Repetitious redundancy

October 27, 2005

The holiday week is taking its toll. Since this is Friday for Nevadans in state employ it didn't dawn on me until this evening that the news about the CIA leak probe expected Friday would actually come tomorrow. While searching the day's stories on the topic I came across this sentence on CNN.com, "..when Bush's approval ratings already are at a low ebb."

How does a low ebb compare to a high ebb? Since ebbs are declines or times when things go down what is a low decline? Is it like a peak summit? Or, perhaps, does it mean that it's not a major ebb but just a small ebb? (Though there is a factual problem with this argument since the president's approval ratings haven't been lower.) I'm sure I'll make many similar mistakes before my time here is done, but it is always a sad commentary to see major news organizations make such mistakes that anybody who reads at a 7th grade level would catch.

Do blogs spell the end of good writing?

November 3, 2003

Drew McKenzie, former columnist for Penthouse, which is now going through bankruptcy, has an interesting point in his article about the recent decline of the porn peddling magazine. There are plenty of other explanations for why the magazine is failing.

McKenzie says "I'd hoped it would survive the onslaught of the "mags for lads" and their popular 'bits-and-blurb' format. FHM, Maxim and Stuff have succeeded because market studies show that guys 18 to 34 won't read big stories and they want pieces broken up. But Penthouse refused to change with the times."

This describes my dissatisfaction with most blogs. The content is often inconsistent, my own writings in this space are a prime example their on-again off-again nature. There have been debates about editing weblogs. This is not about editing, nor about the quality of writing on weblogs. There are definitely some outstanding examples of great writing on weblogs. The problem with weblogs, for those who are avid readers, is that there is never enough to them. Read more about Do blogs spell the end of good writing?

I miss writing

October 13, 2003

Increasingly I've become more of a typist than a person who writes. Writing in the sense of putting pen (or rarely pencil) to paper and leaving marks is something I do less and less. Today while cleaning the garage I came across two of my pens from high school and a couple of bottles of ink. While many would argue that my oft rushed script was not the easiest thing to read, it is none the less an additional part of my expression that is lost in putting electrons to spinning platters.