A Tribute To Maya Angelou

Posted: May 28, 2014 in Journalism, Living and Life, Reflections, Social Activism, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
2

Dr. Angelou, reading her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” at President Clinton’s 1993 inauguration.

As I booted up my laptop today and logged onto the Internet from my hotel room in Germany, I was greeted by the most depressing news: author, poet, activist, and just plain wonderful human being Dr. Maya Angelou had passed away. Dr. Angelou, who had been teaching at Wake Forest University since 1982 and was a prolific writer and poet throughout her life, had been experiencing health problems recently and had had to cancel several scheduled events because of it. She was 86 years old at the time of her passing.

Immediately I felt  a horrific sense of loss. I never met Dr. Angelou, nor have I read as much of her work as I’d have liked to. But I remembered very vividly reading I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings one summer for school a few years back, along with The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Both books impacted me very deeply and I remember feeling powerful emotions reading Dr. Angelou’s book as I read the events based on her early life experiences, sadness and sympathy and anger and several others depending on what story she was relating to me through her words. It left a very deep impression on me.

And so when I heard that Dr. Angelou had died, I immediately felt the loss that people around the world are probably feeling at this moment. I took to Facebook to write that the world has lost a guiding light in Dr. Angelou, that her passing was swift and painless, and that her memory, words and deeds will last for centuries. But somehow I felt it wasn’t enough, so I decided to write this post about her as soon as I could. Hence this post you are reading now.

Dr. Angelou was an influence for good throughout the world. She worked her way up from a variety of jobs, including a cook, prostitute and nightclub dancer, to become a writer and journalist. Active in the Civil Rights movement, she worked with both Dr. King and Malcolm X, and has also influenced the feminist movement. Her writing has been hailed as “a work of art that eludes description”, and helped bring memoirs from African-American women writers from the margins of literature to the forefront. She made on average eighty public appearances a year, even as she reached her eighties, and was given numerous doctorates and awards, including reciting a poem of hers at President Clinton’s inauguration in 1993, and she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama in 2011. In addition to poetry and autobiographies, Dr. Angelou wrote plays, screenplays for TV and film, essays, cookbooks, children’s books, spoken word albums, and also did acting and directing work on stage and in film and TV.

But most importantly, she gave people a voice. Dr. Angelou gave voices to many African-Americans, women, and others who had been pushed to the margins of society. Caged Bird, probably Dr. Angelou’s most famous autobiography, has been translated into many different languages. This is not only a testament to the popularity of the book, but also to how relatable it is to people of other nations and cultures, how many different peoples can relate to Maya’s own struggles and see it in themselves, or in their people’s struggles. Some have even credited it with allowing black women writers to finally have center stage in the world of literature, instead of on the side where for far too long they’d been ignored and underappreciated.

President Obama said a few hours after the news came out of Dr. Angelou’s death that she reminded us “we all have something to offer”. Whether it be in words (written or oral), in action or just in being there for someone, we all have something to offer. Dr. Angelou offered many a voice, a way to speak about the struggles of the underappreciated and marginalized. Her words resonated with many throughout her lifetime, and I’m sure that they will continue to do so for years to come. And as the years go by, as Dr. Angelou’s works are read and dissected and discussed and debated by readers of all kinds and stripes, as movie adaptations and TV specials and new stories and poems recreate her for a new generation, and as the occasional politician or news commentator tries to appropriate her legacy for some political cause or another, I hope that one fact shines through it all, that she gave the world her voice, and allowed others to speak through it and with it.

And speaking of having something to offer, I decided on the spur of the moment to create a tribute video to Dr. Angelou. It’s not very good, and at the very most it showcases that I’m slowly getting more comfortable with video-making on computers (a valuable skill these days, it seems). But the song I put in, “Bye Bye” by Mariah Carey, is heartfelt and speaks to the emotions of many, and I think it shows my sincerity. What do you think?


You know. about five or six days ago, Dr. Angelou sent out this tweet:

I think this tweet says a lot about Dr. Angelou, because it seems that her words were definitely sent by somebody to make a difference in the world.

So to all those who were close to Dr. Angelou in life, I wish you my deepest condolences. To those who only knew her through her words, her reputation, or through her actions and influence in the world, you probably feel the same as I and many others do: like we’ve all lost someone important. And to the good Dr. Angelou herself, wherever you may be, I hope you’re doing well and that you know that your legacy will continue to influence and help us all for years to come. Thank you.

Character Interview: The Snake Himself

Posted: May 24, 2014 in Character Interviews, Living and Life, Novel, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
4

Snake

Guten morgen, meine Anhanger der Angst!

I think I said “Good morning, my Followers of Fear” in German. I was teaching myself German, but the craziness of the semester kind of ended my lessons abruptly. Anyway, these past two weeks I’ve been doing character interviews for my upcoming novel Snake, out June 10th. The first interview was with the two investigators leading the hunt for the Snake. The second interview was with the Snake’s girlfriend, Allison Langland. And today, we have the Snake himself! How exciting! Let’s hop right into it, ja?

Notes and Stats:
Sex: male
Age: 18
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian
Birthday: January 2
Eye color: blue
Hair color: Dark brown
Religion: If he had to describe his religious beliefs, they’d probably align with Deism.
Affiliation: None
Special Powers/Abilities: Physical strength, a very high IQ, knowledge of various ways to kill people as well as deep forensic knowledge, adept at languages and chemistry, experience with training guard dogs and with reading body language.
Notes from the Author: The Snake hasn’t changed much from my original conception of the character as a serial killer whom people might root for. At the same time, I had to really work hard to make him a believable character, because I had to make it believable that he was normal until the events of the novel turned him into a serial killer. I like to think that in the end it worked out very well, though.
Oh, and another interesting thing about the Snake: I never reveal his name in the novel. Not once. I know what it is, but I find all sorts of ways so that I can avoid using it. I did that because I wanted to show that any one of us could be like the Snake: one day an average person, the next day transforming into a killer through circumstance and necessity. It is a scary concept when you think about it, because you realize that it is possible that could happen to just about anyone. Including you.

RU: Hello, Snake.

Snake: Hello.

RU: Wow, you didn’t ask me who I was or how the heck you ended up in Berlin. That’s a first.

Snake: I have an idea.

RU: …Okay. So Snake, how goes the search for Allison Langland?

Snake: I always knew that I loved Allison. I only realized how much my love for her went when I heard her kidnapped over the phone.

RU: Wait, you were on the phone with her when she was kidnapped?

Snake: In that moment, I realized how much she meant to me, how much she lit up my life and filled me with such joy. And I felt such a loss at the thought that something might happen to her. Like a great deep hole had opened up in me where she belonged. And every second that I’m not with her, that I don’t know if she’s okay or if something horrible is happening to her…it’s agonizing.

RU: I can’t imagine. You didn’t become a killer just then, right?

Snake: No, that happened later. After I witnessed something horrible.

RU: Well, don’t reveal it here. There are some people I’d rather not hear that particular story just yet.

Snake: I think you just partially confirmed my theory about who you are.

RU: Well, I hope you turn out to be mistaken. Anyway, where are you now in your search for Allison?

Snake: I can’t really be sure how many people I’ll have to go through before I find her. I’m now hunting a man named Veretti. He actually saw Allison, if my last victim is to be trusted. If he yields valuable information, then I’ll be one step closer in my search for her. That’s all I care about, really. Finding Allison. And I won’t let anyone get in my way.

RU: Well, I’ll let you get back to it. Good luck.

Remember, Snake comes out June 10, and will be available in paperback and e-book. And if you’d like to find out more about Snake before that date, you can read the other interviews or you can check out the Snake page here. And if you’d like something to tide you over until the book actually comes out, Reborn City’s e-book is still available for $0.99 on Amazon and Smashwords. Better download it before June 1st, or the price will go up a dollar.

That’s all for now. I’ve got a trip to a museum in a few hours. Auf weiderschein, as they say here. I hope I can write again before I come back!

My Time In The Paris Catacombs

Posted: May 21, 2014 in Living and Life, Scary Stuff, Tales from Abroad
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
2
Jones, Jones, let me borrow your bones

Jones, Jones, let me borrow your bones

 

Oh, I’m so excited to tell everyone about my trip down into the catacombs! As you may well know, the catacombs occupy the prime spot on my list of haunted places to visit before I become a ghost myself. And I got in this morning! It’ll make a great beginning to a new sub-category of posts, “Tales from Abroad” (I figure with all the stories I have to tell, a category was needed for it).

CIMG2795

Well, this morning I woke up early. I’d heard that the lines for the catacombs were insanely long, and I decided to get there early. So I got dressed, ate breakfast, and headed to the Metro. Right across from the exit from my stop, was the entrance to the catacombs, with a small line already forming. I rushed to it and got in before anyone else could. It was about fifty minutes before the catacombs opened at that point, and it was also the time when I made new friends: Andrew and Maria, an engineer and sketch artist from Florida whom I talked to while waiting in line. Subjects ranged from WWII history to our travels to the history of the catacombs themselves to our individual aspirations and dreams. During the tour I often saw them and we took photos of each other at various points along the tour.

When ten o’clock hit, the doors opened and we went in. By that point the line had snaked around the block and out of sight (average wait time is around two hours apparently. So remember kids, if you’re in Paris and plan to tour the catacombs, arrive as early as I did so you can get in quickly). The tour was self-guided (audio guides cost extra, and tour guides are only available to groups), so you basically walked down a circling staircase to a first room that dealt with the history of the catacombs (originally mines and underground quarries, later the home of six million of Paris’s dead as corpses were moved from cemeteries to underground for health reasons) and the geological history of the catacombs. Later you moved into the catacombs proper, a series of passageways and tunnels (only a section available to the public; anything else, you’d have to find a cataphile, a catacomb enthusiast who can access illegal entry points and go down to explore).

Andrew and Maria in the Kingdom of the Dead.

Andrew and Maria in the Kingdom of the Dead.

It was very interesting, being down there. You could see niches where rocks were carved out or where things could be stored, as well as metal gates blocking the way to passageways not open to the public. In two places there were these amazing sculptures of beautiful building that a worker from the original catacomb project in the 18th century had carved from memory, recreating his home in the Balkans. There was a deep well that went even deeper into the ground, and a series of archways and niches set along an incline, as if to let us now we were entering sacred ground.

Can you say new author bio pic?

Can you say new author bio pic?

And then came the best part of all. Over a doorway, written in French and carved with precision was the warning, “Beware, for you are about to enter the Kingdom of the Dead”. And what a kingdom it was! The walls were lined with the bones and skulls of so many dead. And even though we were told by signs not to use flash or touch the bones, many did anyway. I won’t say whether or not I did, but I will admit that I am aware of what bones feel like when you hold them (bones from 300 years ago feel like light, brittle rocks in your hands). Some of the bones were arranged in interesting shapes, such as representations of crosses, men, or churches. Others had been arranged to help support different structures, such as around this column. Or this well, which strangely made me think of a portal to Hell rather than a catch for water. And plenty of coffins, crypts, and tombstones.

The bones went on for ages and ages. Every moment I was in a sort of heaven (so to speak). As you can guess, I am quite the lover of the macabre, so this definitely got me excited. If you look at each of the photos carefully, you’ll see me with such glee and excitement on my face.

But sadly it had to end. And end it did, with the doorway to the land of the living coming all too soon. There were a few more sights to see, including some lovely vaulted ceilings, and then we had to resurface, taking another winding staircase up. All told, I spent about an hour and a half down in the catacombs, twice the normal amount estimated for a tour, and I covered two kilometers and over 200 steps going up and down. And I would do it again if given the opportunity, because it is just a wonderful place to be. At least, for me it is.

Afterwards, I went to the gift shop (yes, they have a gift shop) and got a couple of souvenirs to remember the trip below by (there’s only so much photos can do, and for obvious reasons I couldn’t take the bones with me, even if I was the kind of guy to try to take bones with me). I got a small booklet about the catacombs for easy reference in case of a story (of which I have one or two ideas for), a sticker for my laptop, and a skull ring, something I’ve always wanted for myself as a horror author.

How you like the sticker and the bling-bling?

How you like the sticker and the bling-bling?

I’m not sure if I actually witnessed any ghosts. I certainly don’t remember seeing anything out of the ordinary, except possibly some evidence of cataphiles in a restricted section. But I certainly had a great time down there, and I’ll definitely treasure those memories of that hour and a half for as long as my memory works (though I’m not sure sometimes that it does now). It certainly has become my favorite part of Paris.

Well, that’s all for now. I’ll try to upload the rest of the photos of that night when I get the chance. In the meantime, I’ll send Andrew and Maria the photo I took of them as well as the link to this post. Have a good night, my Followers of Fear. I know I will.

BOO!

“The Murderer’s Legacy”: Finished

Posted: May 17, 2014 in ideas, Living and Life, short story, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

You know, I said I wasn’t going to do much writing while I was abroad. Well, I may have been a little naughty and wrote a short story in about six days or so. Wasn’t planning on it, it just sort of happened that way.

You see, I had this idea while in London for a short story (and I’ve had so many ideas for stories while abroad, but that’s a discussion for another post), and on the ferry from Portsmouth to Normandy, I had a lot of time on my hands, about four hours worth. Most people were sleeping or working at the last minute on assignments. I didn’t feel like doing either, and there was Wi-Fi, perfect for searches on random facts for a story.

So, I finished writing and editing an essay for an anthology I’d heard about, and then I started on “The Murderer’s Legacy” (that’s the working title, anyway. I may change it when I edit it). It’s about a man living in a magical version of Victorian England who is accused of murdering his wife and is about to receive the worst punishment imaginable. The story follows his attempts to figure out who actually killed his wife and why as he is lead off to his punishment.

I got about two-thousand words in on Monday, when I started the story (like I said, I had a lot of time on my hands). I might’ve finished the story sooner, but as I was writing it the story sort of evolved on me. At first the magical elements were minimal, but then they started becoming a bit more widespread. And then I started having my main character try to figure out who might be the real murderer, and I added more dialogue, and even up until the last minute, I was making changes to the story that I’d never intended to put there.

Well, I guess Stephen King would approve. He said in his nonfiction book On Writing that one should write a story as one unearths an artifact, starting with one small piece revealing itself and then dusting and picking away to find what else is there (that’s what he advises, more or less). But still, at nearly fifty-eight hundred words, I had no idea I would unearth so much!

Anyway, I hope that when I get the chance in a few weeks (or months), I’ll be able to do a really good job of editing this story. Despite being a lot longer than most magazines like to accept, I like to think it has potential. And I want to see what more I unearth when I go through the editing phase, maybe see if I can make my main character a bit more of a bastard, someone you’d want to hate, as well as add more explanation into the world the characters inhabit and go into some of the more principle characters themselves. And hey, maybe I can add a whole new scene to the beginning.

Though if I do that last one, I may need to do a lot of rewriting and editing. Well, if the story calls for it. And it’s not like I haven’t done that before with a story.

Well, it’s late here in Bayeux, and I better head off to bed. Big day tomorrow and all that. I’ll try and write some more if I can. As they say here in France, bon nuit, my Followers of Fear.

Character Interview: Allison Langland from “Snake”

Posted: May 17, 2014 in Character Interviews, Living and Life, Novel, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Snake

Bonjour from Bayeux. I’m in France right now, and if you’ve been keeping up with that blog on OSU’s website I posted about a while back, you know how I’m doing. But enough about France. Last week we met the two investigators who are hunting for the Snake. If you’ve read the blurb for Snake (and if you haven’t, click here now), you know the Snake’s trying to save the woman he loves. It’s a messed-up way to save the woman he loves, but it’s why he’s doing it. And today I whisked her out of the book for you to meet. So let’s get this interview underway!

Notes and Stats
Sex: female
Age: 17
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian
Birthday: March 29
Eye color: Blue
Hair color: Red
Religion: she doesn’t really subscribe to any religion. To her, if there’s a god, then it’s beyond her understanding, so why bother thinking about it?
Affiliation: None
Special Powers/Abilities: None
Notes from the Author: The idea for the story of Snake started with a serial killer who people would root for, so I needed a good reason for the Snake to kill. That’s where Allison came in: she was meant to be the reason. With her kidnapping, the Snake realizes that his love for her is deeper than he imagined, and that facilitates his transformation into a killer. However, I didn’t want her to be one of those crybaby girls who always scream and cling to the nearest guy the moment trouble hits. So I made sure her personality had a certain fire to it. Even when she’s in the throes of terror and trauma, that fire shines through, and that’s the reason I love her, as well as why she’s able to grow in this novel.

RU: First off Allison, welcome to France.

Allison: Who the heck are you? And how the heck did I end up in France?

RU: They always ask me that when I bring them for interviews. Allison, tell me about what’s happened to you recently, starting with the night you were kidnapped.

Allison: I was accompanying my dad to some social. He’s a doctor for the rich, so he gets invited to some really big parties. When he doesn’t have a date, I usually end up going with him. That’s what happened that night. I decided to get away from the party for a little bit, but on the way back from the bathroom, I overheard something. The party was at this hotel and I passed this conference room, and…

RU: Take your time. What happened next?

Allison: I heard a friend of my dad’s, a Christopher Camerlengo, talking about something. He’s the head of his own mafia family, though he wouldn’t tell you about it unless he wanted to knock your teeth in. Anyway, it sounded like they wanted to kill somebody. I recorded it on my phone, but they saw me outside the door. I got out of the hotel and tried to get away, but they found me and grabbed me. They tried to get my phone too, but it fell into a drain.

RU: What happened afterwards?

Allison: I was kept at a warehouse for a while, but then they moved me to this…phone sex service they own. They said they’re going to let me live if I behave myself and don’t rock the boat. I don’t know how long they plan to keep me here though. I’m kind of scared…and disgusted. I mean, I’m operating the phones all day and through most of the night. You would not believe what these people who call in make me pretend to do.

RU: I think I’ll use my imagination on that one.

Allison: Well, I’ve got a plan. Someone called in today, a policeman. I think he could help me get out of here.

RU: Oh. Well, good luck.

That’s all for now. Join me again in seven days when I’m in Berlin and I speak to the Snake himself! It’ll either be the best interview I’ve ever had with one of my characters…or we won’t see any sequels on account of my being dead.

And remember, Snake drops on June 10th. It’ll be available in e-book and in paperback from Amazon and then later on will be uploaded onto Smashwords, and I’ll be counting down the days till it comes out. In the meantime, Reborn City is still on sale, so check it out on Amazon and Smashwords while the sale is still going on.

Until then, au revoir!

Character Interview: Angela Murtz and Blake Harnist from “Snake”

Posted: May 10, 2014 in Character Interviews, Living and Life, Novel, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0
One month away.

One month away.

I may be in Europe right now, but that doesn’t mean I’m not taking a break! My novel Snake is coming out in a month, and I thought I’d sit down with Blake Harnist and Angela Murtz, two characters who are on the investigative team that is searching for the protagonist, to get their thoughts on the case.

Notes and Stats
Sex: Angela Murtz is female, while Blake Harnist is male.
Age: Murtz is 33, while Harnist is 29
Race/Ethnicity: Murtz is African-American, while Blake is Caucasian.
Birthday: Murtz is October 12 and Harnist is March 17
Eye color: Both are brown eyed.
Hair color: Murtz has dark-brown hair, Harnist is blonde.
Religion: Murtz is Baptist, while Harnist is Methodist.
Affiliation: Murtz is an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, while Harnist is a detective with the New York Police Department.
Special Powers/Abilities: Both are trained law enforcement officials with several years of experience. In addition, Murtz is a criminal profiler who has profiled numerous dangerous criminals, her latest being the New York Mafia Killer.
Notes from the Author: When I decided that I would have the viewpoint of the investigators hunting for the protagonist, I also decided that I’d like a Mulder/Scully pairing for my investigative team. So that led to the creation of Murtz and Harnist. They’re both two very different characters, but they make a good pair and work well together. Of the two though, Murtz is probably the one I placed more emphasis on because she profiles the Snake and is one of the first to really figure out who he is, though I did try to give them both equal time on the page.

RU: Hello! Welcome to London, Agent Murtz and Detective Harnist.

Harnist: London?
Murtz: How the hell we end up here?

RU: So you guys are currently looking for the New York Mafia Killer. His body count’s up to…what now?

Harnist: Three. Thomas Luiso was just found dead in his mistress’s home.

RU: What can you tell us about the killer?

Murtz: At this time we believe he may be former Russian military with ties to the Russian mob. He’s probably spent a number of years in or around New York, and he’s probably employed as a cab driver.

RU: If he has ties to the Russian mob, why is he going after members of the Camerlengo family?

Harnist: The Camerlengo family is probably the most powerful family in New York. He may be trying to destabilize the organization by killing certain members off. If he continues to do so, the organization might crumble from internal problems or from other organizations trying to muscle in on Camerlengo territory.

RU: And what if I told you I know who the killer is?

Murtz: You what?
Harnist: Who is it?

RU: I’m not saying. That’s all for now, folks. Join me in about a week when I’ll be in France and when I interview Allison Langland, who has a very important connect to the Snake.

And in the meantime, if you would like to learn more about Snake, you can click here to read an excerpt or see the book trailer. And remember, Snake drops June 10 on Amazon, and available for e-book and paperback. Get excited for it, because I already am.

And a reminder, Reborn City is still on sale throughout the month on Amazon and Smashwords. Get it now, because it’s the best time to do it.

Until next time. Cheerio!

Leaving Tomorrow For Europe

Posted: May 5, 2014 in Living and Life, Progress Report, Reflections
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
4

I can’t believe it’s already upon me. I mean, I’m just about all packed up, I’ve written numerous posts about it here and elsewhere, and I’ve got my passport and plane tickets and everything else (I think. I always forget something. Hopefully that won’t happen this trip, and if it does hopefully it’ll be something easily replaceable).  I’m still coming to grips with the fact that it’ll be happening. I feel like I’m in a novel, about to go through a wardrobe or be taken by cyclone or get in a blue police box and travel to some fantastical place only glimpsed in dreams, a place where history comes alive and romance is possible (I wish) and new adventures await at each and every corner.

But it is happening. My dad will pick me up later today and take me to his place for an overnight so he can drive me to the airport in the morning. I’ll stay in Toronto the latter half of that day waiting for my flight, and then I’ll take a red-eye to arrive early morning in London* to meet up with some of my fellow study-abroad goers and one of our teachers, where we’ll take a bus to our hotel and…well, from there it’s pretty open. Anyway, it’s happening, as hard as it is to believe. I’ll be in Europe till the 29th, and I’ll be experiencing everything and anything while I’m there.

*If God forbid my plane disappears over the Atlantic and CNN devotes all its time and energy to making a big deal out of very little information, I swear I will come back as a ghost and haunt the people in charge of CNN until they actually start acting like a news channel. I was already planning on becoming a ghost, but now I have something to haunt!

You know, it’s hard to put my finger on what exactly I’m looking most forward to. Is it visiting these museums, or places where battles or atrocities actually happened? Is it seeing Titus Andronicus at the Globe Theatre, or visiting the Paris catacombs? Is it taking a million photos and coming up with a thousand ideas for novels and short stories? I have no idea. I’m looking forward to just about all of it.

Well, I’ll be coming back with plenty of stories to tell, I’m sure. I’ll probably make several posts about the trip too. However, you can get these stories sooner by checking in regularly to my OSU-provided blog, which I will update in each new city we stay in (we’re going to be in London, Bayeux, Paris, and Berlin, by the way). And if for some reason that link isn’t working, you can find the blog at u [dot] osu [dot] edu [slash] ungar [dot] 19. I promise, there will be plenty of photos and stories there for me to share with you.

And don’t worry, I’ll be posting some other stuff on this blog while I’m away. After all, Snake‘s coming out in a month and five days. I’ve got to advertise for that (and I plan to, as only Rami Ungar can). And of course, if you’re really desperate to read something by me while I’m gone, or more likely you’re looking for something new to read, Reborn City‘s e-book is available for $0.99 throughout the month of May. You can check it out on Amazon and Smashwords any time this month, and get a great discount when buying it. And if you love it or hate it, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment or write a review letting me know. I love feedback, no matter what sort it is.

All for now. I’m going to go through my apartment and make sure I’m not forgetting anything important that I have to take with me. It’d suck if I forgot something important, wouldn’t it? Have a great day, my Followers of Fear.

Spring Semester 2014: Post-Semester Wrap-Up

Posted: May 4, 2014 in Living and Life, Progress Report
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
0

Well, I got my final grades in for spring semester. Can I just say, about time! I was worried I wouldn’t be able to post about this until I got back from Europe. But in they are, my grades, so I can now tell you my impressions of this past semester and what I’m hoping to get from the next one.

Well, to say the least, this past semester was dominated by preparing for my study abroad trip. Besides the obvious meetings with the people in my group, orientations on health and safety, and applying for numerous scholarships (of which I got three and I have a couple of people I have to thank for that, including teachers and wonderful donors), almost all of my classes were devoted to preparing for the trip. Part of taking the WWII Study Abroad Trip is that I have to pass certain classes in order to go with everyone. I’d taken one of the required classes and one of the optional classes in previous semesters, so I had four more classes to get through before I went abroad. These classes were American History from 1921-1963, in which I got a B, French American Relations Through the Years (B+), a special French study course to learn basic French (these sort of classes you get either a “Satisfactory” or “Unsatisfactory” grade; I got the former), and a History Research Seminar focusing on WWII (I got a B+).

I have to say that while all of my classes were interesting and fun (usually), my favorite was the American History one. The teacher was so passionate about the subject matter, and he was fun to watch as he told us about everything from the Roaring Twenties to Truman’s abilities (or lack of them) as President to the rise of the nuclear family and the beginnings of the civil rights movement. That class also had the most interesting books, including one I used for research into a short story, and another two I decided to keep (you never know when they might come in handy). But each of the classes had something that made them special. I learned French customs and speech in my French courses, and I was able to look into the actual connection between Nazism and the occult for my research seminar. It was a wonderful time.

The only class I took that wasn’t related to my trip was Contemporary Disabilities Studies: Deaf Literature and Deaf Culture, in which I got an A. I took the class as a requirement for my English major (yeah, I’m not sure how a Disabilities Course overlaps with English, except that it was about Deaf and deaf literature, and yes there’s a difference). The teacher of that class was a deaf woman getting her post-doctorate who’d also been a GTA in one of my classes from a previous semester. I got to know her much better this past semester though, and I ended up really enjoying her class. I also ended up learning a lot about Deaf literature and culture that I hadn’t known previously, and it expanded my worldview and helped my writing. In fact, one of the short stories I wrote this past semester, Darkness at Noon, was for a project in that class. Not only did it receive an A, but my teacher cried at the end and said I should get it published. Believe me, I’m working on it.

So next up for me is the Study Abroad Trip, which I’ll be posting about a lot, both here on Rami Ungar the Writer and on my OSU blog site. After that, I’ll be heading into my final year at Ohio State University, as hard as that is to believe. In the fall, I’ll be taking five courses: a creative fiction writing workshop, a course focusing on Shakespeare’s plays and poetry, a course on the history of war, a course focusing on the history of East Asia before the modern era, and a biology course focusing on portrayals of biology and anatomy in cinema. I’ll also be working on a new novel as a thesis, which I’ll go into more detail about as the next semester gets closer.

For now though I’m going to take care of some other stuff for my trip, as well as write a blog post on the OSU blog site. So until next time, my Followers of Fear.

Laura Horn: I’ve Reached Chapter Thirty-Five

Posted: May 4, 2014 in Living and Life, Novel, Progress Report, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Some of you may recall a while back that I wanted to get to a certain stopping point in my work-in-progress Laura Horn before I went off on my study abroad trip. And last night, after a lot of work, some hilarious SNL skits, and just the craziness that is my life, I got to that point. Chapter Thirty-Five, the perfect stopping point at this point, has been reached. And it was over twenty-five hundred words, so when I was finished, I was frankly relieved.

Also, I would’ve written about this last night, but by that time I was thinking about going to bed. Which I did.

At this point, if I manage to get any more chapters written, it’ll be a miracle, as well as icing on the cake. The likelihood of that though is pretty slim at this point, because obviously I have a study abroad trip to prepare for. But if I do, then lucky me. I still have thirty chapters left to write. Anything that makes that remaining material a bit easier to handle is A-OK in my book.

Well, that’s all for now. I’ve got to get ready for my meditation class, so I’ll be signing off. I’ll write some more if I actually get my final grades back this afternoon (God-willing).

And to all my fellow Star Wars fans, May the 4th be with you on this most auspicious of days. Or as Chewbacca would say, “Graaaaaaaaaargh!”

Rape Is NOT Funny

Posted: May 3, 2014 in Living and Life, Politics and Leadership, Reflections, Social Activism
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
4

I’m going to share something that happened to me this morning with you all. I woke up much later than I’d planned to, made myself breakfast, and turned on my laptop to see my messages. In my inbox, I found that someone had replied to a comment I’d made to a YouTube video. The video in question was a Tibetan bowl singing meditation video that I listened to yesterday in order to relax after a long day. When it was over, I had commented, “Whoa, what did that just do to me?” (I was really relaxed afterwards). Between commenting on that video and checking my messages, some merry prankster had replied to my comment with this: “it raped you…with Tibetan singing bowls :)”.

Of course, you can guess how I replied: “not funny”.

And it’s true, rape is not funny, especially when you look at the realities of the problem. It’s estimated that every two minutes, an American is sexually assaulted. One in five female college students will be sexually assaulted before they graduate, usually by someone they know. Often their rapists are not punished as thoroughly as they should be by the university, receiving academic probation or being banned from campus for a year. Imagine having to be on the same campus as your rapist every day until one or both of you have graduated. It’s enough to drive you insane. And rapists who are let off easy like this are likely to repeat and rape again, averaging six assaults before graduation. It’s even likelier for rapists who include violent acts like strangulation in their assaults. Because of these statistics and several colleges apparently mishandling sexual assaults, 55 universities, my own included, are being investigated for mishandling sexual assault cases by the federal government. For some victims, they wish this investigation would’ve come sooner.

And that’s not the worst part about it. In some countries women are jailed or killed if they are raped, sometimes with the permission of the governments that are supposed to protect them. These “honor killings” or jail sentences are supposed to punish the woman for making herself sexually desirable to her rapist and causing him to commit adultery. Sometimes they are even married off to their rapists in order to preserve family honor! For many women, anxiety, depression, PTSD, and other psychological disorders can arise from being sexually assaulted, so imagine having to be punished by law or married to your rapist in order to preserve some silly notion of honor.

Even in countries where women aren’t punished or married off on their rapists, sometimes things are little better. Assault victims are shamed or intimidated into keeping silent for a variety of reasons. They may believe that their assault was their fault, or that they’ll be humiliated or disbelieved if they come forward, or that coming forward will forever change how they’re viewed by people. In cases of pregnancy, some won’t be able to get abortions because laws make it difficult or impossible to do so.

Even in the United States, supposedly a progressive country where all are equal, most are seriously misinformed about sexual assault. They believe it only happens to others, that all rapists are strangers to the victim, that it’s a rare occurrence. In reality, rape is all too common, as well as pregnancies that result from rape, most rapists are someone the victims know, and it could happen to just about anyone. And when we do not blame the rapists but find ways to blame or hurt the victims or create reasons why we shouldn’t believe them, we only make things worse.

And so do the comedians who make fun of rape. Whether they make one single joke or an entire act out of rape and sexual assault, they are doing as much damage as some rapists. They tell people that rape isn’t a serious problem, that you can make fun of it and the victims who are assaulted every two minutes in America (there was a great Law & Order: SVU episode about this recently). And some people, like my commenter above, will take these comedians seriously. One or two may actually rape themselves, believing it’s no big deal.

I’m here saying that rape is a very big deal, and it is not something that should be made fun of or turned into comedy club stand-up. Rape is a serious problem people all over the world must face, and that unless we seriously try to change our culture, things will not improve. They’ll stay the same, or get worse.

So if you ever find yourself confronted with a rape joke or you think about making a rape joke, imagine that making such a joke makes someone as horrible as a rapist. And then ask yourself if you should really laugh at or make that joke, or if you should try and change things so that those jokes are never made again. You might get thanked down the road for that.

Older Entries
Newer Entries