Arlene Miller's Blog, page 18

Busy Writing…And Not

I am very busy these days, but how much time do I spend writing?

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

I tend to stay away from too many “biographical” posts, but this is one of those.

It is often on my mind that my last grammar book came out in September 2018. That is a long time ago! Then I realize that my dating memoir came out in 2021, and I don’t feel so bad. And I wrote a romance novel last November for National Novel Writing Month. I am in the editing/second draft stage, but it is taking me forever. Weeks go by without my touching it. Why?

I am not up to my usual writing speed. This could be partly because, after all,  how many grammar books can one person produce? However, I have been planning for years to write a business-writing book. Where is that book? Nowhere  much– yet — although I have a few scribbles written in preparation of writing it. 

Since my first book came out in May 2010, and I have 14 finished books, I am a little behind my former speed. And I seem to be so much busier now, even though I had a full-time teaching job when I wrote my first book, and a 60% teaching job after that through 2015.

I intended to write one book when I started. Then, I just don’t know what happened. The book did quite well, especially for an independently published book. Maybe that spurred me on:

The Best Little Grammar Book Ever: That was going to be it. Correct Me If I’m Wrong: A friend of mine had a dream that I wrote a book by that title, so I decided to do just that.Beyond Worksheets: My student teacher told me I should put my grammar lesson plans into a book, so I did that.The Great Grammar Cheat Sheet: An even littler book was needed for those who wanted some fast tips.The Best Grammar Workbook Ever: I heard workbooks did well. Best idea I ever had!!!!!I Wrote a Book. Now What? I thought I would put all the knowledge I had gained abut publishing your own book into a publishing guide. I have since taken it off the market because things changed over at Amazon several years ago, and it wasn’t doing well enough to spend time updating it. Girls of a Feather: My first novel, which I wrote for National Novel Writing Month in 2011 (called Trashy Novel in its first iteration, but I renamed it with a new cover and released it again later).The Best Little Grammar Book Ever, Second Edition: Grammar changes, so I updated that first book.The Best Little Grammar Workbook Ever: I thought  a smaller workbook was in order, one to accompany the second edition of the grammar book.Does Your Flamingo Flamenco? So many confused word pairs, so I thought this would be a useful book: affect/effect, lie/lay, loath/loathe, etc.The Best Little Grammar Collection: I wanted a boxed set, so I put the preceding three books together in one binding. You cannot actually have a boxed set if you have print on demand.Fifty Shades of Grammar: This blog began at the beginning of 2013, so a few years after it started, I put 50 of my favorite posts in a book. Time for another one!To Comma or Not to Comma: A book on punctuation was definitely needed.When Life Hands You Frogs: The dating memoir friends had been urging me to write.

And next, my romance novel, if I can get it into shape. The only thing I consistently write these days are these blog posts, which have now been going weekly for nine years. So if you have any ideas or topics you would like to read about, please let me know! Or, of course, if you would like to write a guest post.

So, why don’t I have any time to write? The answer is that everyone has time to write if they prioritize it. Why don’t they prioritize it? Lots of reasons: fear they won’t succeed, life getting in the way. You name it. 

But thinking about it, I do have a lot to do, although much of it is my own doing. (And I am not complaining. My sales are good, so I am doing OK — for now.)

Since I own a home and live alone (with my dog), I have to do everything myself. Thank goodness I do not have to mow or trim the bushes, but I do have to do the laundry, the cleaning, the grocery shopping, the cooking (or whatever you call my brand of food preparation!), and whatever I need to do to keep the outside looking nice.I have to take care of my dog. Feed her, walk her, take her out, take her to the vet, make sure she has food, treats, poop bags. I don’t consider myself a social person, and I tend to be an introvert, but I belong to all kinds of clubs, political and book-related. And I am on the board of two of them as secretary. So I have two board meetings a month (some virtual, some not) that I have to take notes at and then prepare final reports. Then I have three other meetings a month, virtual and in-person. In Florida, where I live now, you need “people” to do things: I have the air conditioning people (coming next week), the bug people (just came), the water treatment people (just came), and then I had the floor people clean the tiles and the carpets last week.My daughter and son-in-law live down the road, ten minutes away (which is why I am here in the first place), so  sometimes I watch their two dogs or socialize with them.I am expecting my first grandchild, so I am knitting (and shopping).I have a publishing conference to attend next weekend, a board retreat in October, and another conference I haven’t decided about in October.I have a son to visit in California.I do like to have lunch with friends on occasion!I get lots of e-mails, mostly business, and spend time on social media, both business and not, every day. My book business includes keeping the records, checking sales, making sure no one hacks my bank accounts. I work on these things an hour or two every morning. I love to read, so I have to set aside time for that.Then there is exercise, which I try to do every day.Then there is shopping for necessities, like paper towels, etc., which takes time whether online or not.Maintenance: car repairs, getting gas, hair, nails, doctors’ appointments.VolunteeringTV (gotta do some of that)

It’s a lot, isn’t it? And I am lucky I am able to do all of it, and most of it, I really enjoy! And I promise that romance novel will be out “soon,” and that business writing book will follow!

ESL Lessons

I am happy to present this post by Lorraine Segal, excerpts from her memoir, Angels and Earthworms.

After surviving the ’50s and ’60s, as well as twenty years in toxic academia as a professor, Lorraine Segal was inspired to start her own business, Conflict Remedy, happily teaching, coaching, blogging, and consulting around workplace conflict transformation. She is addicted to reading novels and enjoys walking in beautiful Northern California, where she lives with her wife. Her cartoon muse, Bookie, insisted that she write her memoir, Angels and Earthworms. For more information go to https://BooklingPress.com

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ESL Lessons

The Novice (teacher)

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

            I had the opportunity, after a couple of semesters of instruction under my belt, to get actual teaching experience at the American Language Institute (ALI), an intensive language program for foreign students improving their English skills for later university studies. The ALI hired graduate students in the TESOL (Teaching English as a Second Language) Master’s program.

            I will always remember my first five minutes of teaching in front of a real class. The teacher asked me to prepare a short lesson on adjective clauses. It took me hours to study adjective clauses and prepare a short script (which I wrote out word for word) with an explanation, examples to write on the board, and a short exercise. I had only been up at the board for five seconds when a student asked a question I couldn’t answer. I had no idea what to do. I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me.

            All these years later, I know that if someone asks a question I can’t answer, I just calmly say “Hmm. Good question. I’ll have to check on that and get back to you.” But at the time, I thought my teaching career had ended before it started.

            Teaching at the American Language Institute, I also learned about the art of writing on the blackboard. You weren’t supposed to fully turn your back on the class, so there was a precise and twisted angle to your body, so you could keep an eye on the class AND write on the board AND keep talking at the same time.

 

Chalk Triumphant

            I was also fascinated with chalk and how to use it correctly on the blackboard. This was before white boards or smart boards. I remember an adjective clause exercise I created that was all about chalk, and ended with one of my characters creating a sculpture called “Chalk Triumphant.”

            This obsession was reinforced by my mentor teacher when he observed me teach. He was taking notes the entire time he was observing me, and I couldn’t imagine what he was writing at such great length. At the end of the class, he gave me his notes and he hadn’t written anything! Instead, he had made a detailed drawing, complete with arrows and arcs, of the correct angle at which to hold the chalk so it wouldn’t squeak!

 

Overworked and Underloved

The worst part of being an adjunct (freeway flyer) was the uncertainty, overwork, and constant commuting. It was like running a marathon all the time. I never knew which classes I would actually teach because the college administrations could cancel them without notice and not pay me anything if they didn’t enroll enough students. I was always taking on more work than I could really manage, hoping that the right number of classes would come through. And I still had to prepare for all the classes even if they were later cancelled.

For example, one semester I was working six days a week. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I taught at Laney College in Oakland in the morning, and then went to City College in San Francisco in the afternoon, about an hour and a quarter commute, and then back to Laney at night. Other days, I went to City College and then Contra Costa College, which was in San Pablo, forty minutes north of Oakland.

I never had Spring Break because different schools had their vacation in different weeks. And I couldn’t afford to take summers off.

One semester, I took on a Saturday class at City College because if another class had canceled, I wouldn’t earn enough to live on. It was a brutal schedule. If I thought about how long it would be until my next day off, I couldn’t function. I became very ill at one point from overwork and stress. And I spent as much time commuting as I did teaching.

During the seven years I was an adjunct, I taught at seven different schools, including City College of San Francisco, Golden Gate University, Laney College in Oakland, Contra Costa College in San Pablo, St. Mary’s College in Moraga, Adelante Adult School in Berkeley, and Albany Adult School, in Albany just north of Berkeley. I loved teaching, but being an adjunct was an exhausting way to earn a living.

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25 of the Weirdest Phobias

Phobia – from the Greek phobos, meaning fear.

Many of us, probably most of us, have phobias. I have spheksophobia, the fear of wasps. I am sure I have several more as well. There are hundreds of phobias. Some are common and well known. Others appear to have simply been made up and are more sensationalist phobias, but I am sure at least someone somewhere suffers from each of these phobias.

This is not anywhere near a complete list, but these phobias are certainly unusual:

Allodoxaphobia- Fear of opinionsAnablephobia- Fear of looking upAsymmetriphobia- Fear of asymmetrical thingsCathisophobia- Fear of sittingChirophobia- Fear of handsConsecotaleophobia- Fear of chopsticksDikephobia- Fear of justiceEpistemophobia- Fear of knowledgeGenuphobia- Fear of kneesKoinoniphobia- Fear of roomsLeukophobia- Fear of the color whiteLevophobia- Fear of things to the left side of the bodyMelophobia- Fear or hatred of musicNomatophobia- Fear of namesOmphalophobia- Fear of belly buttonsOptophobia- Fear of opening one’s eyesPanophobia or Pantophobia- Fear of everythingPhilosophobia- Fear of philosophyPhronemophobia- Fear of thinkingPteronophobia- Fear of being tickled by feathersSitophobia or Sitiophobia- Fear of food or eatingTheatrophobia- Fear of theatresVerbophobia- Fear of wordsXylophobia- 1) Fear of wooden objects. 2) ForestsZemmiphobia- Fear of the great mole rat

 

Phobia implies an irrational fear. There are some things that most of us are afraid of to some extent:

Antlophobia- Fear of floodsAtomosophobia- Fear of atomic explosionsAviophobia or Aviatophobia- Fear of flyingCancerophobia or Carcinophobia- Fear of cancerEnochlophobia- Fear of crowdsEremophobia- Fear of being oneself or of lonelinessFelinophobia- Fear of catsGelotophobia- Fear of being laughed atGerascophobia- Fear of growing oldHerpetophobia- Fear of reptiles or creepy, crawly thingsHoplophobia- Fear of firearmsLilapsophobia- Fear of tornadoes and hurricanesNosocomephobia- Fear of hospitalsOphidiophobia- Fear of snakesSocial Phobia- Fear of being evaluated negatively in social situationsSpectrophobia- Fear of specters or ghosts

Episodic Memoir in a Flash

Image by yogesh more from PixabayI am delighted to present this guest post by author and journalist SHERI GRAVES.

 

Sheri Graves is a writer and editor with decades of experience, starting with over 42 years as a reporter and copy editor for The Press Democrat in Santa Rosa, CA. Her first novel, Deep Doo-Doo , won the 2015 National Indie Excellence Award for Crime Fiction. She taught memoir writing for seven years and is now a freelance memoir-writing coach. She also does freelance research, writing, and editing from her home in Santa Rosa.  Check out her book on Amazon.

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The biggest mistake most people make in writing memoir is to try to write the whole story-arc of their life all at once. That’s a gigantic chore and one that likely won’t end well.

It is much easier on both writer and reader if your life story is broken down into individual essays of no more than 1,500 to 2,000 words each. Actually, it can be as short as 500 words.

This memoir writing style is called “Episodic Memoir” or “Flash Memoir” and is a way to keep the reader engaged. Who is your reader? Family, friends, anyone of any age?

Don’t waste time in the beginning by setting the stage for the story to come. Many a reader falls asleep during the setup and never actually gets to the story itself. Do mention the date or at least the year this event took place; work it into a sentence casually.

Say you want to write a story about the time you went on a charter boat and came home with a 22-pound salmon. Here’s a gripping tale than can be told in exciting action-writing by opening in the middle of the catch:

“The fish fought violently for its freedom, dragging me back and forth, port to starboard, starboard to port, as it repeatedly swam under the belly of the boat. I thought my arms were being pulled from my shoulder sockets.”

One or two more short paragraphs of the battle, continuing to build tension, will make a thrilling opener for this memoir. Then, in the middle of the action, you pull the reader away from the scene to do the setup:

“I began to wonder how I had gotten myself into such a predicament. Slip-sliding across the deck while other fishermen scurried out of my way, I remembered that seemingly innocuous dinner conversation a couple of nights earlier, on Father’s Day 1992, when Tom mentioned he was planning to go salmon fishing on a charter out of Tiburon.”

Here is where you insert crisp dialogue:

“Ah, you’d love it!” Tom said with a roaring laugh as he slapped his meaty hand on the tabletop. “Come with me!”

“But I have never been fishing in my life! I have never baited a hook. I have never cast a line into the ocean. I don’t even have a fishing pole,” I said.

“Don’t worry about that,” he assured me. “I’ll help you. I have poles and line of different weights. We’ll get bait on the way to the dock. I’ll bait your hook, and all you have to do is drop it over the side. I’ll measure out the depth. When a fish grabs the bait, just pull him in!”

Now you return to the battle with the salmon:

“Yeah, I thought. ‘Just pull him in!’ HOW? Who would ever think a salmon could be stronger than a human?

I was out of breath when the fish decided on a different tack. He began swimming from bow to stern and stern to bow, making me run the length of the boat over and over again until I kept stumbling, sliding, and occasionally landing flat on my butt.

“Want me to help?” Tom yelled as I scrambled past him one more time.

“No!” I growled in my loudest voice. I flashed him the dirtiest look I could muster.

Here you insert two or three paragraphs about Tom—when, where, and how you met, various succinct details about your friendship. Then you return to the battle with the fish and wrap it up quickly with you reeling in the catch after a 45-minute fight. You write about the boat workers taking, weighing, and cleaning the fish before placing it into a plastic bag with your name on it and dropping the bag into an ice chest.

You finish off the story with two or three paragraphs about how exhausted yet exhilarated you felt, how a cold beer (name the brand) tasted so good after the battle, how Tom smiled broadly  in approval, and how you did it all over again and went home with two fresh-caught salmon. Be sure to say one weighed 22 pounds and the second was just over 15 pounds. Throw in a mention about the weather and the waves and how wobbly your legs were when you finally set foot on land again.

This format will work with just about any episodic memoir, even when there is no thrilling battle in the story. There is a moment of tension somewhere in that memory, or the event wouldn’t seem important enough to write.

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Mondegreens: What Did I Hear?

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

Remember when you were in elementary school, and the first person in the class whispered in your ear, “Miss Watson is skinny. Pass it on”? And by the time the last person in the class heard it,  the sentence had changed to, “Your mother wears Army boots”? I believe that game was called Rumor. Well, that is sort of what a mondegreen is: misheard words. Before we continue, let’s differentiate between mondegreens and malapropisms.

Malapropism – Something that is pronounced incorrectly. Mondegreen – Something that  is heard incorrectly,

Most mondegreens seem to be song lyrics because they are listened to, but usually not seen and read.  But words, idioms, and phrases can  be misheard and repeated  incorrectly too.

If you are unfamiliar with the words to our national anthem, you might interpret the beginning as, “Jose, can you see . . . .” 

Here are some examples of mondegreens: The person is saying or singing the correct things, but the listener hears something else.

chest of drawers (it’s a bureau for you youngins) – heard as Chester Drawers (who is he???)intents and purposes – heard as intensive purposesnipped in the bud – heard as nipped in the butteuthanasia – heard as youth in Asiait’s a dog-eat-dog world – heard as it’s a doggy dog worldSistine Chapel – heard as Sixteenth Chapelstatute of limitations – heard as statue of limitationsCreedence Clearwater singing, “There’s a bad moon on the rise” – heard as, “There’s a bathroom on the right”Jimi Hendrix singing, “Excuse me while I kiss the sky” – heard as,“Excuse me while I kiss this guy”Bob Dylan singing, “The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind – heard as, “The ants are my friends; they’re blowin’ in the wind”Maria Muldaur singing, “Midnight at the oasis” – heard as, “Midnight after you’re wasted”The Beatles singing, “The girl with kaleidoscope eyes” – heard as, “The girl with colitis goes by”Chumbawumba singing, “I get knocked down but I get up again”  – heard as, “I got no towel; I hung it up again”Crystal Gayle singing, “Don’t it make my brown eyes blue” – heard as, “Donuts make my brown eyes blue”Juice Newton singing, “Just touch my cheek before you leave me, Baby,” – heard as, “Just brush my teeth before y0u leave me, Baby”Elton John singing, “Hold me closer, tiny dancer ” – heard as, “Hold me closer, Tony Danza”Sir Mix-A-Lot singing, “I like big butts and I can not lie” – heard as, “I like big butts in a can of limes”Queen singing,”Kicking your can all over the place” – heard as, “Kicking your cat all over the place”CeeLo Green singing, “I guess he’s an Xbox, and I’m more Atari” – heard as, “I guess he’s an expert, and I’m more an attorney”Eddie Money singing, “I’ve got two tickets to paradise” – heard as, “I’ve got two chickens to paralyze”

Origin of the word mondegreen?

The term was coined in Harper’s Bazaar in November 1954.  In an article, Sylvia Wright recalled a childhood mishearing. When she was young, her mother would read a poem to her. The words were, “Ye Highland and Ye Lowlands / Oh where have you been? / They have slain the Earl o’Moray / And laid him on the green.” Wright, however, heard the last line as “And Lady Mondegreen.”

 

A Little Quiz on Confusing Words

Image by Beverly Buckley from PixabayHomonyms, homophones, and other confusing word pairs…Here is a little quiz. The answers are provided, of course!

I need to add a (copywrite/copy right/copyright) page to my new book.

Come by my house (anytime, any time) to pick up the book.

We (past/passed) by your house on our way to the party.

The (principle/principal) rule of the game is creating the most words in the shortest amount of time. 

My brother is afraid of dogs (because of/due to) being badly bitten by a chihuahua as a child.

The valuable vase broke because I (accidently/accidentally) knocked it over. 

My grandparents (immigrated/emigrated) from Ukraine to the United States. 

Those things you read about me in the newspaper are false and are (libel/slander).

The homecoming parade always (proceeds/precedes/preceeds) the game.

 Since the new traffic light was installed, the (amount/number) of accidents has greatly decreased.

I have all six issues of the (bimonthly/semimonthly) community magazine from last year.

The puppy ate all (it’s/its’/its) food and begged for more. 

Amanda was the (soul/sole) student who got an A on that calculus test. 

Always buy (inflammable/nonflammable) pajamas for babies and children. 

I was so proud when my son (lead/led) the parade as the drum major.

After thinking about it for a while, I found I was not (averse/adverse) to your plan after all; I think it is a great idea.

Boston is the (capitol/capital) of Massachusetts.

(Almost/Most) everyone is going on the field trip.

The (foreword/foreward/forward) of the book is written by a famous musician.

It has been (awhile/a while) since I have seen you.

Scroll down for the answers . . .

 

 

Keep going . . .

 

 

A little more . . .

 

 One more time (You wouldn’t need to do this if I could figure out how to use a quiz maker!)

 

I need to add a (copywrite/copy right/copyright) page to my new book.

Come by my house (anytime, any time) to pick up the book. (Any time means “some amount of time”: Do you have any time this week?)

We (past/passed) by your house on our way to the party.

The (principle/principal) rule of the game is creating the most words in the shortest amount of time. (Principle is a rule; principal means “the main one.”)

My brother is afraid of dogs (because of/due to) being badly bitten by a chihuahua as a child. (Because of is not used after the “is” verb. Due to means “resulting from.” I can’t really figure this one out either!)

The valuable vase broke because I (accidently/accidentally) knocked it over. 

My grandparents (immigrated/emigrated) from Ukraine to the United States. (Immigrate to and emigrate from.)

Those things you read about me in the newspaper are false and are (libel/slander). (Libel is written. Slander is spoken.)

The homecoming parade always (proceeds/precedes/preceeds) the game. (Proceed is to move along; preceed isn’t a word.)

 Since the new traffic light was installed, the (amount/number) of accidents has greatly decreased. (Number is used for things that can be counted or plurals — number of accidents, amount of danger.)

I have all six issues of the (bimonthly/semimonthly) community magazine from last year. (Bimonthly is generally every other month; semimonthly is twice a month.)

The puppy ate all (it’s/its’/its) food and begged for more. (No such thing as its‘.)

Amanda was the (soul/sole) student who got an A on that calculus test. (Sole means “only” — except when it is a fish or the bottom of a shoe.)

Always buy (inflammable/nonflammable) pajamas for babies and children. (Inflammable actually means the same as flammable and can catch fire.)

I was so proud when my son (lead/led) the parade as the drum major. (Sound the same, but lead is in your pencil — maybe.)

After thinking about it for a while, I found I was not (averse/adverse) to your plan after all; I think it is a great idea. (Adverse means “unfavorable” and is rarely used with people — sometimes the weather conditions are adverse.)

Boston is the (capitol/capital) of Massachusetts. (The only capitols are the actual buildings.)

(Almost/Most) everyone is going on the field trip. (If almost makes sense, use it. )

The (foreword/foreward/forward) of the book is written by a famous musician. (Remember it has word in it.)

It has been (awhile/a while) since I have seen you. (Awhile can be replaced by “for a while.”)

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GRAMMAR DIVA NEWSI hae pretty much given up complaining to Facebook. It has been 30 days since my account was taken over by hackers, so they are supposed to permanently take down my personal page and business page. Not much I can do about it. Facebook wouldn’t even take down the gaming videos that someone put on my business page. Facebook doesn’t care about hacking. They care only if content goes against their Community Standards. I am not being snide. They actually imply this. I am using my new personal page, and perhaps when (and if) they take down my old business page, I can start a new one — losing my 4000+ page likes. Oh, well… I am on the Board of FAPA (Florida Authors and Publishers), so I will be attending and working at their conference, FAPACon in Orlando July 29 and 30. If you are interested, go to  https://myfapa.org/fapacon/ 

 

 

You Say Hello. I Say Adios.

I am happy to present this guest post from Lorraine Segal…

After surviving the 50s and 60s, as well as twenty years in toxic academia as a professor, Lorraine Segal was inspired to start her own business, Conflict Remedy, happily teaching, coaching, blogging, and consulting around workplace conflict transformation. She is addicted to reading novels and enjoys walking in beautiful Northern California, where she lives with her wife. Her cartoon muse, Bookie, insisted that she write her memoir, Angels and Earthworms. For more information go to https://BooklingPress.com

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You Say Hello. I Say Adios.Image by press and from Pixabay

I went to Mexico as part of a program called Women, Healing, and Social Change. This group of women from all over the United States. came to study Spanish, herbs, feminism, and liberation.

One beautiful example of intercultural differences came when we took a day trip to a tiny pueblo (village) called Tlayacapan. While I was walking down a dusty back street, a slender local housewife, wearing a faded housedress and apron, hair in a bun, approached me from the far end. As we moved closer, we both smiled, and as she passed me she suddenly said, “Adios.”

Her remark disconcerted me. But I realized, after some thought, that our connection lasted for only a few seconds. So, saying “goodbye” logically made just as much sense as “hello.” And adios could also mean “go with God,” blessing me on my way. It had simply never occurred to me before that someone would address the end rather than the beginning of these extremely short interactions. And truthfully, if someone I walked past like this in the United States had said “goodbye” to me, I would have thought they were nuts. Being the “crazy gringa” in Mexico, where, despite my best efforts, I made frequent amusing or offensive mistakes in communication because of gaps in my cultural or linguistic knowledge, changed forever how I view these situations. I knew that different styles didn’t mean either of us was wrong!

©Lorraine Segal 2022 Excerpted from her forthcoming memoir, Angels and Earthworms: an unexpected journey to love, joy, and miracles. 

 

 

Losing Facebook

Image by Marlon Romanelli from Pixabay

I don’t know how many of you were my Facebook friends, or how many of you liked or followed The Grammar Diva Facebook page, but I assume that would be some of you (yes, I intentionally used the past tense). I had over 2600 Facebook friends and over 4000 Likes on my business page. I was, to say the least, a frequent Facebook user and poster. 

On Tuesday, May 17, I woke up to find five e-mails from Facebook. These had arrived at my inbox between 2 and 3  a.m. The first two were  verification codes to reset my password.  The third was a message saying that my password had been reset. They gave me this information: Windows, Edge browser, IP address, and place. I don’t have Windows, I had never heard of Edge, it was not my IP address, and it said Orlando, which is not my location. I guess Facebook wasn’t suspicious. The next e-mail said I was removed as administrator of my business page, and they gave me that same information about the origin. The last e-mail said my video was ready. What video???? Possibly the video that was objectionable enough to shut “my” account down. Oh, and the next day I received notification of a $250 charge to my credit card through Paypal for Facebook ads . Thanks, hackers. So I needed to shut down my credit card, change all my finance-related passwords, my Apple password,  my Amazon password (I got an e-mail that someone  in Viet Nam had tried to get into my Amazon account and knew my password). And shortly after all this, I got a few e-mails about friends I had accepted. You can see their profile pictures on those e-mails. One said “Power to Palestine.” These were not people I knew or would request to be friends with.

I could not get into my account. Since that time, here is what I have done:

I tried to contact Facebook. Of course, there is no phone number or contact information.I tried to contact Facebook through Twitter. Facebook Security on Twitter has no means of messaging them. I messaged some Facebook thingie and they never answered, of course.  They provide links for help. Ha!All their “helpful” links assume you can get into the account. My account was no longer visible to anyone on Facebook, although the business page may have been. I went in on someone else’s account to report what had happened. No response. I have changed my Facebook password a zillion times. Nothing. At first it would not accept my phone number and said it was not connected with any Facebook account. I finally found the “Shake Your Phone” option. You can shake you cell phone and report a problem. I have probably done that 50 times. I get a big message that says “I disagree with your decision.” I assume this means I disagree with whatever they found objectionable enough to shut me down — except it wasn’t me and I don’t know what it was anyway.  My point is that I was hacked and I want my account back. They give you 30 days and then they permanently remove the account. It says that it usually takes “a little more than  a day” to review the issue. What is a little more than a day???? That was, incidentally on May 20. They do say that because of Covid, they have fewer people to review things and it may never get reviewed. And once they decide, you can’t appeal.  But then, the new TV ad says they have 40,000 security people to keep us safe.I got another e-mail later on asking me to verify my identity by sending a scan of my ID. I looked up on Google whether this was legit; does Facebook ask for ID verification this way? and Google entries said yes, so I sent a scan of my driver’s license.  I got an e-mail back saying they received it.  I looked at the e-mail requesting this a day or two ago, and it really looked questionable to me. A couple of weeks ago I received an e-mail from Facebook saying that some other e-mail address, which they provided me, had been verified and removed from my account, so now I could log in on my e-mail again. That e-mail made no sense, and I still could do nothing. I tweeted about my issue and saw many people had the same exact problem with no response at all. A couple of people offered to help, but I didn’t want to pay for a subscription and I didn’t trust the other one. I even went so far as to look up people on LinkedIn who worked in Facebook security and try to connect with them. I messaged my issue. I think they may have connected, but they didn’t answer my questions.A colleague of mine knew someone who might be able to help, but I e-mailed and got no response. Finally, I gave up and opened a new e-mail account and used it to open a new Facebook account. I started to collect friends and decided to just have people I knew. I still had no business page, but I posted a few business-related posts. Oddly enough, those posts traveled over to my old business page, although my new personal page did not show that I was connected to my business page — and I could not post directly on my business page. A couple of days later, Facebook notified me that they thought I was using multiple accounts, so they shut down my new account. My old account is still visible when I try to change my password, although no one can get in, including me. But the new one is completely gone. I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Facebook has lots of complaints like mine, but they never respond to the BBB. I am considering writing Facebook a certified letter. They do have an address on their e-mails. It says their address is One Facebook Way. Oddly enough, the Better Business  Bureau lists their address as One Hacker Way, which is more like it. 

Losing Facebook also means that in addition to losing my personal and business pages, I lose Messenger and Instagram, both of which I used. 

What else can I say? If you would like to go into your account and report this situation, I would appreciate it.

 

 

History of the Ampersand ( & )

Image by Stampf from PixabayAlthough the ampersand is frowned upon when used in writing, it appears in many company names, title, ads, etc. Oh, and probably in passwords too! Here are some facts about this useful symbol.   1. The ampersand symbol began back in the first century when Roman scribes wrote in cursive­. These scribes wrote the letters e and t together forming the Latin word et, which means “and.” 2. Over time, these letters written together came to represent the word and, which was carried over into the English language. 3. In the early 1800s, the alphabet song included & as the twenty-seventh letter. To avoid the confusion of ending the alphabet saying “X, Y, Z, and,” the students were told to say “X, Y, Z and per se and.” (The Latin phrase per se means “in itself.”) Over time,  per se and was corrupted and became the word  ampersand. (When a new word is formed from mistakenly pronouncing another, it is called a mondegreen).  4. The invention of the ampersand is usually credited to Marcus Tullius Tiro, the  slave and secretary to the Roman politician Cicero. He invented a shorthand writing system in 63 B.C. called Tironian Notes, which included the ampersand. 5. The ampersand appears in all languages derived from Latin, including German, French, and Spanish. 6. The French translation for ampersand (&) is “esperluette.” 7.  We don’t know exactly when this symbol was first written down, but an early example has been found as graffiti on a wall in Pompeii, preserved by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79AD.———————————————————————————————————– I don’t know how many of you followed by Grammar Diva facebook page, but it is at the moment gone — or at least not being updated. Long story with Facebook that I will tell you about in next week’s post. I am still seeking guests posts from anyone who has anything to say that would interest my readers. E-mail me at either info@bigwords101.com or bigwords101@yahoo.com. 

The Importance of Fairytales

Image by jplenio from PixabayEnjoy this guest post by author JL Jusaitis!

Jeanne Jusaitis (JL Jusaitis) has an MA in Education with a focus on
Curriculum. She lives in northern California, and is the author of
three books for young readers: Lilah Dill and the Magic Kit, Journey
to Anderswelt, and Journey to Autremonde. Her poems and stories are
published in ten anthologies. Jeanne draws from her memories of
growing up in northern California, and many years of teaching and
traveling. See her books on Amazon.

The Importance of Fairytales

            Did you look at this title and say, “That’s an oxymoron”? I’m not surprised.

            Most people think of fairytales as make-believe stories told to children . . . not so important. Bruno Bettelheim, the famous child psychologist and author of Uses of Enchantment, would argue that “fairytales are important tools in helping children to find meaning and purpose in their lives. The fairytale confronts the child with basic human predicaments. Characters are typical rather than unique, and plots are clear and simple. By listening to or reading fairytales, children can begin to work through their own problems in a subconscious, symbolic way.”

            The definition of fairytale that I am using here is synonymous with folktale. Every culture has its stories that have been passed down from generation to generation, either orally or eventually in written form. When I speak of fairytales, I’m referring to the Western European tradition made popular by the Grimm Brothers, Hans Christian Anderson, and the stories of the French court. These stories have common themes and archetypes that can be found in tales all across the globe. You’ll see many of the same stories repeated in different cultures, with just a few tweaks that make them different. Many times the characters are animals that have been personified. For example, did you know that Goldilocks was once a silver fox?

            As a middle-grade teacher, I found that my students had a love of CS Lewis, Tolkien, Disney, and Star Wars, yet very few of them had been exposed to the original archetypes and themes that had come right out of the fairytale tradition. I planned an integrated unit that was cross-cultural, where they compared and contrasted the fairytales that they read, notating archetypes, magical objects, and themes. Out of this unit came some wonderful original student-generated writing and art employing the themes and archetypes of the stories they’d been reading.

            Now, as an author,  I have found myself going back to those tools to write two fantasy novels for middle grade and young adult kids: Journey to Anderswelt and Journey to Autremonde. The heroine is on a quest, the wise or kind helper shows up, and the witches and wizards are sometimes a threat to the realm, but might surprise the reader. Of course, what’s a fairytale without magical objects and talking animals?

            I feel so lucky to have had storytelling grandparents and parents. Fairytales and folktales were read or told to me at bedtime or shared by the fireplace with family. From those stories I’ve learned perseverance, kindness, and optimism and have nurtured a rich imagination.

            FYI . . . it’s never too late to start reading fairytales. They’re not just for kids. Try it; you’ll like it.