Spotted on the Train: January 13, 2015

 Someone thinks they remember their grammar lessons.

From wikipedia:
Stet is a form of the Latin verb sto, stare, steti, statum,^[1] originally used by proofreaders and editors to instruct the typesetter or writer to disregard a change the editor or proofreader had previously marked. This usage of the verb, known as the "jussive subjunctive",^[2] derives from the active-voiced third-person subjunctive singular present and is typically translated as "Let it stand".^[3]

Conventionally, the content that included the edit to be disregarded was underlined using dashes or dots and stet written and circled above or beside it.^[3] Alternatively, a circled tick or checkmark could be placed beside the content in a margin.^[4]

Found via Google Image search on STET

~photos by iTouch

New Year's Resolutions: Write More ... Well, Edit More

One of my very unofficial resolutions, both personal and professional, was to write more this year.

Maybe I should have been more specific. BLOGGING, per se, didn't end up being part of the resolution.

However, I do have some photographic evidence that I have been in editorial/publishing mode.

Behold, evidence of the 60 page departmental "annual report" that I helped compile, lay-out, edit, print, collate, and assemble for internal use. It was a team effort, definitely, but ... I helped. Yes, we went old-school spiral binding on the 50 copies I did last week, but ... old-school was leaps and bounds ahead of what last year's looked like.

AND ... I was 3 days ahead of production deadlines.

 And I have a new appreciation for the publishing process and our in-house program compiler.

Thesis Statement

I am one of the fortunate college graduates that managed to matriculate without writing a thesis, for either my undergraduate or graduate degrees. Oh, I didn't get off scott-free. I had to write my share of tomes, but I avoided the dreaded THESIS.

My Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature saw many a paper written over four years. I had old fashioned comprehensive exams wherein I filled out many, many a little blue book. In two separate three-hour sessions, I scribbled away, struggling in vain to remember four years worth of readings ranging across centuries of literature. These writing sessions were very intense. Imagine a locked room in a library. 25 or more anxious English majors gathered around a large wooden table. Proctors handing out blue books and instructions. Add in the ever growing realization that you have only a few hours to regurgitate all the things in your brain, and that the result of how you do in the next hours would determine if you pass and graduate or, heaven forbid, you have to take the test again.

Panic has a smell. It's not pleasant.

On the other hand, my masters degree in Librarian Science was considered a "practical" degree and there was no thesis requirement. One of the requirements for graduation, however, was an internship for which you had to write a paper on your experiences. I had a lovely internship at a college music library, and over three months kept a journal that developed into a larger paper. With the addition of copies of the research, advertising materials, new flyers, and other brochures I developed for the library, I handed in quite a large binder. I don't even think my advisor read my paper. I think she weighed that binder, by eye and by mass, against some of the other papers that were handed in, and just gave me an A. I still have the binder. I'm not exaggerating when I say it's as large as some of the dissertations that I've come across in various library stacks.

Now, this is not to say I didn't have the opportunity to write a thesis. There were honors tracks in both degree programs which culminated in a thesis project. As you can see here, verbosity is not my problem. I like to read. I like to research. I usually like to write. At the time I just had other priorities. I finished up the bulk of my undergraduate degree in three and half years. I was living off-campus my last semester, taking two night/weekend courses, and working two or three jobs. I didn't have time to do extra credit honors work. Same situation with my graduate degree. I was working full (plus)-time, travelling onto Long Island or into New York City for my classes, and was commuting to the internship. More importantly, I could only afford to put so many graduate credit tuition fees onto a credit card or to incur more student loans.

I'm capable of a thesis. I just chose to take other academic and life paths.

There was also one other factor. The whole thesis process always seemed like such a daunting thing to me, but it was based on perceptions and childhood impressions. You know how, when you're looking back through the filter of childhood memories, things always look bigger, and tasks seem more daunting? And then when you come upon them later, things are surprisingly easier or places smaller? That's the THESIS for me.

When I was little, my father was working on his undergraduate and graduate degrees, working two or three jobs, and all the while raising a family in a day and age where there weren't so many technological advancements. I have vague memories of him struggling to write that thing out long-hand before dashing off to a night job, and then my poor mother "translating" and editing it. After staying home all day with three young kids under the age of 8, dealing with all our issues, she would then stay up late typing Dad's thesis on a manual typewriter ... over and over and over again. The sound of a typewriter got to be a comforting rhythm to my childhood dreams. Later on, I remember my parents having conversations about thesis advisers and approval committees -- how these professor-types would argue and haggle over language/sentences and how these changes made my mother have to retype the whole paper ... you guessed it -- over and over and over again. The folks kept drafts to track the changes, and would cynically comment about thesis advisers who would say one things in a draft, insist on edits, and by draft 20 or 30, would have managed to flip all the way back to the original version. I was about 6-8 about this time, and somehow all of this was floating around my head when it came time to have to decide on educational paths.

I admire anyone who has willingly taken on a thesis project, especially one that involves surveys, questionnaires, interviews, and other research. It's hard work getting people to respond, and then to provide data that you can actually use. I remember all too well from grad school.

So, when I read about Whitney's thesis project on blogging, I was more than willing to help.

Extra bonus ... Whitney is attending Dad's alma mater.

Won't you click through and then take some time to help a fellow blogger out? She asks some very important questions about why you do, or do not, blog, who you blog for, and what other blogs you read. If you haven't already thought about these questions for yourself, it does help you to focus on your subject matter and intended audience.

Write on, Ms. Whitney, Write on!

GOOOOOOOO Aggies!

Editriss at Large

You know you have a problem when you want to start editing the graffiti. This lovely "conversation" was found in the subway system at Times Square.

What is with the unnecessary quote marks? Where is the punctuation at the end of the second sentence? Plus, it is "you're" for "YOU ARE," not your, people.

REALLY! Is it expecting too much for our vandals to be literate?

S.L. Summer Fridays

S.L. here again, just writing to catch you up on my summer activities. Auntie Nettie has Fridays off in the summer (the Big J is really nice that way), so she's been taking advantage of them (finally) to go out and do things.

I tag along sometimes. Mostly though, I'm going off on some of my own Amazing Adventures.

Some of the Fridays this summer have been pretty quiet. For example, while Auntie Nettie was working on crochet projects, I was learning new skills, like quilting and tightrope walking and hula hoop juggling with Jedi swords.

I also did some editing for some friends. I had to consult my reference materials, because

my skills had seriously gone to pot.

I also did some travelling this summer.

I rented a VERY nice muscle carto go and visit friends in the wine country.

We had a ball catching up,

and going on a picnic -- where I drank too much.This was an interesting trip, because my friends tried to convert me to being a Diet Pepsi drinker AND a Yankee fan. This Diet Coke drinker and anyone-But-the-Yankees fan was very nice to her host.

(Look at the swag she tried to bribe me with.)

Later in the summer, I took a taxi ride. I had a hard time at first hailing a cab, when suddenly they all swarmed me. It's a multi-car pile-up. After that was sorted out, I headed downtown to Chinatown. I visited a Zen garden and had a visitation from a Celestial Being.
We bonded over a pot of tea and decided to go dress shopping. Which one should I choose? We decided that it might be a good idea to buy this one, in case my boyfriend, Casanova, ever decided to commit.

We then met up with Frieda Flamingo, who gave us a tour of the NBC Studios.

After the tour, we all went out for ice cream.

More girl talk ensued as we inhaled lots of chocolate, 'cuz

Girls+talk+dress+shopping=need for chocolate!

Finally, one of my more recent summer Friday adventures included a spontaneous trip to Caramoor Country, so I could get in touch with nature.

Maybe I should have planned ahead?
Darn!

Perhaps the best thing I have learned this summer is to relax and explore.
Mostly though, I've seriously begun to adopt this motto.
(read the fine print!)

More soooooooooooooon!

Editriss at large

Dear Hartford Hospital Facility/Grounds Department Administrators,

I recently spent some time at your facilities. Thank you for the large signage which helped me find my way to your various care units and parking garage.
I know that you have more important priorities than worrying about the spelling and grammar on your signs, like oh, making sure that people get to the right admitting entrances and not causing accidents in the parking lots,

BUT THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!
Sincerely,

Auntie Nettie,
Editriss at large

In honor of Mother's Day: Spell Checking

In honor of Mother's Day, this clip is for the former English teacher and proof-reader of many of Auntie Nettie's papers, good o' Mom. In the days before word processors and Word-esque programs, my spell checking devices were Mom and the dictionary. While built-in spell checkers do help, this poem* is the perfect example of why not to trust the software.

(Maybe instead of flowers I should have gotten Mom a bouquet of red PENS.)

The the impotence of proofreading
By Taylor Mali
http://www.taylormali.com/

The full text of the poem can be found on youtube.com or Taylor's site.

*Oh, and Mom ... sorry about the PG-13 rated words/connotations.

Remember, they are because of "misspellings."