It’s the end of the year, of course, and therefore the ideal time for reminiscing. Punctuality Rules! has only been around since October, but, who says we can’t have a retrospective anyway, right? So, in place of our usual “Mangled Monday” feature, let’s look back over the last few months…
Name and Address?
There’s a line in “You’ve Got Mail,” where Meg Ryan’s character protests, “Joe? Just call me Joe? As though you were one of those stupid 22 year old girls with no last name? Hi, I’m Kimberly. Hi, I’m Janice. Don’t they know you’re supposed to have a last name? It’s…
MM: Confusing Words, Part 2
Which of these words confuse you? Bath/Bathe: Bath: To soak in water. (“After a long day, all I want is a nice, hot bath.”) Bathe: The verb used when bathing. (“The dog was so filthy, it took me an hour to bathe him.” Discreet/Discrete: Discreet: Tactfully unobtrusive. (“The doctor was…
Homespun
As a knitter, I recently read a couple of articles about the upswing of making things by hand, and also an, um, unique competition for sock knitters, with great interest. “Handmade isn’t a fad… it’s a resurgence, one that is of a piece with the booming interest in organic food,”…
Strength
Writing manuals talk about the importance of “strong” writing. You know, the need to avoid wishy-washy, vague, round-about sentences, but how, exactly, are you supposed to do that? And why? The “how” is pretty straight-forward. Use active verbs. An active verb is one that, well, describes an action. Run. Write.…
MM: See, the Object is…
Last week, we discussed the Nominitive case for pronouns (I, he, they, etc.), so this week, naturally, we’re going to discuss the Objective Case: me, you, him, her, us, them, it, whom. Objective pronouns are used for direct objects of a sentence. Give her the key. Harry told them no.…
Eep!
Eep! My sidebar disappeared and I have NO idea why. I’m looking, but since I know practically nothing about CSS, um, well, at least the POSTS are still showing…. Any suggestions? I swear, all I was trying to do was add the phrase “Join the discussion” next to the Comments…
Yes, it’s off-topic
Hey folks–I know it has nothing to do with writing or manners or any of the things I usually talk about–but if you’re even remotely a “crafty” kind of person, would you be willing to do me a favor and come take a survey about online knitting lessons? It would…
Building Blocks
So, what would you say was the main building block of writing? That’s right, class. The words. The way you put them together is of utmost importance, naturally, but ultimately, if you don’t have the vocabulary, all the technique in the world will avail you nothing. (This is one of…
MM: Just Between You and Me, er, I, er, Us….
Gillian left a comment on yesterday’s post asking for help knowing when to use the nominative case in a sentence. If the jargon is already making you say, “What?” it’s knowing the difference between saying, “You and I” and “You and me.” In fact, the sentence that caught her eye…
Writing Traditions
I spent most of my weekend immersed in family tradition (namely, baking Christmas Stollen for my Dad), and in between shuttling cookie sheets of loaves in and out of the oven, I was thinking about tradition. We all know about writing traditions. There are entire mythologies surrounding them. The hard-bitten…
A Little Modification
Let’s have a brief discussion of Adjectives and Adverbs, shall we? Adjectives, you may remember from school, are words (or phrases) that modify or describe nouns and pronouns. The yellow school bus The red apple. He is so tall. The bag was yellow. When using two or more adjectives in a…
MM: Conjunctivitis
Remember, back in school, when your teacher taught you never to start a sentence with a conjunction (and, but, or)? You’ll be pleased to know that, while it’s true that this is something you should avoid, it’s no longer a mandatory hard-and-fast rule. The important thing is that you not…
Un-Reality Calling
Are you a Pragmatist or a Dreamer? Do you prefer to spend your time in reality or a world all your own? For whatever reason, this question has been on my mind a lot lately, possibly because there is such a dichotomy staring me in the face every day. Reality…