Forget Me Not

“Hi-yy,” my 20-month old niece cooed into my dad’s iPhone.

“Hi Isla-boo*,” I yelled into the speaker of my Android phone before placing it on the armrest beside me as I drove home from school.

“Gigi!*”  She shouted the name of my youngest sister.

“No, Isla, this is Tata.”

“Gigi!”

“It’s Tata, Isla.  Remember me?”  I tried to keep the cheer I no longer felt in my voice as I contemplated if my niece had really forgotten me in the month since I’d seen her.

“Gigi,” she insisted.

My dad began to laugh and explained that he had a picture of Gigi as the background of his phone.  Isla recognized her picture and was saying her name.

Disaster averted.  My niece remembers me –  right?

*Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Writing Concisely: Don’t Hide Words

(image by MarkyBon)

In Part I of this series, I discussed nominalizations.  This post will expose how hidden prepositions, conjunctions, and adverbs contribute to wordiness.

Writing Concisely: Nominalizations

(image by MarkyBon)

I will be the first to admit that I sometimes write wordy sentences.  A couple of weeks ago, I attended a writing seminar on conciseness.  I’ll be sharing some of the tips I learned as a service to my readers and as a method of reinforcement for myself. <– That last sentence’s length makes me nervous.

Today’s tip: Don’t nominalize.

Is Don Draper a Leader?

(image by Michael Yarish, owned by AMC)

Is Donald Draper, the star of AMC’s Mad Men, a leader? Or is he simply a manager? Or is he both? It depends on how you define leaders and managers.

Don Draper, a man who stole a dead man’s identity, is a philandering alcoholic who manages to get things done at the office. He is arrogant and selfish, yet men (and women) flock to follow him. In his own way, he motivates his employees and shows no favoritism.

But is he a true leader or is he simply a leader in title? What do you think of this man? Discuss!

The Lost Art of Lamenting: Job & Sex and the City

Lament, by David Sweeney, 2006

Recently, while looking for some non-academic bedtime reading that wouldn’t keep me up all night, I dug out my Bible.  I decided to begin reading from wherever I opened. This happened to be in the middle of the Book of Job (which happens to be about a man named Job).  I skimmed a bit, then went to the beginning of the book and read until I came to Job’s Lament. Other thoughts in my head aside (God allowed Satan to ‘incite’ him?), the lament caught my attention.

The title of this post includes “Sex and the City” so you may be wondering when I’ll get to that part — stick with me! To set the scene, let me summarize the story:  Job is an ethical, morally upright man who is very wealthy. He has seven sons and three daughters. His sons like to throw parties and invite their sisters and friends. Job has raised his kids well, but he still sacrifices some animals every time a son throws a party just in case anything shady happened. One day, the angels and Satan assemble before God. A somewhat bizarre conversation ensues between God and Satan wherein God gives Satan permission to destroy Job’s family and wealth.  This, in order to prove that Job is so holy that he will not curse his God.