One of my faves…
You
The sound of your voice
stirs my soul
and I come alive.
Your fingers brush against my skin
sets me aflame
and I surrender to you.
It’s you I breathe.
Without you I’m not me.
It’s you I need. It’s you.
The feel of your body
close to mine,
the world disappears.
One glance from you
I lose all resolve
and give myself to you.
Because it’s you I breathe.
Without you I’m not me.
It’s you I need. It’s you.
Again, in honor of National Poetry Month, a poem:
To Love, But Not Hold
You’ve been given to me
To love, but not hold
You’re mine,
But can never be mine
You’re a part of my soul,
So much, you’re never know
I lose myself
I n everything
You do
Can’t you see how I long,
Long to be near you?
You’re on my mind
Every moment, every second
All of the time
So if I have to, I’ll wait
I’ll wait as long as it takes
I’ve waited longer for lesser things
For you’ve been given to me
To love, but not hold
And you’re all that I want,
All I’ll ever need
And to celebrate, a poem:
Untitled
The sky cries,
and trees bow their heads
in quiet prayer
The earth, she shakes with anger
and roars in pain,
But what do I care,
What do I care
My heart, broken, cries out, cries out
but no one hears
So let the sky cry
until her tears wash away
And my pleas, mere whispers
to all, go unheard
So let the trees bow
and break in despair
Just as my body lies crumpled,
broken,
and bare
Why shouldn’t the earth tremble,
and in my same fate share
If the sun no longer shines,
overcome by night’s fears
Would anyone notice,
Would anyone care
If the stars fall from the heavens
and not one witness their sins
For aren’t all our hearts broken
Carried away by the wind
Scattered in pieces, scattered in pain
Does anyone care
Does anyone care
The next time clients tell you “No, we don’t need a line item for proofreading” you may want to share this story with them.
New York City transit officials recently printed 80,000 subway maps that listed the wrong minimum cost of a pay-per-ride card. The newly printed maps listed the rate as $4.50; actual rate … $5.00. The city’s transit authority had hiked the price for the card by 50 cents, but the change wasn’t caught. By anyone!
The maps were pulled, corrected, and re-printed. And according to the New York Post, the cost for correcting this typo: $250,000.
I’m guessing a proofreader would have cost the city’s transit authority a lot less!
Don’t believe having your work professionally proofread is important? You may change the way you think after reading about one costly error for Macy’s, and the end result.
The upscale chain of stores not only is able to align such stars for its television spots – Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Donald Trump, and Sean Combs, to name a few – but thanks to a costly catalog typo, the stars above aligned for a few lucky customers as well.
Macy’s costly catalog typo
According to WFAA-TV, the retailer mailed out their catalog to customers advertising a “Super Buy,” and was it ever! A big HUGE thank you to the typo that listed a $1,500 necklace –made of sterling silver and 14-karat gold with diamond accents – for the low, low “Super Buy” price of only … $47.
Macy’s did not fulfill all orders placed for this piece of jewelry, but for the few customers who were lucky enough to take advantage of this mistake, kudos to you!
Look, this isn’t a huge decision to make: a proofreader is vital to clean copy. Have your work proofread, and proofread it again before sending the files to the printer. Then, for good measure, proof the print proof. Because the fact of the matter is, typos happen. All. The. Time. So hire a proofreader to perform this task: don’t expect the copywriter who has looked at his/her own copy a gazillion times, and knows it by heart, to know what the copy should say. Because they will miss something, I can almost guarantee it. No, invest in the services of a proofreader, a fresh set of eyes, to rip through that copy and find every single typo in your copy. And find them they will. Because that’s their job, and oh, how proofreaders love finding copy mistakes!
Unfortunately, this story does NOT have a happy ending: the copywriter who worked on this particular catalog was fired. For not catching her own costly typo.
This would not have happened if a proofreader had been on the project, too. Just sayin’.
It never ceases to amaze how so many people not only misuse, but abuse, the poor, lowly apostrophe. It doesn’t have to be that way. Ever.
You see, this is one of the easiest rules not only to understand, but master. Think back. Think way, way back. You may have to reach back to those elementary school days…or ask your kids. You see, we all learned at an early age that an apostrophe is used to indicate a possessive word. And if the word is not possessing anything on God’s green earth, then don’t use it. See? Simple!
Of course, that is the “apostrophe rule” in its simplest form (did you notice that I did NOT use an apostrophe in the word “its?” It doesn’t possess anything).
As with anything in the hardest language in the world (yes, English IS the hardest language to learn in the world, and I should know: I studied both Korean and Russian. Easy in comparison), there are definite rules for its usage. And while there are slight changes in rules of usage with the apostrophe, they are so very frequently misapplied! Seriously?
So, to help those who are “apostrophe” challenged…a list of rules for usage.
1. An apostrophe is used to show the possessive case of proper nouns.
• Allison Jones’ article (one person named Jones)
• The Joneses’ article (two or more people named Jones)
2. If a singular or plural word does not end in s, add ’s to form the possessive.
• a child’s wants
• the men’s concerns
• the people’s choice
• everyone’s answer
3. Add an ’s if a proper noun or name ends in a silent s, z, or x.
• Theroux’s “The Mosquito Coast”
4. Do not use ’s with possessive pronouns: his, hers, ours, its, yours, theirs, whose.
• The article was hers.
• I have not seen its equal.
5. Use ’s only after the last word of a compound term.
• my father-in-law’s book
• an editor in chief’s decision
• someone else’s problem
6. When showing joint possession with an organization’s or business firm’s name, use the possessive only in the last word.
• the Food and Drug Administration’s policy
• Hammond and Horn’s study
7. Do not use an apostrophe to indicate the plural of a name, an all-capital abbreviation, or of numerals.
• Veterans Affairs
• musicians union
• ECGs
• WBCs
• a woman in her 40s
• during the late 1990s (1990’s—no, no, no, a thousand times no! This will NEVER be acceptable so please stop the abuse.)
8. Use ’s to indicate the plural of letters, signs, or symbols when s alone would be confusing.
• Please spell out all the &’s.
• She got eight A’s and two B’s on her last report card.
9. When units of time or money are used as possessive adjectives, add ’s.
• a day’s wait
• a dollar’s worth
• six months’ gestation
• two weeks’ notice (The movie title was not punctuated correctly.)
10. When a word ends in an apostrophe, no period or comma should be placed between the word and the apostrophe.
• The last book on the shelf was the Smiths’.
Easy, right? I know…it is. Now follow the rules. And please, for the love of all things holy, STOP adding an apostrophe to dates, as they don’t possess anything, never will, and own that apostrophe! Any thoughts on the small, but mighty, apostrophe?
There is nothing worse than disconnected, disjointed writing. Your target audience completely gets lost (and not in translation). Your message is missed. And quite simply, no one understands what you’re trying to say.
But never fear…this, too, can be cured with great transition words. No magic wand needed…just you and your fabulous writing skills that will connect sentences and paragraphs into a unified body of writing.
Transition words help both the reader and the writer move from one idea to another idea in one fluid movement. Seamlessly. Painlessly. And with utter understanding.
Admittedly, transitions can be tricky if you aren’t accustomed to using them properly. Their placement can be awkward, making your writing even more cumbersome. And, I’m sorry to say, but no, you can’t just rely on your old stand-by words of “but,” “however,” and “in addition.” You’ll need a handy list to pull from…and look what I just happen to have for you:
Clearly, not every word on this list will work for your style of writing, nor is this list exhaustive. Moreover, pick and choose your transition words carefully to reflect your style of writing. And, yes, “clearly” and “moreover” were my choices for transition words to end this blog. I think they both work for my style of writing, don’t you?
Okay, so I know this is a point of contention for many a writer and editor: you are either for or against the Oxford, or serial, comma. I make no bones about it: I am definitely an Oxford comma girl. Can’t help myself. It just makes sense to use it. And, to further make the point, I cut my teeth in an industry as an editor where the Oxford comma was king. Please see the Chicago Manual of Style if you need proof.
And to illustrate the difference, double click on the awesome infographic below, also available on OnlineSchools.com:
I saw this pic posted on Facebook today, and my first thought was: Uh? That can’t be right. But, so many people were in agreement, and as you know, I am all about breaking the rules IF, and only if, they should be broken. There isn’t even a question about this one, however.
To confirm that I was correct, and this little photo was not, I went to my girl, Grammar Girl. And she confirmed what I had said as being true: Supposably IS a word. It just happens to be used incorrectly. All. The. Time. You see, the problem is that supposably simply does not mean the same thing as supposedly. Never has. Never will. But, it is indeed a word. Let’s take a closer look…
People who grasp for supposably are usually searching for supposedly, meaning “assumed to be true” and almost always includes a hint of sarcasm or disbelief (something I would never be guilty of, right?):
Supposably means “supposable,” “conceivable,” or “arguably.” It is only a valid word in American English as those Brits wisely refuse to accept it.
Supposably v. supposedly. And now it could be said that you supposably know which word to use when.
Thank you Grammar Girl!
For all you creatives out there, words to live by:
-Steve Jobs
allyah's INKWELL 