7.5.08

I HEARTILY ENDORSE THIS EVENT OR PRODUCT III: Finally done with finals?

* The best Mac-v-PC zing I've seen in awhile.

* I found How to Get Divorced by the Time You're 30 to be an interesting look into several of the typical mistakes of relationships in one's 20s. Excerpt:

STEP ONE: Jump from your horrible early-20s relationship right into a mid-20s relationship without learning or growing or pondering what you really want out of a mate — then marry that person.

By your late 20s, you’ll realize you were merely over-correcting the first person’s flaws and that the one you married is just as wrong for you as the one you didn’t, but in very different ways.


The article builds from there, and it's impressive to watch how 'common knowledge' combines with factors only clear in retrospect and... it's depressing, I won't lie, but also fascinating in the emphasis it puts on self-awareness, self-analysis, and change. One doesn't necessarily know what one wants, and if that fact is kept in mind, it can mitigate a number of mistakes and make it easier to reverse course when things go wrong. (h/t: Prettier Than Napoleon)

* In response to this, I'll take the line William Zinsser adopts in On Writing Well: everyone thinks they have a style which is an ideal reflection of themselves as a person and a writer. However, if you look at anyone who writes well, they develop an obsession with style and constantly try to improve their writing. Certainly, Lancelot Andrews did not feel the need to follow 'the rules of English grammar' when translating the KJV (though I question what that could mean, given 1. 400 years of use between then and now 2. the fact he was often translating poetics and not just prose 3. that religious English is frequently recognized as a category of English writing that functions as a poetry-prose hybrid), but there's a substantial difference between suspending principles of good English usage because the occasion demands it, and haphazardly observing them.

* For those so inclined, Norm takes on, and links to, the discussion on whether it's better to take pictures or have memories.

No comments: