Michal declines to debate the idea of supplementing his modest Fiction Corpus with a biography of fiction authors; cites fatigue
Posted:
I believe in the prospect of using English as the world's second language. I don't trust in the lumbering model by which English is taught.
Beefing up one's dexterity with a language isn't like bringing about a more prodigious quern. A language - a common language - isn't merely a tool that you can learn to exploit with greater amounts of precision. A spoken language can't be unyoked from the shared logic of a circle 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.
To make a man recite English is to cheat him out of its cultural context. A worthy educator has to develop a plan for introducing it; the smartest pupil goes out to seek it.
A dictionary has the potential to be an influential tool. A decent dictionary will define words based on a particular corpus, a set of writing of various size and consistency. They may contain everything from a biography of nobel award winners to some real noir fiction. I watched many moons pass forging my "hefty" Fiction Corpus in order to form a specific type of dictionary based on the ability of one man to tell a story in many different forms. It is a labor of love and listening.
I have pieced together a million words and I have sorted them, reshaping them - not merely to teach a language but to defend the human spirit, and to coax that soul or spirit 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...
By the end of my first week in Europe in 2011, I had bought a car and out of the blue had met the woman who would join me on a 6,000 mile trek across the European continent, sharing the beat-up car that I had bought and the one small tent from Walmart that I had brought along with me on my flight.
I had come to Europe to document people practicing naturism. Preliminary arrangements had been made to meet with an Egyptian nudist visiting the Continent and there was some kind of Pan-European gathering scheduled to take place in Croatia. I had arranged for an assistant to come along with me to help with anything I needed, but when her passport was stolen the night before we were supposed to leave, my plans went awry. I decided on something less ambitious. I would visit a naturist sauna in the city of Bielsko-Biala, Poland which I had just found on the internet. When I got there, I met Margo.
From America I brought with me the American can-do spirit. She saw the car that I had bought, the terrible camp stove I had borrowed, and my sundry canned goods and challenged me to make-do. In my optimism I assured her that if we lacked for anything I would make up the difference. She assured me that if she lacked for anything she would find her way to the nearest airport and fly home. Luckily that never happened.
6,000 miles. One car. One tent. We started learning how to listen. We started learning how to open up. We started cooperating. Even when we were angry, even when it was so difficult that it didn't seem like it would turn out well, we stuck it out. We completed the trip and we came back happy. We had beaten the devil on the road. Back home more devils were waiting to abuse us. More anger. More fear. More sadness. This time we were prepared. This time we had each other and we could harken back to the joy and the trust and the suprise that 6,000 miles had created. We could remember what it was like to live in one tent.
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 Conversation
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 conversation in some kind of way.
If you want to communicate an idea using the word conversation, 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 conversation is located in the fabric of a language, the better you will be at exploiting its cultural power.
Pronunciation of Conversation
I have yet to publish a pronunciation for the word conversation.
Video of me pronouncing "conversation."
Definition of Conversation
Conversation is how you exchange ideas.
Common use of conversation in illustrative example sentences
I have yet to come up with a third sentence using the word conversation.
Audio of me saying the sentence:
I have yet to come up with a fourth sentence using the word conversation.
Audio of me saying the sentence:
I have yet to come up with a fifth sentence using the word conversation.
Audio of me saying the sentence:
I have yet to come up with a sixth sentence using the word conversation.
Audio of me saying the sentence:
I have yet to come up with a seventh sentence using the word conversation.
Audio of me saying the sentence:
Usage of Conversation 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 conversation.
That doesn't mean it's not high on my list.
Table of Frequency for the Word "Conversation."
This table lists in descending order the total number of times that the word conversationand 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 conversation, 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.
Frame #4011
expedia's typing away. with a hint of a smile. maybe beefcakes a conversationalist too.
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.
For the pirates to abandon their way of life, they would have to change their language. They would have to change the word 'despot' to mean 'Supercapitalist,' 'despot's mistress' to mean 'mid-level manager,' and so on. They would have to trade in their guns and bullets and bombs for water-cooler conversations, wage cuts, and pink slips. That's what they abandoned in the first place; they turned to piracy for lack of apparent options. You have to crush pirates by speaking their own language, using words and ideas and gestures that pierce flesh, tear apart limbs, and decapitate. To the extent that the forces of Good refuse to do this, they fail. Cruelty is the only thing the cruel understand.
When it was discovered that Leonard Cohen-Krupnik had met with a former Russian spy somewhere in Vienna, speculation ran wild. When it was revealed that Leonard Cohen-Krupnik, during his conversations with the Russian spy, had called upon his association with 'the first,' the prevailing theory was that Leonard Cohen-Krupnik, in conjunction with the President of Poland and perhaps the Prime Minister and his cronies (all of whom belonged to the same corrupt leftist party), had conspired to sell to the Russians not only a refinery in Danzig, but the controlling interest in Poland's largest petroleum dealer, which, at that point, was still possessed by the Polish state.
They talked about this and that for several hours. Drinking tea, the conversation remained rather timid. When they finally decided it was time to go to bed, Jesus donated half his mattress.
One time, for example, during a telephone conversation Jesus insisted upon (Zoe had promised to call him back at nine o'clock but didn't), your mother had once again been crying about how worthless she was and Jesus, having contemplated the nature of Zoe's 'disease,' had been trying to cheer her up with some scornful humor - sarcasm, as they call it, which Jesus had tried to give in a goodhearted fashion, which failed, of course, despite the fact that she had laughed several times - and then, having been told to stop 'clowning around,' Jesus said, with all seriousness (and with no idea what the consequences would be), "Do you know what your disease is called?"
The whole day was spent on the battlefield. The first day, my excuse had been the mellophone; on the second day, Mass; the third day, she ran away; on the fourth, I was unprepared. Saying goodbye might have been awkward, but, near the end - or, rather, what I felt like should be the end, thanks to my rumbling stomach (your mother seemed to be suppressing her appetite) - I steered the conversation toward your mother's musical talents, which she claimed were, in terms of instrument familiarity, very broad (thanks to her mother's insistence), but which, in terms of quality, she also claimed were, on the whole, rather meager, if not embarrassing.
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.
That Christmas Eve in Austria was very memorable, and Indiana had much to do with it. Though she had been fawning over Olympia for most of the conversation, when Grandmother began discussing Santa Lucia, she became conspicuously engaged. Grandmother was describing a most curious practice of apple consumption.
The reason was that we were all high on weed. Brian, who had been smoking all day, was truly high off his mind. Nike was pretty blazed. I was speechless. My companions were definitely more talkative. Brian happened to be the dealer's friend; both he and Nike were engaging him in steady conversation. But Brian was talking about something completely different from Nike; they were holding separate conversations. Brian would say something, then he would either stop to think, or maybe, stop thinking, and then Nike would have something to say, possibly something more intelligible - but of course, I was not concentrating on the dialogue.
– Title 3, Regarding a Dream, Chapter 2, The Second Day, Part 1, Labor & Economic Reform, Section 6, Doing Business, Paragraph 2
MÉL: No, I'm staying here. But listen: if you're gonna see Madame any time soon, give her a present for me, alright?
He hesitated momentarily but he agreed, kicking the snow off his boots and patting down his coat. I offered some rum that Luke had left behind one day; Macy was more than happy to accept, and the conversation became spirited. After only a few shots, we ran out of rum; I made some screwdrivers from cheap vodka. Macy, finding these palatable enough, allowed them to carry us well past midnight, as we continued discussing the drawbacks and merits of the production.
So who is this Luka? Is he trying to live a dream? And who is this new friend of his? Who is Nike to be entering a partnership? Doesn't he worry about destroying dreams? Don't they both know that yeomanry's been dead or dying? Yeomen live on the hillsides only. For their own sakes, they dare not ply their trade on the plains of Europe. For we have consolidated agriculture, and, if Luka isn't careful, he'll become just another vīlicus: a slave to Nike or the next man who comes to control the revenue. But I wanted to save him. I wanted to ask Nike what the nature of this operation was. I wanted to know whether Luka were patronizing him: providing him with a cheap supply in exchange for percentage. But of course, naturally: Nike was in complete control. He led the conversation elsewhere.
– Title 3, Regarding a Dream, Chapter 2, The Second Day, Part 1, Labor & Economic Reform, Section 7, Being Pessimistic, Paragraph 2
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.
Ferrari took note of the fact that Lorenzo was eager to play. Such desire is easily exploited. Meanwhile, his conversations with Carmina progressed to the Baron's garden. Among the olive and maple tree, she regaled him with stories of her Mongolian forefathers.
"That's why it's so expensive," remarked Debbie. "You're not expected to use it the way you would use a regular bag."
"If you're rich, you don't need a regular bag. That's the idea. When you make something impractical, all the rich people buy it to show off how impractical they can be."
Junior realized he needed to join the conversation quickly. Harry Connick wouldn't be of any help. He was quietly nursing his finger next to his wife.
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.
"Conversation" 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.
I drove all the way to the beach to find relief. It took hours to get there. I stumbled into the woman's bar by accident. I knew it was around. I heard girls talking about it. I never thought I'd go. I assumed it was a waste of time. I was right. I didn't hook up with anybody. I tried to make conversation a few times. It didn't work. On my way home I got lost. I was so angry. When I saw the sign for the camping ground I had no idea it was for queers. I stopped to ask for directions.
"What about Jeff?" asked Jessica. Sarah crossed her eyebrows. "The two of you were having quite the conversation by the lake. What were you talking about?"
Sarah laughed weakly. She said, "Adopting a child." Jessica almost spit her drink. "Not between the two of us, obviously," explained Sarah. "We talked about adoption in general."
"So," said Jessica. "Are you going to tap that?"
This time Sarah spit her drink. "My husband is coming in two days," she said. "What are you talking about?"
The case against Captain Orbitz stymied. The investigation plodded on. It was discovered that Orbitz had recently purchased a ship, the Nautilus. It was capable of inter-brane travel. He was seen in private conversation with an enginner from a planet abandoned by the Alliance to marauding Scutus forces. He was in constant contact with the lieutenant in charge of operating the prototype for an automated combat system. All of it curious. None of it meaningful. When the funding for the combat system was discontinued as part of a swath of spending cuts it generated the usual bitterness and threats among the interested parties. Among them turned out to be Orbitz. Within one microarcsecond of the announcement he tendered his resignation. It was an outrage. He was the poster child of the military. If he didn't want to be a courier anymore he could have a desk job. He could be a liaison. Or a recruiter. He didn't have to quit. According to Orbitz he could no longer serve a government that didn't safeguard its own citizens. As far as the Admiralty could tell he was referring to some outlying garbage planet. It was obscene.
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 conversation 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 "conversation." I hope I can get it done sometime soon. -Michal
Life is a spinning sphere with Joy at one pole and Sadness at the other. Each continuously feeding its pair. Joy flanked by the emotions of Trust on one side, Surprise on the other. Trust leading to Anticipation; anticipation leading to Fear. Surprise leading to Disgust; disgust leading to Anger. Anger and Fear fueling our Sadness. Sadness giving way, in time, to Joy; through Hope, an orientation towards Love. Love, an openness towards Joy, Trust and Surprise; the sum of emotion; emotion amplified by others. Multiplied and divided, in equal parts. Such that to those from whom it has been subtracted, we must add. Until we are whole.
Your purchases keep the "Conversation" page up and running...
If you love women and art...
Michal's exporting art from Poland...is he daft?
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.
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