(The background image is from Pixabay, the drawing I did myself)
Greetings Adventurers,
In July, I presented at a conference with the The Centre for the Fantasy and the Fantastic at the University of Glasgow, virtually. I could not attend in person due to the fact that I had a surgery (tonsil surgery if anyone is worried) and also because of other health reasons, but it was a fantastic experience that I wish to share with you, along with my paper and my experience writing it.
The conference was called Once and Future Fantasies playing on the title of the book, The Once and Future King by T.H. White, which is a retelling of the Arthurian legends. The Conference on the other hand was about the past and future of fantasy. So, here is my experience with the conference:
I feel like I should mention this part before I talk about my experience with the conference itself. I first heard about Once and Future Fantasies through a request for papers from The Centre. And I decided to submit a proposal to them. Here is my proposal:
This paper will begin by looking at the theme of the Changeling Child in Celtic fairy tales. It will show the similarities between this theme and present-day dilemmas of parents of disabled children. It will demonstrate that there are parallels between the parents’ appeal to magic in fairy tales and the parents’ appeal to medicine in today’s world. In both contexts, parents call on special powers to “recover” the child that they expected to have. In spite of this, trying to recover the child can cause a disconnect between the parents and the child, because it communicates that they do not love the child as they are, and that the child needs to be “fixed.” As someone who is disabled, I find researching and analyzing this analogy between fairy magic and Western medicine to be interesting. In Folklore, a parent gives birth to a child; the child is not what the parent expected, and it turns out their real child was replaced with a Changeling. The parent tries to return the changeling to the fairies in order to get their real child back: that is, the child they expected. In our modern-day world, a parent gives birth to a child; the child is not what the parent expected, and it turns out the child is disabled. The parent turns to Western medicine to find cures for the disability in order to get their “real” child back: that is, the child they expected. Comparing these two contexts helps to highlight the flaws in medical-centered “cures” for disabilities and in the thinking of parents and doctors about disabled children.
In the months after my proposal got accepted, I worked hard on my paper in order to get it to the point where it could be presentable. This required a lot of research and reading to find the sources I needed to get my points across. Though it was a lot of work, it was very fun because I got to read a lot of books I had not thought I would read before and I learned a lot while doing so. Some of the books I read were: Fairies: A Dangerous History; Disability, Deformity, and Disease in the Grimms' Fairy Tales; and a lot of Irish fairy tales and folk tales, as well as folk tales from other Celtic and European cultures.
When writing the paper, I talked about my own experiences with my disabilities as well as those of others, so this paper was pretty personal as well as academic.
I should say, for those looking to write a paper or essay for a conference, that like novel writing you will go through several drafts, and you will do a lot of research before you arrive at an end result you're happy about. (I had to read several books, some of which did not end up getting included in the final paper). I began writing in February, and didn't deliver the paper till July, so I had a lot of time to research and write.
My paper was pre-recorded, so I spent time editing and recording it before the conference. To me it was really similar to the experiences I've had with recording my acting videos-- though a bit different since I was not in character. I was very happy with the end result. On the day of the conference, I had to wake up very early, but it was worth it. The video for my paper was just posted on The Centre for the Fantasy and the Fantastic's YouTube channel, so you can check it out:
I also want to give a huge thank you to the Centre for the Fantasy and the Fantastic for allowing to present virtually and making this a wonderful experience. I want to say "thank you" to them, also, for posting the video of my paper on their channel. 💙 This experience has inspired me to want to be a professor, because I won't be doing acting, writing, animating, etc. as a full time job. Having a job as a professor would allow me to continue to do those things professionally-- while still having a "day job" that I like.
After I presented, the audience asked a lot of wonderful questions about my paper, such as how disability is presented in current Fantasy media-- or even how disability should be discussed and presented in classroom settings, and what resources to use. I am very happy that my paper sparked discussion and questions. And I am so happy that I got to present at Once and Future Fantasies.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Have you been to or presented at a conference? And do you have a favorite folktale involving Changelings or the Fair Folk?
Last year I mentioned in a post that I had a surgery, so I wanted to make a post to reflect on it.
Actually, I had two different surgies for different reasons. One was to put a bar in me (so the indent in my chest didn't affect my lungs), and one to get the bar out, which I've had now for four years. (Side note: I had the first surgery around the time my blog was just beginning). At that time I didn't really feel comfortable about talking about it (I did write a draft post about it, but I never posted it), but now I would like to talk about it, so that I have something to look back on years from now. And also to find others who have experienced something similar.
After I had the bar removed. the doctor asked if I wanted to keep it. I decided that I wouldn't like to keep it but would like a picture of it. This was partly because I had had it with me for four years (and it was pretty painful to have in my chest for four years), and I was not sure what would do with it. So here's the picture of my bar:
For this surgery thankfully I didn't have to stay in the hospital overnight, unlike my previous one. So, I went home afterwards and mostly lay down while I was in pain. For my previous one, I don't remember a whole lot from it (partly because it was a while ago and partly because of the medication).
But interestingly enough, I did end up taking a picture of my hospital room (in 2017, while I was in the hospital there). I can't comment much on what happened, but I briefly remember being so out of it the entire time. I watched The Hobbit. Lord of the Rings, and Burn Notice while lying in the hospital bed.
Watching The Hobbit
Also, during that time I brought a few of my dolls with me:
Tauriel, Legolas, and Dr. Crusher. And I also brought Sarah and Rebecca with me.
But the surgery that happened in 2021 was different.
Even after the second surgery was over, and my incisions healed, I was still recovering. There were still things that hurt to do, that I had to get myself back into doing. For example, for a while I found it hard to draw on paper. (I could draw digitally, but drawing on paper hurt because of the pressure.) And I found it hard to play piano. But it has gotten easier. Also, in 2021 after my surgery I started doing Tai Chi and hope to do it every day. It makes me feel better not only physically but emotionally. If I am stressed, I do it, and I feel better.
Stories that helped me through my surgeries:
"The Gift" (Star Trek: Voyager)- Seven of Nine in that episode, had a surgery to remove her Borg implants. I deeply related to this, partly because I had just had my surgery when I watched this episode, and what Seven was experiencing was something I deeply related to. Star Trek itself was something that I'd watch as a stress reliever before and after both surgeries. For example, before the surgery (the day before it), I couldn't really think to write and watching something was how I kept my mind off of it.
And while I only discovered this episode in 2021, it was a very happy moment for me, partly because Seven of Nine has been a character I relate to deeply because of how much pain she goes through due to her Borg implants.
Lord of the Rings (The book and the movie series)- I mentioned a while ago that this book reminded me of something that happened last summer, but I never specified what happened last summer that reminded me of this book (and movie) series. Frodo went through a lot of pain in the book and movie mostly due to the one ring, and to the fact that he **spoilers** was stabbed by a ring wraith.**end spoilers** The character was one I really related to (much like how I related to Seven of Nine).
Frankenstein- While I didn't discover it till after the first surgery, this book came up in a conversation around the second surgery which started with me saying "I can handle Frankenstein, but I can't handle anything medical." This led my sibling to comment that this sounded like something the monster would say about Victor Frankenstein. I also partly wondered how surgical the monster's creation was. (Shelley doesn't get into details of how Victor brought the monster to life, so it's really up to your imagination.) I have always related to both Victor and the monster (for different reasons). I suppose I can say that I relate to the monster as someone who has also had a surgery.
How my surgeries affected me creatively:
While I mentioned that I had difficulty drawing after my second surgery, my first surgery actually opened doors for my creativity. I couldn't sing before my first surgery. (I didn't have enough air to do so.) So, it opened the world of songwriting and singing for me. Had I had not had this surgery, I would not now be able to cover songs or write original songs as I do.
I also (unfortunately) had nightmares after my second surgery. However, I have decided to use them creatively in my writing. Because even though they were disturbing, they can make wonderful Gothic novels or even poems.
I have also decided I would like to write a story based on my surgery. One of my novels was actually inspired by my surgery (unintentionally, at the time like my other writing I didn't know I was writing about that). I plan to re-plot this story, given that I wrote a while ago. But it still holds importance to me even today.
I should say that during my first surgery, I was doing Camp NaNoWriMo, and I made sure that I got to the word count goal. Even though I was in pain, I was aware that writing helped me feel better. And in the end I got to the word count goal!
And after my second surgery, once I was feeling better, I felt empowered to re-film the three video projects I had been working on. At the moment I am still editing the last two videos. but I have posted the one I finished working on here.
So, even if things seem tough, you can get to your goals in the end.
(Images used from Pexels and Pixabay, though I did the doodles over them myself).
Hello everyone!
One thing I have really wanted to learn for a long time is coding. I sort of know a few things: my website (not my other blog, though it is linked to it) Q's Creative Corner is where I do the most coding (at least in CSS and HTML). It is very much a work in progress and something I want to eventually finish coding in the future.
The coding in Girls Rise Up is completely different, because it uses a combination of coding and dance. My group, Courage, is not representative of what the whole camp was like. Every group did something different that was related to STEM and dance. My group did animation and a bit of Python.
I had tried learning Python before with different platforms, but I didn't get very far into it. I believe this was due to the way that the platforms taught it. STEM From Dance, and their (virtual) camp Girls Rise Up helped me. I felt like I learned a lot more there, especially because of the community, which was very welcoming and friendly, and I didn't feel afraid to ask questions if I had any about my coding.
An example of some of the Python coding I did; and no, I'm not that old
Dance was also an important part of Girls Rise Up, because most of the coding we did was related to our dancing (for example we would have animations that followed us as we danced). We'd choreograph our own dances and come up with ideas of what we'd animate over top of it. The animation we did wasn't traditional animation. We didn't draw each frame; instead, we used code in order to do it.
During the program, I was also introduced to new dance styles. For a while, I had just done Ballet, but in this program they introduced me to different styles of dance. Had I not done Girls Rise Up, I wouldn't have decided to try out these dance styles, so I think it is amazing that they introduced me to it.
During the camp, we had different speakers come and tell us about their careers. (They either did STEM and dance, or just STEM, or just dance.) I thought was neat because it showed more options of what you can do with STEM, dance, or a mix of both. At the end of it, we had a showcase of all the work we did. It felt really cool, and given that we had such a limited time to learn the coding and the dance, it felt really good. And as someone who does multiple creative things (which people often don't think are connected or tell you "you only can to do one"), I loved that they showed how both of them are connected.
The code I made.
My group choreographed a dance to the song "This is Me" from The Greatest Showman, and I ended up choreographing the lyrics "I am brave, I am bruised, I am who I'm meant to be, this is me." I decided to do a spotlight animation over my dance, where the colors changed every time I did a movement. (They went from greenish blue to dark blue.)
Before the camp, I would have normally done something like this with video editing. I find it neat that DanceON created a way to video edit using coding (with overlaying). And, even after the camp is over I have decided to keep learning and working with DanceON, because I feel it will help my coding skills get better. And I find that I will use them in my videos, even if they aren't dance themed.
At the end of Girls Rise Up, people in the group were awarded with different awards. (My local theatre did something similar to this.) I was awarded with "The Tech Savvy Award" and "The Leadership Award."
Another cool thing that happened before the camp even started was that STEM From Dance sent me (and the other people participating) a t-shirt, a mask, and a note-book, among other things that are themed around the summer camp, Girls Rise Up:
This is a really cool mask
The note-book, I actually plan to use it for taking notes about coding even after Girls Rise Up is over.
Me dancing while wearing the shirt (You may not be able to see it well because of the bright sunlight.)
In the end, I'd really love to do more with STEM From Dance because I feel like I learned a whole lot, and their camp was an awesome experience. And I would recommend the program to anyone who is interested in learning coding and/or likes dance, or likes both.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Which do you like to do: STEM or Dance? And have you ever thought of combining them?
I was nominated by Maith at Maith's Musings, thank you so much for the nomination. I really like the concept of this tag. 😄Also I was tagged for it right before my surgery, so it made my day when I got it. 😃
3. Answer the question, which is a task to write a letter.
4. Now, nominate five bloggers who you think are worth it. Make sure they know that they are nominated.
The prompt:
Imagine yourself to be twenty years older than now. You have become what you always wanted to, and are living your dream. But suddenly, the 'current version of you' pops out of nowhere and asks for some tips. What tips will you give? Write a letter from the 'twenty years older you' to the 'current you' and tell how you reached your goals in twenty years.
You are receiving this letter from the future. Hard to believe isn't it? But I am you, just twenty years older than you are now. (Other differences from you-as-now, are that I am acting in and animating movies and a published author and illustrator...so more differences than just age, but that is beside the point).
I have advice for you:
If you're feeling run down or like you everything feels hopeless, you should know that you can get through it. It may be hard to believe while you're in the middle of the situation. But you will get through it, and once you get through it you will be stronger than before.
Don't worry about giving up on your dreams or goals. You never will (especially if you're scared about giving up on them), if you keep working hard, you will get to them. And if someone tells you that you can't do something, prove them wrong.
Also you don't need to (constantly) remind people that you are committed to something (for that very same reason). You know you what you like doing, and if you're scared that you're going to stop liking it or give up liking it, then (ironically) that means you're not going to give up liking it. You know that, deep inside, it brings you happiness to do, and that is important.
If you keep working hard on your dreams and goals, you will get to them eventually. It may be hard at times. Some days may be harder than others: some publishers may not like your stories, some animation studios or people may not like your animations, some authors may not want you to illustrate their books, or some people may not like your movies or some casting directors may think you're not the person for the role. But if you keep working hard and pushing through, you will get there. And you may find a publisher who likes your book, people who like your animation, an author who wants you to illustrate their book, people who like your movie, and a casting director who thinks you're the perfect person for the role.
Anyway, I hope my advice makes you feel better,
Sincerely should it be sincerely or love? Uh, I don't know, I'm writing this to myself.
-(Future) Quinley
P.S. I may have created an issue in the space-time continuum. Oops! But at least you have advice now, right?? But, I'm fixing this issue now! [Sounds of rumbling can be heard.] Alright everything's fixed. Also, you, um, may have something similar to Star Fleet in your future now...oops.
“Nothing is more painful to the human mind than, after feelings have been worked up by a quick succession of events, the dead calmness of inaction and certainty which follows and deprives the soul of both hope and fear” — Mary Shelley, Frankenstein.
Hello everyone, so the reason why I have not been responding to comments or blogging, was due to the fact that I was in the middle of a tornado. Because of this I lost power and internet. The power came back after ten days but the internet was gone for three weeks. Everything and everyone was fine after the tornado, but it was still scary. I have been doing yoga and mediation so hopefully that will calm down the stress that I have been feeling and am still feeling. Yoga and mediation have been really helpful for me in that way many times before. So maybe in the midsts of all this chaos I will obtain inner peace.
If the fear of COVID-19 is making you stressed, or something else is, I recommend doing whatever calms you down. Also I have something included later in the post that might help.
My old camera before it broke
One of the things that happened during the tornado was that my camera got broken and the lens wouldn’t open. So I had to switch to a different camera (using the same memory card). The new camera has very odd dates. For example it labels new pictures as being from 1980, 1970, or 1979. (It doesn't know that it is 2020.) So, apparently it thinks this is the seventies or eighties. Maybe the camera reset to the start date for Epoch time, which is January 1st 1970 (equal to zero in Epoch time). Also it is a possibility that the camera will get to “negative dates” and I might be able to put it at a time longer ago than 1970. Since I am posting updates about the tornado, I had to mention it since I found it rather funny.
While dealing with no internet, I read some very neat books: Monkey, The Graveyard Book (graphic novel version, though I do intend to read the novel version soon), and the first book of the tetralogy The Journey to the West. This has been very inspiring for my own writing, given that the setting for the Silver Key has some asian influences.
(Image from GoodReads, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/100237.Monkey)
The main character of the abridged version of The Journey to the West, called Monkey, is Sun Wukong (The Monkey King). He is a really light hearted and happy character, who desires to live forever. (And cheats death to do so, along with eating and taking several other things that made him immortal even though he is already immortal). I felt like he was a character I needed at the moment. He is an optimistic trickster who can shape-shift and wants to live forever, and kind of caused a little havoc. And, I felt like the book in general was one that I had been looking for in the Fantasy genre, for some time. It completely fit all the things I had been looking for. (Also the series it is one book longer than Lord of the Rings which is a bonus). Anyway, Monkey is a bright, happy, mischievous, character to read about when times are rough and sometimes sad. So it was a very uplifting book to read during this stressful time.
(Image from Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/Graveyard-Book-Graphic-Novel/dp/0062194828)
As for The Graveyard Book, I loved that it focused on ghosts that were protecting the main character, and even I love that he had ghosts as adopted parents. It was a happy but sometimes bittersweet book. And I can’t wait to read the novel version of it, as the book was very comforting for a time like this. The novel will be fun to read, as I love Gaiman’s writing style.
I also should add that I missed making a post for my blog's anniversary, which was on March 9th. I really wanted to make one and now the date has passed. I do intend make one though, even though there is very little time left in March. I want to make two posts on both my blogs for their anniversaries, even if it is very belated or not even in the month of March.
In the future, hopefully after the epidemic of the coronavirus calms down, and when it would be sensible to visit a hospital, I hope to visit those who were harmed by the tornado in my area and the people who lost their belongings. I have a project going which is for those who were hit by natural disasters all over the world. I hope to give customized dolls to children (and maybe even teenagers) who lost their belongings due to the tornado. That’s why I am glad that I worked on the doll project and got dolls for it before the tornado. Because now once everything calms down I will be able to give dolls to people who really need them. If you want to know more about it, I am going to be posting updates on it onmy doll blog.
Though my house survived (even though it is a little damaged), it can be really sad to think about the people who lost their homes (and belongings) because of it. And even to think of the birds and squirrels who lost their trees, because several trees fell down during that time. Though I probably should mention on a happier note that two birds decided to make a nest in a grill that no longer works, which I find neat because now they are completely protected from rain and cats and other dangers. Because of the destruction it caused, I have a desire to help both people and animals who had their homes destroyed by the tornado whether it be through making things for them or even helping people emotionally through my creative work.
I was also stressed at different times, and instead of writing new posts I decided to edit and post things which had been written before COVID-19 became an issue and the tornado struck. Such as my post about editing my novel, and the new updated about page. (Also I just wanted to say, thank you to Kat for leaving such a sweet comment on the new about page, it really brightened my day).
For those who are feeling overwhelmed by COVID-19, or are dealing with COVID-19 and a natural disaster, I think mediation is good to do. I’ve suggested it to those around me and it’s helped (and I’d like to thank my yoga instructor for teaching it to me). Anyway, I thought why not put it out there, in case anyone needs it? Here it is:
Prema = Love, and you close your eyes and sit down somewhere and chant this out loud you can chant it about 3-10 times or more if needed.
Shanti = peace, and you can chant it as many times as the other one.
I feel like this is one of the most important ones as of right now, because the translation means “may all beings be happy and free, and may the thoughts, words and actions of my own life contribute in some way to happiness and freedom for all.” I feel like this is something very important and needed at the moment. If you want something to follow for chanting along, I recommend this video:
You can do it on your own or you can do it with someone else. If mediation helps you (it doesn’t always work for everyone), I recommend doing it. It might help you calm down. It’s helped me. It really doesn’t matter what religion you are, or if you have no religion. Yoga and mediation can sometimes be really useful. And I know that for some, mediation and yoga are not accessible, so that is why I am putting this out here so that those who need it can find it.
I did manage to do some writing while having no power or internet (writing short stories and even editing one that I had written before, and animating in between). But at some points I still found it hard to focus. When we got power I did also manage to film a Shakespeare soliloquy (I won’t say which one it is, but all I can say is that it is from Romeo and Juliet, and that I play Romeo in it). I still need to film one more thing for it, but I have the most important part already filmed, which is Romeo’s part. It felt so good to play him and it made me feel so much better. But given that there is broken glass where I filmed, it might take a little cleaning before I can finish filming the last thing I need, edit it, upload it to YouTube, and post it on my blog. Once there is no broken glass I hope to film a contemporary monologue or monologues as well, when I find the props I need. And maybe I will even act out two scenes from Doctor Who or Star Trek, once I memorize the lines. This will also give me a chance to learn more green screen skills such as playing more than one character.
(Image from wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Shelley#/media/File:RothwellMaryShelley.jpg)
What I try to keep in mind during this time is that Mary Shelley, the writer of Frankenstein didn’t give up or stop writing when the world felt like it was collapsing around her. She kept doing it, she kept on going. And if we can, I think we should all be a little like Mary Shelley and pour our sadness, fears, and anxieties into our creative work.
————————————————————————————— How about you? How are things going for you? Have you been reading any good books recently? If so then I would love to hear about it in the comments! :)
