Time again for my contribution to The Scattered Life Collective. I missed you guys last week, but I was sick as a dog and in no fit state to do anything other than cough and sleep. Out the window: Unseasonably warm temperatures, which I'm loving. It might officially be fall according to the calendar, but I'm not ready to pull out the socks and sweaters just yet. On the menu: A perfectly-made latte, courtesy of Parlour Coffee, where every Friday morning, two of my friends who are members of Winnipeg's media host informal get-togethers called Parlour Fridays. Anyone can stop by and talk about all things Winnipeg. These days the hot topics are political - with a civic election scheduled for next month, and the (much delayed and controversial) opening of a national museum on the agenda, there is much to be debated. Excellent coffee and stimulating conversation? Yes, please. Reading: Another pick from the New and Noted section at the library - Terms & Conditions, by Robert Glancy. I read this one in a couple of days and quite enjoyed it, although I was almost put off at first by the format. The main character is a lawyer who specializes in "fine print," so the text is riddled with footnotes. It's a clever convention, but I've always found footnotes to be kind of irritating - they break up the flow of the text. (Hmm... maybe this weekly post needs a new name.) It's a good story, though, so I got past the footnotes. The premise is that a man has been in a serious car accident and is now missing parts of his memory, which he tries to piece together based on what he's being told by his nearest and dearest. But who can he really trust? There's a lot of humour here, and the story is especially appealing to anyone who likes to cheer for the underdog. Watching: This is unusual - I've found a British crime drama I don't really care for. It's called Hinterland, and it's set in Wales. I didn't actively dislike it, and it has all of the elements that usually work - a troubled detective, a bleak landscape, a close-knit village with secrets. Somehow though, it just doesn't quite live up to its potential. For one thing, I found myself wanting to know more about the main character, DCI Tom Mathias. His personal story isn't really touched on at all, at least in the first episode. He's portrayed as a brooding outsider, but there's no mention of what has made him so sullen, or why he is stationed in such a remote area. Subsequent episodes may delve further into his character, but they've now moved to near the bottom of my viewing queue.
Listening: Dust, by Sydney folk-trio Little May Learning: This week's Words of the Day:
Out and About:
That's all for this week. Sarah Around here, Wednesdays aren't just Wednesdays. They're Words Days. My Wednesday posts are devoted to all things wordy - grammar, etymology, writing, the works. If it involves language, I'll be talking about it here. ***** WRITING TIP #3: STICK TO A STYLE GUIDE Athletes have rule books. IT professionals have operating manuals. Writers have style guides - sets of standards for how to write and format headlines, sentences, paragraphs, lists, etc. Style guides are used as one-stop reference guides where writers and editors can find rules for spelling, grammar, punctuation and style. Style guides help writers to provide accuracy, consistency and uniformity in the style and formatting of their work. National news agencies publish style guides for their journalists, and specialized guides are commonly used in disciplines that employ unique terminology, including medicine, law and government. Large companies sometimes create their own "house" style guides that contain company-specific information such as the names and titles of their employees. Most guides are updated periodically, to reflect changes in spelling, conventions and usage. Consider, for instance, how the word email has morphed over the years, from E-mail, to e-mail, to email. From the Canadian Press Stylebook:
"English is a fluid language, but it's bound by complicated rules of grammar. Working reporters and editors don't have time to research decisions on vocabulary and capitalization and grammar every time a problem arises. A stylebook presents such decisions in a logical, handy form." The Most Popular Style Guides:
Time once again for a peek at my week, with my contribution to the Scattered Life Collective. Current time: 11:32 p.m. Thursday. Once again getting a head start on Friday. Out the window: PETUNIAS. We've had some cooler weather and a bit of rain this week, and my petunias are thriving. Here's some evidence: On the menu: Udi's gluten-free muffins. Yum - in a blind taste test you would never guess that these are gluten-free. I've been tested for celiac, and although I don't have it, I do have a slight gluten sensitivity, so I'm replacing my current addiction - cinnamon raisin bagels - with these muffins to cut down a bit on my intake. Reading: The Art of Floating by Kristin Bair O'Keefe. I'm about halfway through this one, and so far, I'm impressed. The premise (which is laid out on the first page, so I'm not giving anything away): A young woman's husband disappears without a trace, and a year or so later, she discovers a mysterious stranger washed up on the beach near her home. Despite its jumping between several time periods, this book is an easy read, and the story is compelling - I definitely want to find out what happened to these two characters. (Let's hope that I get to find out.) Watching: Helvetica, a documentary about typography and graphic design, focusing primarily on the ubiquitous font, Helvetica. Some designers adore it, others loathe it, and they all love to talk about it, the main debate being whether meaning should come from the text itself, the typeface, or both. I geeked out hard to this movie. Here is one of my favourite quotes, from Massimo Vignelli: "The life of a designer is a fight. A fight against the ugliness. Just like a doctor fights against disease, for us, visual disease is what we have around and what we try to do is to cure it somehow, you know, with design." Listening: I just discovered NPR's First Listen series, and there I found Lowell's We Loved Her Dearly.
Learning: This week's Words of the Day:
Out and About:
That's all for this week. Sarah Current time: 10:35 p.m., Thursday - getting a head start on Friday. On the menu: A Twitter friend of mine reminded me of a recipe this week. She jokingly asked if there is a dessert made with spaghetti, considering that there is rice pudding and all. I surprised her by replying that I know of an Indian dessert made with vermicelli. It's called kheer, and it's delicious. There are many variations, and this post explains them, along with some beautiful photographs. Reading: I read Windfallen by JoJo Moyes earlier this week and found it underwhelming. This was my first time reading anything by Moyes, and, based on reviews of her most current work, I think my expectations were too high. It wasn't bad, just a little boring. And at times the writing seemed somewhat forced - as though Moyes had spent all of her time crafting one paragraph to the detriment of all of the others on the page. I think I might give her a second chance, though, especially since Windfallen was one of her first novels. Watching: I Know that Voice, a documentary about voice actors and their craft. I'd never realized just how big this industry is - it encompasses commercials, animation, and, one of the biggest markets today - video games. It's interesting to see the faces behind the voices, and to hear the actors talk so passionately about their work. And there's no question that these people are actors, and not just impressionists. A lot of people can imitate Bugs Bunny saying "What's up, Doc?" Not a lot of people can imitate Bugs Bunny doing Shakespeare. Big difference. Listening: The first single from the new Johnny Marr solo album, Playland: Easy Money
Learning: This week's Words of the Day:
Out and About:
That's all for this week. Sarah Around here, Wednesdays aren't just Wednesdays. They're Words Days. My Wednesday posts are devoted to all things wordy - grammar, etymology, writing, the works. If it involves language, I'll be talking about it here. ***** EXTRAORDINARY WORDS #4 - THE UNUSUALS The A to Z of Unusual Words is the brainchild of The Project Twins, James and Michael Fitzgerald, an Irish based graphic art team. From their website: "Bold graphics and visual wit are used to interpret and represent a collection of strange, unusual and lost words. These images explore the meaning behind the words, which are sometimes even more strange or unusual." The series was first exhibited during Design Week Dublin in 2011 and has since been featured in magazines and blogs including Brain Pickings, The Huffington Post, and Design Taxi. Prints are available for purchase in their online shop. Here are a few of my favourites from the collection: Acersecomic: A person whose hair has never been cut. Cacodemonomania: The pathological belief that one is inhabited by an evil spirit. Montivagant: Wandering over hills and mountains. Ostentiferous: Bringing omens or unnatural or supernatural manifestations. Quockerwodger: A rare nineteenth-century word for a wooden toy which briefly became a political insult. Recumbentibus: A knockout punch, either verbal or physical. Scripturient: Possessing a violent desire to write. Tarantism: A disorder characterised by an uncontrollable urge to dance. Vernalagnia: A romantic mood brought on by Spring. Zugzwang: A position in which any decision or move will result in a problem
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