Ioputa

Capitulo II: LOS CAMINOS DE LA VIDA Y LA NATURALEZA

Y de repente un rayo, una luz en el camino, donde se contemplan edificios de 20 o 30 pisos alrededor de las siluetas del rio, porque sin percatarse llegamos ahí, al Centro de la Ciudad, al River Walk,  entre los ires y venires de estos vericuetos del camino y la vida, con gentes presenciando los escenarios lujosos de restaurantes y comercios alrededor, con los llamamientos de los valets en las riberas del rio, implorando la bienaventuranza de sus transeúntes para compartir sus manjares ya sea en sus comercios, en sus comidas, en sus hospedajes, en sus centros de diversión.

Entonces el rayo resalta, porque su electrizante luz estrella precisamente a la mitad del rio entre la flora y la fauna y la silueta de agua, sin decir que la chispa cae ahí en la canal, sino que fue en el horizonte, pero su centella queda plasmada como en una fotografía donde parece que el relámpago cayo a lo lejos en la silueta que formaba el río al final de su faja, que seria como decir que el rayo cayo en el paisaje alejado de las montañas, pero esta vez, el rayo descendió en el paisaje alejado del rio, en sus riberas. Y esa radiación de luz, se plasma por segundos también a la vez en el cielo, formando figuras entre las nubes como si fueran troncos cortados de árboles con brazos injertados formando “Z” y “V” y “U”s  y ese estruendo visual brrmmmm, comparte el escenario con los arboles grandes alrededor, acompañando a los edificios en las riberas del rio, dando un toque especial a la fotografía de la ciudad..

Las Cuatro Estaciones de Vivaldi entonces empiezan a sonar, con la lluvia y su alegria en el campo citadino, digamos, y las hojas de los arboles parecen encantarse y juegan en vaivén con el agua que cae del cielo, y entonan con el viento la sinfonía de Vivaldi… titutururutututu-tututu, moviéndoseloe de un lado para otro, yendo al son de la lluvia y el viento, como si siguieran las manos de izquierda a derecha, de arriba y abajo del director de la orquesta en la sinfónica.

A Lolli Pop; A Story of Love

Marco A. Romero

When I told her that I loved her she did not believe me. She threw the Lolli Pop outburst in my face that had happened when we were kids, and we played hide and seek, the cat and the mouse, and freeze tag (you're it).

I do not know what happened, at that time.

I guess I wanted to eat a sweet and she did not want to share her Lolli Pop with me, so I took it away from her, and I ran to eat it under a tree, and I enjoyed it quietly with pleasure.

The Lolli Pop tasted sweet.

What was not sweet was her heartbroken, and from there she did not want to talk to me. That anger lasted years, maybe decades...

She said I was a bad boy!

Then I remembered, a few years later, when I asked her to be my girlfriend because she no longer had these crazy girl traits, or I did not know if the love I felt for her made me not seeing her as she was because love is blind. ...  By the way, she rejected me...

I argued (trying to be a little philosophical) that love was not related to things, nor was there a correlation between my love for her and the Tootsie Pop that I had taken away from her years ago as children, but she argued yes!!! - In this strange and irrational feminine logic inference and again I repeated to her that I liked the lolli pop, and had nothing to do with love and period (I had to be a man, truthful and make things clear once and for all, right?)

Bad result!

She never talked to me anymore! ... I think she did not like my tone of not regretting what she thought was wrong. The years past by, and as she grew older she was getting more beautiful. I did not know how to make her forget the Tootsie Pop outburst.

I loved her. Really.

A lot.

I imagined in my hypothesis that she would have read the novel of Pedro Páramo , and some of it would have stayed in her heart , because she was too intellectual, with those words "make him pay dearly  the neglect of duty that we had“, or rather, I should say the Tootsie Pop one day he took away from me ...

A decade later we found each other at the law school. I must admit she was a beauty, and I liked her even more. My first impulse was to talk to her, but she again harangued me the Tootsie Pop incident with sweet chocolate that I had taken away from her, decades ago....

Truly I was desperate....

I figured out the reason she wanted to be a lawyer or prosecutor in court. She had this very great talent to explain with detail, with delightful charm, I would say, the

evils and omissions that the accused had committed to reach the tribunal.

But I still loved her and liked her like that.... She was beautiful, indeed.  I was in love with her and I could not do anything else but to be close to my dear love. My crazy heart loved whoever did not deserve to be loved and endured all the insults, rants, and bad moods.  As the time passed intruding questions came into my mind from Descartes, Plato and Thomas Aquinas. She was intellectual and I did not want to stay behind her knowledge, of course….

I told her that "if we think” about that candy, then “it would exist " and it would interfere in our relationship that I wanted to have with her.  I wanted to offer the best of me (my heart, and it sounds corny but sometimes so it is) and that the love that I felt for her would give me the thrust to build those palaces that she deserved and I could not temporarily give, unless we both work hard for it. I would accomplish her dream, of course ... being Descartes.

 I told her what St. Thomas Aquinas said "seeing is believing" and she would see my immense passion trying to meet her each day and at least say " Good morning " when passing between classes. After looking at her, my mind was filled with her smile that I tried to draw later in my notebook when the teacher was lecturing.  Obviously my teacher wondered what the drawing had to do with the notes and explanations of civil law that he had taught...

“None” teacher, I said. It is that I'm in love and love makes me fly like a butterfly.

I apologized and asked him that love should be declared as a pleasant cause of exception to the rigidity of academic schools. This feeling is uncontrollable, -I argued, and suddenly it came into my mind her image, the wind, and the leaves of the shaking trees like a movie, where we both walked together holding hands and being happy to enjoy what life gave us....

(Do not think wrong, I said, I mean the love that I feel for her)

And again, I said, it has nothing to do with you teacher, but with the fact that I am just in love....

Try other methods! My psychologist told me. One day I brought two Tootsie Pops with chocolate inside to make amends to my beloved, but she said that those lolli pops were not the same as the one I had mistakenly eaten...

Afterwards, when she looked at the other lolli pop with an engagement ring, she looked at me, smiled, hugged me and screamed I do!! I do!

That was the biggest hug that I have ever had in my life.

And we both lived happily ever after.... getting married

What is your story of love?

Quien te ama te hace parte de su vida, sin parar la tuya.

(via psicologa-loca)

This is a logo designed for  What' Up San Antonio. A radio news program that will be reaching the youth in San Antonio, Texas. The tagline has been changed to "News from a Young Perspective". The people in that background represent young people gathering in a certain place to have fun and "do their own stuff", even though they are quite different, and involved in contrasting activities. Everything in that picture denotes life and movement as a youth icon.

The word "What's Up" is a young slang that represents  "Hello, how you are doing",  and San Antonio is the place where the news for youth are being delivered. According to Laura Ries to brand a product we need an image and a few words, and that image should have emotional power and should be your visual hammer. Our image includes youth playing in a background, and the words are "What's Up San Antonio", which is the name of the radio program.

Another aspect about branding is the Name of the product, and the Logo that identifies the brand as "unique". Name and Logo ideally should answer three questions: What exactly you do, who your customers are, and how you are going to be unique. When branding, all of the elements should be coherent, and gladly all of these three questions are accomplished in our product by the name of the radio program, the logo, and its tagline: What's Up San Antonio is a radio program (who are you?) reaching the youth (who are your customers?) and we are delivering "News from a Young Perspective" (How are you going to be unique?).

According to the Law of Color, red is the color of energy and excitement, and blue is peaceful and tranquil. We included those colors into our logo to denote that passion and that peacefulness in that specific background. (The 22 immutable laws of branding. Al Ries and Laura Ries).

Writing is not a fanciful venture. It is the most meaningful, purest step forward in your own personal art. Do not diminish the importance and power in your own fingers tapping at your keyboard or wrapped around a pencil. This is the moment in which you embrace the might of your creation.

Karuna Riazi is an online diversity advocate, essayist and overwhelmed undergrad student. Her debut novel, The Gauntlet of Blood and Sand, will be released in 2017 under Simon and Schuster’s new Salaam Reads imprint.

Writer’s Care Packages from Camp NaNoWriMo and We Need Diverse Books.

(via nanowrimo)

Cascade Handcrafted offers different building styles for beautiful log homes.  A couple of the different styles are known as “Piece en Piece” or “Staggered Flares”.  Piece en Piece is where the traditional cross corners have been replaced by large cedar flared posts.   Staggered log flares, is where the root butt of the logs are exposed on every second wall log at the corners. 

cascadehandcrafted.com 

Remember: Comparison is the thief of joy. No matter how high you climb, it’s always easy to worry about who has climbed higher, or if you are climbing fast enough.   I keep this quote on my writing desk and stare at it every day to remind myself never to compete against anyone except myself. There will always be someone better, and there will always be someone else who believes that I am better than they are. It doesn’t matter a whit—what matters is your heart and your drive. And nothing else.

Lisa Amowitz is the author of fantasy/thrillers for young adults, including Until Beth. She is also a cover designer and a professor of Graphic Design at Bronx Community College.

Writer’s Care Packages from Camp NaNoWriMo and We Need Diverse Books.

(via nanowrimo)

I do not wish them [women] to have power over men; but over themselves.

Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Mary would have turned 257 years old this week. (via oupacademic)

Capitulo 5: La llave

Entre la selva inhóspita de Karkamistán figuran selvas y mas selvas, con animales magnificentes porque la naturaleza ha sido prodigiosa en esos lares. La flora y la fauna cuenta como una fotografía de los antigüos amazonas, y los árboles grandísimos tapan en ocasiones la sombra para otras especies de vegetación que requieren la filtración del sol, aunque una de cal por otra de arena, pues otros animales usan estos espaciosos para su recreación, permiténdoles descansar tras los inclementes tiempos y calurosos días de la selva. 

Un león se refresca en las aguas, en las pequeñas laderas que abre el río con su atropellado caudal, mientras el rinoceronte se mete en el afluente para refrescarse de las inclemencias del tiempo, y las garzas esperan pacientemente a los peces en las laderas del rio.

Un rio acompaña la vegetación frondosa y es tan vasto como el Nilo y alimenta miles y miles de kilómetros entre la selva donde pueden encontrarse bagres, peces cocodrilos peces tiburones y belugas. El río tiene cascadas inmensas como las del Niagara Falls, y millones y millones de litros de agua caen de sus pluviales para alimentar a una población conocida como la ciudad de Dunkaham. 

La ciudad tiene la reputación de ser un centro que atrae millones de visitantes de toda las naciones, y los cielos son llenos no tan sólo de aves y pájaros, sino de sus hovers en el cielo, autos chicos semejantes a aviones, asi como naves espaciales que utilizan el entorno de la selva par flotar y estacionar sus vehículos a un lado, arriba de su fauna. Después, al impulso de una señal, los taxis áereos recogen los pasajeros, que vienen de tierras extrañas más allá de Marte y Júpiter y la Luna. Descendientes de papas y mamas terrenales, alejados por las decenas de años en el espacio, y que ahora visitan la Tierra natal y están ahi congregados, con vestidos especiales porque la usanza y la adaptación al ambiente era sólo válido para otras galaxias y entornos. Los extranjeros, inmigrantes, portaban trajes especiales y por sus trajes se reconocían si provenían de Marte, Jupiter o Neptuno o la Luna. porque a mayor lejanía de la Tierra,  mayor grado de toxicidad en las galaxias, y por lo tanto, los elementos de protección y trajes en el cuerpo eran más complejos, porque en la Tierra no se sabía cómo actuarían esos elementos en las razas hibrídas de papa y mama terrestre, por los que se pedía una estadía de 15 días. 

  Los edificios parecen flotar entre la selva, y los rascacielos típicos tocan las nubes, mientras desde los rascacielos se observan la cantidad innumerable de caminos futuristicos que penden en el cielo sin torres de sostenimiento, sino con torres de flotadores, hovers board especiales que trabajan dia y noche para sostener los caminos como motores que marchan y no paran todos los días del año.. 

La ciudad se sostenia sobre esas plataformas gigantes de hover boards en sus caminos, en sus edificios, en sus poblaciones, y tras innumerable experimentos en otras galaxias y planetas para hacer habitable el ambiente, transportaron esa tecnología a la Tierra y descubrieron el arte de hacer flotar inmensas cantidades de moles de hierro y cemento, donde ya los terremotos no causaban los daños que solían hacer antes de su descubrimiento.

Y ahí, en esa ciudad, perdido entre la selva inhóspita, unos principes y delegados, y nobles se reúnen en el Palacio de Karkamistán para hablar con Rey Lorton sobre un acontecimiento inesperado en unos de sus reinos.

Platican los jefes de Estado con los nobles, los duques con los príncipes, los obispos con los Reyes acerca de las implicaciones y comentarios de la Reyna Helena, que ponía en desbalance el reino natural de la descendencia de los príncipes y reyes, porque la Reyna en un apartado y remoto lugar de Karkamistán se niega a entregar la llave, y esa llave traía una definición.

La Reyna Helena prefería sembrar dudas respecto a linajes y posibilidades para esconder las verdaderas razones de sus actuaciones, y lanzar señuelos en la corte por lo que ahora los dirigentes y los nobles del reino exigían al Rey que la Reina en esos lugares dispensara la llave.

La llave abria una puerta o la cerraba, la puerta de la realidad o la puerta de la magia, no insertar la llave en el engranaje de la puerta, dejaba en el suspenso el mundo donde se mueven los caracteres.

En el mundo de la magia estaban cubiertos, en el mundo de las realidades no tanto. En el mundo de la magia había carruseles, y príncipes y castillos y nobles y reyes; en el mundo de las realidades había trabajo y mas trabajo, realidades de comportamientos humanos entre dos, separaciones, llantos, dolores, amores, compromisos.

La llave se introducía en el pivote de la puerta, y se daban dos o tres vueltas en la hendidura para que las dentaduras del cerrojo fueran sensibles a abrir los demás componentes de la puerta, y pudieran, todos los elementos de la perilla, girar en armonía entre izquierdas y derechas, izquierdas y derechas, izquierdas y derechas hasta hacer el click que abre la puerta, y después tocar la palanca para empujar la entrada.

Y la Reina tenia miedo de dar esa llave, porque sabia que la introducción de la llave en el pivote de la puerta, no solo causaría que se movieran todos los mecanismos antigüos del cerrojo, que nadie había usado por largo tiempo, sino también las posibilidades que abría, porque lubricarían los engranajes de la puerta y cantidad innumerable de aventuras podrían pasar abriendo esa puerta, porque era dejar libre y en libertad al que tuviera la llave, con la posibilidad de quedarse en un mundo o en otro, y eso le asustaba, especialmente si había descendencia.

Dar la llave era algo más que abrir una puerta. 

Si doy la llave, decía la Reyna, vulneraré mi mundo y trastocará las fibras de mi pensamiento y recorreré por caminos inhóspitos donde no sé que pueda pasar. Si no doy la llave, al menos, controlo mi mundo sin las locuras en que me lleve dar la llave.

Oh Reina, Reina, cuánta sapiencia existe en la entrega de las llaves por el  juego inhóspito, incompresible, mágico, incontrolable, irreverente, pasional.

Los búhos cantan cucu-cucu, cucu-cucu en la noche, pero esta vez no era por un aviso de peligro, sino un aviso de destino, y la Reina tendría qué buscar hacia donde quería que la puerta se abriera o cerrara, entre la magia o la realidad, porque entregando las llaves lubricaba el mecanismo antigüo del pasado que no quería abrir.

Ahí en el pueblo, en esa congregación todos sabían que la Reyna Helena tendría que soltar las llaves al Rey para que el Rey pudiera ejercer un pleno dominio de su Reino entre las realidades y la magias que estaban en su mundo.

En el pueblo, todo mundo lo sabia, porque la voz del búho cantaba cucu-cucu por las noches y no callaría hasta que anunciara un amor o una despedida, porque los tiempos, así como las estaciones habían cambiado ya.

Al cerrojo había que darle izquierdas y derechas, izquierdas y derechas, izquierdas y derechas para abrirlo, y la llave ella la tenia.

La llave de su liberación, o la llave de su perdición, izquierdas o derechas, la llave de su felicidad o la llave de su angustia, izquierdas o derechas, entre las realidades o las magias.

Las llaves entregan reinos y establecen paz entre los que habitan

Daria la Reyna la llave, perdiendo el control de su mundo, y poniéndolo a disposición de otro para su uso, goce y disfrute y provecho y beneficio de las partes? O permanecería, como ahora, sólo aprovechando a conveniencia lo que viniera para ella. 

La Reyna desearía ser ahora Madame Bovary en una corte de nobles por una incredulidad en el amor y su encomienda? O sería la que entrelazara los brazos de duques con dineros, para ella auspiciar sentidos de afirmación y pertenencia en ellos, cuando otros jóvenes estuvieran contemplando la belleza que trae el barón avejentado en sus brazos, y en el Castillo, cambiando los pańales de sus amores en residencias lujosas?

Entregaría la Reyna las llaves de su paz, y su alegría, y sometería su voluntad al Rey?

Queen, Queen, when are you going to diminish your beauty and your ego,  so you can build a house of your own in a everlasting peace?

Pero la Reyna tenía también un secreto que se deslizaba en las noches por su cama, su amiga, su fiel amiga. Amazona de la Selva, con figura excepcional, piernas torneadas de fibras que le acompañaba en sus noches de soledad.

Pero en el pueblo no todos mundo conocía su secreto, al contrario, sonreían porque los búhos en las noches anunciaban cucu-cucu como conociendo las escenas del futuro suceso , y la Reina tendría qué mostrar sus colores verdaderos (true colors) y salir del closet de su definición, y el Rey salir de dudas porque ahora sus pensamientos estaban en aquella imagen “no me ande besando” suscitando suspicacias en el recuerdo. 

Entregaría la Reyna la llave o celebraría el Proud Week, con toda su gama de colores?

FIN DEL CAPÍTULO 5

Suspense and Foreshadowing—Two Great Tools for Writers

I’ve found that foreshadowing and suspense often get confused. Sometimes writers even forget about them. It’s time for a quick reminder about why these are such great tools for writers and how you can use them in your next story.

What is Suspense?

Anyone can put together points in a story’s plot map. You’ve got your inciting incident, a few things that happen to move the story along, then the climax and resolution.

Suspense is what keeps the reader’s eyes glued to the page in between each of those stages.

It works in every genre and helps every story. It may even be what your work is missing if you’re stuck in your WIP because you’ve lost interest.

Example: Carver is a restaurant server and sees his crush, Aiden, get seated at Table 2 with his friends. He’s had this crush for forever and decides it’s now or never. He has to ask Aiden out before he leaves after dinner.

Where’s the suspense?: There’s an emotional suspense in the relatability of feeling nervous about asking someone out after crushing on them for a while. There’s also time-related suspense because sooner than later, Aiden will pay the check and leave. The clock is running out from the moment Carver makes his decision.

Where could you add suspense?: Carver might need to take on more tables because his coworker leaves for a family emergency. He’s rushing around twice as busy for the rest of the night. Then other guests need extra things, like another set of silverware or a ketchup refill. The night passes quickly, so Carver almost misses Aiden walking out to his car.

What is Foreshadowing?

Foreshadowing helps build your suspense. It’s one of the key ingredients that you can work into your first draft while you’re writing or while you’re in the editing process.

You don’t need foreshadowing in every story to create suspense or keep your reader interested. However, it can be a great way to support it.

Example: After Carver decides to stop by Aiden’s table before he leaves, he’s so busy serving other tables that the group in his window booth get up and leave. They’re irritated that their food is late, so they talk with the manager before leaving for another restaurant.

Why is this foreshadowing?: It demonstrates how the events building the suspense—the other server leaving suddenly and forcing Carver to serve twice as many tables—make it more likely that Carver will miss Aiden. It also mirror’s Carver’s Worst Case Scenario: that he’s now too busy to fulfill his goal before Aiden leaves, because he was too busy with his other tables to get food to his guests before they left too.

Other Forms of Suspense

Suspense can happen in a few ways besides general plot points. You can also heighten the tension with things like:

Making your characters feel the suspense for the reader (they get anxious, start acting out of fear, feel their stomach knot up, verbally snap at another character).

Changing the scenery (the lights go dark because the power goes out, other characters step between the protagonist and their goal, the protagonist must leave due to an unforeseen reason).

Using specific descriptive word choices (maybe the vibe in a room becomes tense, someone feels agitated, a foul odor burns at the protagonist’s nose and makes them uncomfortable)

Varying your sentence structure (choppy sentences create suspense, while long sentences sound more monotonous).

Introducing conflict for the protagonist (make things go wrong so they have to sweat through a few challenges to reach their goals).

Other Forms of Foreshadowing

You may have heard of a few of these before, but they could still be something your story needs to deepen your plot or become more gripping. Think about adding foreshadowing tools like:

Flashbacks: maybe your protagonist has tried and failed/succeeded at a similar goal before

Chekov’s gun: introduce something that your character will use in the future (could be a literal gun, an object that they’ll use later to accomplish their goal, a person they’ll come back to for the friendship they seek, a trauma they’re pushing away and eventually have to face)

A prophecy: could be a literal prophecy from an oracle, but could also be something lighthearted in a fortune cookie, a Magic 8 ball, something a character mentions in passing to the protagonist, etc.

Symbolism: your character might set out for their first day on a job and drive there in a terrible thunderstorm, show up to the wrong location, immediately break the copy machine, etc. Something negative in the environment or a character making a bad choice/mistake can be symbolic for their overall goal or phase of life.

A red herring: your character believes somebody or something to be their antagonist/the reason for their conflicts, but it turns out to be something or somebody else

When to Use Foreshadowing or Suspense

It would be great if every writer knew exactly how to use one or both of these tools while they were working through their first draft. That might be possible if you’ve spent a long time figuring out the exact plot before sitting down to write, but that isn’t always the case.

You could add new elements of suspense or moments of foreshadowing while you’re in the process of writing. Just make sure you note what your wrote and why so you can carry that thread through to its completion or revelation later on.

You can also add these moments while editing. If your first draft feels like it’s missing something, adding in a new conflict and revising to work it into the rest of the draft could greatly improve your story. It’s also possible to drop a foreshadowing device in one chapter and jump ahead to another to make it reappear/complete the foreshadowing.