Michal's thinking over the notion of augmenting his monumental Fiction Corpus with a fable about the many types of fiction; cites fatigue
Posted:
I think highly of the practicality of using English as a global lingua franca. I don't believe in the tepid form in which the English language is taught.
Boosting a person's finesse for a language isn't like developing a wider canal. A language - a spoken language - is not merely a tool that you can teach yourself to use with a greater amount of precision. A living tongue can not be disassociated from the philosophical currents 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 a man to recite English is to rob him of its cultural context. A capable instructor must have a blueprint for introducing it; the perceptive student goes out to seek it.
A dictionary - properly used - can become an influential tool. The best dictionaries describe words based on a specific corpus, a body of writing of various scope and consistency. This corpus may contain anything from a book about literature to a set of really inspiring stories. I watched many nights pass laboring on my "insignificant" Fiction Corpus in order to form a peculiar genre 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 sculpted a million words and I have indexed them, reframing them - not just to teach English vocabulary but to reveal the human soul, and to encourage 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.
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.
As an American, I was full of optimism and confidence bordering on recklessness. I was ready to run the wheels off the car I had just bought and eventually I would. As a European, she was cautious and mistrustful. She needed to make sure the air conditioner worked. Which it did. If you knew how to turn the broken knob in just the right way.
I've never gone hungry without deserving it. I've never been systemically beaten by a parent. I've never been fondled by a priest. That doesn't mean I can't listen to somebody who has had to experience such abuse and it doesn't mean I can't try to understand. Margo and I traveled 6,000 miles together. We slept in the same tent. We had to listen to each other. A person shouldn't need 6,000 miles to do it. We should be able to listen to each other just because we want to. We should've been taught to do it. If we haven't been taught, we should be learning how to do it and learning fast.
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 Center
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 center in some kind of way.
If you want to communicate an idea using the word center, 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 center is located in the fabric of a language, the better you will be at exploiting its cultural power.
Pronunciation of Center
I have yet to publish a pronunciation for the word center.
Video of me pronouncing "center."
Definition of Center
I have yet to publish the definition of center.
I'm sure it won't take too long.
Common use of center in illustrative example sentences
I have yet to come up with a fourth sentence using the word center.
Audio of me saying the sentence:
I have yet to come up with a fifth sentence using the word center.
Audio of me saying the sentence:
I have yet to come up with a sixth sentence using the word center.
Audio of me saying the sentence:
I have yet to come up with a seventh sentence using the word center.
Audio of me saying the sentence:
Usage of Center 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 center.
That doesn't mean it's not high on my list.
Table of Frequency for the Word "Center."
This table lists in descending order the total number of times that the word centerand 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 center, 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 #6672
im by the center field gate. the bus is almost ready to go. i wished the men good luck.
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.
"The Old Town is surrounded. All the bridges from the north - Sikorski Bridge, Pomorska Bridge, University Bridge, Sand Island Bridge, Peace Bridge, Grunwald Bridge - they're all defended with machine guns. There's no way we're going to cross into the Old Town from Center City - it's impossible, alright? We have to go north, take the bypass and swing around to the south."
"They're trying to stop the terrorists from moving north; they don't care about the southeast that much - terrorists are all over the train yards - Lipski doesn't even know what to do about it. He's got terrorists in the southeast (around the train yards); he's got terrorists in the west (around all the industrial parks) - but at least they're south of the river; he's in the north, coming down; he's got his artillery on the north bank of the old river, on the other side of which, sections of Center City have been evacuated; others have not; some are full of terrorists; others are not. What's for damn sure is that south of us, across the main river, the Old Town is completely infested. Government buildings have been taken over, et cetera, et cetera. Lipski's got his hands full; he's got absolutely no idea what the fuck a terrorist even looks like. A collaborator could be anyone: if you're walking down the street with a gun, you're collaborating - you're not trying to defend yourself: you're collaborating. If you're looting a store, or robbing your neighbors, or otherwise committing some kind of offense: you're collaborating.
A year after that, a group of pirates led by Malabin dell'Osa were responsible for bombing two U.S. government installations in outer space. Two years later, the same group was suspected of organizing a suicide ramming that tore a hole into the side of a U.S. Space Ship, killing seventeen sailors on board and wounding thirty-nine. In the following year, they used the same technique to annihilate the Interplanetary Trade Center, which, eight years earlier, had suffered only minor damage from the terrorist bomb that had killed six. This time, in what quickly became known as the most deadly and infamous terrorist attack in history, three thousand people died. Many more would have suffered a similar fate, but, fortunately, the modules were mostly evacuated by the time they blew.
Sand Island was very close to the Cathedral - so close, in fact, that it was often confused for Cathedral Island. Cathedral Island was not really an island - perhaps it once was, in the past, before something was filled, but in those days the Cathedral stood in a part of Center City which in no way could be called an island. Center City itself was an island, formed by the Oder River, which flowed around Sand Island, and the old Oder River, which formed a semicircle around Center City to the north. If this were the island referred to by the name Cathedral Island, it would be a very generous thing for a building that only occupied a small portion of a much larger landmass. Visitors to the Cathedral often looked for Cathedral Island, but nowhere was it to be found. When they asked for it, local people often said: "It must be that one over there." But that was Sand Island, and even though it had, not just one, but two churches: one Roman Catholic and one Orthodox, there was no Cathedral. Thus there was an island with no Cathedral and a Cathedral with no island. There was no easy solution to this problem.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to anyone living on Earth, terrorists were plaguing Mars. Two years before the Interplanetary Trade Center was demolished, five explosions over a period of two weeks devastated apartment buildings around Centropolis. Two hundred and ninety-three people were killed. The Revolutionary government began a massive security operation to safeguard more than thirty thousand apartment blocks around the city. The terrorists were undaunted. In the next few years, they took hostages in theatres; they blew up space ships in orbit around Mars; and finally, they attacked a school and took hundreds of Martian children hostage. Too many of them were killed, people said: they blamed the government.
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.
Do you know where that place might be? Do you know whence that feeling arises? Gentle sister, it is from my loins: it comes from the center of my being. And from that center this feeling emanates with contained power.
– Title 3, Regarding a Dream, Chapter 1, The First Day, Part 1, Victory & Calendar Reform, Section 5, Inflammation of the Loins, Paragraph 1, Clauses 4-6
Was it not the True Cross of Christ? The road was the spike; the dashboard, the crossbeam. The light, His body. It seemed to reach the very center of the Earth: Hell? It was leading me. Whither did it will me go?
ANDY: Imagine if the world were made of gas - now wouldn't that be funny? Except gravity would send us all straight to the center. And do you know what happens when your self's centered? You lose all sense of direction. You're lost. You're topsy-turvy and quite helpless.
As soon as we were done eating breakfast, we left for the hospital. We took the red line to Bond Street. We waited for a train to Stratford. We were taking the Jubilee line. On the train, the girls found a place to sit down. I stood by the center of the opposite aisle. There was a white woman sitting in front of me. She had a beautiful face and round, pendulous breasts. They were perfect for suckling.
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.
She cheered. Shaq's thrust up the middle has provided an excellent feint. The passing guard tossed back to Channing. From the center court, he threw it high and long. The game was tied. There were seconds left.
Gog had no answer. He sought the wisdom of sages. They investigated the migrations of the celestial host through the halls of the mighty Bhag. They consulted centers of divination. They held councils. They argued. They returned to Gog with heavy faces.
"Never mind," said Shephard. "Do you have a siphon?" Coke glanced at the policeman. Their eyes met. The policeman squinted. Coke looked back at Shephard. He shook his head.
Shephard sighed. "I'll find one." He searched the bed. He found a doubled-ended toy with a hollow center. It was long enough. Shephard shoved it into the tank. He looked around. Everybody was staring.
His wife wouldn't touch him. She generally slept with Lorenzo above the side of the hall facing the garden. Manfredo would sleep on the daybed, whether or not it was outside. Since the room above the shop was usually rented, Ferrari, like a dog, would have to sleep in the center of the hall, curled around the fireplace.
"What if," she said, whispering into Patsy's ear, "the suspect witnessed the World Trade Center attack? That's how he realized he had a thing for watching people fall."
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.
"Center" 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.
Pfizer scoffed. "Nobody from Earth gets elected anymore. Not unless you're a hybrid. We've gone from the center of the arm to a backwater. It makes me want to move to the Orion cluster."
Sara Lee's eyes widened. "Would you really risk it?"
Mark and Bill meanwhile were flipping through their respective letters. Mark looked up and caught sight of the old man bending over again and looking through his viewfinder. Mark sped up. He was going to get a glimpse of the eagle before it flew off. He floored the gas. Oblivious to the dangers beyond, he was rushing past the hedgerow. He craned his neck and saw a giant blue and white eagle on the side of Bill's truck. The professor hit the shutter button. Mark frantically swerved. The camera's continuous drive clicked and clicked. Mark hit the brakes. The truck slid heading straight for the professor. Its wheels locked. It surfed on the unswept gravel of the westbound lane of Profile Road and thankfully stopped before crossing the center line. Just as a UPS truck headed east. The driver saw the mass of white coming from his left and instinctively swerved away. Right into the professor. The old man was launched into the sky. Mark watched in horror as the body sailed a good 60 feet before flailing onto the ground. Mark looked at the UPS truck. The driver was paralyzed. Mark looked back at the body. He drove the 60 feet between them. There was no time to run. Reaching the remains of the professor, Mark curbed the wheels. He put the gear in park. He pulled the hand brake. He shut the engine and took out the keys. He didn't want anybody accusing him of not following proper dismounting procedures. He hopped down to the body and saw there was little to be done. He called for an ambulance.
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 center 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 "center." I hope I can get it done sometime soon. -Michal
It's natural to hide dirty things. They're embarrassing. But we need to keep in mind that when we hide things that are difficult, we make them seem dirty when they're really something else entirely. And when we keep things that are easy in plain sight, we make them seem clean when they really aren't. That is dangerous.
Help me maintain the "Center" page up and running...
If you love women and art...
Michal is exporting art from Poland...is he gaga?
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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