Date: Tuesday, February 8th, 2011
Word of the Day: schadenfreude (SHOD\n\froy\duh); a malicious satisfaction obtained from the misfortune of others
Weight: two hundred and six (206) pounds
Goal: lose one hundred (100) pounds in one year duration
Pounds to lose: seventy-four (74)
Waist Size: forty-one (41) inches
Days until Royal Wedding: eighty-one (81) I wonder why I haven't received my wedding invitation yet, clearly this is a huge oversight of the Middleton Family
Rowing Duration: forty (40) minutes, eight (8) seconds
Well, I increased my rowing duration on Cruella, not very much, but it still is an increase, hush up Lily, gosh, you and that Tiffany can be so critical, (just joking.)
Big day for me today, I am going to see Dr. Alladin, and I hope she will have news regarding my kidney stones, it would be great if she has a date for me to go into the hospital to have those nasty little buggers removed from my body, we'll see, and I will let you know accordingly.
Ever since I turned fifty (50) years of age, I am not the person I used to be, my asthma acts up quite regularly, my weight has drastically changed, I still have luscious brown hair, true, there is some grey hair interspersed between the brown, but looking at me one would not notice the grey, (and if they do, you know where they can go!!!!,) what else?, um, oh yeah, my memory isn't as sharp as before.
Because of the decline in my brain cells, I am hoping that you will remind me to call my beautiful, intelligent sister-in-law tomorrow. Yes, it is Louise's birthday, (please Biff, please remember and get Louise something nice, she is the mother of your children, more important, the mother of my nieces and nephew,) it is very important that I call to give Louise the proper birthday wishes, and to sing to her of course, because the birthday card that Zac, Winter and I have got Louise, will not arrive on her birthday, yes, we didn't get it out early enough, je regret big time!
Good golly, who would have thought that the mere name-dropping of Eva Braun could provoke such a huge reaction among my readers, I really never know what is going to interest or disturb you, I am rather a neophyte to the blogging world!
Okay, because some of you were so gracious in letting me know that you appreciate my writing tips, I am going to give you some more today, I know you're pleased, it's okay, anyway, here we go again:
There are two types of grammar: Descriptive, which describes what is customary, and prescriptive grammar, which prescribes what should be. A tension between the two systems is inevitable, and healthy; it keeps us thinking about what we’re saying and writing.
Allowing mob rule at the expense of some governing of composition is madness, but a diction dictatorship is dangerous, too. (How is that for an alliteration Marta?) As with any prescription, an overdose is contraindicated. Here are some hard pills to swallow for language mavens who require a strict adherence to rigid syntactical patterns at the expense of, well, language:
1. Never split an infinitive.
It isn’t wise to always ignore this fallacious rule against dividing the elements of the verb phrase “to (verb)” with an adverb, but to blindly follow it is to prohibit pleasing turns of phrase , one of the best known of which is from the introductory voice-over from all the "Star Trek" television series: “to boldly go where no one has gone before.” (The original series, produced before the more recent sensitivity to gender bias, put it “no man.”)
2. Never end a sentence with a preposition.
This rule is ridiculous, to start with. as you may have noticed, I do it regularly. However, if you believe that you should not end the sentence with a preposition, please tell me what planet you are from. What are you striving for? Give it up. Am I getting my point across?
The stricture against closing sentences with words that describe position stems from an eighteen-century fetish for the supposed perfection of classical Latin, which allowed no split infinitives, for the excellent reason that Latin infinitives consist of single words. English, however, being a distant relative of that language, should be allowed to form its own customs.
3. Never begin a sentence with a conjunction.
And why not? Again, this is something else that I do daily. For an honorable tradition of doing just that exists. But some people persist in prohibiting this technique. Yet we defy them. Or we simply ignore them or laugh at them, neither of which they appreciate. Nor do they understand our attitude, though we try to convince them, and will continue to do so. So there!!!!!
The words beginning each of these sentences are conjunctions, easily recalled with the mnemonic FANBOYS. Every one is perfectly acceptable at the head of a sentence. As is obvious from the previous paragraph, however, a little goes a long way.
4. Distinguish between while and though.
Petty prescriptivism's would have you reserve while for temporal usage only: “While I agree, I resist,” they say, should be revised to “Though I agree, I resist.” I freely admit that I often change while to though, (I also don't pronounce the t in often, but that is another story,) and while I understand, I’m sorry, I can’t stop myself, and though I understand that it may seem pedantic, I think though reads better.
5. Distinguish between since and because.
Ditto. And ditto. I concur that indiscriminate replacement of since with because may seem persnickety, but since, ahem, because I find the latter word more pleasing, I will reserve the right to prefer it.
6. Use data only in the plural sense.
Where did they get this data? The alternative is to use datum in the singular sense, which makes you sound like a propellerhead. (Look it up, kids.) People who say “datum” get data, but they don’t get dates.
7. Use none only in the singular sense.
None of these rules, followed strictly, allow for a vernacular ease with language.
Did that sentence hurt? Did the waves stop crashing to shore? Did Earth stop spinning? If you wish to replace none with “not one” or “no one” (“Not one person admitted guilt”; “No one saw that coming”), by all means, do so, but fear not none in a plural sense.
Just one more thing today, today would have been the birthday of one of my favourite author's, Charles Dickens. I just love all of the books of Charles Dickens that I have read, which is at least, five (5) of them.
Did you know that when Charles Dickens was a boy, his father was placed in Debtor's prison. As a result, Charles Dickens was withdrawn from school and forced to work in a factory, an experience that deeply influenced his future writings.
Now regarded as one of the world's most popular, prolific and skilled novelists. Charles Dickens began his writing career as a reporter developing an encyclopedic knowledge of London and the ability to wildly describe people and everyday life.
Charles Dicken's work has been praised for its mastery of prose and unique personalities by writers such as George Gissing, Leo Tolstoy and G. K. Chesterton; though others, such as Henry James and Virginia Woolf, criticised it for sentimentality and implausibility, but not I, who the heck am I to criticise?
That's it for me today folks, I need to get ready to go to see Dr. Alladin, wish me luck.
Topics coming soon:
Art
Politics
Cartoons
Image via Wikipedia
Word of the Day: schadenfreude (SHOD\n\froy\duh); a malicious satisfaction obtained from the misfortune of others
Weight: two hundred and six (206) pounds
Goal: lose one hundred (100) pounds in one year duration
Pounds to lose: seventy-four (74)
Waist Size: forty-one (41) inches
Days until Royal Wedding: eighty-one (81) I wonder why I haven't received my wedding invitation yet, clearly this is a huge oversight of the Middleton Family
Rowing Duration: forty (40) minutes, eight (8) seconds
Well, I increased my rowing duration on Cruella, not very much, but it still is an increase, hush up Lily, gosh, you and that Tiffany can be so critical, (just joking.)
Big day for me today, I am going to see Dr. Alladin, and I hope she will have news regarding my kidney stones, it would be great if she has a date for me to go into the hospital to have those nasty little buggers removed from my body, we'll see, and I will let you know accordingly.
Ever since I turned fifty (50) years of age, I am not the person I used to be, my asthma acts up quite regularly, my weight has drastically changed, I still have luscious brown hair, true, there is some grey hair interspersed between the brown, but looking at me one would not notice the grey, (and if they do, you know where they can go!!!!,) what else?, um, oh yeah, my memory isn't as sharp as before.
Because of the decline in my brain cells, I am hoping that you will remind me to call my beautiful, intelligent sister-in-law tomorrow. Yes, it is Louise's birthday, (please Biff, please remember and get Louise something nice, she is the mother of your children, more important, the mother of my nieces and nephew,) it is very important that I call to give Louise the proper birthday wishes, and to sing to her of course, because the birthday card that Zac, Winter and I have got Louise, will not arrive on her birthday, yes, we didn't get it out early enough, je regret big time!
Good golly, who would have thought that the mere name-dropping of Eva Braun could provoke such a huge reaction among my readers, I really never know what is going to interest or disturb you, I am rather a neophyte to the blogging world!
Okay, because some of you were so gracious in letting me know that you appreciate my writing tips, I am going to give you some more today, I know you're pleased, it's okay, anyway, here we go again:
There are two types of grammar: Descriptive, which describes what is customary, and prescriptive grammar, which prescribes what should be. A tension between the two systems is inevitable, and healthy; it keeps us thinking about what we’re saying and writing.
Allowing mob rule at the expense of some governing of composition is madness, but a diction dictatorship is dangerous, too. (How is that for an alliteration Marta?) As with any prescription, an overdose is contraindicated. Here are some hard pills to swallow for language mavens who require a strict adherence to rigid syntactical patterns at the expense of, well, language:
1. Never split an infinitive.
It isn’t wise to always ignore this fallacious rule against dividing the elements of the verb phrase “to (verb)” with an adverb, but to blindly follow it is to prohibit pleasing turns of phrase , one of the best known of which is from the introductory voice-over from all the "Star Trek" television series: “to boldly go where no one has gone before.” (The original series, produced before the more recent sensitivity to gender bias, put it “no man.”)
2. Never end a sentence with a preposition.
This rule is ridiculous, to start with. as you may have noticed, I do it regularly. However, if you believe that you should not end the sentence with a preposition, please tell me what planet you are from. What are you striving for? Give it up. Am I getting my point across?
The stricture against closing sentences with words that describe position stems from an eighteen-century fetish for the supposed perfection of classical Latin, which allowed no split infinitives, for the excellent reason that Latin infinitives consist of single words. English, however, being a distant relative of that language, should be allowed to form its own customs.
3. Never begin a sentence with a conjunction.
And why not? Again, this is something else that I do daily. For an honorable tradition of doing just that exists. But some people persist in prohibiting this technique. Yet we defy them. Or we simply ignore them or laugh at them, neither of which they appreciate. Nor do they understand our attitude, though we try to convince them, and will continue to do so. So there!!!!!
The words beginning each of these sentences are conjunctions, easily recalled with the mnemonic FANBOYS. Every one is perfectly acceptable at the head of a sentence. As is obvious from the previous paragraph, however, a little goes a long way.
4. Distinguish between while and though.
Petty prescriptivism's would have you reserve while for temporal usage only: “While I agree, I resist,” they say, should be revised to “Though I agree, I resist.” I freely admit that I often change while to though, (I also don't pronounce the t in often, but that is another story,) and while I understand, I’m sorry, I can’t stop myself, and though I understand that it may seem pedantic, I think though reads better.
5. Distinguish between since and because.
Ditto. And ditto. I concur that indiscriminate replacement of since with because may seem persnickety, but since, ahem, because I find the latter word more pleasing, I will reserve the right to prefer it.
6. Use data only in the plural sense.
Where did they get this data? The alternative is to use datum in the singular sense, which makes you sound like a propellerhead. (Look it up, kids.) People who say “datum” get data, but they don’t get dates.
7. Use none only in the singular sense.
None of these rules, followed strictly, allow for a vernacular ease with language.
Did that sentence hurt? Did the waves stop crashing to shore? Did Earth stop spinning? If you wish to replace none with “not one” or “no one” (“Not one person admitted guilt”; “No one saw that coming”), by all means, do so, but fear not none in a plural sense.
Just one more thing today, today would have been the birthday of one of my favourite author's, Charles Dickens. I just love all of the books of Charles Dickens that I have read, which is at least, five (5) of them.
Did you know that when Charles Dickens was a boy, his father was placed in Debtor's prison. As a result, Charles Dickens was withdrawn from school and forced to work in a factory, an experience that deeply influenced his future writings.
Now regarded as one of the world's most popular, prolific and skilled novelists. Charles Dickens began his writing career as a reporter developing an encyclopedic knowledge of London and the ability to wildly describe people and everyday life.
Charles Dicken's work has been praised for its mastery of prose and unique personalities by writers such as George Gissing, Leo Tolstoy and G. K. Chesterton; though others, such as Henry James and Virginia Woolf, criticised it for sentimentality and implausibility, but not I, who the heck am I to criticise?
That's it for me today folks, I need to get ready to go to see Dr. Alladin, wish me luck.
Topics coming soon:
Art
Politics
Cartoons
Image via Wikipedia
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