The Style Files
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Vlog VibesA delectable shade of green! Photo credit: pexels.com In this month's blog, I'm inspired by a vlogger in Ecuador named Ayngelina on YouTube. (Part of the US housing/job/healthcare crisis has seen the exodus of Americans to Ecuador, among other countries. It's a whole thing.) I love her content for the following reasons:
1) It's REAL. She's very much herself presenting Ecuador from a place of love. As a viewer/reader/consumer, I do think you feel it when someone's in it honestly. 2) The colors are so vibrant! Everything she films and wears is a spectuacular shade of the tropical rainbow and I'm here for it. 3) Vlogs are a great way to help you envision life far, far away. I sometimes wonder if this is more of a hinderance than a help as someone who has blindly lived abroad on the regular but that's beside the point. It's insightful! 4) Vlogs take tons of work and I personally hope to never have to down that road. What people present to the world particularly on smaller or non-monetized channels is a gift, plain and simple. Thank you for reminding me how diverse and abundant the world can be. Many thanks to Ayngelina for fantastic food/locality/ hospitality content! Me encanta de verdad!
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Florals and StripesI always wonder how much other professions are reminded of their own field on a daily basis. In some ways, we can't escape our work: things like typos and misspellings drive me nuts thanks to a linguistic background. On the other hand, I do love drawing design inspiration from anywhere and everywhere since we live in a sea of visuals.
This month's entry is based on my interest in Arabic (particularly Egyptian) movies. I love the unapologetic use of floral motifs all over the Middle East and North Africa. In this still in particular, the designer's use of florals and stripes works in perfect unison. Is there anything better than coexisting prints? In honor of the theme, I look forward to integrating this look in my wardrobe and tip my hat to the set designer. Shifting the NarrativeA natural beauty. Photo credit: www.pexels.com Speaking of Christmas, I spent mine reading one of my new favorites called The Atlas of Beauty. Nonprofessional photographer Mihaela Noroc spent years of her life and most of her savings chasing faces to redefine beauty standards. The result is 500 stunning portraits of women from around the globe each more gorgeous than the next.
As a design student, one of things I'm most impressed by is Noroc's phenomenal use of color. Capturing rich, saturated shades in photo after photo is no easy feat. Even more shockingly, ALL of her pictures feature natural lighting. How could that possibly be? This woman traveled to four corners of the earth, found the prettiest faces possible while making the most of flawless natural lighting. No biggie! Suffice it to say I'm openly obsessed with color and have never been more blown away. Another aspect of her book worth mentioning is what little encouragement she received early on. Noroc talked about developing her skills on her own time and using women in her family as subjects. Despite being told to give up on photography, she pursued it on her own time and slowly forged this project into being. This book was published in 2017 yet I've never heard so much buzz about a single collection. There's something magical about sincere inspiration and creativity refusing rejection. Next there's impact. These pictures most often surround women in their daily lives however different their circumstances. One captures a mother and daughter riding a bike to a movie while another showcases a young mother on her way to give birth. (Yes, really.) There's something about seeing people in their real and vulnerable lives that takes her photos to new heights; you can't help but wonder what happens next. The women themselves also reap the benefits of Noroc's work. One photo describes how the subject became something of a local celebrity after having her picture taken. When the dust settles, that's the power of creative intent. One young girl developing photos overnight in the family bathroom grew up to show women their unique dignity. One by one, she reminded them of their inherent worth. Let her repeated acts of kindness and respect continue to resonate in appreciation of women everywhere.Speaking of Christmas, I spent mine reading one of my new favorites called The Atlas of Beauty. Nonprofessional photographer Mihaela Noroc spent years of her life and most of her savings chasing faces to redefine beauty standards. The result is 500 stunning portraits of women from around the globe each more gorgeous than the next. Yes, it's that good! Photo credit: www.pexels.com As a former translator, I rarely had the chance to see my work in a real-world setting. Yes, I knew it was being used in some capacity by people I'd never meet though it's a far cry from immediate gratification or a direct link. I still enjoyed the work enormously but sometimes think translation is easy to overlook. In honor of my beloved former profession and its impact on my life, here's how I continue to appreciate it and faceless linguists every-where.
1. Lyric Translation It's hard to compare anything to the power of music and I do realize much of the credit is due to the singers/ musicians themselves. However, if it weren't for ALL the voluntary translations gifted to the world, we wouldn't be able to enjoy foreign music on the same level. Besides, it's a wonderful tool for aspiring translators, interpreters or language learners as they chip away at their practice. What could be better? On this topic, I'd especially like to sing the praises of Ripper Roo of lyricstranslate.com for his (or her!) Arabic to English translation of Tebassam by Asma Lmnawar. Kudos to Asma's music as always and this song in particular for inspiring my spontaneous post! 2. Poetry Translation I've said it before and I'll say it again: Arabs have breathtaking poetry. I only know this in detail thanks to the enormous efforts of Salma Khadra Jayyusi. She took it upon herself to translate the works of countless contemporary Arabic poets into English much to the benefit of linguaphiles like me. I can say from experience that precise word choice is challenging under the best of circumstances. Her work in the comparatively more subtle genre of poetry never disappoints. 3. Literary Translation Lately, I've been very interested in following other translators' conversations regarding literary translation. After a while of doing more standard documents, my guess is many of us dream of more unusual content like literary translation for a change of pace. However, I can also say as a discerning reader of translated fiction that tons of linguists fall short of perfection. Finding the right tone for emotional content and cultural nuance requires ridiculous skill and investment. For what it's worth, Haruki Murakami and/or his publishers have done an excellent job of hiring appropriate Japanese to English translators for the task. I'm not actually sure if his books are handled consistently by the same person or people though every one I've read reads beautifully in English. 4. Comically Terrible Translations I find myself getting worked up over bad writing and shitty translations on a regular basis. Surprise, surprise! (Why don't content writers care more about deliberate writing?! I'm not sure they even read for fun, tbh.) That said, a translation so terrible it practically vomits does get the best of me. I don't have to tell you David Sedaris capitalized on hilariously awful translations for our immense enjoyment. To that end, here's to cringe-worthy turns of phrase the world over. Final Thoughts Translation may matter less to you than the price of tea in China. That's cool. I, on the other hand, am only too happy to reminisce about the niche and its individual subcategories until the cows come home. Got any other linguistic tidbits on your mind including personal favorites in literary translation? Any Arabic poets I should add to the collection? I'd love to hear them. In the meantime, here's to enjoying our multilingual world however you see fit. Yep, it's that bad. Photo credit: www.pexels.com If you're a freelancer, you know what's up: Upwork seems like the answer to all your prayers. No boss, no commute, no annoying coworkers, no set schedule. I've watched the video of a young woman who quit her PR job only to hit the jackpot in less than a year and buy her mom a house. We all wanted in.
If you'd asked me six months ago, I was all for it. I bid on tons of jobs thinking they'd be a slam dunk only to have most of my points and proposals land in the trash. The worst part of all is knowing you can and have done your job for years on end only to hit a brick wall for no apparent reason. My next strategy was watching tutorials for a way in. I did get one client who liked my work and felt badly enough to offer a handful of articles at a ridiculously low price because she'd been willing to work with me at all. (Read: I have a decade of industry experience, dual qualifications, excellent reviews and zero Upwork potential. How?) Meanwhile, other jobs I bid on basically for a rating took me nowhere fast. Between trying to reason with someone asking for a book's worth of editing for half a day's pay, a $6 job for a $15 purchase or agreeing to write a fake product review for a quick buck, I wasn't having it. Guys, there's no way to hack it. For people who manage to climb the wall, I think they might be earning well. The problem is the whole site is set up to exploit new freelancers into doing the lowest of the low for actual pennies many times over. It's death by design. Doing that once might be okay if you knew it'd pay off. Doing it a dozen times while trading hours, days or months of your time for what you hope is a perfect score is actual slave labor. I'm out. I'm not saying finding your own clients is a walk in the park. That's just more common knowledge than this Ponzi scheme. What I'm saying is I'd be better of as a street sweeper than I am an Upwork hopeful since at least there's money to be had. Do yourself a favor and run. The Antithesis of ChristmasFull disclosure: I completely forgot about December's post. (Later realization: no I didn't; now you just get twice the content for funsies. You're welcome/I'm sorry.) Must've slipped my mind. The good news is my post-post inspo came to me in a flash after reflecting on a quick return. Having gotten to this unnamed department store at the comfortable hour of 10 am, I was surprised to see a line of unbelievably tired faces in the spirit of the season. How could I have forgotten the stress of it all?
The pandemic has changed the way we've been able to get together including holiday celebrations. I'm not pro-virus by any stretch of the imagination though I have to say the incident reminded me why I love bowing out of holiday tradition. Whether or not you're religious, I find it a little ridiculous to spend the better part of winter dragging yourself around like an overworked horse. You're missing the point. Somehow we know that capitalism is a disaster yet we're not ready to part with our materialistic programming. Isn't it time to let go? Please don't take this the wrong way. I don't mean to rain on your parade or suck the joy out of a festive occasion. I, for one, enjoyed a relaxed holiday full of peace and reading and wouldn't have had it any other way. Here's to a much better 2022 with less stress and more sleep! Breathing Through ItEmbrace a mindful state. Photo credit: www.pexels.com In this month's installment, I'd like to thank Michael Bijker for breathing calm into the ether. This yogi and breathwork teacher has a popular Youtube channel called Yogalap you may have heard of. I'm no expert on yogic breathing but luckily for me, his channel provides ample content for beginners or even non-yogis. What's more, the scenery is beyond!
On a somewhat related note, I've been feeling completely jaded by corporate culture which is really nothing new. The world or marketing is overrun with promotional content (surprise, surprise!) and elusive support staff. I'm not impressed by blatant hypocrisy and struggle to let it go. In stark contrast, Michael's channel is completely sincere. He like many other yogis, Nordic cultures and content creators provide a wealth of resources for humanity's sake. It's remarkable. Not only do mindful breathing and yoga classes calm your nerves, the concept of collaboration is the only part of modern working culture I can really get behind. Thank you so much, Michael. I adore your channel and admire your spirit. I'm also forever grateful to Yogrishi Vishvketu at Akhanda Yoga whose content has enriched my life equally over the past several years. Thank you both for reminding me to embrace peace as a practice. Corporate GarbageThis month in the spirit of cynicism and breaking tradition, I'm deciding to throw corporate America under the bus. I'm here to rally with everyone else participating in the Great Resignation and am all for an epic middle finger. Here's the deal. I've been submitting a slew of applications with the best of intentions and very few favorable responses. It happens. It's actually more of a way of life for lots of people my age and younger, but hey. We'll be the ones to pave a better way forward. Anyway, there I was sending attachments out into the ether when I got a notification email. Have a look-see: Corporate attention to detail. Photo credit: Martha Oschwald P.S. This Stripe employee's information is public on her LinkedIn page so I'm not too worried about exposing a public position. Notice anything special? Any hints of corporate arrogance or apathy, perhaps? Complete disregard for the human beings that fuel their companies and handsome profiteering? A veil so thin it gives "The Emperor's New Clothes" a run for its money? Nah.
Here's the thing. Corporations keep on truckin'. There's not a lot we can do about it until the entire system eventually collapses. In the meantime, cracks in the wall like this overt sloppiness let me know I made the right decision to freelance my way out of this mess. What the internet thinks of employable moms. Photo credit: www.pexels.com Here's the thing: if I had a nickel for every time I read a stupid blog about how easy it is to work from home, I'd have the funds for a beachy vacay. Not so. Sometimes, these articles are also aimed at women and especially moms which is insulting in its own right. (Yes, moms can work; I'm aware.) Without further ado, it's time to shut down these delusions about working from home from someone who actually does.
1. Mom Jobs If you've come across these self-help articles before, chances are you've noticed the mom theme, too. I get it. Moms have obligations with kids and chores and all kinds of stuff. It's legit. What's not is targeting moms with adjectives like, "Easy! Fun! Simple! Mind-numbing!" or anything along those lines. Just because moms have scheduling conflicts doesn't make them brain-dead. The other piece of this sexist puzzle that bothers me is the idea that women only want happy, social gigs. Pretty reductive if you ask me. Sure, it's great to find a job you enjoy or a friendly work environment. Don't you suppose that at least some women sometimes aspire to more than outdated stereotypes? 2. Easy Work Getting back to all work-from-home jobs, the messaging is consistent. Apparently people in my line of work must be motivated by sheer laziness. Sure, a major perk of working from home is subtracting your commute but does that honestly make you stupid? If these lists are anything to go by, all presumptions point to yes. To be honest, I'm not sure if this implication weights more heavily on motivation or capability. Is it that we're too lazy get off our collective butts or too dumb to represent the work force? It could be either. Never mind remote workers surviving a pandemic; the temporary status separates simpletons from the real world. 3. Great Pay Of all the lies, this one's probably the worst. I've read or watched these lists many times over the course of my freelance career and often have experience in a few of the recommended sectors. For example, as someone who's worked as a transcriptionist, translator and tutor, the advertised pay is more than I've ever made on average. (Sometimes it's even triple!) What I want to know is why no one else is calling their bluff. Advertising excellent pay for online work is even more egregious considering how much people are struggling to make ends meet. Making false promises might get your article read but it's no way to inform your audience. The long and short of it is most influencers and/or listicle writers know jack about employment stats. 4. No Qualifications Another favorite in this list of insanity. I can tell you as someone with three unrelated degrees that many work from home jobs do, indeed, require higher education. The truth is tons of people would be drawn to work-from-home jobs if they required no training and paid handsomely. I know what you're thinking: some online jobs are entry-level. That's partially true. Transcriptionists still need to know how to type, spell and write with technical precision. Content writers and translators aren't exclusively highly educated but what I know from the field is the vast majority are. How do you think someone's going to pull a foreign language out of thin air? We're not talking pig Latin. 5. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Last but not least, the final myth is work-from-home as a nonstop carnival. You'd think this content was swapped for a kid's dinosaur party by accident. As much as jobs can be fulfilling or have moments of excitement, I'm willing to bet no employee is 100 percent amused. Here's to everyone who likes their work even half the time! I do realize this list of retaliation may sound like doom and gloom. If working from home weren't worth it in many ways, there's no way I'd stick with it for so long. Just don't let the messaging get to your head: it's as real and demanding as many other jobs in the workplace. Final Thoughts In summary, working from home isn't the end-all be-all for lazy, unqualified dullards. It's also not the only option for moms no matter how sexist your expectations. Here's to a world countering fantasy with fact in an increasingly complicated employment landscape. October 2021: |
AuthorHi, my name is Martha Oschwald and I'm a content writer focused on design. This page is meant to give you a taste of my writing style and latest musings. Archives
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