Michal's weighing the feasibility of supplementing his unimposing Fiction Corpus with a morality play about art sites; cites fatigue
Posted:
I don't doubt the practicality of enacting English as humanity's second language. I don't have faith in the sterile plan by which English is taught.
Beefing up one's know-how with a language isn't like introducing a stronger wheelbarrow. A language - a common tongue - isn't merely an instrument that you can teach yourself to utilize with greater amounts of precision. A living language can't be segmented from the prevailing culture of a group of people of which it is a description. A language isn't recited; it happens - and keeps happening as long as a circle of people keeps using it.
Teaching pupils to recite English is to strip them of its cultural context. A capable teacher has to have a blueprint for introducing it; the wisest pupil ventures out to seek it.
A dictionary - properly used - can become an influential tool. The best dictionaries define a language based on a particular corpus, a set of written language of varying size and consistency. This corpus might contain anything from a book about literature to an entire set of british literature books. I burned many candles forging my "gargantuan" Fiction Corpus in order to form a peculiar sort of dictionary based on the ability of one man to tell a story in myriad forms. It is a labor of love and listening.
I have pieced together a million words and I have ordered them, reformulating them - not merely to teach a language but to be an advocate for the human spirit, and to provoke that spirit or soul not just to recite but to happen.
Author's Note: I have been enjoined from sharing the details of my true romance adventure until such time that the other party is prepared to present her perspective on the affair arrangement...
On Monday, I arrived in Europe. By Wednesday I had bought a car. By Friday I had met the woman who a few months later would end up having travelling 6,000 miles across Europe with me.
Call it an accident. Call it divine will. I was never supposed to meet Margo...if not for one man's random criminal act...another abuse piled upon humanity by a fellow human. A robbery. A purse-snatching of a purse that happened to contain a passport. An assault on the human body. One of society's bad habits that I had come to fight as an artist working for body acceptance.
Though I was born in Europe, I had been brought up from a young age in America, living in states as diverse as Nebraska, Ohio and Connecticut. I was taught American values and saw reality from an American perspective. She was born and raised in a village in Poland. She went to work in the nearest town. The nearest city seemed like the center of the world. The American perspective was not something she was ever planning to see.
Despite the cops in Vienna. Despite the rain in Veržej. Despite getting lost in Italy. Despite parting at Soest. Despite that night in Amsterdam. Despite our fight in Lisieux. Despite the storm in the Bois de la Roche. Despite that terrible morning outside Collonges. Despite the long road to Pielenhofen, we came back safe and sound and most importantly we were happy. We had started to learn how to listen. We had left the devils of the road behind and the devils ahead seemed just a little bit smaller. We had started to open up.
6,000 miles across Europe with a complete stranger
During our trip across Europe, Margo very bravely opened up to me and to the camera. It was a difficult thing to do considering the scars that she carries. I wanted to share with the world her often joyful, often sad, often angry but always liberating experience except that the Internet is full of pictures of naked women and men and full of trolls who abuse them.
I realized that what I really need to point out is not the openness that Margo and I cultivated between ourselves, but the darkness that continues to surround us. When I censor nudity, I do so in a way that does not compromise the integrity of the human body. In censoring the photographs that Margo and I took during our trip, I was quick to notice that in those pictures where Margo was at her most open, at her most unguarded and most relaxed, in a word, when she was herself and basking in the sun I was forced to blacken her completely.
Why does our society drive people into darkness? Why can we not accept ourselves as we are? Why can we not accept our bodies? Have we truly become eunuchs? Or are we capable of defying the sickness that pits us against each other? Together we could conquer the devils that abuse us.
Whether you enjoy being nude or not, whether you've been photographed nude or not, but especially if, for you, like for Margo, it's something you never thought you would do, consider submitting your own photograph to be published in a censored manner as a form of protest against the ubiquitous presence of the human body on the internet, naked or not, that is published and duplicated ad infinitum without context and without regard for the identity or the needs of the individual being depicted.
Michal's Dictionary: Understanding the word Jaw
A word can represent many things. First and foremost it represents a type of gesture. A specific way of speaking. A specific way of inscribing a mark. A specific way of moving your hand. To know one of these kinds of gestures is to know how to pronounce the word jaw in some kind of way.
If you want to communicate an idea using the word jaw, you will need to know what other people are made to think when you make the gesture. You will never have complete awareness of or control over the associations or identities that are invoked by a set of words, but you can know what was and what is a single word's jointly accepted definition, at least for a given place, thereby tracing a direction which will help you to understand what kinds of associations and identities are driving its use.
By using the word yourself, you enter into a long-standing albeit oftentimes unconscious debate over its definition, forever entangling yourself into the history of its use. The way you use it, and which other words you use it with carries weight.
The more you know about where the word jaw is located in the fabric of a language, the better you will be at exploiting its cultural power.
Pronunciation of Jaw
I have yet to publish a pronunciation for the word jaw.
Video of me pronouncing "jaw."
Definition of Jaw
I have yet to publish the definition of jaw.
I'm sure it won't take too long.
Common use of jaw in illustrative example sentences
I have yet to come up with a third sentence using the word jaw.
Audio of me saying the sentence:
I have yet to come up with a fourth sentence using the word jaw.
Audio of me saying the sentence:
I have yet to come up with a fifth sentence using the word jaw.
Audio of me saying the sentence:
I have yet to come up with a sixth sentence using the word jaw.
Audio of me saying the sentence:
I have yet to come up with a seventh sentence using the word jaw.
Audio of me saying the sentence:
Usage of Jaw in Michal's Fiction Corpus
Michal's Fiction Corpus of Acceptance Literature (FiCAL) is presented under the Bare Bottom imprint. It is currently comprised of six bodies of work, each representing a different pillar of culture and incorporating a wide variety of writhing styles.
I have yet to make a morphological analysis of the word jaw.
That doesn't mean it's not high on my list.
Table of Frequency for the Word "Jaw."
This table lists in descending order the total number of times that the word jawand any of its morphological derivations appears in the Fiction Corpus, along with a breakdown of frequency by title, the respective rank of each word in the complete list of all words in the Corpus, as calculated both densely and competitively, as well as the percent increase in frequency of the word over the frequency of the next lowest rank in the complete list.
Percent Increase over next rank
RANK
WORD
Frequency
TOTAL # of occurences
MCDONALDS
JESUS
SEX
TSIGA
JACKSON
DINGBATS
dense
competitive
modern/sloppy
biblical/terse
poetic/high-brow
hard/fast
talky
mixed salad
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
I have yet to publish the table of frequency for the word jaw, but I will get to it shortly. -Michal
A story bible for a comic book series set in a post climate-change California narrated by eight characters who live through a natural disaster that sinks Los Angeles and triggers a war with an expansionist Mexican government covertly supported by China.
Author's Note
"Jaw" does not make an appearance in Death to Mcdonalds.
An experimental science fiction Christology that makes Jesus the hard boiled narrator of his own early years on a bizarro earth made dark by volcanic ash and informally ruled by a man from Mars who sells bottled air.
"My jaw would've had to be pulled out. My father didn't want me to do it - I mean: he didn't want it done: it was his decision. You know what he said? He said he didn't want a monkey for a daughter. Thanks a lot, dad." She pointed at the monkey and said, "Apparently, I would've looked just like him." We laughed.
"I can't close my mouth. My jaws are abnormal," she said, smiling. She had such a wide, beautiful smile. She brought her hand to her mouth and made sure a piece of bread didn't fall out. She swallowed it. "You know how usually your teeth come together?" she said.
Your mother shook her head. "No," she said. "Look." She lifted up her nonexistent chin. Opening up her mouth, she tried closing her jaw, but the attempt was forestalled, somewhere inside that giant mouth of hers, by molars clinking. "You hear that?" she asked, clinking them again.
"'What happened?' I asked, but the miner fell silent. He straightened up. He looked into the distance, then back at me. His face began to twitch. His eyes were bulging. A terrible face he made by starting to grimace, then, grimacing like mad, baring his teeth, he clenched his iron jaw, his arteries bulging, his eyes on fire as if the forces of pressure were ripping his ears apart, rupturing his lungs, and causing him to drown in his own blood - and then, he farted: right in my face! He farted the loudest fart I ever had to feel - and he laughed so hard! 'That's how it cracked,' he said. Oh, man: those miners! What a sense of humor! Hey," said Hitler, slapping me on the back. "Enjoy the party."
She was there and radiant. She was in Group Fifteen, holding onto the thick, gray-colored electromechanical transducer wire that stretched from the priest in front to the loudspeaker being carried behind. She was supposed to be in Group Twenty-five - silly girl: what a silly girl she was! What a huge forehead - and no chin! What a beautiful silly girl: those Japanese eyes! those huge lips! that short, straight, and yet, upturned nose. That mouth of hers was hanging open. How funny it was that she couldn't close her mouth! How absurd - and yet, so valuable! So endearing! and yet, so trivial. It made her look almost innocent. Like the guilty fool, she was difficult to judge. Was she beautiful or not? Was she beautiful when she smiled? Yes, she was beautiful. Was that huge mouth of hers beautiful? Yes, it was beautiful. Was she beautiful when she puckered her tiny, little chin by crooking her humongous jaw? Well, kind of: her little chin was beautiful (it complemented, among other things, her huge forehead) but sometimes she made her chin look sort of strange, as if she were trying to make herself look ugly or else to communicate something - perhaps, befuddlement. It was very unclear - unlike her eyes, which communicated things with unabashed honesty - like curiosity, for example - or, more appropriately, the beginnings of rapture, which, in this case, made themselves evident in the wideness of her eyes, in their feigned concentration on the dirt road underneath her feet, and, especially, in the way they pushed her black pupils and brown irides into the beautiful almond-shaped corners of her lids, following that mysterious image, that masked rider, your father, dressed in black body armor, who kept watching her pass him along the side of the road as he stood waiting in the fallow field, galloping forward every time she turned back her head.
A literature book narrated by a pair of siblings on either side of the Atlantic whose profoundly weird sexual experiences pose a serious challenge to their traditional understanding of mathematicians, marriage, gay young men and God.
My ear, my cheek, my jaw, my chin were almost warm enough to be throbbing - not to mention my forehead. The warmness there made me shiver. My whole face was warm; I was probably flushed but how could I tell? I was no longer sitting in front of the mirror. I was following Indiana out the door. I was following her down the hall, down the stairs; like a man-fearing dog, I was choking my own irrepressible urge to pant. The master of the house was already waiting in the foyer.
– Title 3, Regarding a Dream, Chapter 1, The First Day, Part 1, Victory & Calendar Reform, Section 9, Intoxication, Paragraph 200
Saying these words, Indiana got up from her knee, not taking her eyes off me in the mirror. We looked at each other's reflections for a moment, and then, using them as a guide, she slowly placed her hand along my jaw, catching and squeezing between her fingers my pendulous lobe, using her thumb to stroke my cheek before slowly dragging her hand along my bone, savoring the bristling of my shaven beard - those tiny hairs resisting, then yielding, surrendering - and, brushing down like this until her fingers were poised on the tip of my chin, she turned our heads together, and looking down at me she whispered, "You are very beautiful." And then she bent down to kiss me. So she did kiss me. She kissed me on my forehead. She kissed me on my forehead and then she said, "Let's go." She kissed me on my forehead and left me sitting there intoxicated, wondering as to what had just transpired - if it were truly so - and what the significance of such fabulous events could be.
– Title 3, Regarding a Dream, Chapter 1, The First Day, Part 1, Victory & Calendar Reform, Section 9, Intoxication, Paragraph 199
There was the car. The woman in front. Still walking, slowing down. See the headlights. Brilliantly, they bathed her. A beauty. Domino: witch for all we knew hiding behind a mask of gentle womanhood. Entranced. A pale face: round, clean: a sharp jaw! Beautiful, blunted chin. Mercy! Woman. What mortal creature would harm you? The moon hid. Shamed by a daughter of Eve who walks with such authority? Proud mien: terrified - at the same time, uncompromising.
– Title 3, Regarding a Dream, Chapter 2, The Second Day, Part 1, Labor & Economic Reform, Section 22, Encountering Poverty, Paragraph 50
A collection of stories featuring a sexy Parisian ghost, a spooky Moon base full of vagina-faced aliens, a policeman with an Irish name, a truck full of watermelons, a flautist, and a man who has to see another man about a diseased horse.
"The government doesn't want you to know about those details. It was a mess. The Manga People never recovered. Every last one has a complex. You'll see. They have different ways of dealing with it. Hoopz doesn't trust humans. Zyplukk's wildest wet dream is to transfer the team to the near side, even if we're at the bottom of C-League. If he didn't like banging his nurses so much, he'd get a fake jaw."
Neal rang the bell. A dirty Manga spoke on the intercom. Neal talked in slurpee. The door buzzed open. Tatum entered. She marveled at the luxury. A spacious atrium led towards a magnificent garden. Sporangia loomed overhead on gigantic stalks. The capsules were as large as a power forward's shoe. A Manga person approached. Tatum recognized it from the baths.
Neal spoke to it. His slurpee was better than Tatum expected. The dirty Manga grew distressed. It started speaking fast. It gestured for Neal to wait. As it left, Neal turned.
Dorothea clenched her jaw. "Well?" she asked. "Do I have an answer?" Her son stared blankly. She continued, "I understand you have feelings for her. I'm not asking you never to see her again. I simply want you to give me your assurance that you won't marry her."
Tatum squinted. She realized what Uzumaki was saying. Her eyes widened. A feeling of awe welled in the pit of her stomach. She whispered, "You're not human." Uzumaki clenched his jaw. Tatum shook her head. "Why?"
The woman's heart skipped a beat. The secretary straightened herself. If she were being cruel, thought the woman, she would turn to see the ruddy, breathless reaction on her victim's face. She didn't. She went straight back to her desk. She sucked in her waist to squeeze past the edge. She kept her eyes low. She was making signals. She even bit her lower lip.
A door opened. It was on the far side of the long, narrow room. A man walked in. He was wearing the uniform of a bailiff. "Good morning, Pat," said the secretary.
A real play. With drama in it. Talk fast. It takes two hours. Set in a guest house. In a small community. After a murder. Lots of suspicion. The characters learn to listen to each other. It's funny.
"Jaw" does not make an appearance in Sorry Miss Jackson.
A story book full of short fiction stories. An interesting bedtime mystery. A fairy tale. Science fiction romance. Adult life. Uninspiring gay fiction. Horror.
"How are you going to enjoy the rest of the evening? It's not even midnight."
"I'll manage." I brushed the bottom of her eye with the back of my finger. She caressed my jaw. I told her I would drive her home. She argued. I shook my head. I told her I would have to insist.
This table lists in descending order of frequency a selection of word pairs that appear in the Fiction Corpus and groups them according to the morphological derivation of the word jaw that appears in the pair.
Type
WORD
Frequency
TOTAL # of occurences
MCDONALDS
JESUS
SEX
TSIGA
JACKSON
DINGBATS
modern/sloppy
biblical/terse
poetic/high-brow
hard/fast
talky
mixed salad
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
I have yet to perform a collocation analysis of "jaw." I hope I can get it done sometime soon. -Michal
If a 45-year-old businesswoman and hard working mother of three kids is going to pose nude for a calendar, it's gonna have to be a good one. Margo didn't start a coffee shop called the Vagina Cafe to win her favors from the establishment. Even as she dishes out prizes to the 20 women who placed last in the twentienth anniversary run of her town's biggest road race, her business, unlike everyone else, doesn't get mentioned. She was an official sponsor for Christ's sake! But the announcer just couldn't swallow his patriarchy and get the words "Vagina Cafe" out of his mouth. That's not something a proper gentleman would say in front of a crowd of humble God-fearing "ladies" who cherish their modesty! And a Body Acceptance Calendar is certainly not what a humble God-fearing book-seller like a Barnes and Noble would put on their shelves! So how do I expect to sell this in the mainstream? Maybe if you download the free versions a thousand billion times it might help. Start downloading.
Help maintain the "Jaw" page...
If you love women and art...
Michal is exporting art from Poland...is he loony tunes?
Michal's Sales Pitch Lot 1: Silesian Handicrafts
T-shirt fundraiser for sale
Last T-Shirt with the logo that I designed.
From a set of, I believe, twenty produced by Margo and given out to a portion of the last 20 women to finish the 20th anniversary Fiat Road Race in Bielsko-Biała, cf. the movie. This is the last one left in it's original packaging and my supporters - like the poor women of Bielsko - are going to have to fight for it. Whoever invests the most money with me, and who lets me borrow it to invest in the next lot, will not only be rewarded with some beautiful piece of art, but will get this priceless t-shirt as a reward for being my top supporter. $1000.00 or best offer. Remember to authorize me to hold the sum as credit against a future purchase and to authorize me to borrow against it.
To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #1 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.
Felt handbag for sale
Felt bag by Dorota.
Entirely hand-sewn. Base: polyester felt, 100% PE. Motif: South American woolen yarn, dyed, 100% wool. Hand-worked with a needle. Unique and inimitable design. Inside: cotton fabric, closes with zipper, inside pocket. Available now for $220.00. Ships free of additional charge via USPS (uninsured) unless otherwise directed.
To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #2 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.
Decorative collar for sale
Decorative collar by Zuzanna.
Ethnic layered cloth jewelry constructed on a cotton base and adorned with ribbons, tassels, and a yellow fringe. Fastened on the side with 11 buttons, fitted entirely with a pleasant lining. The style is an Indo-Asian-African multinational color combination. The collar is very extravagant and an extraordinary addition to any clothing, guaranteed to attract attention. Just a simple dress and a unique image is ready. Dry-cleaning recommended. Available now for $200.00. Ships free of additional charge via USPS (uninsured) unless otherwise directed.
To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #3 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.
Seamless handbag for sale
Handbag by Sylwia.
Handmade from felted all-natural Australian and South American wool. Entirely felted, seamless. Finished with a white lining, inside is a small pocket. Lining is sewn and stitched in by hand. Available now for $180.00. Ships free of additional charge via USPS (uninsured) unless otherwise directed.
To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #4 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.
Patchwork quilt for sale
Patchwork quilt by Alicja.
Bedspread made of cotton and polyester material. Inserted with polyester lining. 90 by 70 cm. Available now for $120.00. Ships free of additional charge via USPS (uninsured) unless otherwise directed.
To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #5 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.
Nuno-felt shawl for sale
Shawl by Sylwia.
Scarf made with the nuno felting technique (wet felting fibre into a silk gauze) using South American wool. Two-sided scarf with latticework at the ends. Wholly in the colors red, black, green in an abstract pattern. Available now for $100.00. Ships free of additional charge via USPS (uninsured) unless otherwise directed.
To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #6 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.
Clara the doll for sale
Clara by Alicja.
Clara loves roses and greenery, adores tormenting spiders with long legs and sleeping soundly in the afternoon. Cuddly toy made of cotton and polyester, stuffed with polyester lining. Available now for $70.00. Ships free of additional charge via USPS (uninsured) unless otherwise directed.
To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #7 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.
Noah the doll for sale
Noah by Alicja.
Noah doesn't know what to like and what not to like but keeps wondering and thinking about it. Cuddly toy made of cotton and polyester, stuffed with polyester lining. Available now for $70.00. Ships free of additional charge via USPS (uninsured) unless otherwise directed.
To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #8 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.
Black suspenders for sale
Black suspenders by Zuzanna.
Two-sided suspenders from black material with a rose motif on one side and striped cotton on the other. Connected by a leather triangle. Adjustable length. Hand washing in cold water recommended. Available now for $50.00. Ships free of additional charge via USPS (uninsured) unless otherwise directed.
To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #9 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.
Orange suspenders for sale
Orange suspenders by Zuzanna.
Two-sided suspenders made of denim and orange material with a Polish floral folk design. Connected by a leather triangle. Adjustable length. Hand washing in cold water recommended. Available now for $50.00. Ships free of additional charge via USPS (uninsured) unless otherwise directed.
To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #10 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.
Green suspenders for sale
Green suspenders by Zuzanna.
Two-sided suspenders made of denim and green material with a mountain folk design. Connected by a leather triangle. Adjustable length. Hand washing in cold water recommended. Available now for $50.00. Ships free of additional charge via USPS (uninsured) unless otherwise directed.
To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #11 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.
Felt earrings for sale
Felt earrings by Dorota.
Material: South American woolen yarn, dyed, 100% wool. Hand-worked with a needle. Pendant of anti-allergenic metal. Available now for $40.00. Ships free of additional charge via USPS (uninsured) unless otherwise directed.
To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #12 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.
Round ceramic earrings for sale
Round ceramic earrings by Dorota.
Material: Glazed ceramics, hand-molded. Available now for $40.00. Ships free of additional charge via USPS (uninsured) unless otherwise directed.
To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #13 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.
Oblong ceramic earrings for sale
Oblong ceramic earrings by Dorota.
Material: Glazed ceramics, hand-molded. Available now for $40.00. Ships free of additional charge via USPS (uninsured) unless otherwise directed.
To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #14 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.
'Coral' necklace for sale
Corals by Sylwia.
Necklace made of cotton pieces with organdy and decorated with beads, suspended on cotton strings. Can be worn as a necklace, as a brooch or as a belt tied at the side. Available now for $40.00. Ships free of additional charge via USPS (uninsured) unless otherwise directed.
To purchase please mail a USPS money order in an envelope clearly marked Lot #1/Item #15 to M. Slaby at house number 201 on Ridge Road in the town of West Milford, in the state of New Jersey, one of the beautiful United States of America. The postal code is 07480-3112.