Saturday (some of them crank them out like widgets, which rather makes me suspect that not as much thought has been put into each poem...more like dumping out the contents of a cupboard and calling it dinner than crafting a fine meal with fresh ingredients and care). Anyway, while looking at other people's poems, I saw this indignant reply:  That skewed and rigid thinking is often found in those who are not of Japanese heritage trying to write haiku and asserting their (non) authority. I'll be the first to admit, I was rather militant like that, too, when I was younger and thought I knew better. (It's so true that the more you actually know, the more you realize you don't know...I suppose that is the anti-Dunning-Kruger-effect?)
But you know what? Many people who think they know haiku don't truly, aside from the 5-7-5 rule. According to the Poetry Foundation (and also Encyclopedia Britannica), "....the form originates from the Japanese hokku, or the opening section of a longer renga sequence. In this context, the hokku served to begin a longer poem by establishing a season, often with a pair of seasonal images." While I still mentally count the syllable, these days, as I become better-read (and hopefully wiser in my old age), I remind myself that Japanese (like Chinese) words and syllables don't correspond to English ones and to stop being so damned rigid as though I'm on the autistic spectrum and can't help myself (my younger child is, so I know about all that; and if you also are and need to count syllables, you do you, my friend! I'm just side-eyeing the erroneously pedantic). As Jun Fujita, a poet I greatly admire, wrote in 1922, "The so-called oriental influence in western literature today, I am afraid, is taking the form it has assumed in the other arts, which, to a great extent, have adopted the carcass of Japanese pictures and missed the essence." If he could give us a word of advice today, I get the feeling he'd advise us to go with the spirit of the origin haiku--invoking seasons--rather than engage in bean counting. For more about the looser haiku, check out this article on Medium. I pouted about going to the SCBWI Winter Conference because I didn't want to travel or get up early or talk to people. But, just like at the NCTE Conference I attended in November, I ended up having a blast and making good connections. The flights were smooth (both the getting through airport security and the flying), and I only had to get up early 2 of the 3 mornings. Plus, despite being worn out by social interactions, I actually enjoy chatting with people. I even hug total strangers (I almost hugged the flight attendant on the flight home).
The room at the Midtown Hilton was spacious and the view out the window was not too shabby. Even better, I ate lots of really good food, like this French cream donut at Le Pain Quotidian for instance.  I will have more photos of food and the conference in my next newsletter, so sign up for that if you want to see them! While it was nice to forget a little bit about democracy crumbling around us, I couldn't (none of us could, really) completely put it out of our minds. I wore this ring which served as a constant reminder.  You see, this ring was given to me by one of my mother-in-law's best friends. Louise's family was from Germany, and although they weren't Jewish, when Hitler rose to power, they knew they needed to flee the madness. So her father converted a lot of their money to jewelry so it would be easier to escape with. She gave the ring to me because she felt a bond with me as we are both immigrant brides to the U.S.
I think of Louise whenever I wear it, and, now, I also think about how sad she would be, if she were still alive, by the fact that America is turning into the fascist Germany of her youth. With X being a growing cesspool of fascist scumbags, a lot of people are finally moving over to the Bluesky platform. Of course, why people didn't leave shortly after Musk bought the company is beyond me. They only started trickling out of there a year and a half ago when Twitter started charging for the blue checks.  A spot-on meme from the show Community. There are those who voice objections to moving over to Bluesky because some evil dude is one of the major shareholders of the app, saying that it's just as bad as X. But that is really comparing apples and oranges (or mangoes and durian). Sure, one of the shareholders of Bluesky is an evil a-hole, but the actually owner of X is an evil a-hole who is in bed with the incoming "president." And said owner makes sure that the algorithm is skewed to elevate the voices of hate and disinformation. Nobody is doing any algorithm over at Bluesky. So please don't tell me the two are equal because that must be some sort of logical fallacy, or should be if it isn't. Luckily, as I mentioned, many have finally left X and moved over to Bluesky. One such group is Manuscript Wish List. Those of you who write might be interested in joining for the following event:  I'm personally looking forward to it. My books with Penguin Workshop came about because my previous agent had found a call out like this from an editor on social media, so I'm hoping that I will find something of interest to pursue on #MSWL Day!
And, totally unrelated, but if you want to win a copy of my upcoming graphical biography of Bruce Lee, pop over to Heather Dawn Torres's interview of me about the Clouds in Space book! NOTICE: Because many blogs I follow also release posts on Fridays, I'm going to switch my postings to Wednesdays starting next week. Sure, I was raised by Star Trek, but I'm also fully immersed in the Star Wars universe (and if you don't know the difference between the two, I'm sorry, but we can't be friends anymore 😆). All the various movies and spinoffs from the original trilogy have been hit or miss. I won't mention the duds, but I will say that among my top favorites are the animated series "The Clone Wars" and its spinoff "The Bad Batch."*  Not only is the animation amaaaaazing, but the storytelling is also top-notch. If you've learned about writing compelling, sympathetic, and complex characters and you want to study an example, look no further than checking out this series. (It never ceases to amaze me that one single voice actor, Dee Bradley Baker, did all the voices for every single uniquely awesome clone in those series.) Aside from intricate character development, the story arc also provides an excellent model on how to insert subplots that don't detract from the central narrative while providing momentum and interest to each episode. * If you want another incredible example of Star Wars storytelling that is also a lesson on how to fight fascism and authoritarian regimes...highly important as the US is transitioning to scary times...go watch/study the series Andor.  Last weekend was a whirlwind of activity at the National Council of Teachers of English conference. In addition to doing a book signing for Queen of Physics at the Union Square booth, I also presented at a panel on writing poetic nonfiction. For fun (as much fun as an introvert can have anyway), I attended a Candlewick Press author reception, met up with author/illustrator friends, online critique partners, and some editors, and ate some tasty seafood! Since I'm still digesting my Thanksgiving meal, and need to go make some sourdough crackers, I will keep this short and not show you the desserts I made for yesterday until next week.
I hope you had a lovely and low-stress holiday! A few years back, poet Susan Andrews spearheaded a #HaikuSaturday challenge on what was then Twitter. Since then, it has been re-started by photographer/writer Beth Volkman over at Bluesky, which is where I've been joining in. I know it's not National Poetry Month, but I'm going to share some of my past haikus just for fun. I hope you'll find them amusing or insightful. :)
If you enjoyed these, there are more to come the next 3 Fridays. Also, come friend me on Bluesky and join in the #HaikuSaturday fun!
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AboutI'm in the process of moving content from my Wordpress blog to here. I'd love for you to follow me here; we will have fun together! Archives
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