In 2016 Donald Trump was elected as the 45th President, and the Republican Party gained control of the Senate. For more than four years a large chunk of the public continuously wondered what egregious and embarrassing thing Trump and his supporters would say or do next. This insecurity was highlighted when the capital was attacked by Trump supporters in what is now referred as the January 6th insurrection.
In the midst of it all was the global pandemic that led to countless deaths, diminished health outcomes, economic collapse of some businesses, and high levels of stress for numerous people.
These events took a toll on our collective mental health. In particular, on our ability to get a good night’s sleep.
There are lots of ways to calm down before going to sleep. Some people like to drink a hot cup of milk, others a cup of tea. Still some take a bath, eat an edible, or read fiction.
But since the pandemic I’ve been reading poetry to my wife at bedtime.
Yes, it sounds corny, but it’s made a world of difference in our ability to fall asleep, and our sleep patterns and thus our lives have improved.
I started by reading a handful of poems from well-known authors like EE Cummings and Pablo Neruda. After exhausting this limited supply I scoured the shelves in our house, found about a half dozen books of poems, and started to selectively read them to my wife at bedtime. To my chagrin, I found a lot of the poems a little boring and pedantic.
I also discovered that many of the poems are downright depressing, and frequently discuss dark subjects, like blood, death, and depressive states, themes that are not conducive to relaxation, ones that neither my wife nor I want to hear in the final minutes before we attempt to nod off to sleep.
In an effort to expand our options, we pursued the poetry section of the few remaining book stores in Washington DC and bought a handful of poetry books from them.
But my biggest success in finding appropriate poems have been via surfing the web. Pretty soon I landed upon www.poetryfoundation.com and each night skim their poem of the day. Once I find a poem that I like, I start digging into other poems by the author.
Poets that have eased their way into our bed time ritual, not to mention the excel file that I have constructed, include: W. H. Auden, Robert Frost, Nathalie Handal, Nikki Giovanni, Joy Harjo, Ada Limón, and Marjorie Saiser, to name a few. They lean towards pleasant visual images of nature, love, and acceptance; of a snowy days, walking in a forest, or along a beach.
During this process I’ve discovered numerous poets who I never heard about, whose body of work I never read, and probably would never had been motivated to explore, had I not chosen to read a new poem or set of poems each night.
The process has forced me to slow down when reading out loud, pronounce every word correctly, and pay greater attention to punctuation.
I’ve learned to appreciate the rhythm and cadence of the words assembled together.
And yes, it has allowed my wife and I to more easily fall asleep.
Photo Credit:
The Parnassus (1511) by Raphael – atop Mount Parnassus, 18 ancient and modern poets recite in the company of the nine Muses.
https://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/Screen-Shot-2023-02-21-at-7.47.44-PM.png627972Jeffrey Ian Rosshttps://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/jeffrey-ian-ross-logo-04.pngJeffrey Ian Ross2023-02-22 16:00:562023-02-26 21:05:24The calming effect of reading poetry before sleep
That being said, there are lots of terms that even native born English speakers misuse, but in the area of higher education various words and expressions that many people use to indicate when a person earns a certification, degree, diploma or licensure are used inappropriately.
In this context, many individuals conflate or fail to distinguish among the words: achieve, acquire, award, complete, obtain, receive, and earn. Although these terms are connected to the situation when a person has completed all the requirements for a credential, and while sounding similar, these words are not really interchangeable.
The tendency to use words other than earn, minimizes the expenditure of personal effort, and sometimes struggle and sacrifice, and subtly prioritizes the earning of a certification, etc. as an economic transaction, rather than a symbol of a person achieving a recognized level of expertise, skills, and professionalism.
Why are each of the synonyms problematic?
To begin with, the word achieve, is most appropriately paired with a rank, and not a certification, etc. as in achieving a rank. For example, we may use this word in the sentence, “John achieved the rank of captain in the Grenadier Guards during the second world war.”
On the other hand, the expression acquire a degree, etc. is a bit of misnomer. The word acquire typically means to pick-up, purchase, or develop as in, “she acquired a taste for designer bags.” Yes in most situations, people pay money to get instruction that may lead to a certification etc., but this would also imply that the more one spends on this category of services, then the better the end product. This, however, is not always the case in certifications etc.
In general, award means, “To grant as merited or due.” This implies the person has done something special. As in awarded a prize. Award also sounds very close to the word reward. The word award does not say anything about effort needed to achieve the degree etc.. And the mere act of going to school, completing a course of studies, passing these classes is tough, as it should be.
The word complete is better, and we can make due with the idea that Jane completed her diploma in finance, but for inexplicable reasons rarely is this expression used. For example, a person completes a course of studies in order to graduate. But this word says nothing of whether the person actually secured the degree, etc.
The word received is also problematic. You receive a package in the mail. Or the football player received the ball and made a touchdown.
I much prefer the word earn when used in connection with a certification, etc. Earn generally means that the person’s efforts have been scrutinized by individuals designated or capable of making evaluative judgements, or a body designed to monitor the candidates’ progress, and that they have passed some sort of test (or a series of them) rather than simply been given a piece of paper for time in grade or because they have purchased the right to be given a certification etc.
https://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/4185983215_acfa86981e_o.jpg6821024Jeffrey Ian Rosshttps://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/jeffrey-ian-ross-logo-04.pngJeffrey Ian Ross2023-02-14 14:57:222024-04-03 18:51:10What’s wrong with most synonyms for earning a certification, degree, diploma, or licensure?
Although filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu has produced numerous interesting and powerful movies, one of my favorites is his 2010 film Biutiful. The images, characters, and storyline used in this film frequently repeat in my mind and hit me at a deep and visceral level.
Set in modern day Barcelona, but rarely the neighborhoods that most typical tourists and vacationers see or experience, the story touches on salient themes including fatherhood, police corruption, power, precarity race, resistance, spirituality, and violence. Its core message, however, is somewhat ambiguous, open to interpretation, but mostly existential.
Biutiful primarily focuses on the challenges of Uxbal, a tragic figure, played by Javier Bardem, who must negotiate the precarity of his existence and those of the people he cares for and loves.
Like most tragic heroes, Uxbal repeatedly faces challenges that he must overcome, struggles against all odds, as soon as there is a sense of normalcy in his life, another tragedy occurs. In the end he is never truly redeemed.
And in this respect, the movie reaffirms the truism that life does not always follow a traditional Hollywood plot line and the good guys do not always win. There are no romantic notions employed here.
Biutiful starts with Uxbal standing in a forest. It’s lightly snowing and it appears as if he is waiting for someone.
Early in the movie we also find out the Uxbal has cancer, and he learns about it in a drab dark hospital. Neither his estranged wife nor children know about his health challenges.
Throughout the film we see numerous vignettes of Uxbal struggling to support his family. This assistance is not simply financial. Uxbal tries to give his two young children stability and normalcy, and protect them from his wife who is a schizophrenic and drug addict, with whom he has an on again and off again relationship. This danger to his children is cast in bold relief when, at one point in time, she lights a fire in the apartment, evidence of her mental problems and a source of conflict the couple experiences.
Uxbal is the middleman between a crew of illegal West Africans who are selling DVDs and handbags in the streets of Barcelona and a cadre of Chinese immigrants who are sewing knockoff designer bags in a sweat shop.
Towards the beginning of the movie, we also see Uxbal at a funeral home to ostensibly help a young child, who has passed away, make his transition to the afterlife. Our protagonist gets paid a nominal amount and leaves the place. It’s clear that some of the people who are present in the room are not happy with Uxbal’s actions and think that he’s nothing more than a petty hustler.
In order to stay in business, Uxbal must pay off the police who are always keeping an eye on him and his crew of street sellers. At one point in time, there’s a dragnet, and both Uxbal and his crew are rounded up. He goes to jail, and after his brother posts bail, is released.
Meanwhile, his lead seller faces deportation, his children are taken care of by a babysitter and later by the wife of the lead seller. It’s clear that Uxbal has difficulty getting appropriate daycare for his own children, because he does not trust his wife.
In the background is the relationship Uxbal has with his brother. We’re not sure what kind of profession his brother is in, but he’s portrayed as a scoundrel. And they are about to get some money from a developer who wants the land on which the urn of the cremated remains of his father rest.
Uxbal visits a woman who helps him prepare for a peaceful transition to the afterlife, after he dies of cancer.
He tries to reconnect with his wife, but it’s clear that she is not ready to settle down. In fact, she is sleeping with his brother. On the night before his brother and he are going to get the payment for the movement of their interred father, we see Uxbal very uncomfortable in a bar. Meanwhile his brother is happier than ever.
Uxbal feels bad for the Chinese crew who sleep in the same factory where they make the bags. He buys them a number of propane space heaters. Little does he know but the Co2 from the heaters ends up killing them. Because of Uxbal’s powers he sees their spirits floating in the sewing room near the ceiling. Uxbal helps the manager of the sweatshop dispose of the bodies; days later they wash up on the shores of Barcelona. The images of the dead Chinese workers on the ceiling are very disturbing and haunting. When the viewer sees the bodies wash up on the shore, we left with feelings of sadness, as if no one gives them the dignity they deserve.
Uxbal visits a lady who reads his future and reminds him that he has a gift (the one alluded to at the beginning of the movie). One of the notable points in the movie is when his daughter misspells the word beautiful, hence the title of the movie.
As Uxbal’s health fails, he entrusts the safety and well-being of his children to the wife of the African seller who was deported. It’s an unsatisfactory arrangement but the only one that appears plausible for him at that time.
Closure is brought about when Uxbal goes to the forest and finally meets his father. An owl traverses a stretch of land from one tree top to another.
The movie integrates elements of existentialism. Uxbal appears to question the meaning of his life, and those of others.
In some respects the movie opens a pandora’s box of questions to be asked. For example, Are the allusions to the supernatural simply background noise or a clever distraction?
More importantly, perhaps, What lessons we can learn from this movie?
Life, as are ascribed roles is complicated, relationships are typically fleeting, as is the meaning and purpose of life.
How is this lesson told?
It’s communicated through Uxbal’s struggles. Many people, especially men and fathers would have given up, and abdicated their ascribed roles and responsibilities. Uxbal, on the other hand, has a strong sense of compassion. He’s able to step outside of himself and see the discomfort and pain of others. Uxbal wants to do what he can (even if it’s a relatively small gesture) to alleviate the pain and suffering of others. And in this regard we have respect for his struggle and those of others who are in similar situations.
https://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/Screen-Shot-2023-01-30-at-9.01.55-AM.png688985Jeffrey Ian Rosshttps://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/jeffrey-ian-ross-logo-04.pngJeffrey Ian Ross2023-02-06 17:05:002023-04-28 21:02:50Reconsidering Iñárritu’s BIUTIFUL
The calming effect of reading poetry before sleep
/by Jeffrey Ian RossIn 2016 Donald Trump was elected as the 45th President, and the Republican Party gained control of the Senate. For more than four years a large chunk of the public continuously wondered what egregious and embarrassing thing Trump and his supporters would say or do next. This insecurity was highlighted when the capital was attacked by Trump supporters in what is now referred as the January 6th insurrection.
In the midst of it all was the global pandemic that led to countless deaths, diminished health outcomes, economic collapse of some businesses, and high levels of stress for numerous people.
These events took a toll on our collective mental health. In particular, on our ability to get a good night’s sleep.
There are lots of ways to calm down before going to sleep. Some people like to drink a hot cup of milk, others a cup of tea. Still some take a bath, eat an edible, or read fiction.
But since the pandemic I’ve been reading poetry to my wife at bedtime.
Yes, it sounds corny, but it’s made a world of difference in our ability to fall asleep, and our sleep patterns and thus our lives have improved.
I started by reading a handful of poems from well-known authors like EE Cummings and Pablo Neruda. After exhausting this limited supply I scoured the shelves in our house, found about a half dozen books of poems, and started to selectively read them to my wife at bedtime. To my chagrin, I found a lot of the poems a little boring and pedantic.
I also discovered that many of the poems are downright depressing, and frequently discuss dark subjects, like blood, death, and depressive states, themes that are not conducive to relaxation, ones that neither my wife nor I want to hear in the final minutes before we attempt to nod off to sleep.
In an effort to expand our options, we pursued the poetry section of the few remaining book stores in Washington DC and bought a handful of poetry books from them.
But my biggest success in finding appropriate poems have been via surfing the web. Pretty soon I landed upon www.poetryfoundation.com and each night skim their poem of the day. Once I find a poem that I like, I start digging into other poems by the author.
Poets that have eased their way into our bed time ritual, not to mention the excel file that I have constructed, include: W. H. Auden, Robert Frost, Nathalie Handal, Nikki Giovanni, Joy Harjo, Ada Limón, and Marjorie Saiser, to name a few. They lean towards pleasant visual images of nature, love, and acceptance; of a snowy days, walking in a forest, or along a beach.
During this process I’ve discovered numerous poets who I never heard about, whose body of work I never read, and probably would never had been motivated to explore, had I not chosen to read a new poem or set of poems each night.
The process has forced me to slow down when reading out loud, pronounce every word correctly, and pay greater attention to punctuation.
I’ve learned to appreciate the rhythm and cadence of the words assembled together.
And yes, it has allowed my wife and I to more easily fall asleep.
Photo Credit:
The Parnassus (1511) by Raphael – atop Mount Parnassus, 18 ancient and modern poets recite in the company of the nine Muses.
What’s wrong with most synonyms for earning a certification, degree, diploma, or licensure?
/by Jeffrey Ian RossIn order to minimize confusion, and be properly understood, it’s important to use words and expressions that mean what we say, and avoid ones that don’t.
That being said, there are lots of terms that even native born English speakers misuse, but in the area of higher education various words and expressions that many people use to indicate when a person earns a certification, degree, diploma or licensure are used inappropriately.
In this context, many individuals conflate or fail to distinguish among the words: achieve, acquire, award, complete, obtain, receive, and earn. Although these terms are connected to the situation when a person has completed all the requirements for a credential, and while sounding similar, these words are not really interchangeable.
The tendency to use words other than earn, minimizes the expenditure of personal effort, and sometimes struggle and sacrifice, and subtly prioritizes the earning of a certification, etc. as an economic transaction, rather than a symbol of a person achieving a recognized level of expertise, skills, and professionalism.
Why are each of the synonyms problematic?
To begin with, the word achieve, is most appropriately paired with a rank, and not a certification, etc. as in achieving a rank. For example, we may use this word in the sentence, “John achieved the rank of captain in the Grenadier Guards during the second world war.”
On the other hand, the expression acquire a degree, etc. is a bit of misnomer. The word acquire typically means to pick-up, purchase, or develop as in, “she acquired a taste for designer bags.” Yes in most situations, people pay money to get instruction that may lead to a certification etc., but this would also imply that the more one spends on this category of services, then the better the end product. This, however, is not always the case in certifications etc.
In general, award means, “To grant as merited or due.” This implies the person has done something special. As in awarded a prize. Award also sounds very close to the word reward. The word award does not say anything about effort needed to achieve the degree etc.. And the mere act of going to school, completing a course of studies, passing these classes is tough, as it should be.
The word complete is better, and we can make due with the idea that Jane completed her diploma in finance, but for inexplicable reasons rarely is this expression used. For example, a person completes a course of studies in order to graduate. But this word says nothing of whether the person actually secured the degree, etc.
Moreover, obtain is defined as, “to succeed in gaining possession of as the result of planning or endeavor; acquire.” Pairing obtained with things like degrees reflects a consumerist interpretation of education. Unless degrees or diplomas are being handed out without the necessity of doing any work, then it is best to avoid using this word in an educational context. Also the word “obtain,” does not acknowledge the hard work that the candidate has engaged in through their coursework and studies at an educational institution that if they complete their course work may confer a degree upon them.
The word received is also problematic. You receive a package in the mail. Or the football player received the ball and made a touchdown.
I much prefer the word earn when used in connection with a certification, etc. Earn generally means that the person’s efforts have been scrutinized by individuals designated or capable of making evaluative judgements, or a body designed to monitor the candidates’ progress, and that they have passed some sort of test (or a series of them) rather than simply been given a piece of paper for time in grade or because they have purchased the right to be given a certification etc.
Photo Credit
Photographer: Sergio Rivas
Title: Diplomas!
Reconsidering Iñárritu’s BIUTIFUL
/by Jeffrey Ian RossAlthough filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu has produced numerous interesting and powerful movies, one of my favorites is his 2010 film Biutiful. The images, characters, and storyline used in this film frequently repeat in my mind and hit me at a deep and visceral level.
Set in modern day Barcelona, but rarely the neighborhoods that most typical tourists and vacationers see or experience, the story touches on salient themes including fatherhood, police corruption, power, precarity race, resistance, spirituality, and violence. Its core message, however, is somewhat ambiguous, open to interpretation, but mostly existential.
Biutiful primarily focuses on the challenges of Uxbal, a tragic figure, played by Javier Bardem, who must negotiate the precarity of his existence and those of the people he cares for and loves.
Like most tragic heroes, Uxbal repeatedly faces challenges that he must overcome, struggles against all odds, as soon as there is a sense of normalcy in his life, another tragedy occurs. In the end he is never truly redeemed.
And in this respect, the movie reaffirms the truism that life does not always follow a traditional Hollywood plot line and the good guys do not always win. There are no romantic notions employed here.
Biutiful starts with Uxbal standing in a forest. It’s lightly snowing and it appears as if he is waiting for someone.
Early in the movie we also find out the Uxbal has cancer, and he learns about it in a drab dark hospital. Neither his estranged wife nor children know about his health challenges.
Throughout the film we see numerous vignettes of Uxbal struggling to support his family. This assistance is not simply financial. Uxbal tries to give his two young children stability and normalcy, and protect them from his wife who is a schizophrenic and drug addict, with whom he has an on again and off again relationship. This danger to his children is cast in bold relief when, at one point in time, she lights a fire in the apartment, evidence of her mental problems and a source of conflict the couple experiences.
Uxbal is the middleman between a crew of illegal West Africans who are selling DVDs and handbags in the streets of Barcelona and a cadre of Chinese immigrants who are sewing knockoff designer bags in a sweat shop.
Towards the beginning of the movie, we also see Uxbal at a funeral home to ostensibly help a young child, who has passed away, make his transition to the afterlife. Our protagonist gets paid a nominal amount and leaves the place. It’s clear that some of the people who are present in the room are not happy with Uxbal’s actions and think that he’s nothing more than a petty hustler.
In order to stay in business, Uxbal must pay off the police who are always keeping an eye on him and his crew of street sellers. At one point in time, there’s a dragnet, and both Uxbal and his crew are rounded up. He goes to jail, and after his brother posts bail, is released.
Meanwhile, his lead seller faces deportation, his children are taken care of by a babysitter and later by the wife of the lead seller. It’s clear that Uxbal has difficulty getting appropriate daycare for his own children, because he does not trust his wife.
In the background is the relationship Uxbal has with his brother. We’re not sure what kind of profession his brother is in, but he’s portrayed as a scoundrel. And they are about to get some money from a developer who wants the land on which the urn of the cremated remains of his father rest.
Uxbal visits a woman who helps him prepare for a peaceful transition to the afterlife, after he dies of cancer.
He tries to reconnect with his wife, but it’s clear that she is not ready to settle down. In fact, she is sleeping with his brother. On the night before his brother and he are going to get the payment for the movement of their interred father, we see Uxbal very uncomfortable in a bar. Meanwhile his brother is happier than ever.
Uxbal feels bad for the Chinese crew who sleep in the same factory where they make the bags. He buys them a number of propane space heaters. Little does he know but the Co2 from the heaters ends up killing them. Because of Uxbal’s powers he sees their spirits floating in the sewing room near the ceiling. Uxbal helps the manager of the sweatshop dispose of the bodies; days later they wash up on the shores of Barcelona. The images of the dead Chinese workers on the ceiling are very disturbing and haunting. When the viewer sees the bodies wash up on the shore, we left with feelings of sadness, as if no one gives them the dignity they deserve.
Uxbal visits a lady who reads his future and reminds him that he has a gift (the one alluded to at the beginning of the movie). One of the notable points in the movie is when his daughter misspells the word beautiful, hence the title of the movie.
As Uxbal’s health fails, he entrusts the safety and well-being of his children to the wife of the African seller who was deported. It’s an unsatisfactory arrangement but the only one that appears plausible for him at that time.
Closure is brought about when Uxbal goes to the forest and finally meets his father. An owl traverses a stretch of land from one tree top to another.
The movie integrates elements of existentialism. Uxbal appears to question the meaning of his life, and those of others.
In some respects the movie opens a pandora’s box of questions to be asked. For example, Are the allusions to the supernatural simply background noise or a clever distraction?
More importantly, perhaps, What lessons we can learn from this movie?
Life, as are ascribed roles is complicated, relationships are typically fleeting, as is the meaning and purpose of life.
How is this lesson told?
It’s communicated through Uxbal’s struggles. Many people, especially men and fathers would have given up, and abdicated their ascribed roles and responsibilities. Uxbal, on the other hand, has a strong sense of compassion. He’s able to step outside of himself and see the discomfort and pain of others. Uxbal wants to do what he can (even if it’s a relatively small gesture) to alleviate the pain and suffering of others. And in this regard we have respect for his struggle and those of others who are in similar situations.