Michal is studying the potential of enlarging his enormous Fiction Corpus with a story about buying modern art prints; cites fatigue
Posted:
I think highly of the possibility of administering English as a common language for the world. I do doubt the ordinary strategy by which the English tongue is presented for study.
Upgrading one's command of a language isn't like creating a more flexible variety of bamboo. A language - a common tongue - is not merely a tool that you can teach yourself to employ with a greater amount of precision. A shared language cannot be dissected from the competing values of a clan 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 student to recite English is to deprive him of its cultural context. An informed educator must develop a plan for introducing it; the bravest pupil ventures out to seek it.
A dictionary - properly used - can become an influential tool. A decent dictionary will describe a language on the basis of a specific corpus, a body of written works of varying scope and consistency. Such a corpus can contain everything from a book about literature to some real bedtime stories. I burned many candles laboring on my "stately" 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 cut them down, reshaping them - not merely to teach an American language but to defend the human soul, and to pressure that spirit or soul not just to recite but to happen.
Michal's Dictionary: Understanding the word Village
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 village in some kind of way.
If you want to communicate an idea using the word village, 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 village is located in the fabric of a language, the better you will be at exploiting its cultural power.
Pronunciation of Village
I have yet to publish a pronunciation for the word village.
Video of me pronouncing "village."
Definition of Village
I have yet to publish the definition of village.
I'm sure it won't take too long.
Common use of village in illustrative example sentences
I have yet to come up with a fourth sentence using the word village.
Audio of me saying the sentence:
I have yet to come up with a fifth sentence using the word village.
Audio of me saying the sentence:
I have yet to come up with a sixth sentence using the word village.
Audio of me saying the sentence:
I have yet to come up with a seventh sentence using the word village.
Audio of me saying the sentence:
Usage of Village 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 village.
That doesn't mean it's not high on my list.
Table of Frequency for the Word "Village."
This table lists in descending order the total number of times that the word villageand 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 village, 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
"Village" 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.
"No problem," said his uncle. "Listen: if you need some work - I mean, if you want some money: you know, for your own...whatever - you can work in the store. I need someone to watch it. You can work whenever you want. The thing is: your father: he's got some things to do: some legal stuff now that your mother's dead - God bless her soul. It's nothing you need to worry about, but: who knows how long it's gonna take? You know? These legal things always tend to take a while. Anyway, you can live with your grandmother up in Treblinka, or, you can stay at my place up in Treblinka - either way, you can come and go whenever you want. Here's the key to my house. And here is the key to your grandmother's house. I can give you the store key, too, later, if you want. I don't have much time, you know? I'm always going around, doing stuff, like..." He trailed off. "Anyway, if you want to work, we can make a schedule, you know? So: that's entirely up to you. Like I said, who knows how long things are gonna take? When you get back from your mother's village, you can give me a call - anytime. I'll come pick you up. Hey: do you mind if we stop at the warehouse for a second? I need to pick up some clothes."
In Poland, in those days, rich people never lived very far away. The middle class was not isolated. Poor people were not abandoned. Everybody lived within arm's reach, or, at most, an hour's walk. Villages were close to the town; towns, close to the city. There was communication. People were aware of other people's problems. They didn't care, perhaps, but at least they knew. Rich men could recognize the poor: they had faces. If one of their fancy windows was shattered, they were angry - of course - but at least they understood. They felt the frustration.
Such a project would've required so much money to regulate that, whatever plan was put forth, it was, plainly put, economically unfeasible: there were simply too many poor villagers - according to the new Prime Minister, who, having served as the former Prime Minister's Finance Minister, had been chosen by his party colleagues to make their suffering party look just a little bit better before the Parliamentary elections took place the following year. He was leading a government of 'experts' who claimed it was far easier to block all individual access to coal rather than attempt to regulate its distribution. Instead of being used in village furnaces, the coal that otherwise would have been distributed could be used by coal-fired plants to supplement central power-generating networks.
That's what my grandmother said. She said, "We used to say: it's the end of the world and half of America. Well, that is exactly what happened." She told the story of her grandfather: "In those days, after Yellowstone, very few people could go to America - the Americans didn't want anyone to go there. My grandfather went there four times - five of his eldest children were living there. The last time, when he came back to Poland, he found his wife and all the rest of his children suffering from typhus. They were all in bed or on the floor, moaning and half-conscious. They were twelve in number; my mother was the youngest. My grandfather did everything he could for them, and, realizing that the whole village was sick, he ended up taking care of his neighbors too. In fact, he buried eight of their children. Then he died himself. His family buried him."
In those days, when I was six, seven, eight, and nine, we would travel to Poland every summer. We would stay in a village in lower Silesia, close to the Carpathian mountains. It was your grandmother's village: your father's mother's village. Jesus's mother was beautiful. She was blond. Her own mother was old, but she was also beautiful; she was a peasant. Her father was a poet. Both her parents were very beautiful. Their daughter was beautiful. Their grandson was beautiful. Sometimes we went to Treblinka to visit your grandfather's family, but Jesus's father didn't like it. Jesus's father didn't like to waste his time; visiting his family was a waste of time. Besides, there was nothing to do in Treblinka. It was very dull.
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.
NIKE: Listen to this: apparently, there's this Polish village in the Beskid Mountains. It's been making lace for centuries. Families have their own traditional designs and everything - you know: passed down for generations; this stuff is ancient. Every daughter has to learn this before she turns six or something, before her fingers are too old to learn. So they've been making lace for years - mostly for the church, you know: vestments, lace cloths, whatever - I don't know what you Catholics need. Anyway: times are tough, right? They're always tough when you're in a village. These people are workin' their little farms; they're tryin' to have a good time - but, when the church cuts back on lace - ooh! that's when the trouble starts. So what did these women do? the young ones? They started making stringi. Do you know what stringi are? They're thongs, man. They're makin' thongs! They sell 'em on the Internet. Luka just bought one for his woman.
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.
Partisan fans concentrated around their team's crater. The creativity of their coordinated taunts was mildly amusing. Tatum considered the metaphoric potential. Two rival villages coming together, through an elaborate dance involving large stones, they would settle their long-standing dispute: who is the better village?
Clark humphed. The bulldozer showed up. It pushed the overturned trailer out of the way. The truck squeezed by. A few kilometers down the road, they turned west. Thick, stunted poplars dotted the horizon. By the time they reached the village, the ground was rife with seaberry and dogbane.
The driver quoted a proverb. Shephard turned to Clark. "I think he made it up himself. He says, 'Let your friends feast on the first. Make your enemies toast you with the other.'"
"I didn't want you to fall in front of the villagers. You want to impress them. If I had taken you straight into the desert, you might have been thrown onto the sand. I might not have heard you. The last thing you would have seen before dying of exposure would have been a camel's toe. Is that what you want? To almost make it?"
"You're right," said Clark. "I'm not a ladies' man. I'm comfortable in groups. I split bills. I sweat. I iron my socks."
"The Chinese say the Emperor went to great lengths to please her. He had her entire village re-created with a functioning mosque and a bazaar. Jujube trees were imported. They bore golden fruit. The Uyghur say the concubine didn't care for it. She kept daggers up her sleeves, prepared to strike the emperor at any moment. The Chinese say she eventually fell in love. She bore him children. Whatever the case was, the Uyghur are convinced the Empress Dowager had her eunuchs strangle her to death."
Shephard spotted him. He shouted, "We're going for a trip." Clark sipped from his cup. Shephard came up to him. He said, "I bought a pair of camels. I found a guy with a truck. He'll take us north to the village. From there, we're going into the desert."
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.
(FLETCHER exits.)
ALICE: Boy problems?
KOKOMO: It's nothing.
ALICE: Is he being bashful?
KOKOMO: It's slightly more complicated than that, but I suppose.
ALICE: Boys are always bashful around girls they like. They're even worse when they're in love. It doesn't matter how bold they think they are with village flirts. When they're with a girl they really care about, they're either too coy or too serious.
– ACT I, lines 1364-1368
MS. JACKSON: When were you in Fiji?
LESBIAN: Not too long ago. I stayed in a hut just like the villagers do. It was part of a hotel on a secluded beach. It was absolutely gorgeous. The island is very touristy though - more than some of the others I've been to. The dance I'm thinking of was part of the welcoming ceremony. It occurs to me that despite being technically part of Melanesia, the dances of Fiji have much in common with Polynesian dances. There's that same emphasis on the word and the use of the arms and the hands.
ALICE: Where have you seen Polynesian dances?
LESBIAN: In New Zealand.
ALICE: Is New Zealand part of Polynesia?
LESBIAN: Yes.
ALICE: I didn't even realize.
FLETCHER: You assumed they were all tropical beaches.
LESBIAN: When I was on the islands of New Guinea and New Britain, I saw some very different dancing.
A story book full of short fiction stories. An interesting bedtime mystery. A fairy tale. Science fiction romance. Adult life. Uninspiring gay fiction. Horror.
Grandmother laughed. "I married his son. He was named after his father. His face came from somewhere else - most people suspected the village headman. I liked your Grandfather very much growing up. He was a good boy. I made sure he was the one I saw."
"How did you do it?" I asked. "Did you trick him into climbing onto the roof?"
"By the time my children grow up, that world will have faded. I'm telling you. Try to learn from my experience. Take a freighter to Europe. Cook with a coal furnace. Write a letter with a nib. You will learn something.
"Maybe you think I'm crazy. You think I never lived like that. I grew up on a farm in a poor village. I was the first member of my family to be born in a hospital."
Before Putin left I asked him if a plague had wiped out the rest of the village. He went into a rant about how the other villagers were idiots. The women who had been with me on the minibus had accused me of trying to seduce them or to poison them with chocolates. They were convinced I was here to do the same thing to the kids. They told the parents to keep their children at home until the headman could figure out what to do. I was taken aback. I never thought a box of chocolates could turn somebody into a devil. I knew it wasn't the chocolates. It made me wonder though what would have been their excuse if not that.
My friends kept telling me I was crazy. They said no matter how bad it is in the city at least I have friends. In the village I would have nobody. It was true. I didn't argue. I didn't want them to know what was on my mind. I was thinking what good are friends if they can't protect you. I knew it wasn't their fault.
When Putin came to pick up his grandson, I noticed he was sneaking around the schoolhouse. He had brought the boy to me not out of a sense of fairness, but out of craftiness. He wanted his grandson to profit at the expense of the other villagers. Putin admitted to me as much. Which is why I was surprised to see not just one pupil the next day, but three. It turned out Putin had bragged to his neighbor about how smart his grandson would get just by listening to my ravings. The neighbor had sent his children.
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 village 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 "village." 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 support the "Village" page alive...
If you love women and art...
Michal is importing art from Poland...is he bats?
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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