A Likely Story: too strange to be classified Archives

Beware of the Grey Language Police!

Some of you might know that I've been typesetting a fairly large book, an activity that, while interesting, enriching and rewarding, is extremely tiresome.

It turned out that now I got another book to typeset. This book is just 25% the size of the previous one (i.e., around 100 pages). But there is a big problem with it: The author(s) are not exactly in friendly terms with the Spanish language. Tell me about something time-consuming! The book is so ridden with spelling, grammar, and syntax errors, that if I could fire a bullet for every gross mistake I've found, I would make the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie look pale in comparison. Worse yet... the main author is a distinguished Ph.D. and scholar.

Call me a snob, but I find spelling mistakes in my native tongue extremely gross and annoying. It just destroys the image of the writer so much. Thus goes my question: How do you react to those mistakes? What do you do to instill a proper sense of decent writing (in spelling, grammar, and clarity of expression) to your kids?

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For whatever its worth: With my kids, I've always had success making fun of bad grammar - highlighting it with humor. I don't take it too seriously and they seem to learn from it. I took a Linguistics class once and they taught me that as long as you get your point across, you're communicating. So I learned to listen to what people are saying instead of how they are saying it. Besides, our language is ridiculously hard to learn. On the other hand, writers should be capable crafters of the English language, so you've got me there.

by Mrs.E on December 22, 2004 07:48 AM

I understand your frustration, Eduardo. I think those who love language, not just for the beauty of the sound, but also because of the structure flow, find it harder to laugh off mistakes. Now, we do laugh in our family, but we do so with a "Don't-ever-do-this" kind of chuckle.

I think you have to teach grammar early and consistently. Hold the bar high. We start grammar as early as second grade, and so many people compliment our girls grammar and spelling (although, just to keep me humble, I must say that my oldest daughter did misspell something- a rather large word- in our Christmas letter). Persistence, high standards, and a little fun make learning not only enjoyable, but stick.

by Rae on December 22, 2004 10:21 AM

from sparkle blog

I would make this longer but I butcher my only language so well that I'm afraid to.

by BZZZZ on December 22, 2004 04:44 PM

Mrs.E: Good suggestion. About what you were taught in the Linguistics class, this is my eternal beef with my linguist colleagues at the faculty where I teach. They try to rationalize and relativize spelling and grammar mistakes, and yet they fail to note that language is just a code, and inconsistencies or ambiguities in it (such as spelling or grammar mistakes) harm the comunicational process every time, no matter how you think you've got your point accross.

by Eduardo on December 23, 2004 06:07 AM

Rae: Thank you, my friend. These are excellent suggestions. I might also add that reading good books accounts for a lot of improvement. At least, in my own life, it was the love of those secret friends what enabled me to be less burdened with spelling and writing expression.

by Eduardo on December 23, 2004 06:10 AM

I completely agree, Eduardo.

We have presented the classics to our children and started when they were very small. Picture books were for morning reading, while small portions of chapter books were read after lunch and before bed. This not only taught them patience, but an obvious love and desire for good literature.

by Rae on December 23, 2004 11:06 AM

I think small grammar and spelling mistakes should be overlooked, unless they ask you to point them out or correct them. I agree with BZZZ, who wants to say anything, or write anything, if you know you are going to be scrutinized (sp?)for your grammar. Perhaps, we should listen to what the person is saying and not how they are saying it.

by Kelli with an I on December 23, 2004 02:46 PM

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Rae at 06:07 PM | Comments (7) | too strange to be classified

BlogRae Secrets: The untold story day 5

Hi folks! This is Randy Thomas with the ETC news channel. Yesterday I was bamboozled. Yes BAMBOOZLED by a secret ingredient here in BlogRae. It made me feel all sleepy and lethargic. I felt at peace with life and all of God's creation.

It was a trick I tell ya! A trick to distract me from finding more secrets!

So was this secret ingredient drugs? poison dart? Did Sassie or Nessie slip me a Mickie ... Mickey... whatever? Did Elvis aka E trick me into some macrame mind control?

NO the secret ingredient behind BlogRae is ....

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Rae at 03:08 PM | Comments (1) | too strange to be classified

BlogRae Secrets: The untold story Day 3

This is your entrepid...intrepid... whatever... reporter Randy Thomas with the ETC news channel.

On day 3 behind the scenes of BlogRae we have discovered even more evidence of why Rae is such a "buzz"icon of the blogosphere. But before getting into today's report, let's recap. In the first to days we discovered:

There is no one and nothing in the closet to worry about.
Elvis is Rae's personal coach and also invented the blogosphere.
and
Rae is involved in some sort of mystical negative energy releasing macrame cult led by Elvis

Today's report will be no less revealing. It may even change your life. It certainly did this reporter's ... roll tape...

::: camera approaches a gihugeic door with a #2 painted at least 9 feet tall. The camera approaches the door which automatically swings open automatically with a seriously haunting creek. The view inside the door is pitch black and the only thing you can see are the next two or three stair steps heading downward. Handheld camcorder swings around to reveal Randy... :::

This looks scary, but we MUST press on to discover the mysteries behind BlogRae!

::: with steely determination the camera swings back to view the stairs and shakily the descent begins. 10 steps, 20 steps .. 50 steps later we reach the bottom of the stairs and the basement of BlogRae... Randy says... :::

Hello? Anybody here?

::: a match strikes about 10 feet away and a bright candle is lit revealing the face of SASQUATCH with an ear to ear grin revealing ferocious teeth. Randy screams like a little girl and runs the other direction. The SASQUATCH follows muttering something. The camera is bouncing like a Blair Witch Movie with Randy's sobs being recorded...he turns a corner and there like a big thick California Redwood tree but only purple is a dinosaurish leg. Unable to stop his forward momentum Randy crashes into the leg. Camera flies out of hand and as it crashes to the ground there is the brief appearance of some Jurassic park looking creature...all goes black ::::

::: camera comes back on :::

Sassie: "Oh look Nessie I got the thing to turn on. I sure hope this funny human will wake up soon. If I have to call an ambulance it will be difficult to finish our makeovers."
Nessie: "Is he breathing?"
Sassie: "Oh yes, ::: camera swings down to reveal Randy with his hair in little braids sticking up everywhere ::: I noticed a good size goose egg but he should be ok."
Nessie: "Do you think he will mind you doing that to his hair?"
Sassie: "I hope not...it's so cute."

::: as if on cue Randy wakes up :::

Randy: "uh smells like ... smells like Jasmine shampoo...what the...OH MY GOSH!!!"
Nessie: "Shh shh little one it is ok..."
Randy: "OK>>>> you are the Loch Ness Monster and why is Sasquatch cradling me like a baby! ::: whimper ::: don't eat me please?"
Sassie: "Eat you? Eating humans is just a myth of our marketing campaigns back in the 70's. Plus, after Rae's advice we are now known as Sassie and Nessie. And before you ask, yes I am a girl. We heard you interviewed Elvis so feel free to ask us a couple of questions."

::: Randy straightens up and takes the camera. Sassie moves over to Nessie who drops her 3 story neck to allow her ginormous head to be in camera view with Sassie :::

Randy: "Well ok then...Why would two famous monsters be in the basement of BlogRae?"

::: Sassie adjusts the brilliant "so this season" pink bow in her hair and then lifts a compact mirror to get the matching lipstick off her right fang :::

Nessie: "I don't know if you noticed but no one talks about us anymore..."
Sassie: "So humiliating..."
Nessie: "...we needed an image overhaul and came to Rae for an extreme makeover."
Sassie: "Rae is da' bomb."

Randy: "What are some things Rae has recommended?"

Sassie: "Well I had never thought of hair extensions and an extensive hair treatment program. No more stringy lanky! We went for full and luxurious. I so want to be Chewbacca loveable. He's such a hottie. ::: leans in toward the camera ::: HEY CHEWIE baby! Call me!"
Nessie: "I am on a strict vegetarian diet with vitamin supplements, my skin tone has gone from a pale lavendar to a deep rich eggplant."
Sassie: "Nessie is a hottie now too!"
Nessie: "Oh stop it ::: blushing but you can't tell, she's purple :::

Randy: "So how are you going to make it back into the headlines?"

Sassie: "I'm going to marry Chewbacca as soon as he proposes."
Nessie: "I'm going to stomp on Barney and take over his show."

Randy: "Thank you ladies, I wish you success on the revitalizing of your careers and on stomping Barney."

Sassie and Nessie: "Thank you! Rae is da' bomb!"

::: Back to live shot of Randy with the braids still in his hair :::

Well there you have it. Two spawns of satan or huggable monsters? You decide.

More tomorrow on BlogRae Secrets: The Untold Story. Randy Thomas out, back to guest blogging team.

« Hide the rest of BlogRae Secrets: The untold story Day 3

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Rae at 03:40 PM | Comments (1) | too strange to be classified
» Everyday Thoughts Collected links with: A Likely Story: BlogRae Secrets: The untold story Day 3

BlogRae Secrets: The untold story

ETC News reporter Randy Thomas reporting live for the second day behind the scenes of BlogRae. We are here to discover the truth behind the glitz of this famous blog diva.

When we left you yesterday we discovered that the rumors of secrets in the closet were just unfounded.

DRAT! No dirt there... however, we have an interesting discovery behind door number one. Roll tape...

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Rae at 07:09 PM | Comments (7) | too strange to be classified
» Everyday Thoughts Collected links with: Rae does therapeutic macrame with Elvis

Keeping My Shoes Off The Furniture

You can add me to the ranks of Rae's guest bloggers. I'm not sure what in the heck to post abut, especially since I haven't thought of anything to post on my own blog yet today, but I'll try!

*So, any Farscape fans out there? Ben Browder is joining the Stargate cast next season.

*Email etiquette!! That's today's pet peeve.

*What kind of hand cream do you use?

Well, it's a start....

Hay, wait a minute... how come the formatting buttons in MT are showing up on Firefox? They never show up on mine. I always hand code everything.

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Rae at 11:20 AM | Comments (15) | too strange to be classified

Behind the scenes in BlogRae

This is your embedded reporter Randy Thomas from the ETC newschannel. For the next five days a team of guest bloggers have been invited to uncover truth, expound on important realities and better improve the overall human condition through great writing and incredible insight.

I want none of that.

NO my job is to explore the backrooms and behind the scene deals of BlogRae. We are going to expose the truths behind the popularity of this "Lady of the Sphere."

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Rae at 07:25 AM | Comments (3) | too strange to be classified

Find Something To Do

Bit excessive, isn't it?

Domain Name missouri.edu ? (Educational)
IP Address 128.206.51.# (Various Registries)
Language Setting
Operating System Macintosh MacOSX
Browser Safari 1.2
Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/125.5.5 (KHTML, like Gecko) Safari/125.11
Time of Visit Dec 15 2004 2:17:04 pm
Last Page View Dec 15 2004 4:24:49 pm
Visit Length 127 minutes and 45 seconds
Page Views 18
Referring URL
Visit Entry Page http://likethelanguage.mu.nu/
Visit Exit Page http://likethelanguage.mu.nu/
Time Zone UTC-6:00
CST - Central Standard Time
CDT - Central Daylight Saving Time
Visitor's Time Dec 15 2004 3:17:04 pm

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Rae at 04:58 PM | Comments (6) | too strange to be classified

Show Thyself or Go Away

Person using a Macintosh computer that logs into the University of Missouri-Columbia to surf the web: What do you want? What are you looking for? Why are you coming to my blog 15 times a day?

This is just weird!

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Rae at 01:41 AM | Comments (0) | too strange to be classified

Gimme A Break

Once upon a time there was a little rich girl. When she grew up she decided to go to the University of Southern California. But when she got there, her brainbox was bare, and so she paid Elena Martinez $20,000 to write all her papers, e-mail professors, and earn A's and B's for her.

Excuse me, but why is it that The Rich Girl is any worse than The Cheatee? Isn't taking the $20,000 and actually posing as someone else just as bad as asking and paying someone to do it? Elena Martinez is painted as the poor woman who couldn't afford to stay at USC and so moved home to go to the smaller college and work her way through- yeah, that $20,000 probably made it far more affordable.

Both are wrong, but leave it to the media to make The Rich Girl look all the worse and exonerate the other because she, having less money, couldn't resist the temptation to cheat for another human being's education. And, after all, she did her own work while cheating for The Rich Girl.

Meanwhile, the citizens of Columbia and students of the University of Missouri are a bit relieved to have found a way out of having the new sports arena named after a 22 year-old girl who didn't even attend the university in the town in which she grew-up. Present company included.

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Rae at 08:20 AM | Comments (1) | too strange to be classified

Creepy

Ummmmmm, nope. You find anything of that sort on this tiny speck in the web. But, I will pray for you....

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Rae at 12:49 PM | Comments (3) | too strange to be classified

Oh My!

It might be time to block googling, yahooing, aol-ing searchers. I can't handle the thought of knowing this. Go away and don't come back; I don't think we have the goods you're looking for (*shuddering*).