Tag Archives: Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge

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Raise your hand if you read the fantasy genre!

There are countless things I love about these sorts of stories, but I have to admit that some of the names in them are pretty hard to get rolling off of my tongue.

There are often massive linguistic differences between names from real-life cultures I may not be well-acquainted with and names that were made up by the authors themselves.

The former have pronunciations that make sense once you understand a little bit about the language they came from and how vowels and consonants can and can’t be joined up together in it.

This isn’t always the case for the latter unless you have an author like J.R.R. Tolkien who creates entire languages for his worlds. While I definitely don’t judge anyone who skips that step when creating a fantasy world, it can make pronouncing the names of the characters in it trickier.

So I tried to keep this list pared down to names that trip me up due to them not being formed by strict rules of pronunciation.

• Daenerys
• Zeddicus Zu’l Zorander
• Tekilashan
• Numuhukumakiaki’aialunamor
• Kylarral-ten
• Tvlakv
• Drizzt Daermon N’a’shezbaernon.
• Zoenen Hoogstandjes

I found most of these names in this Reddit thread if anyone is interested in reading more.

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This week’s topic was tricky for me because I’m a minimalist. I don’t own a lot of physical stuff, and almost everything I do own is used regularly and heavily.

When I go on a trip somewhere or want to treat myself, I don’t buy knick-knacks to commemorate it. Instead, I do things like:

• Take lots of photos.
• Try new experiences.
• Order delicious dairy-free meals and snacks that are either unavailable at home or a bit too expensive to indulge in regularly.
• Create vivid memories by soaking in every moment of the experience.
• Buy a rare t-shirt, hat, socks, or some other article of clothing I happen to need that will also remind me of the good time I had there since all clothing wears out eventually.

Case in point, a few months ago I splurged on a box of vegan Boston cream donuts.

The bakery that makes them goes out of their way to source ethically produced ingredients and pay their staff fairly (which is wonderful!)

When you add all of those increased costs together, this place has to charge more than a typical bakery in order to make ends meet. So I view getting treats from them as a delightful detour from my typical diet.

The cool thing about that is how much more I appreciate them than I would if ate sugary donuts every single day of the week. And it makes my dentist happy, too.

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You all might laugh and shake your heads when you read this response. I don’t like to assume that everyone is familiar with the same stories or genres, so I’ll explain my answer a bit for anyone who needs it.

In an early scene of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, one of the main characters is a young girl who has just been sent to a strange, old house far away from home to protect her and her siblings from the bombing of England that occurred during World War II.

While playing hide-and-go seek in that house, she ends up in a closet that doesn’t have a back wall to it. Instead, she pushes through the many winter coats stored in it to discover there’s a mysterious  snowy forest behind them. That scene was pure magic to me when I first read it in elementary school.

I may be a rational adult now, but I still reach out and touch the back of every unfamiliar closet I use just in case there’s something back there other than the usual particle board.

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Last summer I went on an Alaskan cruise with my spouse, parents, brothers, sister-in-law, and nephews.

I was fascinated by the flora and fauna of Alaska. It’s nothing like Ontario.

My parents had been curious about taking a cruise for years thanks to the stories they’d heard about other cruises my spouse and I had been on. Mom had also been wanting to see Alaska for herself for quite some time, too. We were thrilled to find a cruise that fit everyone’s schedule by picking it out about eighteen months before we actually sailed.

My mom hugging me. I believe this was a day we were in Glacier Bay.

It was a week that I’ll remember for the rest of my life. We saw whales swimming in Glacier Bay and seals resting on small pieces of ice that floated by our cruise ship. Visiting various towns in Alaska on port days was fascinating, too. We skipped over the touristy stuff to explore the history of that state and look at the gigantic crows and beautiful flowers that don’t exist or are quite different where we all live.

It was so much fun to watch our nephews, then age five and twelve, react to all of the new experiences they had during that trip, from the formal dinners in the fancy dining room to Alaskan wildlife and more.

Our older nephew was old enough to be pretty independent as far as setting his own social schedule goes while we were on board but still young enough to think it was cool to spend time with family. Twelve is such a great age.

They even had fancy, dairy-free desserts for me in the main dining room!

The younger nephew loved the magic show we saw one night of the cruise. He also loved telling us all sorts of interesting facts about the Titanic and how we were not going to sink like it did because we have computers to navigate a ship and plenty of lifeboats to save everyone now in case of emergency.

Photo credit: Jim Schoch

Alaska is such a picturesque part of the world. I highly recommend visiting it if or when you’re able to. These pictures are such a small slice of something that everyone should experience for themselves.

My brothers and oldest nephew. Other relatives are more camera shy, and I respect that.

It’s so much fun to look back at the photos everyone took of this trip and think about the good times we had. May there be another extended family adventure in our futures at some point in the years to come.

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Something tells me I may not be the only Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge participant to pick this answer, but I have to go with The Princess Bride as my “go to” movie for a pick-me-up.

It’s a whimsical fairy tale  that has aged pretty well over the past thirty-three years and doesn’t require the audience to do any heavy thinking.

There are so many quotable pieces of dialogue from it. I will admit to occasionally using them in conversations that are in no way related to fairy tales, magic, finding your one true love, or fighting off Rodents of Unusual Size.

I mean, where else would a character like Inigo Montoya apologize for trying to kill someone in the middle of a sword fight but still go back to their murderous ways immediately?

This isn’t something I’ve seen repeated quite the same in any other fantasy film. There’s something truly magical about these characters and their quests, noble and otherwise.

And, yes, the book version is just as much fun if any of you haven’t read it yet and were curious.

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If not for Covid-19, this list would be more adventurous, but I’d bet you’re all thinking the same thing. I hope that Long and Short Reviews does a similar topic again next year so I can share my love of things that don’t require physical distancing and other safety measures.

My life revolves around the gifs and pictures shared below:

Weightlifting (and other fitness stuff like yoga and brisk walking that doesn’t have cute gifs attached to them).

Writing blog posts, short stories, book reviews, and attempted novels. (Still trying to finish those novels).

Reading everything I can get my hands on…

Including all food/medication labels and the fine print on menus so I don’t accidentally eat or drink something that will trigger my allergies. I’m very grateful to have this information, but sometimes I do wish I could be carefree about food like some folks are.

My life these days also includes a lot of time spent in nature. I love people and animal watching. You can learn so much about them by quietly observing what they do.

I also love walking through forests and other calm ways of passing the time. (Higher risk outdoor activities will need to wait until this pandemic is under control. I don’t want to get into an accident and need medical care when the hospital are still so full).

There’s something so relaxing about hearing the leaves whistle together or see small animals like squirrels running on the grass.

I’m also sharing this picture with all of you because it’s giving off Rapunzel vibes as I’m sure some of you are experiencing with your own untrimmed hair. How many other WWBC participants have hair that grows quickly, too?

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In light of the protests happening in the U.S. and across the world, everyone I recommend today is a black or African-American writer. I stand with Black Lives Matter and the other protestors in their fight against racism, violence, and oppression.

May we all one day know a peaceful and just word.

I chose these specific works because of the vivid imagery in them. All of these writers excel at creating unforgettable worlds with a few carefully-chosen words.

That’s the sort of writing that grabs my attention immediately and makes me want to read everything else that author or poet has ever written.

Poems

I, Too, Sing America by Langston Hughes

Mortality by Paul Laurence Dunbar

Caged Bird by Maya Angelou

The Blue Dress by Saeed Jones

A Poem for Ella Fitzgerald by Sonia Sanchez

Short Stories

Everyday Use  by Alice Walker

Africanfuturist 419 by Nnedi Okorafor

The Devil in America by Kai Ashante Wilson

The Space Traders by Derrick Bell

The City Born Great by N.K. Jemisin

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I wish I were better at:

• Singing.
• Cooking and baking fancy, restaurant-quality food. I’m decent at throwing together a regular meal or dessert, but I’d love to amaze someone someday.
• Making a great first impression. (I have a bit of social anxiety).
• Keeping conversations going with people I don’t know.
• Navigating unfamiliar areas. My sense of direction isn’t the best if I don’t have familiar streets or landmarks to guide me.
• How to repair appliances, vehicles, furniture, toilets, etc. when they stop working.
• Knowing when people are flirting with me.*

*I generally mistake flirtation for platonic friendliness. Thank goodness I fell in love with someone who was completely straightforward about his romantic interest in me. That was exactly the communication style I needed.