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Yes, I confess. I recorded the National Spelling Bee. I’m watching it at this very moment. Part of me wishes I would have known about this when I was younger, but, although I was a good speller, I was no where near where these kids are. I loved big words, but, even in my late [...]

Funny story: Movie director Mike Figgis was detained at LAX for more than five hours after he was asked what he was doing in LA. “I’m here to shoot a pilot.”
The guys at Cinematical had a witty retort: “Good thing the immigration officers didn’t ask him about his body of work. Figgis’ answer might have [...]

Editors have to see what most of us don’t. There may be a gem of a good idea hidden beneath a mountain of prose. Or, there may be mellifluous words that are all sound and no fury. Either way, it’s the editor’s job to point the errant writer to the path of writeousness. (Yes, I [...]

Stupidity…or comic genius?
1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a ThighMaster.
2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.
3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who [...]

my favorites are in bold.
a decimal point = I’m a dot in place
a stitch in time saves nine = this is meant as incentive
animosity = is no amity
astronomer = moon starer
circumstantial evidence = can ruin a selected victim desperation = a rope ends it
dormitory = dirty room
funeral = real fun
intoxicate = excitation
mother-in-law [...]

[or the 2.13 Million Dollar Comma]
[or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Comma]
[or Comma-tose: When English Majors Sleep on the Job]
“A grammatical blunder may force Rogers Communications Inc. to pay an extra $2.13-million to use utility poles in the Maritimes after the placement of a comma in a contract permitted the [...]

I think anyone who reads this blog should read this article. Jake Schrum, President of Southwestern University, my alma mater, wrote it.
It’s entitled Looking at Hiring? Take a Look at English Majors, and it quite succinctly makes the case why English majors are a necessity to any business.
I feel vindicated and encouraged.

Interview with Chuck Palahniuk (Author of Fight Club) - Christianity Today Magazine:
“What made you want to be a writer?
Mr. Olsen in the fifth grade made me want to be a writer. He said, ‘Chuck, you do this really well. And this is much better than setting fires, so keep it up.’ That made me a [...]

America, the serious
“”Eats, Shoots & Leaves” is currently the bestselling nonfiction book in America. How could a country of rough and rugged individuals be so smitten with a snarky English grammar book?”
“And now, Oprah has gone and made “Anna Karenina” a bestseller, too”
“What does the future hold for our liberal elite if ordinary Americans start [...]