Long day at work

Hills Like White Elephants

Dear sister,

I am writing this letter to you from a railway station in Spain to tell you, that me and Harry soon will traveling to Madrid. As you might know, I’m getting a surgery next week in Madrid, but I am not sure if I want to go through it anyway. I can't keep up with Harry and his lies anymore, he is driving me insane, and lately all we do is arguing. However, mother doesn’t know anything about the surgery or that me and Harry arguing, so please do not mention anything about it to her. I don’t want to scare mother more than she already is, with the thought of me going to a country that is so far away. I want you to know that everything will be fine with me and I promise to write to you again as soon as possible. I wish that you were here with me so, that I wouldn't have to talk to Harry all bloddy day long. I wish that you too could see Spain, which is beyond beautiful. The nature here is breathtaking, even the hills are amazing on their own and if you look very carefully, you would be able to see that they look like white elephants.

My dearest sister I love you and I promise that we will be seeing each other soon again.

Love,

Jig

Writing Game 9

Argument Leads To Debate About Abortion

American couple heats up Spain with controversial topic

Yesterday, in Spanish city Barcelona, the locals were witnesses to a heated discussion between a man and woman. The couple is believed to be the renowned author Ernest Hemingway and his wife Pauline Marie Pfeiffer, although our sources are unable to confirm this at this point in time. 

The argument started at a local bar, where the discussion of drinks all of a sudden escalated to a discussion about how drinks taste. This lead to further arguments, which ultimately lead to a heated debate about abortion. It was clear to the onlookers that the man and the woman did not agree on the topic, as the man loudly exposed to them what his stance on the matter was. 

It is currently unknown what the end result was. We will keep the readers notified of any updates on the matter.

Unoriginality

How does one create unoriginality?

It’s not about thinking a thought that’s never been thought.

Does it perhaps come from everyday life’s banality?

Alas, that is most likely not where it must be sought.

Being uncreative, turns out, is quite the task:

Even in plagiarizing, selections must be made.

The Uncreative unintentionally the author tries to mask,

The point of unoriginality thus begins to fade.

Shakespeare wrote of love

And so did millions of others before him;

Standing on the shoulders of giants,

The cup of originality is full to the brim.

Since the dawn of time,

People have borrowed from each other;

Intertextuality, inspiration, rhyme,

Mixing up texts from one another.

Original words of creativity once poured from its first reality
And even so it’s still almost impossible to express unoriginality.

Based on: The Chronicle of Higher Education: Kenneth Goldsmith's "Uncreative Writing"

Hills Like White Elephants: Journalism

05/08-1927 – Breaking News: Are Ernest Hemingway and wife Pauline Marie Pfeiffer having an abortion in Spain?

Ernest Hemingway was spotted in Spain with his wife Pauline Marie Pfeiffer, whom our sources believe is pregnant.

The couple was sitting at a train station café, where Pfeiffer was seen with a baby bump and a troubled look on her face. The couple was discussing going to a clinic where Pfeiffer could have an operation in which air would be let into Pfeiffer, which would to quote Hemingway make it “all perfectly natural”.

This kind of operation is how an abortion is performed normally. Our sources believe they are going to have the abortion because the baby is a “white elephant” meaning it is unwanted. This is underlined by Hemingway saying to Pfeiffer that it (‘it’ being the baby) is “the only thing that bothers us. It’s the only thing that made us unhappy”, and that by getting the abortion they would be “just like we were before”.

Thus, making it likely that an abortion is in the near future for the couple.

By Willy Williamson, The New York Times.

Anis del Toro? More like ”Anis del I might be dangerous”

The Spanish people are notorious for their festive drinking culture, which includes everything from the rather “innocent” cerveza to the more aggressive liquids like absinthe. In that relation, a new liquorice tasting alcohol seems to be trending at the moment called “Anis del Mondo” also known as “Anis del Toro”. The liqueur, which often is served with a splash of water, is particularly popular around Barcelona, which also happens to be the origin of the brand. However, there has been several episodes where people have been hallucinating in connection with the consumption of the drink. According to a waitress, who works at a train station only forty minutes outside of Barcelona, almost every time she served the drink, people saw things or more precisely animals that simply was not there.  The waitress especially recalls one incident where a young lady, accompanied by an American man, mistook the hills across the valley of the Ebro for white elephants. Should this be a concern?  Or should people simply just try to limit their amount of this trendy drink?

Hills Like White Elephants

Dear diary,
It still seems that Jig and I are unable to have a normal conversation without ending up bickering about the smallest of things.

I love her, I really do. Yet sometimes I just find her so frustrating! Sometimes, everything she says and does just bothers me to no end!

The main reason for all these arguments is the child, and I think she seems to understand that as well.

Spain is peaceful in contrast to the rest of the world. which allowed us to sit and talk by the Ebro today. We argued about the unborn child again, of course. Once again, I mentioned the operation, yet I was still unable to figure out exactly how she felt about getting the abortion. I tried to be supportive, and I told her that no matter what she chose, I would always love her. However, I do hope that she has chosen the abortion for her own sake as well as my own. I cannot imagine either of us being prepared for parenthood.

Things would be so much easier if we were not having this child at all...

She has agreed to go through with the operation, though. I just hope it will be able to solve our problems...

Postcard from Spain

Dear mama

Spain is beautiful! While the rest of Europe have done nothing but drain my spirit with its ruins and misery, Spain has been a breath of fresh air, seemingly untouched by the horrors that are still too close to now. The white hills on this postcard are from the region I visited yesterday. I have been joined by a man on the recent part of my travels. You remember little Johnny, right? Well, as it turns out, his brother is also travelling across Europe! He seems like a nice man, and though I know you are most likely jumping in joy by the chance of me actually meeting a an whom I like and enjoys my company, I would not order the white dress yet, if I were you. I am still unsure of whether I am even looking for a man? I am scared I would not be able to do the profession of a man's wife justice, much like my recent shortcomings as both a seamstress and a nurse. I do not know if I can handle being a letdown again. I promise I will try to make up my mind before I come back home. He does seems nice, though. Too nice perhaps, as I would hate to bear the knowledge of knowing his choice in me as a spouse would be one of a gentleman's good manners rather than that of love.

I hope to see you soon, mama 

- Jig

Hills Like White Elephants 

They do not agree upon what is going to happen

Although he thinks that they do

She realises that she is trapped in

A relationship that has nowhere to go

She clearly loves one more than the other

He is too dumb to see

Or maybe he just cannot bother

But she knows who it is going to be

They drink away their troubles

Although her troubles stay

Her suggestions however are subtle

So his ideas will not go away

Their ways will maybe part

Although his solution may seem elegant

When he realises what is really in her heart

There might not be any white elephants

Letter to the unborn

Dear unborn,

It might seem stupid to write you this letter cause I know you'll never get to read it. However, I just had to get my feelings about you down on paper. It is the day before the operation and I am terrified! Not because I’m afraid it will hurt or anything, but because I’m worried that this might be a wrong decision. You were not meant to happen but you did and I somehow feel connected to you. Not that I can feel you or anything yet but I can definitely feel that something is different inside my body and that it is preparing for you to grow in there. It’s a strange thought that tomorrow you will be gone and I just have to move on with my life. I wish it could be different but it can’t. The decision is made and at some point it might also be the best for the both of us. Either way, I would have loved to meet you and get to know you but that's not possible. You were made from love and will always have a place in my heart even though I’ll never get to be your mother…