Entries from July 2007 ↓

This is a real headstone in a Montreal cemetery. The epitaph was ordered by John’s ex-wife and mistress. It wasn’t until the job was finished that the engraver noticed something unusual about the message. A bona fide acrostic!

From the Sony Walkman to Milton Bradley’s Simon to the Atari 2600 to the Speak & Spell by Texas Instruments, this list will bring you back in one way or another.

ps: What, no Clapper???

A couple months ago there was a very orderly moment at 12:34 in the afternoon. For one minute, it was 12:34 5/6/7. For those of us not on military time, it happened twice that day.

I was chatting with somebody recently and he pointed out that an even cooler moment happened seventeen years ago (and one hundred seventeen years ago, for that matter). I only wish I’d remembered to look at a digital watch at exactly 12:34 and 56 seconds on 7/8/90. Or even the summer before that, at exactly 01:23:45 on 6/7/89.

Anyway, here are ten useful words to add to your vocabulary, all related to the theme of order:

1. acrostic: a composition usually in verse in which sets of letters (as the initial or final letters of the lines) taken in order form a word or phrase or a regular sequence of letters of the alphabet.

2. cavalcade: a dramatic sequence or procession.

3. tierce: a sequence of three playing cards of the same suit.

4. barcarole: a Venetian boat song usually in 6/8 or 12/8 time characterized by the alternation of a strong and weak beat that suggests a rowing rhythm.

5. polystichous: arranged in several rows.

6. apparitor: an official formerly sent to carry out the orders of a magistrate, judge, or court.

7. Fibonacci number: an integer in the infinite sequence 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13,… of which the first two terms are 1 and 1 and each succeeding term is the sum of the two immediately preceding.

8. anastrophe: inversion of the usual syntactical order of words for rhetorical effect.

9. denouement: the outcome of a complex sequence of events.

10. perfecta: a bet in which the bettor picks the first and second place finishers in order.

A classic exercise in creative thinking, with a solution that offers the essence of how to think about design. Your task: Without taking pen off paper, and using only four straight lines, connect the nine dots.

I’ll post the answer in a few days.

These are not interchangeable. The former is synonymous with “entirely”, while the latter means “all in one group”.

• He is altogether (entirely) too lazy to be a success.
• The papers are all together (all in a group) in the binder I sent you.

Kona skunked again.
Happens twice a year or so.
The fun never ends.

“Early in life I had to choose between honest arrogance and hypocritical humility. I chose the former and have seen no reason to change.”
– Frank Lloyd Wright

Figure out what’s unique about this horse.

Another useful grammar tip from ProofreadNOW.com:

In order to be polite, requests, suggestions, and commands are often phrased as questions. Use a period to end this kind of sentence if you expect your reader to respond by acting rather than by giving you a yes-or-no answer.

• Will you please call us at once if we can be of further help.
• Would you please send all bills to my bookie for payment while I’m in jail.
• Will the audience please rise.
• Would you kindly respond by February 29, 2008.

If you are asking a favor or making a request that your reader may be unable or unwilling to grant, use a question mark. This allows your reader the chance to say no.

When addressing a request to someone who reports to you, the expectation is that they will comply. Therefore, a period can be properly used. However, a question mark establishes a nicer tone, as it is always nicer to be asked to do something rather than be told to do it. However, if you wish to avoid giving your subordinates the impression that your request allows for a yes-or-no answer, simply drop the attempt at politeness and issue a straightforward command.

As a general rule, use a period only when you are sure that your reader is not likely to consider your request presumptuous. If you are not sure whether to use a question mark or a period, reword the sentence so that it is clearly a question or a statement.

• Would you be willing to handle the collection process for me while I’m away?
• I would appreciate your handling the collection process for me while I’m away.

Find the missing people.

So two guys, each with a black eye, are sitting in a bar. They look at each other and notice that they each have a shiner. =continued=