I don’t write to be famous, I don’t write to be known, I write because I am and I want to be read. How sad to fill a room with paintings no one sees or play music no one hears. Writing is talking without sound, singing without score and dancing without movement and yet, it is all of them. It is a solitary art conjured from thought and expressed by the need to communicate.

HEAD SLAPS, SPEED BUMPS and LIGHTBULBS, one woman's WTF, oops and ah-ha moments of life.

They were published once, and as every writer knows, once is not enough.




Thursday, January 31, 2013

Stradivarius in flight



Decided to exercise my feeble brain, I taught myself... zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcba, the alphabet backwards.  I still don’t get it perfect every time but often enough I’m able to hiccup through like a ten year old playing hop scotch. It is cool knowing something other people might like to know but don’t want to take the time to know it.

Like, I think it would be neat to learn all the state’s capitals. I know they are already in my brain, I had to learn them in fifth grade, but knowing them enough to ace a Jeopardy category would be awesome.

I should know important writery stuff like, what the hell is a participle and why do they dangle?
Per Wikipedia, “A participle is a form of a verb which is used in a sentence to modify a noun or noun phrase, and thus plays a role similar or identical to that of an adjective, or sometimes an adverb. It is one of the types of non-finite verb forms.” What the flying fiddle does that mean?

According to Grammar Girl, “A dangling participle modifies an unintended noun”.  Am I supposed to know what an unintended noun is? I’m thinking it’s like a virgin prom queen, exist they do not.  

That I think knowing the alphabet backward is cool, it was the subject of one of my columns, illustrates just how uncool I am. I’ll post the column if it makes the paper.

So, what do you know, that other people might want to know, but don’t want to take the time to know it?
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7 comments:

  1. Cooking On A BudgetFebruary 1, 2013 at 10:56 AM

    That "To Walk Among Strangers" is a really great novel and someone should take the time to know it.

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  2. Jen G.February 1, 2013 at 9:01 PM

    Not much really. I haven't taught grammar for about four years, so my knowledge of outdated grammar rules is rusty.

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  3. Carolynnwith2NsFebruary 2, 2013 at 9:47 AM

    Just a little update on my new learning curve.
    Went to dinner last night with another couple, very close friends, like family actually. Between our drinks and the meals I sprang my whole zyx's on them. No mistakes, I was perfect, not that they would have known if I screwed up anyway. They looked at me like I had just been released from an extended stay at a mental health unit.
    My husband just shook his head. I could tell by the blank looks on their faces they were jealous, yup, that's what they were jealous of my amazing ability to learn, remember and recite.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousFebruary 2, 2013 at 5:02 PM

    LMAO... I used to be able to recite the alphabet backwards too! I haven't done it in so long, I'd have to practice up on it again.

    (Sidebar, I love the title of your book...)

    To your question...I know a lot of little mundane things that I'm not sure anyone would want to know like, how to make Seven Minute Frosting, and how to make a Smith Island cake. I know how to train for a marathon. I know how to train a dog. I know how to shag. Oh, and for those of you not from the South..., "shag" doesn't mean what it means in the UK. (hello)


    ReplyDelete
  5. Carolynnwith2NsFebruary 4, 2013 at 8:43 PM

    I am impressed because after you bake, frost and eat the cake you can run 26 miles while your perfectly trained dog accompanies you. You're a hell of a dancer too.

    ReplyDelete

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