Learn a Language Update: Lose Yourself In Someone’s Love, Like Little Çilek

     A lack of affection in our lives can be both an emotional and physical health risk, especially for people who come from traumatic families of origin. But, until that adoptive family or “intentional family” comes along, maybe even a bit of imaginary parental love can help. Watching shows that show love from characters who become family, like the love of Betüş for little orphan Çilek when they adopt her, can help.

     The love and safe affection of close friends can also help heal the wounds left by childhood abuse. Family can be created. You don’t even have to be a Fairy to navigate the landmines: real love is enough (although public transportation also helps for navigating the roadways!).

    If you know someone without family, especially around a family holiday time, like Passover, Thanksgiving, or Christmas, please try to show some love and affection: it could make a big difference.

For all of us.

Let’s #EndPoverty , #EndHomelessness, starting by improving these four parts of our good #PublicDomainInfrastructure:
1. #libraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare , and
4. good #publictransport

#PublicDomainInfrastructure #StopSmoking for CCOVID-19
ShiraDest

originally posted on April, 12020 HE

Turkish Tuesday: Sihirli Annem (s1e13) And Would You Want to Go Back & Be Young Again?

  Last week was Turkish Tuesday: Sihirli Annem (s1e12) And Can Rich Folks Learn From The Poor? , bölüm/episode 12, featuring young Mahmut.  This week, we ask about being young again.

The summary comes from a fellow blogger (Birgit)’s point of view.  (Translations are mine, corrections welcome / ben çevirdim, yanliş varsa, hemen beni düzet, lütfen... -Shira)

…

In this episode we see Firuze leaving her husband in the middle of the night because he is drunk and hits her and the children. She seeks shelter at Betüs and Sadik’s house.

“Like a woman, I work, and come home work some more, then get waken up and pushed around like an animal.”

Meanwhile, Dudu plans her new spell to break up Betüs and Sadik. She wants to turn time to 30 years later.

“Seriously, mom, I absolutely cannot let you do this kind of magic!”

Eda is fed up with this. First of all she doesn’t think that they will ever break up the couple, so why try all the time, and on the other hand she is afraid that her father, who presently is a dog of 60 human years, might not be alive anymore then. Even Dudu shows some concern but says that she would turn the spell back in that case. Eda tries to talk her out of it but to no avail.

Firuzes husband Davut turns up drunk at the house and wants to take his wife back with force. He is fighting with Firuze and Betüs, who has to use magic to overpower him. Suzan comes by and hears through the open door what is going on and gets so angry that she beats up Davut even without any magic.

“Your hand is enough, right? Come on, hit me! Hit me!  Hit me!”

The next day everybody is 30 years older. Umur, Dudu’s new lover, is dead, and Taci, her ex-husband, has obviously turned into a human again. Dudu reverses the spell, and everything is like before … with one change: Cilek the little fairy girl can speak to everybody now, not only to Betüs.

Also Firuze’s problem is being solved by magic this time: Betüs turns him into a kind and responsible husband. As it seems, that spell was still working 30 years later.

–

Many, many thanks to Birgit, of the Stella, oh, Stella blog, for all of the of the English and image content, today.

–

     My question, this episode, is about going back in time.  Many people seem to think, like Sadık, that everyone would like to go back in time, to their youth.  But this is not so.  Many people, particularly those who had especially difficult childhoods, have no interest at all in going back in time, and would rather forget having been young, and all that happened during that time to them.  People like orphans who never found loving families, or children who were abused by family or guardians, or even kids who were bullied in school.  Kids not accepted by their peers because, like Firuze’s son Mahmut, whom we met last week, they were poor, and did not fit in for any number of reasons.  This makes them more vulnerable, due to domestic violence, and later bullying, if no one will stand with them.  And that is a terrible waste of human potential, because, as Hakan reminds us, every child has potential.

–

        Hopefully, the empathy that studying languages builds, and a little more good example via story, will help all of us learn to be more open to the needs, feelings, and happiness of others.

Next week will be blm/ep. 14: Turkish Tuesday: Sihirli Annem (s1e14) and What Does it Mean, Adulthood?

…

Hoşça kalın!

Shira

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan:Muhafiz/The Protector, Sihirli Annem, Lupin, or La Casa De Papel/Money Heist Reviews,

Holistic College Algebra & GED/HiSET Night School Lesson Plans,

           or My Nonfiction  & Historical Fiction Serial Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading and sharing, or even writing a guest blog post here, about #ProjectDoBetter.  Phase I aims to build empathy for public goods (libraries, transit, healthcare, and education) via language study and story, among other tools.

Shira Destinie A.  Jones, MPhil

Shira
Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Minbari Mondays, Survivors, and Coping

This is the continuation of our fictional letter (reviewing each film and episode of Babylon 5) that I receive each week from Ranger Mayann.

Here is her 13th report:

—

Nih sakh sh’lekk, sleem wa, Greetings from Tuzanor:

In this report, in your Earth year 2258, it is the second year of operation of the station. This  incident revolves around a drink that we Minbari cannot stomach, yet many humans seem to find impossible not to drink, and often to abuse: alcohol.  While there was no Minbari nor any Anla’Shok involvement in this incident, Susan Ivanova was a Lt. Commander at that time, and we learn more about her through her words to the chief personage of this incident, Mr. Garibaldi.

We also learn more about the apparent rivalry between Ambassadors Mollari and G’Kar: the rivalry was more of a partnership, as the years would show, than it then seemed, and this incident shows us the start of that deadly dance.

Our records are scarce, here on Minbar, with regard to this incident, but what we do know is that Mr. Garibaldi was very nearly made to take the blame for what was intended to be a major terror event on the station.  This would have affected both the station’s ability to function, and of course, also that of Mr. Garibaldi.  Had that happened, the Great War to come might have turned out very differently, with disastrous consequences for the entire galaxy.

From the city of  Tuzanor, on Minbar

Earth year 2278,

Anla’Shok Mayann

–

  Addendum to Ranger Mayann’s report, by Shira:  This episode has one of the funniest Ivanova quotes, because it can be taken as being rather condescending, yet it is simply a matter of fact response to Garibaldi’s comment that he is no longer surprised by anything that EarthGov does (implying, however foolish it may be…):

“That’s a very Russian attitude. I commend you.”

Apart from that scene at the beginning of the episode, this one is one of the most difficult for me to watch.  It’s about trauma, and surviving that trauma, and how we cope.  Coping by using alcohol to escape is more obviously problematic, but coping by shutting down nearly all emotions but anger, and using that anger to fuel a burning drive toward “success” is also not healthy, even if it looks that way for a while. 

“I know.  I was there.”

That was part of Ranger Mayann’s letter on the history of the Babylon Project. It can be seen from another point of view by watching the Babylon 5 Season 1, Episode 11: Survivors, which I recommend.

See Ranger Mayann’s  report from last week on beliefs vs. lives, and,

then,

  next week on interpretations.

-Shira

Action Items:

1.)  Share your thoughts on the difficulty of seeing that a person has changed or learned to cope differently, if you will.

2.) Share your thoughts on how we Human Beings might start to build a more fully inclusive society for all of us, and how this episode of Babylon 5 could help that process.

3.) Write a story, post or comment here that uses these thoughts.

Dear Readers, ideas on learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning, on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind?

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking for CCOVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport
Read, Write  

Nih sakh sh’lekk, sleem wa.

 

 

A proposed Vision and a plan for a kinder world    …

   

Shira Destinie A. Jones, BsC, MAT, MPhil

our year 2020 CE =  12020 HE

(GED lesson plans...)

Stayed on Freedom’s Call
is a freely available book that includes two ‘imagination-rich’ walking tours, with songs, of Washington, DC. New interviews and research are woven into stories of old struggles shared by both the Jewish and African-American communities in the capital city.

Shared histories are explored from a new perspective of cultural parallels and parallel institution-building which brought the two communities together culturally and historically.

Shira Destinie Jones’ works are   licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Minbari Mondays, Deathwalker, and Context for Understanding

This is the continuation of our fictional letter (reviewing each film and episode of Babylon 5) that I receive each week from Ranger Mayann.

Here is her 11th report:

—

Nih sakh sh’lekk, sleem wa, Greetings from Tuzanor:

In this report, in your Earth year 2258, it is the second year of operation of the station. This  incident, though rumored within the Religious Caste to have had something to do with our Warrior Caste sheltering some sort of mad genius, has no report on record with the Anla’Shok…

From the city of  Tuzanor, on Minbar

Earth year 2278,

Anla’Shok Mayann

–

  Addendum to Ranger Mayann’s report, or lack thereof for this week, by Shira (go figure that the WindSwords would have buried this one, somehow, to prevent the shame of admitting what the Minbari, like some Human Beings I know, remember, but won’t talk about…):  This episode has one of the most fascinating, and oft-cited, Kosh quotes in the entire series:

“Understanding is a 3-edged sword.”

We’ll come back to that one in a year or two…

This episode is all about context, which is probably 2/3 of that understanding which makes up the three edges of our comprehension sword.

And poor Talia winters.

The theme of Justice or immortality seems not to have anything to do with this telepath being psychologically tortured, but no one seems to understand what’s going on. Not Talia, hired for ‘cautious’ negotiations, nor those on the station who were trying to deal with the dilemma of the immortality serum.

Understanding comes only after the fact in both cases.

Interesting how “all secrets long kept” seem to take on a life of their own, and new victims. 

(Reminds me of an episode of my favorite Turkish show Sihirli Annem, where the littlest Fairy is suffering because she must keep her magic secret from her best friend, who is a human girl her same age…)

The survivors of atrocities have a right to justice, to truth, and to healing, but how to protect those rights from the greed of more powerful interests?

And Kosh and the Vorlons? What do they gain from all of this?

That was part eleven of Ranger Mayann’s letter on the history of the Babylon Project. It can be seen from another point of view by watching the Babylon 5 Season 1, Episode 9: Death Walker, which I thoughtfully recommend.

See Ranger Mayann’s 10th report (episode 8), from last week on Survivor’s Guilt.

To see all of her 12th report: Minbari Mondays, Believers, and Health care vs. saving life? ,

-Shira

Action Items:

1.)  Share your thoughts on context, understanding, and justice vs. revenge for war crimes, and on individual versus collective benefit , if you will.

2.) Share your thoughts on how we Human Beings might start to build a more fully inclusive society for all of us, and how this episode of Babylon 5 could help that process.

3.) Write a story, post or even a poem that uses these thoughts.

***************** 

Click on either of the linked reviews Pages above to find more pages leading to posts to read, if you like:

Hakan: Muhafiz/The Protector, Lupin, or  La Casa de Papel/Money Heist  Reviews, 

or,

Holistic High School Lessons,

           or, 

My Nonfiction & Historical Fiction Writing.

 

 

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Turkish TV, Health Care, and Neville Longbottom and Harry as kids with PTSD?

It is interesting to see how different cultures hide the mistreatment of kids.  The Brits seem to be a bit more up front about it, but also more harsh than say, Turks, who adore children.

I am being lazy and re-reading HP2 to work on my Turkish reading, instead of continuing to slog through something by Orhan Pamuk, because I am just too tired (and I am starting to hit words like bequeath while watching my favorite family TV show of all time: My Magical Mother (Sihirli Annem!)!  so it really is time to get back to some reading to keep up my Turkish.

But back to Neville -I identified with him immediately: I was the one walking into walls in Middle School, forgetting everything, and being told to come down out of the clouds.  Now I know (and we see in later books with Neville) that these are symptoms of childhood PTSD, which presents differently than with adults.

So please, for the love of God, Humanity, Children and the Human Race, or at least for the love of the planet and the potential creativity of the human race, please look out for such signs in kids and try to understand and help them rather than yelling at them.  Don’t let them turn into Invisible Children, or worse.

In Solidarity with All Kind People,
Peace via Cooperation and Non-Cooperation,

ShiraDest
5th of December, 12015  HE

  Görüşürüz!    

Action Items in support of health and hope that you can take right now:

1.) Search for two different resources to help abused kids in your area.

2.) Share them with us in the comments, here, please.

3.) Write a blog post or tweet that uses that information, tells a good story, and makes a difference. I’m working on that through my historical fantasy WiP, #WhoByFireIWill. Once published, donate one or more copies to your local public library, as I intend to do.

Dear Readers, any additional ideas toward learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning as part of on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind? 

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking for CCOVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport

We can really Do Better:

Read, Write books about cooperation that people have forgotten about, Ranked Choice Voting and Housing for ALL!!, Teach and Learn (Lesson Plans)!

ShiraDest

NaNoWriMo 2020 CE

November, 2020 CE = 12020 HE

What I learned from my last NaNoWriMo about Writing

I’m still finding notes from earlier story and novel projects, and think it is a good idea to review lessons learned from drafting and editing my previous two practice novels, before I start drafting my next WiP, which I think (or hope) that I’m nearly finished planning.

My second practice novel, started on Wattpad,  was easier to track the deadline on the NaNoWriMo2015 website before I set up my own spreadsheet.  It taught me several things about managing Depression (actually PTSD -> anger->depression…).

First: Making a deadline feels good, even if it is Just/Only YOUR deadline. You DID it.
Second: Physical activity every day, like running  or dance, etc, is, at least for me, imperative (and also read, and have a sun lamp, if you live farther from the equator than the 35th parallel…).
Third: Making a deadline a second time, better than you did the first time, proves you can repeat the feat, thus showing discipline and perseverance. This helped me feel like less of a waste of oxygen while I can looked for a way to use that to help other folks.
Fourth,  the actual writing lessons:
Writing 1.) When writing your first/second/fifth practice novel, be sure to have a physical workout routine, preferably involving boxing gloves, AND several people to talk to about all of the crap your writing will drag out of you.  (Remember NOT to use the gloves on the people…)

Writing 2.) For me, at least, plan the ending first…
Writing 3.) Plan setting, time and weather for each scene, not just the plot!!
Writing 4.) Outline by scene, not by # of words (I outlined by 300wds, which ended up driving me nuts toward the end…)
Writing 5.) Do not write a chapter per file, it is a formatting nightmare to insert 18 files (one for each chapter) into one ‘book’ file on an exhausted day 28!
Writing 6.) Lay out the chapter plan on one large calendar in the same notebook (if at all possible) as the planning notebook (and resist the temptation to plan each chapter on small scraps of paper!! You cannot believe the number of scraps I now have floating around…).
Writing 7.) Start on day one, and don’t punish yourself for not planning ahead. A planner is not a pantser, and I, a planner, felt annoyed trying to write stream-of-consciousness just because I had 2000 words to finish That Day.

Better, I learned, to take the day to plan out the next two scenes and write them the next day, at least for me.

I found that when I knew the time of day and year and weather as well as what the MC was supposed to do in the next couple of scenes, I could just imagine the flow and zap, 2000 words came out of no where (I did NOT say 2000 Good Words, but that is for the next 3 or 4 re-writes!!!).

and

Writing 8.) Set a new notebook aside for the 30-Day 50k challenge, because it will turn into at least a year, and probably 80k words. Before it goes back down to 60k again.

In Solidarity with All Kind People,
Peace via Cooperation and Non-Cooperation,

modified from original 2015 post,

some Action Items in support of literacy and writing that you can take right now:

1.) Download some advice on novel writing, maybe from two different websites,

2.)  Share your thoughts on the value of each person writing a book,

3.) Write a novel that references a classic book, tells a good story, and makes a difference. I’m working on that through my historical fantasy #WiP, #WhoByFireIWill. Once published, donate one or more copies to your local public library, as I intend to do.

Other ideas welcome on how to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness, & #EndMoneyBail, starting with improving these four parts of our good #PublicDomainInfrastructure:

 September 2020, High Holidays of 5781, 12020 HE

***************** 

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, La Casa De Papel/Money Heist, & Lupin & Hakan: Muhafiz/The Protector Reviews

Holistic High School Lessons,

           or My Long Range Nonfiction, & Historical Fiction Writing

Thoughtful Readers, if you are on Twitter, please consider following   #Project Do Better  on Twitter.

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

old version with links to now of How a missed trash can led to Formation Tortue, but learning languages can help treating childhood trauma

Why did that paper ball flying over my head make me dive for the floor?

Shortly after I turned 51 years of age, a young coworker launched a simple balled up bit of paper at the trash can in front of me. It missed. What I saw was not a mere bit of paper becoming litter, however. Out of the corner of my eye, something came flying at me from behind. I reacted instinctively: by ducking….

…  updated version here…

see the full impact of speaking several languages on traumatic health care at the link just above…

Let’s #EndPoverty , #EndHomelessness &  starting by improving these four parts of our good #PublicDomainInfrastructure 4:
1. #libraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare , and
4. good #publictransport )
Read, Write to remember cooperation between people who argue today, Ranked Choice Voting and Housing for ALL!!!!, Walk !

#PublicDomainInfrastructure & #‎StopSmoking for COVID-19
ShiraDest

April, 12020 HE

Persist: review of a good but difficult book

Stronger Than You Know by Jolene Perry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This first person #YAlit novela (a bit short for a novel, I imagine) was both very hard-hitting in its accuracy, and very hope-giving, if a bit too much so, perhaps, in the ending. I find myself agreeing with another reviewer about the timeline being too short for certain things, but I can understand or imagine that the author wanted to give hope and encouragement, and teenagers have very short attention-spans and time-line perspectives, in general.

For me, this was a difficult read emotionally because it had me reliving events from my own early childhood and teenage years, and the earliest were the worst, as the ending of the book brought the external and internal conflicts together in ways that confirmed my own experiences very uncomfortably. But this is a very important work, and it is crucial to persist.

View all my reviews

Groups to join as Coping and Family-building measure

Personally, I have a high need for connection with others.  In order to avoid burning out my nearest and dearest, I’ve decided that finding groups that share my values may help diffuse some of that pressure on my supporters.  So, I personally want to find:

1. A progressive chavurah, shul, temple or synagogue to join, and a Women’s Mosque as well, if there are any lady Imam or leaders around (there was one in Ankara back in 2005…)
2.  A Quaker (Friends) Monthly Meeting to join and stand silent Peace Vigil with,
3.   Greek or Balkan or other international folk dance,
4.  a walk-run marathon group
5.  a public library-based book or reading club
6. A public library based writer’s critique group
7. an NVC and also maybe Literacy Volunteering group (and give blood).
8. (added 1.1.12018 HE) make long-term plans part of and flow via short-term goals!!

Read, Write, Dream, Teach !

ShiraDest
24 March, 12016 HE

Rain+Tendonitis = Nightmares??

The night before, I dreamt I was a consultant on a ship w/an insane captain somewhere in the North Atlantic, with giant waves that froze around us like a white out.  I ordered and got a shovel, dying digging while the sailors around me gaped as if I were the crazy one.  No, digging did not help, but at least I think I died on my feet.

Last night, it was me being attacked by a crocodile : not sure if it was Sacred or not, but at least I died warm!

Ok, I will admit that trippling the number of km Power Walked (Fr, but accessible) (in compensation for km not run, trying to reach 45km/week by mid-March (English, log in needed) ) may not have been the best idea I’ve had lately, but why the renewed ‘My Life is in Serious Danger’ dreams now that I’ve stopped running/walking for the last 4 days?

While I know that Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) aka la Dépression Hivernal, is linked to light, but also to excercise levels (which is why I always take my walks and runs early in the morning), I wonder if the feeling of a cold or flu coming on, combined with having to rest the ankle tendon due to my own stupidity, makes me feel powerless?  Obviously the answer is Yes!  But it remains irritating, and a bit scary, to see how quickly those fears and despair of just a short while ago can come screaming back, threatening to overwhelm you, just after a few days of darker than usual weather (weekends I generally do not write, so do not sit with my SunLamp), and enforced ‘rest’ (which is making me more restless by the day, but with a tendon still aching for no apparent reason…).

So, dear friends, my reason for writing this post is as follows:  if you feel down, do not give in to despair.  Drink a spicy hot chocolate (soy milk and Fair Trade chocolate with cayenne if possible, but if you feel rotten, just a hot choc. may help), and then turn on the lights for a few minutes, and bask in them.  Then, get out a pad of paper, and write.  Preferably while you wriggle your toes and think of Frodo Baggins!

Then, plan to change your life.  Taking risks is scary, but sometimes the only way to make life better, for you and for someone else.  Don’t let those dreams that tell you your life is in danger go unheeded:  especially if the one putting you life in danger might be You.

Human Love,

ShiraDest
31 January, 12016 HE

And with this financial, emotional, verbal and even physical (being shaken twice) going on at the time, of course I was having nightmares: