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Women and Writing
“America is now wholly given over to a damned mob of scribbling women, and I should have no chance of success while the public taste is occupied with their trash.” - Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1855 Things...
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Feminist Film Review: The Bridges Of Madison County (1995)
This film replayed on Australian TV last night, and I watched it again because it came up quite recently in conversation. This was a conversation in feminist company, and I offered Madison County as...
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Can your body posture change your life?
Power Postures Can Make You Feel More Powerful from Wired Can This Simple Trick Stop Athletes From Choking Under Pressure? from PsyBlog; they’re talking about squeezing one fist and not the other. 10...
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The Benjamin Franklin Effect
On the day of my relations’ arrival right before Christmas, the vacuum cleaner conked out. Not a life and death situation, granted, but with the septic tank pump also on the blink, the house was...
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Where are the stories about…
1. People (and not just soldiers) who died unceremoniously of the flu and other diseases during wartime, because I’ve yet to see a soldier come home to his beloved only to find her dead and gone. The...
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On Yawning
When I was a beginning teacher, part of my mentorship required visits to the classrooms of older, career teachers in order to pick up tips, and also (presumably) to hone my own teaching persona by...
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Modern Slavery
Although the term ‘slave’ is used colloquially and loosely to refer to people who are paid less than they should be paid, even if we apply the most literal sense of ‘slavery’ to a situation, that is...
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Choice vs Dilemma in Storytelling
The choice between good and evil or between right and wrong is no choice at all Human nature dictates that each of us will always choose the “good” or the “right” as we perceive the “good” or the...
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The Female Injures Male Trope
I have looked for this particular storytelling device on TV Tropes, where you can find most any trope under the sun, but haven’t yet found this particular romantic plot device. I’m not sure if I’m one...
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Equal Opportunity Nudity
“Nakedness reveals itself. Nudity is placed on display. The nude is condemned to never being naked. Nudity is a form of dress.” - John Berger, Ways of Seeing Because so much religious energy is devoted...
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Writing A Lot Quickly
“Worked all day. Germany invaded Poland today so I suppose we shall be at war tonight.” - Enid Blyton in a diary 1939 * The Faster I Write, The Better The Book? from Roni Loren is about that supposed...
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The Weird World of Reviews
Top 20 Most Annoying Book Reviewer Cliches and How to Use Them All in One Meaningless Review from Blogcritics Books IT HAPPENS TO THE BEST OF US: THERAPY FOR BAD REVIEWS from Writer’s Digest Why Your...
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A Visit From The Bible People
Some years ago a friend of my mother was charged with the task of looking after someone’s cat while the owners were away. Unable to get into the house, the friend of my mother knocked on the door of...
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What to say to the recently bereaved
1. I’m Sorry You’re Suffering, from Persephone. 2. When It’s Not God’s Plan: 8 Things to Say to Grieving Nonbelievers from AlterNet 3. What To Say and Do For The Recently Bereaved at Medium, who...
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Carrying A Camera
I had never carried a camera, despite my parents’ and Rosie’s urgings, arguing — self-importantly — that I wanted nothing to come between me and the ‘pure’ experience. My precious, priceless...
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Time Travel In Fiction
Today we read that the whole purpose of time travel is to change history, either the private history of the character, as in Playing Beatie Bow (1980) by the Australian author Ruth Park, or The Root...
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Camp and Kitsch
I was listening to a podcast recently — I think it was one of the 99% podcasts — when someone in interview started talking about something being ‘camp’ and I realised I have no idea what the word...
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On Fear
Newbie neurons make fear hard to forget How our bodies interact with our minds in response to fear and other emotions from Science Daily “It’s about accepting that you’re mortal” - Extreme sports...
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Links On Body Language
1. A Non-creepy Reason To Make Eye-Contact from Jezebel, in which a study uncovers that we don’t even like it when strangers ignore us. 2. The difference between male and female body language is stark...
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Once it was pointed out, it was obvious.
1. That bright yellow movie posters = ‘big independent film’. 2. We use the plurals ‘heads’ and ‘tails’ when flipping coins, but there’s only ever one head and one tail on any one coin. Here’s why. 3....
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