:: Thursday, July 03, 2003 ::
:: Andrew 10:10 + ::
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Adventures in editing, part deux
Some thoughts as I continue to trudge through my copyediting duties:
London Calling, by the Clash, is a great CD to edit to. (Or should that be, to which to edit?) Anyway, it's the perfect blend of punk and ska, and sets a nice rhythm for editing on the screen, at the keyboard.
If I were to have a Bible study for writers, I would start with this verse:
The words of the LORD are pure words,
Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,
Purified seven times.
- Psalm 12:6
My exigesis would be: If God, the creator of all things, purifies His words seven times, then what are you doing handing me a first draft?
One of my favorite Dorothy Parker lines, from a book review: "This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown aside with great force." God, I love that acerbic wit! (More Dorothy Parker quotes.)
In case you missed the first adventure in editing, you can catch it here for a limited time.
When I wish to avoid editing or other unpleasantries, I often blog.
:: Andrew 12:07 + ::
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Suh-weet! It's a live webcast/chat with Mr. Postmodernity Himself
Yes, prolific author Leonard Sweet, who embodies the term prolific writer, will hold court and answer our questions during a live webcast at Spirituality.com. It happens at 2 p.m. EDT Wednesday, July 9. Riding the Spiritual Tsunami. Sounds like a good time. I'm going to try to tune in. Anyone else care to join me?
:: Andrew 07:57 + ::
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:: Wednesday, July 02, 2003 ::
It's a Fotoblog
Spencer Burke of TheOoze is blogging visually with his new Fotoblog.
:: Andrew 07:51 + ::
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:: Tuesday, July 01, 2003 ::
Thoughts on (what else?) blogging
During my run yesterday (I slacked off and slept in this morning), a favorite quote from Stephen Crane came to mind. You might remember Crane from your freshman American Lit class in college. You probably had to read The Red Badge of Courage, or at least his short story, "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky." If you were one of those smart "honors" kids in high school, or you went to a magnet school, you may have read Crane in high school, even.
Anyway, here's the quote. Substitute "blogosphere" for "universe," and you'll see what I mean:
A man said to the universe:
"Sir, I exist!"
"However," replied the universe,
"The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation."
(Source: Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, dead-tree edition)
Sometimes, we bloggers are like the man in Crane's universe. We post our thoughts and expect the blogosphere to take notice. When no one in the blogosphere notices our posts, we enter an existential crisis. Fellow bloggers, we shout, we exist! Take note of our thoughts, clothed in words! Is there anything more lonely, more pitiful in the blogosphere than a blog with goose-egg after goose-egg next to the comments? line? I think not.
At times, we -- or at least I -- feel a sense of performance anxiety when it comes to blogging. I feel I must post some tasty morsel of insight daily, or at least some tidbit of news, for fear of my blog becoming stale and losing precious readership. For blog readers are a fickle lot. Quit posting for a few days, and they'll soon forget you were ever there. They'll go a-whoring after some other blog.
So, we don't dare pause in our blogging for a bit of reflection. We hastily slap together a few lines -- even if it's to say, "Not much to blog about today. Busy at work," or some such tripe. Or we'll click on blogdex or DayPop's Top 40 to see what everyone else is blogging about, and then blog about the same thing, so we'll be relevant and thought well of among our peers. (Woe unto you, blogger, when they speak well of you.)
Well. So much for my existential crisis du jour. I feel much better now. Don't you?
On an unrelated note: I'm glad to see Holy Weblog! back in the fold. I knew Joyce couldn't stay away for long. But I see she is now among the ranks of commentless bloggers. Which means I'll have to send her a welcome-back email. Which requires much work on my part. And I'm so busy at work. Barely time to blog. Sighs.
:: Andrew 07:48 + ::
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Recommended reading for writers
Karen at Beyond has compiled a short list of good books about writing. Her list includes On Writing Well, by William Zinsser, a choice with which I concur. (Heh. How's that for good grammar?) I haven't seen my copy of Zinsser's book for a couple of years. I think I lent it to some would-be writer. I suppose I should purchase a new copy.
Karen has some other good choices (and a link to this great online style guide). Not that she asked, but I would add a few more texts to the list:
Words Fail Me, by Patricia T. O'Conner. (See this entry for more about this book.)
Writing Down the Bones, by Natalie Goldberg, who is my favorite Jewish Buddhist who writes about writing. This book is easy to read because it has short chapters and some interesting writing exercises and is designed to be opened at random. It also throws in some Zen Buddhism for good measure. I learned a lot about doing Zazen from Goldberg's book. (Fear not, fellow Christians. This book did not cause me to abandon the faith. Rather, it strengthened me in some places that were in need of reinforcement.) My copy of this book is also out on loan to another would-be writer, who works in a cubicle just outside my office door. (Lucky me; I have a corner office with a door.)
If You Want to Write, by Brenda Ueland. This is a great book that, like Goldberg's, looks at the spiritual aspects of writing. Originally published in the 1930s, the writing is still fresh today. (Or at least it was six or seven years ago, which is when I gave away my copy of this book to yet another would-be writer. I am forever giving away and lending out all of these good books about writing.)
If any of these books sound appealing to you, then please go to my Amazon.com affiliate bookstore and order them so I can get a kickback and maybe purchase some new copies for my greedy little self.
:: Andrew 10:39 + ::
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:: Monday, June 30, 2003 ::
There ought to be a way...
...for bloggers to record their thoughts while running. The idea of a "jogger blogger" came to mind during my morning run, while I was having all sorts of fairly brilliant thoughts. But now, at 10:16 a.m., I've been at the office long enough for all those great thoughts to have become buried in the rubble of white noise and information overload that comes with the territory.
:: Andrew 10:21 + ::
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Adventures in editing
One of the perks of my job at the university is that I get to edit lots and lots of text for the "section notes" portion of our alumni magazine. It can be mind-numbing and tedious, but on occasion I come across a real beaut of a line that makes it all worthwhile. Such was the case a few minutes ago, when I read the following:
(Name of alumnus) did a fantastic job of coordinating this event with the golf club.
I wonder if he used a nine iron?
(Okay, maybe it's only funny because I'm trying to edit in the swelter of an office with no working air-conditioning. Could dementia be setting in?)
:: Andrew 13:59 + ::
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:: Sunday, June 29, 2003 ::
Almighty, then! The gospel according to Bruce
A review of the movie Bruce Almighty, by yours truly, published in the latest issue of Next Wave.
:: Andrew 08:32 + ::
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Here are my MLB All-Star Game picks
American League
1B - Carlos Delgado, Toronto Blue Jays
2B - Alfonso Soriano, New York Yankees
SS - Nomar Garciaparra, Boston Red Sox
3B - T. Batista, Baltimore Orioles
C - Jorge Posada, New York Yankees
OF - Torii Hunter, Minnesota Twins; Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners; Carlos Beltran, Kansas City Royals
DH - Ellis Burks, Cleveland Indians
(P.S. - I don't follow American League teams much, so I'm probably no more qualified to vote for any of the above than your average baseball fan.)
National League
1B - Todd Helton, Colorado Rockies
2B - Jeff Kent, Houston Astros (recently put on the DL)
SS - Edgar Renteria, St. Louis Cardinals (the best NL shortstop, offensively and defensively)
3B - Scott Rolen, St. Louis Cardinals (the best NL third baseman since Mike Schmidt)
C - Paul Lo Duca, Los Angeles Dodgers (underrated hitter; Javy Lopez of Atlanta is having a career year, however, and Lieberthal of the Phillies probably deserves to be on the the team too, as does Mike Matheny of the Cardinals)
OF - Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals (I can't believe he isn't amont the top three; Sammy Sosa shouldn't even be in the running); Andruw Jones, Atlanta Braves (greatest center fielder in the game right now); Jim Edmonds, St. Louis Cardinals (second-greatest center fielder in the game right now). Honorable mention to Gary Sheffield of the Braves, and Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants.
:: Andrew 15:43 + ::
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Simon Dawes, 
