From Wired:

Twitter users Nate Ritter and Viss have been busy posting rapid-fire updates of the current wildfire situation in Southern California. Both of them are on the scene in San Diego, and they are doing an excellent job of providing information and news about evacuations, meeting points and anything important that local residents would need to know. Viss is also on Flickr and he’s posting photos.

Well, it’s happened. Hitting close to home now. My sister in-law’s folks have lost their house in Fallbrook. San Diego County is getting completely hammered. For a taste of what people are going through up on the front lines, here’s one guy’s video footage shot 24 hours ago from the doomed Encinitas while waiting to evacuate. I imagine that place is gone this morning.

A couple shots from this evening at our upper White Point. Not much of a sunset, with a scene that looks pretty uneventful. In reality, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Southern California is getting its tits lit right now, with the governator declaring a state of emergency. From Santa Barbara to San Diego, hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes. It’s the winds that kill us. With the Santa Ana wind conditions and temperatures in the nineties tomorrow, they’re predicting we’re in for the worst day in the most serious wildfire situation Southern California has seen in recent history. Yuck.

Here’s what it looks like in our backyard right now in San Pedro, where the 110 freeway hits the Pacific Ocean. Eyes are burning, nasal passages are dry, and the smoke is heavy. Let’s hope it doesn’t get worse than that.

↓ The sun setting behind the haze. Camera facing west-southwest.

↓ Palos Verdes. Camera facing west-northwest. Malibu’s some 40 miles beyond.

Here in Los Angeles, we’ve got our own areas that we’re keeping an eye on. Malibu’s already been slammed hard. The Valley always gets in on the game. The Palos Verdes Peninsula here in the South Bay has been hit with fires before, and our canyons are prime candidates for trouble. So there’s that feeling of the calm before the storm. Los Angeles County Fire Department is keeping our guys around town in case of a situation, with the Nevada and Arizona fire departments supplying the much needed support to the exhausted crews in Orange County and San Diego down south. Those areas are getting hit particularly hard as I write this at 8:15pm on this otherwise bland Monday evening.

Go team.

Tawn Mastrey
1954 – 2007

New category. We’ll call it Word Jams. The point: Put fingers to keys for two solid minutes. One hundred and twenty seconds. Keep going. Do not edit. Do not think. Let it flow. Let it be. Essence. Fourteen thousand ways. None. If and only. Though. Nothing as. So it is. Seems to be. Quite not, and yet. For then. To whom. For what it’s worth. As luck would have it. If nothing else. As to. In any event. By the luck of the draw. And we digress. Shall, will, might, must, can’t. Never say die. A given. Go between. Push the envelope. Pull the strings. Turn the page. Flip the coin. Kick the can. Hit the sack. Fly the coop. Walk the line. Run the race. Jump the ship. Skip the class. Free the bird. Raise the hand. Drop the ball. Throw the towel. Catch the drift. Blow the joint. Burn the rubber. Freeze the moment. End the day. Time is up.

Source: The Onion 

via The Pea

There’s nothing more permanent than a first impression, and there’s no more effective way to look ignorant — particularly in written communication — than to choose words poorly. Here are some tips on making the right choice in words:

Awhile – a while. One word as an adverb; two words as a noun.

• You may demo our software awhile.
• You may demo our printer for a while. (Noun; object of the preposition for.)
• I made a sale a while back.

Complement – compliment. Complement as a noun means “something that completes” or “one of two mutually completing parts”; as a verb it means “to complete, to be complementary to.” Compliment as a noun means “an admiring or flattering remark”; as a verb it means “to praise, to pay a compliment to.”

• Our market analysis report is a useful complement to the daily summaries you receive.
• The analysts at Index Systems are full of compliments for our recent Super Bowl ad project.

Comprise – compose. Comprise means “to include, contain, consist of”; compose means “to make up.” The parts compose (make up) the whole; the whole comprises (includes) the parts; the whole is composed of (not is comprised of) the parts.

• The parent corporation comprises (consists of) three major divisions.
• Three major divisions compose (make up) the parent corporation.
• The parent corporation is composed of (is made up of) three major divisions.

First – firstly, etc. In enumerations, use the forms first, second, third (not firstly, secondly, thirdly).

Lay – lie. Lay (principal parts: lay, laid, laid, laying) means “to put” or “to place.” This verb requires an object to complete its meaning.

• In phase one, we will lay down the rules for the contest.
• I laid the message right on your desk.
• I had laid two other notes there yesterday.
• I’ve never been one for laying the blame on my subordinates. (Putting the blame.)
• The material was laid in the box. (A passive construction implying that someone laid the material in the box.)

Lie (principal parts: lie, lay, lain, laying) means “to recline, rest, or stay” or “to take a position of rest.” It refers to a person or thing as either assuming or being in a reclining position. This verb cannot take an object.

• Now he lies in bed most of the day.
• The job lay before us as we negotiated terms.
• Our proposal has lain unanswered for two weeks.
• Your customer records are lying on the salesman’s desk.

TEST: In deciding whether to use lie or lay in a sentence, substitute the word place, placed, or placing (as appropriate) for the word in question. If the substitute fits, the corresponding form of lay is correct. If it doesn’t, use the appropriate form of lie.

• I will (lie or lay?) down now. (You could not say, “I will place down now.” Therefore, write “I will lie down now.”)
• I (laid or lay?) the pad on his desk. (“I placed the pad on his desk” works. Therefore, write “I laid the pad.”)
• I (laid or lay?) awake many nights. (“I placed awake” doesn’t work. Write “I lay awake.”)
• These files have (laid or lain?) untouched for some time. (“These files have placed untouched” doesn’t work. Write “These files have lain untouched.”)
• He has been (laying or lying?) down on the job. (“He has been placing down on the job” doesn’t work. Write “He has been lying down.”)

Source: The Gregg Reference Manual