Finding the Light in Darkness Kasia Staniaszek

Fogg’s Horn

The Miscreant Meanderings Of Our Man Markus

The Pointof the Exclamation Point.

Why is it that almost every sentence in almost every digital communication I receive ends in at least one exclamation point? The exclamation point has become the new period in emails and texts. Or is it a matter of the writer emphasizing, “I meant what I just wrote – really!” So, if there’s just a period there, you only kinda meant it? So, the declaratory sentence no longer declareswith just a lame-assed period at its conclusion.

The exclamation mark, !, also sometimes referred to as the exclamation point, especially in American English, is a punctuation mark usually used after an interjectionor exclamation to indicate strong feelings, or to show emphasis. The exclamation mark often marks the end of a sentence, for example: “Watch out!”

What better authority than Wikipedia, the ersatz Webster’s Dictionary for the digital age, to explain this. Wikipedia’s choice of demonstrating the mark’s use in a two-word sentence also serves nicely to warn us where this modern alteration has taken us, in this case an appropriate use of the punctuation mark. Yet, the correspondence I receive must always reflect strong feelings given their closing punctuation mark(s)! Say, what the hell ever happened to the italicsas one way to emphasize strongfeelings?

A global search through the oeuvre of my ever-lengthening writing career has turned up few occurrences where the mark was used, although I’ve never considered myself a milder-mannered practitioner of the language.

So, if the exclamation point has become the new period, where is the period off to? Well, I feel we all know the answer to that one: it’s the otherwise-known-as “dot” before com, net, org, edu, et al and how would we navigate through cyberspace without it there.

So, digital speech, I say, take this. And this. And this. This. This. . . . . . . .

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Winter in Pink and Blue Boardwalk, Long Beach, Long Island Photo by Karen Dinan

Finding the Light in Darkness

By Kasia Staniaszek

Editor’s Note: When we are drawn to consider light as an entity in itself, it is frequently to its dramatic incarnations: sunsets, sunrises, sparkle on the waves, the backlit aura behind autumnal trees. Subtle nuances are less apparent, of course, but still attention-grabbing: nighttime windowlight shimmering on a lake; how your shadow drifts or dances depending upon your position relative to a light source. But if light and darkness are the two complementary forces that make up all aspects and phenomena of life, according to eastern philosophy, where does the coexistence of these complementary components allow for interpretation on the most personal level? That isthe journey Kasia Staniaszek set for herself:her interpretation of the light in darkness.

‘Liminal’

Morning. Suspended between two worlds, I’ve departed from one but have not yet arrived in the other. Sleep still lingers in my eyes as the sun asks them to readjust. Light has made its introduction, but I have yet to greet it back. Maybe after this cup of coffee. . .

‘A Daytime Inversion’

What do you do when what once cast a light in your life, now casts a shadow? When can light become a source of darkness? A promising relationship that has run its course, a fulfilling job that you’ve outgrown, those happy hours drinks with friends that have become a little too frequent. The transitory nature of life reminds us to let go, even of light.

‘Keep Reaching’

In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger –something better, pushing right back .

-- Albert Camus