Sound familiar? You lose your job and The Man, from his paneled office, says, don’t worry. There are plenty of jobs out there. Just retrain. In my case, as in many, management was missing the point. I didn’t want to retrain. I had thirty years invested in printing and publishing and that’s where I wanted … Continue reading Just retrain, management says
I have a lot of gripes about the grammar used (or misused) by reporters. This one even drew Andy Rooney’s ire a few weeks ago: Troop: A troop is a group of solders, like a company or a division. It is not just one soldier. Therefore it is incorrect to say “Three American troops died … Continue reading One soldier does not a troop make
It’s sad, really, to see someone of Dan Rather’s stature lose his journalistic judgment in the twilight of his career. He and Mary Mapes should resign from CBS, if they aren’t fired first. Burkett, their source for the Bush National Guard story, was known to be unreliable long before they accepted those documents from him. … Continue reading Rather embarrassing
Verbification. Coining a verb from a noun. It makes any English purist shudder. I’d like to strangle those who originated or help perpetuate these: Summit: To reach the top of a mountain, to reach the summit. Medal or podium: To earn a medal in a competition, which often means you get to stand on a … Continue reading Grammatical peeves
Hello, world. It’s me again. Perhaps only briefly this time, but who knows. I need someone to talk to, and have no one, so maybe here I’ll just talk to everyone. Or to no one. If a blog is written but never read, is it truly a blog? Or is it only a typing exercise … Continue reading In the beginning…
Why choose one blog template over another? One good reason: This one is readable. So many of those offered use very wide columns for the entries, or a color combination that’s hard on the eyes, or reverse type, or worst of all, ALL of the above. As a semi-retired publications designer, I give most of … Continue reading About blog design
