The Semicolon is the new comeback kid.

It seems Hillary Clinton won’t follow in Bill’s footsteps to be a “comeback kid,” but here is a grammar candidate that has increasing popularity after being counted out.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/18/nyregion/18semicolon.html?scp=1&sq=Semicolon&st=nyt

The semicolon has been neglected by reporters, editors and American writers; however, it offers a complexity and nuance to one’s writing style.  It requires more thought than a period or a comma.  A period asks the reader to forget and move on with their lives.  The grammatical structure is done and over.  A comma helps simplify a sentence and resembles polite dinner small-chat. 

A semicolon demands meditation and diligence.  It is a metaphysical connector between then and now.  No wonder it fell out of popularity, most readers do not want to accept such a defined pause when both grammatical formations are equally important.

Anyway, I thank Sam Roberts for writing the article.  I think it demonstrates an interesting story taking place in an unlikely setting.  Yet, only us grammer nerds may appreciate it.

I miss my laptop.

My posts have become more and more sporadic in the last few days.  I apologize, but my three-year-old Toshiba Satellite laptop has been temporaily benched to the side lines.  It will not charge and has been sent away to California for rehabilitation. 

The first two days without my computer sent me into a panic.  I cursed, threw a stuffed frog named Felix against my window, and sped to the nearest Best Buy to see if they remedy the situation.  As I continued cursing at the driver of a green geo metro in front of me, I noticed a man leaning against a light pole, wrapped in a scarf and a merlot stocking cap.  He was waiting for the bus and was running out of time.  It was 7:30 p.m. and Omaha’s buses stop running at 8.  He made me realize that I had saved a tremedous amount of time with my personal automobie (95 Camry). 

I felt selfish and stupid for losing my patience when I could have taken the simple task of reorganizing my schedule and planning my computer sessions.  I have a priveledged life in many ways, and it is easy to lose track of our blessings when we think everything of mine matters. 

 The man with the merlot stalking cap reminded me that plenty of people live without our “essential” material possessions.  We should not take them for granted.  But I will still miss my computer.

Some writing experiences and thoughts

Writing

I first started to enjoy writing in high school in my freshmen English class on constructing the essay. Since then, I have had a strange affection for the form. Even though critics bash it for its convention and supposed lack of creative opportunity, an clean, concise, argument-driven essay earns my admiration. Besides it efficiency in communicating ideas, it allows the author to focus on content, syntax and diction. Once these have been mastered, writers can “mutate” the essay and develop other, more complex and creative, organizations.

Another aspect of writing I enjoy is playing with words. The English language has an immense warehouse of word, each with a specific and slightly different connotation and sound. This gives writers plenty of tools with which to work. We can pair words together in such a way that is fresh and surprising to readers. This involves using metaphors, personifications and oxymoron. We can compare and contrast connotations to give our work an unique and memorable voice. In addition, the sounds of the words themselves can leave a lasting impression. Alliteration, consonance, assonance and onomatopoeia are taught in every introduction to writing class but are then forgotten, not considered viable in mature writing. For these reasons, I think journalists should take an introduction to creative writing class and a creative nonfiction class as well.

My dislikes (and maybe weaknesses as well) of writing are the willingness to actually start and rewriting. A blank page or screen terrifies me. Writers create stories out of nothing. A pen and paper, or a computer is all one needs, everything else is dependent on the writer. Think of the responsibility that rests on the tips of our fingers. We are the gatekeepers of the story, every word and punctuation mark must be there for a reason. Because of this, we must sacrifice time, energy and even a bit of ourselves in every story. This is a daunting task to start, but once I have begun, the process usually stimulates my creativity.

I strongly dislike rewriting. I won’t say “hate,” because hate is a strong, irreversible word, but I strongly dislike rewriting. I want to differentiate between rewriting and editing. Editing asks why is this word, sentence, punctuation mark, etc here? It then asks is there a better symbol or writing tool to better communicate the idea? Rewriting, on the other hand, asks why is the idea itself here? This question can be can be quite intimidating. The answer can be unexpected and shatter the very foundation of the story. I understand that rewriting is an essential part of the writing process and ultimately makes the story the stronger, yet it has the power to tell the writer, who has put her energy and a piece of herself in it, good start but I think there is a more important aspect you may be missing.

Reporting and Journalism

I think my stronget area in reporting and journalism is writing. I have been in journalism since high school as a news editor then a publishing editor. My favorite experience in journalism was transforming our school newspaper. Four of my friends and I joined the newspaper with the goal of transforming the school reporting. The paper had previously been a joke, with little serious reporting. The paper had no graphics, opinions or controversial news stories, but we changed all that. We wanted a paper that was not only interesting to our schoolmates but was also covering important, relevant stories that affected the school as institution. (Coming from a Catholic, all-male, boarding school, we had to cover the addition of day students, the decline of the monastic life, declining religious participation in high school students, etc.) While we could see these changes occur, we realized it was important to show the school and others that the changes were actual. We entered contests won several awards and even took state journalism during my senior year in high school.

I think my weakness in reporting is my experience and control of multimedia options in journalism. I am behind and am hoping to catch up to my field. I am most excited to learn video and graphic design because I think these possess the most versatility and potential in a quickly evolving field. However, I have never shot any video or done any video editing, so I have a lot of catch up to do. My worst experience has to do with video. In my news reporting class freshmen year, we had to broadcast reporting where we were given a quick story and then had to film our report. I had just come from a job interview and my chosen attire consisted of a stripe and cross pattern, which danced on video. I had skipped important information and my 30 second report turned into barely 20. I am not very photogenic–enough said.