(To Escape The Wall of Shame)

Hey, there! Welcome to the 5th (or 4th) post!

This time we are discussing the "things (people) carry", be them physical, mental or extra-dimensional. Although that is the topic, the sole objective of this post is to escape "The Wall of Shame" at E122. So, here we go with the things I carry...

I am not sure I have a physical thing that I attach much value to, or that I carry around with me all the time. I have this small red box that you'll - most of the time - find in one of my pockets. However, Gen. Keith finds more use in it than I do. GPS co-ordinates, "telephony metadata", cellular signals and all. Additionally, I carry my self (the physical one; the body) with me all the time. The logic is that if people claim their bodies carry the burdens and weight of their phantom dimensions, then hey, why not the other way around for me? Therefore, the physical thing I carry around is my body. Now, ladies, hold your horses. It is clothed and heavily protected - at all times. ;)

Dreams. I had a terrible one just last night. No, it wasn't about my name being indelible from The Wall of Shame. It was about something else. Anyways, let's talk dreams in the topic's context. 

          

         Q: "What is the dream you keep locked away and hidden - you know the one that drives you?"

    

         A:  I'd so much like to share it with you! But...but...like you said, it's locked, you know. And I can't seem to find the key anywhere! Darn it! :)   

Even more tragic could be the possibility of opening the safe after looking for the key for forever, and finding it empty. Zero! Zilch! Nada! So, a logical solution seems to be to wait for something to crystallize inside first. Luckily for us (or me), we (or I) have the power to influence what forms inside by the things that go on in the close vicinity.

There have been lots of faces in and out of my years. Most were just that - faces; others were lighthouses; a few were painting brushes; and five are (notice not "were") the girders and framework of my life. Irony is, the latter group's members don't have faces! They are more like virtual beings; albeit with more influence in my life than all other real people combined. Truth is, though, Galt, Roark, d'Anconia, Rearden and Taggart each lived more complete lives in their book-length existence than all other real people that I know - combined. If these five morphed into one real person, trust me, earth would have been a better place to live in. 

That said, however, it is not like I don't have real people I look up to. My parents, especially my mother, play significant roles in my life. I am closer to my mother in that we discuss about most things even though we are so different. Her frank and honest, yet smart approach to life has been exemplary to me. 

When I think of myself (I just did, for this post's sake), limiting my thoughts to adjectives - and three of them at that - becomes hard. Why think of oneself when there is a pre-defined limit to how far one can think? Isn't thinking supposed to be boundless? Anyways, getting back to the question, I think of myself in more than adjectives, with full meaning and context instead of "spare-part" adjectives. For that reason, and because my thinking was limited to three I-don't-know-whats, here are three statements I can say about myself. I hate contradictions. I hate incompetence. I admire endeavor and achievement.  

Lastly, regarding memories and experiences: There isn't much in those premises. Maybe, to a limited extent, the fact that I have been educated in more than five schools in three different countries. That, I believe, is a rare experience. Not in so much as shaping or molding me, but helping me realize the value of existence, a freak car-accident at four and a lengthy time of illnesses a few years later did a good job. However, with age, I am sure to encounter more life-defining incidents. Those incidents, I hope, will be included in all my authorized and unauthorized biographies. So, my authorized biographer, wherever you are, sharpen your writing skills, take many AP classes, get into a good liberal-arts college and constantly Google my name. As for you, unauthorized biographers - I have reasonable belief that there are many of you, you cannot imagine the lawsuits that will follow your books' publications and send them to the top of Time's Bestseller List.  

See you next time!

ሄሎ፡ መን ክብል፧ ᎐᎐᎐ማማ ጸብሒ ትሰርሕ ኣላ᎐᎐᎐

 እቲ ቀደም ግዜ፡ ዘመነ እኒእኒ ሕምባሻ`ከሎ እምኒ፡ ኣብ ሓንቲ ዓዲ ሓደ ንጉስ ነበረ። እዛ ዓዲ`ዚኣ፡ ኣዚያ ሃብታምን ዕድልትን ነበረት፤ መቸም ህዝባ ብሓጎስን ተድላን ይነባበር፡ እንስሳታታ ብሰላምን ምርድዳእን ይብልዑን ይበላልዑን፡ ዝናማታ ብግዚኦም ይምላለሱን ነበሩ። ብኩለንትናኣ ባህ ተብል ዓዲ ነበረት። እንታይ`ሞ፡ ዘራጊት ዘላተን ከብቲ`ዶ ጽሩይ ማይ ይሰትያ፧ 

Alrighty, what's the above you say? How about we start by greeting each other? (Three pecks on alternating chicks - starting from right - while shaking hands simultaneously.) Then, we sit down while repeatedly asking about each other's well-being. ("How's family?", "The young ones, are they OK?", "How's family?", "How's..."). And before I ask you whether you want it or not, I'll make you a cup of spiced tea, or even better, we will drink 4-5 rounds of strong coffee on tiny cups that have no handles!

How your coffee will be served...

Greetings! And welcome to this week's post. The topic? Something to do with identity and "third choice" and honoring parents and heritage. So, I'll be trying to answer the prompt as you hang on to the reading.

Now, to the first part of the prompt - regarding children honoring their heritage while leaving the things they don't approve of - I'd hate to repeat what others have elaborated on here. The general consensus seems to be - yes, I read some of what the others wrote - that each person has to tailor his/her own identity. Subtract the things you don't like or that are unrepresentative of you as an individual; add those that are the opposite. There is no way around. The basic idea here is that it is your responsibility, if not duty, that you live your life to the fullest - seeking the things that make you happy as a person - following your virtues. Seems like an easy thing? Not so much. Not understanding that is the major reason behind people's identity crises.

That said, the second part of the prompt, which is more specific to the person, takes me back to the opening of this post. That is my language - called Tigrinya - written in the beginning of this post. It's not particularly hard for me since I didn't leave my home country, Eritrea, until my pre-teen years. I grew up reading, writing and speaking it and I will continue to do that. It is one of those things you cannot just lose. Its complex form makes it even more interesting to hang-on to. And no, Google Translate won't help you here. :)
           

A typical Eritrean/Ethiopian mother

Having been brought up in a culture that is little known by others, I constantly have to answer questions like, "Where are you from?" here in the US and other places that I have been to. Sometimes my witty side shows up and I give ridiculous answers for my own amusement, as I see the inquirers' faces change from 'inquisitive' to 'I-am-sure-you-are-not-from-that-place-but-I'll-just-give-you-this-nod-of-the-head'. Most times, however, when I answer correctly, the face I get is complicated. It goes something like: Whoa-dude-!-I-have-no-idea-what-you-just-said-and-I-probably-never-will-but-I'm-going-to-keep-asking-you-again-and-again-until-you-yourself-start-doubting-whether-you-are-saying-your-own-county's-name-the-right-way-and-then-finally-after-about-the-fourth-time-that-you'll-have-said-it-you'll-give-me-an-introductory-Geography-lesson-to-help-me-visualize-your-country's-location. Well, enough said.

So, to sum it all up: race, ethnicity, nationality, culture, religion etc are like paint. They are a finish to how you look to others but have no say whatsoever to who you are; at least not to me. As attributes, it is a good practice to select and keep those pieces of your custom, religion etc that will be constructive in the long run. This is especially so here in the United States. Originality does not mean keeping it to the way your ancestors did it; rather, it is customizing a template that's present to help you.

Psss... 

The title translates "Hello, who is it? ... Mom is in the kitchen cooking...". 

The first paragraph translates:
Once upon a time, when bread was like the rocks (a traditional expression symbolizing "good days long past"), there was a king in a certain kingdom. It was a gifted place full of resources; its people living in harmony and peace; its animals hunting and being hunted in peace (?) and a generally beautiful place to live. Alas, a herd with an agitator never drinks clear water.... 

Welcome to TSADAL:FPTP-101!

Hi, and welcome to the first meeting of The Sinister And Dark American Literature: From Poe To Poe-101 course. 

A key figure in American "hauntedness" is Allan Poe; a writer distinguished for his twisted techniques of bringing fictional horror stories to the nightmares - literally - of his devoted fans. So, what makes Poe's stories, like The Fall of the House of Usher, appear in High-Definition in people's dreams?

Personification - This device has been employed to dramatize realities and realize dramas since the inception of logical literature. Poe, in The Fall of the House of Usher TFotHoU, makes emphasized use of personification. Inanimate beings such as the house are given breath and act equally in the story alongside their human counterparts.

Explicit detailing - The habit of laying out all adjectives one could think of to describe a "day" contributes to the readers' possession of a vivid recreation of that particular "day". A mathematical model that is supplied with as much variables as the simulation requires gives better results: A subject described in detail has higher chances of rooting its being in its visualizers' minds. It is this fact that other writers should take note of, as did Allan Poe.

Deliberate ambiguity - In TFotHoU, and his other stories, Poe ensures that certain matter-of-fact actualities are not plainly said by the narrator. This acts like a double ended sword; for one, it means that some of those situations will be left open to the interpretation of the readers - and in that sense the ability of the mind to reach its own "pinnacle of twisted mentality" being released - and secondly, make a literary work timeless. It is safe to assume that we all agree on Poe's achievement of the latter.

thefollowing.wikia.com

Diction, let's say that again, Diction - Wrong choice of words, even in the most obviously unintentional scenarios, has been noted to have caused disaster. Conversely, correct choice of vocabulary can soften the hardest of hearts and persuade the stubbornest of minds. Allan Poe's clear mastery of this knowledge is admirable at the least, seeing that he can, at will, create any sort of environment, mood or character in his prose.

Gothic Mysticism - This particular characteristic of TFotHoU sets it apart from many other American pieces of the same genre. The description of the setting - especially the house -, the manner of interaction between the narrator and Usher - that Victorian twist where each one of them is aware of the other's aura but neither admit it for "gentlemanliness'" sake - and the particular weather unfolding during the climax of the story all the more make the piece more British than American. That, added to the general mystic coloring of doom-and-gloom lend The Fall of the House of Usher distinctive attributes  that another writer would want to borrow.

End of lecture!