Bits & Pieces

Hello everyone! I hope you’re well and beginning to enjoy a bit more outdoor time if health restrictions are starting to relax in your area. Here where I live on the Sonoma Coast in Northern California, much remains closed. Luckily, daily neighborhood walks and lots of time in the garden are keeping me sane.

I thought I’d share some bits and pieces that you may be interested in…books, film, etc. To begin, I’m about to start reading Severina by Guatemalan author Rodrigo Rey Rosa. The English translation is by Chris Andrews. I learned about this book via the Global Reads Book Club for translators, led by French-to-English translator Eve Bodeaux.

As for film, there are three fun movies from Spain that caught my eye on Netflix: “La tribu” (“The Tribe”), “Gente que viene y va” (“People Who Come and Go”, but for some reason named “In Family I Trust”)  and “¡Ay, mi madre!” (“Oh, My Mother!”).

Finally, many of us are rethinking summer vacation plans as the stay-at-home orders continue. This article gives you a virtual vacation to Mexico City. I’ll be reading the article and making notes for the day when I can really be there in person…hoping for 2021!

All the best,

Alison

Can We Talk About “Pivot?”

As a language person, I pay extra attention to how words are being used within a specific context. As a translator, I’m hyper aware of how a particular term can “make or break” the meaning or feel of a sentence.

So, can we talk about the word “pivot?” I have come to detest this word! Yes, “detest” is a strong adjective to use here, but it’s true.

As a kid and teenager, I only ever heard the word “pivot” during basketball practice. It was actually one of my favorite things to to: it felt tricky, skillful. Ball in hand, I would pivot, outsmarting the competition of my fellow fourth graders, looking for an opening to pass the ball.

Now? I cringe when I hear someone use this word. That’s because it has been, in my opinion, overused by everyone from CEOs to startup employees to people in the midst of a career change. Your “pilot program” didn’t work out? Just say you’re “pivoting” to a new idea. An employee is being let go? Just announce that she has decided to “pivot” into a new job so that morale stays up. This word is now constantly popping up in our work and political culture here in the US, and it turns out I’m not the only one who’s eyeing it warily: NPR ran a story about folks who feel the same.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, when “pivot” is used a a verb, it means “to move (something) in a curved or circular path on or as if on an axis.” Synonyms of “pivot” are:

  • revolve,
  • roll,
  • rotate,
  • spin,
  • swing,
  • swirl,
  • swivel,
  • turn,
  • twirl,
  • twist,
  • wheel, and
  • whirl.

One wouldn’t say that they are “twisting” into a new job or going to “rotate” their plans. So why “pivot?” I propose some better options:

  • change
  • adjust
  • shift
  • modify
  • move
  • revise
  • switch

There you go.

Have a great week; hope everyone is staying safe and healthy.

Image courtesy of Huffpost.

“Universidad” by Carlos Elizondo Alcaraz

Hi out there. How is everyone doing? I’ve been reading…a lot. One of the books I’ve been reading is a find from a Little Free Library in San Francisco: Universidad by Carlos Elizondo Alcaraz. Published in 1953, Universidad traces the personal experiences of a young student at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Carlos Elizondo Alcaraz won the Miguel Lanz Duret Prize for Universidad. I’d never heard of this book until stumbling upon it.

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Carlos Elizondo Alcaraz was born in Mexico in 1924. He was a professor of Literature at UNAM and was well-known for his research and writings about Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.

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The imagery he creates for the reader in Universidad evokes a real sense of place. Here’s an example from one of the first chapters. The English translation is mine. The main character, Pablo, is leaving his hometown and headed for university in Mexico City.

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El tren partía de la provincia, una mañana cualquiera, se iba poniendo en movimiento con dificultad, pesadamente, con torpe lentitud inicial. Y luego, la marcha se aceleraba, crecía y el tren iba a perderse de los ojos…En los carros de primera y segunda, viajaban algunos bachilleres. Iban entusiasmados ante lo que consideraban como una aventura, como una aventura audaz. Y sus voces se escuchaban, entrecortadas.

—Ya es tiempo de sacar la baraja.

—¡Flaco! Pásame los cigarros; vamos a echar humo. Una voz aflautada empezó a cantar:

“Y si Adelita se fuera con otro,

la seguiría por tierra y por maaar…”.

 

Una cara pecosa se asomaba tras la ventanilla. Seguía con atención los cambios y las continúas modificaciones del paisaje. Con los ojos fijos, la boca un poco abierta y la nariz pegada al vidrio, veía desaparecer franjas de tierra que se movían hacia atrás; los postes desfilaban ante sus ojos y los árboles parecían viajar movidos por el viento, sin sacar sus raíces de la tierra. Hacía el fondo, muy lejos, bañadas en un azul difuso, algunas montañas formaban un dibujo irregular y macizo.

*

The train departed the province, a morning like any other; it got moving with difficulty, heavily, with an initial, clumsy sluggishness. And then, the pace accelerated, it sped up and the train would soon be lost to view…Some high school graduates traveled in the first- and second-class cars. They were filled with enthusiasm for what they considered an adventure, a bold adventure. And their voices could be heard, breathless.

“Time to get out the cards.”

“Hey, Skinny! Pass me the cigarettes, let’s have a smoke.” A fluty voice began to sing:

“And if Adelita goes off with another,

I’ll follow her over land and by seaaaaa…”.

 

A freckled face peered out the window. It closely followed the changes and constant alterations of the landscape. With a fixed gaze, a slightly open mouth and a nose glued to the glass, it watched strips of land moving backwards; poles paraded before its eyes, and trees appeared to travel, moved by the wind, without pulling their roots up from the ground. In the distance, far away, bathed in a diffuse blue, a few mountains formed a jagged and immense picture.

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I wonder if any of his books, particularly Universidad, have been translated into English? I haven’t found any so far. I didn’t know anything about the author before picking up this book, so if you’re reading this and know more about the author’s life and work, send me a message!

Images courtesy of IberLibro and Mexico’s Secretariat of Culture.

 

For the Interim Time

Greetings to all. I hope my post today finds you safe and healthy—and enjoying the time at home as much as you can. I’m making full use of my home office here, and appreciate the kind notes from colleagues near and far.

Do you feel like the world is holding its breath? I do, both literally and figuratively. I decided to look to one of my favorite books for some guidance: To Bless the Space Between Us by the late Irish teacher and poet John O’Donohue.

I thought I’d share his poem, “For the Interim Time,” with you today:

 

For the Interim Time

When near the end of day, life has drained
Out of light, and it is too soon
For the mind of night to have darkened things,

No place looks like itself, loss of outline
Makes everything look strangely in-between,
Unsure of what has been, or what might come.

In this wan light, even trees seem groundless.
In a while it will be night, but nothing
Here seems to believe the relief of darkness.

You are in this time of the interim
Where everything seems withheld.

The path you took to get here has washed out;
The way forward is still concealed from you.

“The old is not old enough to have died away;
The new is still too young to be born.”

You cannot lay claim to anything;
In this place of dusk,
Your eyes are blurred;
And there is no mirror.

Everyone else has lost sight of your heart
And you can see nowhere to put your trust;
You know you have to make your own way through.

As far as you can, hold your confidence.
Do not allow confusion to squander
This call which is loosening
Your roots in false ground,
That you might come free
From all you have outgrown.

What is being transfigured here is your mind,
And it is difficult and slow to become new.
The more faithfully you can endure here,
The more refined your heart will become
For your arrival in the new dawn.

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Image courtesy of: ancientpages.com

Film: “Pain and Glory”

In the spirit of my previous blog post, today I’m sharing my thoughts on Pedro Almodóvar’s new film, “Dolor y Gloria” (“Pain and Glory”). Antonio Banderas is nominated for an Oscar for his role as Salvador Mallo, an aging director in the process of reflecting back upon his life. Asier Etxeandia plays an actor with whom Banderas’ character worked with in the past, and they’re reconnecting over a new project; Penélope Cruz plays the main character’s mother in flashbacks of his youth.

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What I most enjoyed about this movie was the classic Almodóvar imagery: bright, intense colors…a sense of place in scenes of a Madrid apartment and a small town in southern Spain. I also loved the moment, about halfway through the movie, when little snippets of this man’s life story begin to come together—and you understand why some seemingly everyday occurrences launch this man into vivid memories.

pain-glory

I hope you enjoy the movie if you see it, and we’ll see what happens on Oscars night!

Photos courtesy of slugmag.com and quartetrecords.com.

Estrenar

“Estrenar” is one of my favorite Spanish words. This verb is often used to mean “to wear something for the first time.” It also means “to premiere” or “to debut.” When wearing something new for the first time, I often imagine that I am “premiering” the new shoes, or earrings, etc.

Here’s an example of how it might be used:

“Anoche estrené mi nueva chaqueta de cuero.” – “Last night I wore my new leather jacket for the first time.”

Fun, right? This word has a flashiness to it that, to me, brings to mind glittering lights and the excitement of something new.

red-carpet

“Estrenar” is fitting right now, as we’re in the beginning of a new year and entering into Oscars season, both of which bring new celebrity debuts, sparkling visuals of hopes and dreams, and fancy outfits—glittering and enticing for the first time.

For a few more examples of “estrenar,” click here.

Photo credit: The Cary Theater