Crazy for Words
http://blog.crazyforwords.com
Crazy for Words

More Reasons to Proofread...

Happy 4th of July! I'm celebrating all week. Here are some whoopsies that I've seen recently...

1. Someone put a "Weekly Team Stauts Meeting" on my calendar at work.

2. I saw a beautifully lettered sign on a van for Frost Appliances around town recently. They specialized in "airconditioning." It would have been better with a space.

3.  I received a "welcome" email recently that announced a new staff member. This person, "comes to us with a breath of experience."

4. I saw this on a McDonald's sign in Virginia Beach. "Iced tea are back!"

5. There's a MAACO TV commercial out that contains, "Runs good. Looks bad."

Keep proofreading!

Worst Writing Contest

I heard this story on NPR this week. It was about the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. They posted a blog for additional samples from readers. Wow! That just means that there will always be work for good proofreaders and editors.
 
Keep writing! Have a fun and safe 4th of July holiday!

Too Many Exceptions...

The British government is advising instructors not to teach the "i before e" rule. There are too many exceptions. Here's a link to the story on MSNBC.com.

Another Reason to Proofread!

I saw this on CNN.com this evening. This typo affected the accused's sentencing.

Cool Site for History, Pop Culture, or Trivia Buffs...

I found this cool site this morning, Mental Floss. I am a list-maker. I love history and pop culture. It's a gold mine for trivia fans. Check it out. There are some interesting things here. Enjoy your weekend. Try to stay cool.

English's Millionth Word

Last week, English was credited with its millionth word. I'm fascinated that it's being cataloged. Here's the article from CNN. It's a technology term. I guess that's good (especially since I'm in the IT business). I would have hoped for a new adjective or adverb. 

Enjoy your Friday and your weekend! Do something fun!

Proofread & Give Good Directions...

My brother-in-law sent me this picture of a cake request. First, someone needs to proofread. And then someone needs to do the quality review to make sure that instructions don't end up on the cake. I hope you got a chuckle out of this one. Have a great weekend!!

Interesting Take on Technology

I liked Kirk Weisler's recent post on "The Purposeful Use of Technology," and his ideas for his children. I'm learning to navigate Twitter and other social networking sites. I'm fascinated with the creativity and the vast amount of information out there. I just wonder how this generation will be remembered. I hope its for its creativity and freedom of expression and not for its narcissism.

Oxford University Press and Words on Twitter

Oxford University Press' dictionary team did a study of word usage on Twitter. The results are interesting. Here is a link to a posting about the study, and here is another posting that I found on my electronic journey this morning.

I'm fascinated with those who use the limited space to convey detailed information in a clever way. In some cases, they rival the art involved in creating haiku. I still struggle with the almost hourly posts from some about what they see out the window or the peanut butter and jelly they had for lunch. And sometimes the undercurrent of narcissism is too much. But, I'm learning to navigate around the new technology and to see what it has to offer.

Happy Friday! I'm 13HeatherLeigh if anyone feels the urge to tweet.

 

IdeaBlob...

I heard a great story on NPR this afternoon about a series of "open mic" events for people with ideas and products. They also have a website, Ideablob. I love the concept that regular people can post ideas and get feedback. I got lost this evening browsing through the proposals. There are some really creative ones out there. I hope they find ways to get funding.

(Some of them need to proofread their posts if they want to do a formal business proposal.) Check out the site.

Enjoy your weekend!