Haiku – Stormy Weather
Enveloped by Ivy
humidity cultivates
heartbeats grow heavy
~Theodore Maestranzi
Read MoreSmall Questions: What Should You Never Microwave at Lunch?
So I walk into the little lunch area at work and I am grabbing some water. You know, just my fourth liter of water by lunch. My foot begins tapping against the tiles and then I get a whiff of something foul, perhaps it was fowl, but I am cannot be 100% sure of the contents of the microwave at this time. Based on the funk and the potency, my best bet was a can of tuna, but this is a hypothesis. Perhaps we will never know.
Yet, it did prompt me with some small questions:
So, are there certain foods you shouldn’t eat at work because of their funk? It it your place to tell your coworkers what they cannot eat? Or did you notice I said microwaving a can of tuna and clue into the fact that you shouldn’t ever microwave metal? Cause if you caught that piece, then you are correct. Eat whatever you want, just don’t microwave metal (no one was actually microwaving metal) but the definitely deployed a solid tuna melt funk all over that area.
Once again, Theodore Maestranzi asking the tough questions.
Read MoreReallocating my Time
It may come as a surprise to you (it shouldn’t), but I am Italian (technically, Italian American). One of my biggest regrets: I can’t speak Italian. Now, my parents speak fluently, but being the last child, I didn’t benefit from them speaking the language at home. By the time I was born, they were mostly speaking English in the home. Now, I can listen to Italian and deduce what is happening, but I can only respond in English. As such, for most of my life, I have had the desire to learn Italian. I love my heritage and read history books on Italy (in the read more section, I will actually share some knowledge I’ve gained about the ol’ boot).
So, when I made the decision to dive deep into learning the language, I quickly came face to face with the sheer amount of time needed to study. The goal is two hours a day, which means, I am severely impacting my writing/reading time during the weekdays. Between painting, learning a language, work, writing, and reading, I am beginning to burn out. As such, I will be maintaining writing/reading as I love it, but I will be (for the first time in 6 years) prioritizing something above reading and writing. The goal, at this point, is to come home from work, study a lesson or two of Italian and then use whatever time I have left to write/read/socialize. I know my output will drop, but I expect that I will be able to maintain 80% of my focus. [Click “Read More” for some knowledge on Italy]
Read MoreHaiki – Break in the Season
Cherry blossoms in bloom
the Swallow remembers the Winter
joy, raspberries come soon
~Theodore Maestranzi
Read MoreProper use of Words in Headlines
On every job listing I’ve ever read, there is a simple requirement: “must be able to communicate effectively”. I am finding that journalists must not have that requirement as part of their jobs. For the last couple of months, since a certain election, every single headline seems to be over reaching in terms of what has happened. For example: “Ethics Board Literally Gutted” or “Repealed Act 3192 Which Defends All Your Rights”. While those are fictitious examples, you would assume that something horrible has happened, that the actual act has taken place and the ethics board no longer has anyone one it (because they were disemboweled (unless they meant figuratively in their headline)) or that the act was repealed.
Yet, when you go into research mode, because you can’t believe you missed something so important happening under your nose, you find that nothing of the sort happened. In fact, you learn the initial steps have been taken to move towards the eventual gutting of an ethics board and that they meant figuratively. However, if you are like most people, you become despondent because your anger was so high and now you learn nothing bad has actually transpired. So you close the tabs and move onto something more pressing.
The problem arises when you eventually do see a true headline and the ethics board ends up gutted, you don’t react with anger or hatred. You have already done that, and you go about your day disgruntled that the world is falling apart. This is because you have been desensitized to the gutting already, so you don’t take it nearly as drastically. In your mind, you’ve seen this headline before so you browse right past it.
So… journalists… please use the proper wording and words when describing things in your headlines. Otherwise, we as a species will stop caring altogether… leave the sensationalism at home.
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