Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Rage’

Dan Gilbert needs help

Posted in Grammar, etc., tagged , , , , on July 9, 2010| 4 Comments »

Despite the fact that I don’t give a rat’s ass where LeBron James ends up, I have not been able to escape the news (Miami). Apparently, there are some folks in the Buckeye State who are pretty pissed off — folks like Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, who wrote an open letter to fans of the Cavs.

I don’t really care about the letter, except to point out that someone should have proofread it with an eye toward unnecessary quotation marks. Take a look at this excerpt:

To make matters worse, that font is Comic Sans.

Read Full Post »

Somebody’s watching me

Posted in Chickens, tagged , , , , , , , on July 7, 2010| 5 Comments »

I haven’t posted about the chickens, Shelly and Jeanne, for a while.

It’s because I hate them.

They started it. They hated me first.

It doesn’t help that they are so much stinkier and messier than Trish was.

But they do seem more interested in me lately. They haven’t run quite as fast when I come out to give them food and water. And they’ve been peering in the window of the playroom, almost as if they are interested in what’s going on inside the house.

Jeanne and Shelly, Peeping Hens

But as they are looking in, certain someones are looking out.

Dinner!

This does not bode well.

Read Full Post »

“Don’t Tase me, Bro!”

Posted in Grammar, etc., tagged , , , , , on June 29, 2010| 2 Comments »

For weeks now, I have given a pass to Savannah Morning News and the consistent inability to be consistent in spelling a particular word.

No more.

I just can’t take another day of opening the paper and seeing this:

Every time someone at the paper writes about the incident on Tybee, the editors use “Tazed” in the headline, but allow “Tased” in the body copy. (Here’s the link to today’s article.)

The proper name of the electroshock weapon is “Taser.” So if the weapon was used on someone, the proper verb form would be “Tased.”

However, AP Style — which is apparently foreign to folks at the SMN — does not approve of verb forms at all.

Better to say, “Tybee police used a Taser on an autistic teenager May 21.”

Or if you are going to ignore AP Style, at least be consistent in spelling.

Read Full Post »

BP stands for Bad PR

Posted in Random, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 6, 2010| 11 Comments »

Oh, the irony in this sign at a BP station in Ohio. If I spilled anything at that station, I’d take my cue from the head of BP and I’d pretend it wasn’t that bad, blame everyone else, and then not let anyone else give me ideas on how to clean it up.

Tony Hayward, have you learned nothing from those unfortunate CEOs who have come before you in crisis? Apparently.

One of the topics I cover in my Promotional Writing class is crisis management. Crisis is nothing new, so there are plenty of case studies. Why don’t people learn from the mistakes of others?

Good crisis management: Tylenol in the ’80s, Hugh Grant, Jim Joyce. Bad crisis management: Tylenol in the ’00s, Tiger Woods, Exxon. Horrible crisis management: BP has no equal.

Here is how you handle a crisis in three easy steps:

  1. Talk to the media immediately and regularly.
  2. Apologize.
  3. Make it right by fixing the problem and compensating the victims.

BP has done none of these things. In fact, they’ve pretty much done the opposite of what they should have done. Who is advising these people?

And they keep making it worse in so many ways. One of those ways is that they are not allowing media to document the situation. Don’t they understand that they are squandering a prime opportunity to salvage their reputation? They could show the world what they are doing to fix the problem.

Unless, of course, they don’t really want to show what they are doing.

Hmmm…

I’ll leave you with this image, and the knowledge that I’ll never buy from BP again.

Read Full Post »

Gay people want to destroy the world

Posted in Random, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 14, 2010| 11 Comments »

I may need to stop reading the paper. It’s not good for my blood pressure.

This time it is not because of a Savannah Morning News error, but rather an article that is printed on page 12A. It was a small piece, but it had a large effect on me.

Warning: If you are Catholic, or a pope supporter in general, you might want to stop reading now. I’m about to write some not-so-nice things about the pontiff.

According to the SMN article (The New York Times has a larger, better overview), Pope Benedict XVI told Catholic social workers, health providers and some others assembled for a Mass in Fatima, Portugal, that abortion and same-sex marriage were two of the most “insidious and dangerous” threats facing the world today.

Really? Happy gay people are a threat to the world?

Not child abuse? Really?

Ben, let’s talk. I know you are in a world of hurt trying to pretend that you don’t need to deal with your big, fat scandal, but you cannot throw us off the scent.

I know you don’t have kids, so you might not get it, but children are sponges. They soak up all the good and bad that they see, hear and feel. So if a bishop is letting his little bishop run free all over 10-year-old hide, there is a problem. And that is going to affect that child forever.

If you believe that killing children (even still as a fetus) is wrong, then how could you not see abuse as one of the biggest threats to the world? There are thousands and thousands of children who have been abused by priests and others in the Catholic Church and likely will suffer psychological, emotional and physical effects. According to the American Psychological Association, children who have been abused have an increased risk for:

  • Depression
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder
  • Dissociative and anxiety disorders
  • Eating disorders
  • Poor self-esteem
  • Somatization (the expression of distress in physical symptoms)
  • Chronic pain
  • Behavioral problems including sexualized behavior, school/learning problems, substance abuse, destructive behavior, sexual dysfunction in adulthood, criminality in adulthood
  • Suicide

Barbara E. Bogorad, Psy.D., founder and former director of the Sexual Abuse Recovery Program Unit of South Oaks Hospital in New York wrote:

Abused children are 53% more likely to be arrested as juveniles, and 38% more likely to be arrested for a violent crime. During preschool years, abused children are more likely to get angry, refuse direction from teachers, and lack enthusiasm. By the time they reach grade school, they are more prone to being easily distracted, lacking in self-control, and not well-liked by peers.

But it is same-sex marriage you choose to target as the problem?

Yes, there is a problem. And he is wearing a pointy hat.

Read Full Post »

Making a difference

Posted in Grammar, etc., tagged , , , , on May 14, 2010| 1 Comment »

“Grizzly” turned me into quite the bear this morning. In fact, I felt compelled to write to the “compiler.”

Here is the story now:

I’d like to think someone changed it because of me.* But my buddy Arek did not reply, so I don’t know for sure.

It doesn’t matter, really. I’ll keep on defending the English language’s honor, one heterograph at a time.

*Note for Rachael and Deanne: No one fixed the hyphen or modifier issues, though.

Read Full Post »

Come ON!

Posted in Grammar, etc., tagged , , , , on May 13, 2010| 7 Comments »

Yes, I know I just posted an entry last night, but I had to post again. Please feast your eyes upon this:

Grizzly? Seriously? They think a bear attacked the man?

No. They meant “grisly.” Come ON!

The good folks at the Savannah Morning News should be ashamed. It appears Arek Sarkissian II compiled the information for the article. I seem to recall he also enjoys putting in an ampersand in the college’s name.

Read Full Post »

Screen saver

Posted in Random, tagged , , , on April 22, 2010| 3 Comments »

We are dogsitting this week, so that means our grand total of dogs is three. Those of you counting at home may say, “What? I thought ‘plus one’ would be four!”

Vince went to live with my father. Maggie and Vince had an extended stay at Grandma Dad’s because Eddie and I were traveling so much. Vince got along so well with my dad’s girlfriend’s dog “Li’l Bit” that it seemed like a good idea for him to stay. And it helps ease the pain from my dad having to put his dog Rufus to sleep yesterday.

RIP Rufus (1996-2010)

So that leaves Maggie, Mona and Jack, the visiting Cocker Spaniel. Mona also is supposed to be just visiting, but … well.

Maggie is on the naughty list, though. Here’s why:

We closed Maggie in our bedroom yesterday to keep her away from Jack. She must have spotted something in our backyard that needed her attention, so she just headed right out through the screen.

Handy Manny is not pleased

Luckily, we just happened to have some screen on hand, so Eddie fixed it quickly.

Eddie replaces the screen while Mona investigates

He’s really tired of fixing things around the house, though. I can’t blame him.

Read Full Post »

Words I hate

Posted in Grammar, etc., tagged , , , , , , on April 21, 2010| 25 Comments »

Some students in my classes have asked for a list of words I hate. Here are the ones that are always at the top:

Currently

If there is a verb in the sentence, then you don’t need that adverb. It is redundant.

Incorrect: Beth is currently a writing professor. “Is” means it is happening right now. “Currently” is overkill.

Correct: I can’t think of an occasion where you would need it.

Hopefully

This is one of the most misused words in the English language. People use it to mean “I hope.” If that is what you mean, then use, “I hope,” for Pete’s sake! It is an adverb, which means it needs to modify a verb.

Incorrect: Hopefully, the envelope contains a bonus check. How is the envelope behaving in a hopeful manner?

Correct: She looked hopefully at the envelope, convinced that it contained a bonus check.

Utilize

I’ve mentioned it before, but it bears repeating: There is nothing wrong with the word “use.”

Incorrect: Utilize your knowledge of grammar to start a blog.

Correct: Use your knowledge of grammar to start a blog. See? “Use” is a perfectly good word.

Nauseous

People use this word to mean “I am sick to my stomach.” But what they should say is “nauseated” because that is what they are. If they are nauseous, then they cause nausea in others.

Incorrect: “I’m nauseous now,” said Eddie after riding The Flying Critter at the fair.

Correct: “The Flying Critter made me nauseated,” he said.

Partner

This is a noun, not a verb. Stop trying to “partner” with people, and just team up, join them or just combine completely in the sentence.

Incorrect: The SCAD writing department is partnering with the graduate studies department to present a lecture by Rebecca Skloot.

Correct: The writing and graduate studies departments are sponsoring the lecture.

There’s more, but this list has made me nauseated, and I need to lie down.

Read Full Post »

Home improvement needs improvement

Posted in Random, tagged , , on April 14, 2010| 4 Comments »

Why are home improvement projects always so fraught with disaster?

Take our back door, for example. It was supposed to be a simple matter of replacing the old door because the bottom had rusted. But Lowe’s ordered the wrong size, something you don’t really know until you get it home. Maybe their slogan should be “Let’s Build Something Together, But We Won’t Really Help You At All. So Really,  You Should Build Something Alone.”

So Eddie placed it temporarily in the frame, and went to call Lowe’s to complain and reorder the right size. And this is what happened:

That’s $250 in shards.

Today, we had to get an electrician to come over to help us with our outdoor lighting. The geniuses hired by the previous owners had simply buried the electrical cable in a shallow grave. Lightning likes electrical wires. So that was the end of the outdoor lighting.

Eddie had to buy PVC pipe and new, thicker cable, and then dig up the back yard to bury the new cable. And he promptly hit an irrigation pipe.

And so the electrician is here. I’m looking through the back door, and I see plenty of frowning. There’s some pointing and gesturing. And now Eddie and the electrician are digging. That can’t be good.

Update: The electrician said, “Let there be light.” And there was. And it was good.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »