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Modern Papyrus

Tag Archives: thoughts

On Frustration in the time of Injustice and Covid

31 Sunday May 2020

Posted by Daniel Ottalini in Self-Publishing, Thoughts

≈ Comments Off on On Frustration in the time of Injustice and Covid

Tags

Social Justice, thoughts, Year of Accountability


Hi there,

Normally, on a Sunday, I’d be doing a Year of Accountability post, but seeing as it’s been a rough week for a lot of people, it just didn’t sit right with me.

As a white male, I have privilege. Privilege I cannot always recognize and see. As a graduate of the McDaniel Equity in Excellence program, I expanded my ability to recognize my privilege and the spaces where it flexes its muscles – both literally and figuratively. I cannot sit here and simply say “I understand what my fellow black and brown citizens of the United States are going through”.

Because I can’t. I can witness it. I can empathize. I can feel frustration for them and anger at the system that willfully allows such actions to occur, time and time again. My own frustration comes from the feeling of being limited in how to respond. I am not in a place to go out and protest, and while talking and sharing facts and support online is something, it doesn’t always feel like something. It is hard to be an ally when you feel like you cannot do anything to help.

Normally, I would bring up these issues in my school’s social justice program – our Student Diversity Leadership Team – but with distance learning coming to a close, this limits my ability to work with my students in this regard. 2020 has been a solid 1-2-3 series of blows to our communities and families, to our sense of ‘normalcy.’

But if it is normal for African American men and women to be murdered in their own neighborhoods, their own cars, their own homes, by police, in situations where their white neighbors would not, is normalcy what we want?

We can either push forward, or fall back. I’m honest in saying that I don’t have answers, just some half formed ideas. I’m not an expert in community organizing or reforming the police department, but I have some thoughts that may, or may not, be useful. Starting with this one simple idea.

  • Stop letting police officers fired for misconduct get jobs in neighboring precincts.

As a teacher, if I get fired for misconduct, my teaching certificate gets yanked. No more teaching. I have to jump through hoops to get it again. I can’t roll into the county next door and get a job. Why can these officers? If places in our country continue to operate in a ‘three strikes you’re out’ – shouldn’t we hold police to a higher standard? One strike – you’re out, and obviously not fit to be a police officer.

I have other ideas. None of which will solve the problem – there’s no ‘solving’ this. There is mitigating and reducing and building community relationships.

  • Require officers to live in the jurisdiction they work in.
  • Require “walk alongs” with members of the community for all officers. Monthly.
  • Remove long-rifled and shotgun weapons from cruisers.
  • Promote foot patrols rather than armored cruisers.
  • Rotate officers through schools, neighborhoods, community centers, ERs.

Most importantly of all, I think the best idea is to listen to what others, with better ideas, have to say. Listen, follow through, listen again.

Stay safe out there, wear your mask.

 

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The Myth of Being a Productive writer during Stay at Home Orders

18 Saturday Apr 2020

Posted by Daniel Ottalini in Thoughts

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Shelter in Place, thoughts, writing


stay at home on a smartphome screen display

Photo by ready made on Pexels.com

Today’s post looks at one of the fallacies of our current environment: The Myth of being a Productive Writer during these Stay-At-Home Orders.

Continue reading →

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Is Having a Blog Worth It?

03 Tuesday Dec 2019

Posted by Daniel Ottalini in Self-Publishing, Thoughts

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

blogging, thoughts


Salve! Welcome to all my new readers! Glad to have you here! Today I want to talk about my thoughts on whether having a blog is ‘worth it.’ Continue reading →

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Have you turned off your Internet today?

10 Sunday Feb 2019

Posted by Daniel Ottalini in Self-Publishing, Setting Goals, Thoughts

≈ Comments Off on Have you turned off your Internet today?

Tags

goals, thoughts


Howdy folks,

I wanted to talk briefly today about something I think we could all use.

A day / week / month without internet.

Continue reading →

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Any Writing is Good Writing – Right?

02 Saturday Feb 2019

Posted by Daniel Ottalini in Dungeons & Dragons, Self-Publishing, Thoughts

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

D&D, thoughts, writing


Random thought of today – Any writing is good writing, right? (write?)

I’m joining a D&D campaign later this month, and after being provided a hefty dose of world building (Thanks DM!) I ended up writing about 4-5 paragraphs about my character. Pretty fun, and I realized how much I actually missed writing. I don’t suppose anyone would like to read my tentative background here, but if you are, leave a comment below and I’ll be glad to post it.

Today’s Message: Socks are incredibly warm and necessary.

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New Poem – Walls – NaNoWriMo 2017

20 Monday Nov 2017

Posted by Daniel Ottalini in NaNoWriMo2017, poetry, Self-Publishing, Thoughts

≈ Comments Off on New Poem – Walls – NaNoWriMo 2017

Tags

NaNoWriMo2017, poetry, thoughts


Happy Almost Thanksgiving!

I was in a bit of an introspective mood this weekend, so in between writing about Aurelia and Aura and Julius and Constantine, I managed to write another poem. I really should be recording how many words in each of these poems, considering that these words would count towards NaNoWriMo, perhaps next year as I’ve already officially hit my goal, even though I need about 16,000 more words.

Anyways, this poem is about all the stuff that we build up inside ourselves, telling us that we’re not good enough or not worthy enough. Whether its job related, school related, significant other related or family related, we all have walls around parts of ourselves. In the class I’m taking, they call specific types of this covering – covering parts of yourself you don’t want others to see or know because you fear  (Or know) it will disadvantage you in some way. So without further ado, here’s the poem Walls.

Continue reading →

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Are Facebook Ads Worth the Money?

07 Wednesday Dec 2016

Posted by Daniel Ottalini in Advertising, Self-Publishing, Steam Empire Chronicles, Thoughts

≈ Comments Off on Are Facebook Ads Worth the Money?

Tags

advertising, Author resources, Facebook, thoughts, writer tips


Salve Facebook Romans! (Err, I mean real Romans!) As I’m recovering from the release of Steel Praetorian, I’ve been thinking about some things in my writing world I’d like to change.

Today we have a great article written by yours truly about Facebook and Advertising. Facebook (and to a lesser extent, Twitter and other social media sites) seems to occupy more and more off our lives, and everyone seems to be on it all the time. But does this popularity translate into more sales?

Continue reading →

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Will getting a new job help me write more?

23 Sunday Feb 2014

Posted by Daniel Ottalini in Thoughts

≈ Comments Off on Will getting a new job help me write more?

Tags

careers, job search, jobs, teaching, thoughts, writing


Hi everyone,

So I’ve been really thinking these last few weeks about looking for a new job, either within my local school system or elsewhere nearby. Part of me simply wants something new, something that I can see with fresh eyes. I would really like something different because I would hopefully be able to write more. In the past few months I have felt very unproductive as I have not typed as much as I wish I could have. School pressures and requirements have been very heavy and constant, so perhaps something different will let me be more creative at home.

What do you all think? Do any of you have experience moving from Teaching into another field? And while I might wish it, I am not in a place to simply rely upon my writing income to support myself. Maybe in a couple of years 🙂

– Daniel

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Happy Father’s Day!

19 Sunday Jun 2011

Posted by Daniel Ottalini in Thoughts

≈ Comments Off on Happy Father’s Day!

Tags

dad, father's day, hope, inspirational, kindness, nice messages, poems, poetry, special occasions., thoughts


Here is a brief poem about father’s day I just whipped up for your enjoyment.

 

Our Father’s are so

important to all of us

guiding us in life.

-Double Alias

Okay, not completely true sometimes, but still! To those of you with or without fathers this father’s day, spend the time with someone you care about. Happy Father’s Day.

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