Month: August 2005

As I lay here in bed, partially propped up on many pillows, being rocked by a panting dog, a fan blowing across me in an attempt to cool off and my new wireless card keeping me plugged to the ‘net, I am visiting various websites. I’ve been keeping an eye on Paperback Writer lately due to her recent unwanted thrust into the media’s dark version of the limelight.

At any rate, as I lay here in bed, I go to visit her site. The current article is about writer’s spaces and/or retreats. The post is well written (duh) and coming from a fellow writer, it is especially appealing since, after all, she understands the generic mindset of a writer (as opposed to a college professor studying behavior patterns of indigenous linguistic unit coordinators).

If you’re 100% happy with your writing environment, then you’ve already found the perfect retreat. If you’re not, or you find you’re not writing well, look around you. Is there something getting between you and the work? Pay attention to what you do as you write. What do you find yourself staring at and listening to when you’re not writing? Is it keeping you from concentrating? What distractions can you can remove from your work space?

Typically I write while sitting at one end of the couch; my legs either crossed (part yoga position, part ‘Indian’ style) or stretched out; a cat on the arm of the couch, her butt on my shoulder; at least one dog within reach either by foot or hand; my laptop on a cart/mobile table, its side section covered in a precariously balanced pile of ‘stuff’; and my ever present electric fan.

I have done some creative writing at the laundrymat, in the truck waiting for Lorna, at my brother’s kitchen table and various other places inbetween. But I have never been able to be creative (in terms of linguistic unit coordinating) here in bed. I believe it is partially because of my anti-insomnia training that has me uncomfortable doing something while in the place where I sleep. It is also because I can never seem to prop everything up well enough that I am comfortable.

What about you? Where do you do your best writing? Where do you do your worst? And where would you absolutely never be able to write?

Doing a little research for dialect/colloquialisms for up Nawth, in particular the Philadelphia area.

I asked for assistance on the Forward Motion forum and was directed to an interesting site, The American Dialect.

For giggles, I did a Google search for ‘Philadelphia dialect‘ and came up with more than I thought I would.

From there I went to a site called Evolution Publishing and their page for Philadelphia dialect.

From there I found the site called Slanguage. If you need a short bit of language bits from various places (not just US), head there. Especially if you need a laugh. For example, in Philly, a Tellypole Wire is the place you throw your old sneakers. However, this site is heavy on the ads.

Also from the Philadelphia dialect is a link to an article titled Philly Speak. Part humor, part rant, part serious, the article has a good view on linguistic Philly.

Back to the American Dialect Society, they have 3 well rounded pages of links.

I am thinking of perhaps not doing a Philly thing, but go back to my original idea, and that was to have the character speak Pennsylvannia Dutch. Lorna’s Dad speaks that type of German, but it is their English version that I am interesting in.

Yeah, maybe that is where I will go. Maybe. I dunno.

I am looking into various stringed instruments that might have been portable enough for constant travelers to carry. One is the Gusli, in particular the 7-stringed version known as the winged gusli. It is a Russion Psaltry, used for folk type music. I did find one modern woman who plays the lap version of the gusli in Russia. Olga Shishkina lives in St. Petersburg, Russia. I listened to some of her music, available from her site. It sounds like a dulcimer, except it is plucked, not hammered or strummed.

Another instrument I am considering is the Japanese Shamisen. I have listened to a lot of music with them and have wanted one for years. However, it does tend to be played almost painfully high pitched. I have not heard the Yamatogoto played, but it looks less wieldy and fragile. If I had a choice, I’d probably buy a Yamatogoto over the Shamisen, basically because it is a native Nippon instrument, vs being imported from mainland Asia.

Another Japanese stringed instrument, the Biwa, was used by Biwa Hoshi, kind of a minstrel. This is my next one to investigate.

The problem with all of these instruments is that I can’t seem to find any sizes!!! Some of the pages have images, yes, but unless there is someone or something in the image to compare it to, I haven’t a clue if it would work. I don’t need to know how to play the thing, just the basics (strummed vs picked) and its size!

At any rate, I may just make one up since it is for a fiction manuscript. But that would be FAR too easy! 😳

The wooden flute one character will use and the small hand drum another will use is much easier to fake dissemble in the book. Another character plays a harp while at home, but that is rather awkward on the road. Perhaps she could use a different kind of psaltry.

Okay, well, anyway, back to work I go, hi ho, hi ho!