Tabs on Writing

With religion and politics in the news so much lately, I noticed that a reporter in an article for the local paper described (incorrectly) a person as being a devoted Catholic, meaning to imply that she was especially religious and pious. When people are enthusiastically dedicated to any activity they devote their time, energy or money to such effort, cause or [...]

Friday marked the debut of Act of Valor, a movie about Navy SEALs, portrayed by real Navy SEALs. Attracting a 71% male audience, it achieved the ranking of the No. 1 movie this past weekend. As in real life, the SEAL Team members’ acting performance was quite admirable, even if they did not have to practice playing a role they [...]

Did you hear the one about the guy in Sweden who survived two months “hibernating like a bear” in his snowbound car under sub-zero conditions near the Arctic Circle? True story! What’s not exactly true is the reporter’s writing that the man was found “emancipated and barely speaking.” While he was, in a manner of speaking, [...]

Today, February 16th, is the date when my wife gave birth to our younger son. Happy Birthday, Justin! He shares his day of birth, unfortunately, with several  infamous personalities such as tennis bad boy, John McEnroe, gangsta rapper Ice-T and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il. Some fatherly advice given over the years has been: keep a wide berth (an amount [...]

Most organizations and associations hold annual meetings, and oftentimes do so on a biannual basis. Biannual can be taken to mean twice a year, or, every other year. So, whoever communicates those meeting announcements has to clearly specifiy the exact dates and intentions. On the other hand, biennial only has one definition, that is, occuring every [...]

You don’t want to get into a legal hassle with the National Football League by inappropriate use of their registered trademark for their championship game Sunday, preceded by other festivities that kick off (two words) today. Did you know that groups, such as churches, cannot mention the unmentionable event by its legal name if they are sponsoring a party [...]

Here’s a toast to glamor model and actress Christie Brinkley, celebrating her (gulp) 58th birthday today. The statuesque, 5′ 9″ blonde, for years the face of CoverGirl cosmetics, could theoretically also represent Starbucks’ new lighter blonde roasted coffee blend. A local, male Starbucks barista (who is not blond) complained to me the other day that now every joker guy in [...]