“If the parmesan cheese suffered in the earthquake it must have also effected the Parma ham.”
Oh no! I hadn’t even considered that. It was enough when I heard up to 10% of the cheese had been harmed. Now I had to worry also that there would be a less ham. And in fact, according to an article in the UK newspapaer, The Gaurdian, one farmer lost 100 pigs when a building housing them collapsed. (Read more here.) Italy has had its share of troubles this year to be sure. Between the floods on the Cinque Terre coast, the monetary/budgeting issues and now the earthquake I am sure the people there feel like they can’t catch a break… or perhaps are being picked on. On Saturday I received an email from a friend I met there last summer. She told me that she and her family live in that area and have been dealing with all of the debris and ongoing aftershocks. I know how scary this can be. In 1989 I was living in the bay area during the Loma Prieta earthquake. In fact, I was actually at the World Series game when it struck. That was scary enough… but it was the ongoing fear of aftershocks which put the biggest strain on my emotions. We convince ourselves that we are in control of our lives…but natural disasters like these fly in the face of that assumption. They show us that things can change in an instant. Fortunately, my friend and her family are fine…. shaken (metaphorically and literally) but fine. Life will go one, as it did after the floods…. As it did after the earthquake I lived through. Even the parmesan production will continue and will eventually resume normal levels. The question is what we do with the emotions which arise from challenges like these. When I have stood at the precipice of this truth, where I am reminded that very little of my life is actually under my control, I have had to decide if I would live in fear, building walls and protection around myself or live each moment as fully as possible. Ironically, in my third novel, Molto Mayhem, it is only when my main character, Lucia, arrives in Italy and is thrown out of the protective cocoon that she has built for herself that she begins to find the peace that comes from letting go and experiencing each minute of her life. And to me, this makes perfect sense…. Because there is no place like Italy to experience the true pleasures of life; the beautiful sound of language, the attentiveness of a good friend and the true wonder of a hunk of 24 month old aged Parmesan cheese.
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“It’s a huge hot dog.”
“Are you kidding? It’s obviously a huge… you know… hanging from the ceiling.” While I let your imagination figure that out let me discuss some business. Next week, to celebrate the one year anniversary of my blog, I will be giving my book, Betting Jessica, away for free on Kindle. Tell your friends… it is a great way to snag some summer reading. Okay, so now that I’ve gotten that out of the way… back to my overhear. My husband and I are definitely not art experts; not that we don’t appreciate art, but some of it, especially of the modern variety, leaves us scratching our heads. So I had to chuckle when I heard the couple having a conversation not unlike a recent one of ours. The funny thing, though, was the rest of the conversation: “A tube?” “Noooo.” “A wand?” “Nooooo… seriously? Are you kidding me?” "Well than what is it?” (Said in an annoyed tone of voice). Innuendo is funny that way. What might be obvious to many can be lost on a few. In the romance genre there are varying levels of heat (another innuendo meaning sexuality). Description and use of sexual relations can range from the erotic to the sweet. Since my writing is sweet, innuendo can play an important role. The problem is that, although I might know where I am going with language my readers who I have been thrilled to note are as far away as Australia and Italy, may have no clue what I am talking about. Cultural relevance has a strong impact on innuendo. So that hot dog (which, by the way, is a uniquely American term) might not bring to mind the same universal image as sausage. Cultural relevance goes far beyond nationality, however. In a white paper entitled, Culturally Relevant Physical Education in Urban Schools: Reflecting Cultural Knowledge, by Sara B. Flory and Nate McCaughtry, they define culture as: local to the social situation, including socioeconomic status, language, family structure, violence and crime, personal and public safety, immigration issues, race, ethnicity, and religion. I would also add age to that definition, as this too influences how a person defines the world around them. It is obvious when writing for children for example, that adding age-appropriate words goes beyond length and complexity. Great children’s authors incorporate significant aspects of lifestyle into their writing (e.g. referencing video games, or school environments). The trick as writers is to understand our audience and what they find relevant… while at the same time not becoming so specific that other readers feel left out. I felt sorry for the woman who couldn’t understand her partner’s reference. I wanted to explain to her that if she simply walked a few blocks down to the Rose Festival she could experience a corn-dog for herself and see how much it looked like that piece of art hanging from the ceiling. |
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June 2020
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