In Defense of the Oxford Comma

The illustration above floated down my Twitter timeline last evening just before my (-.-)Zzz... *night* tweet.

I have let so much of a pedantic nature *go* - I really have. (I thank Stephen Fry for this. I downloaded the blessay from iTunes last summer. Stephen is funnier to listen to, IMHO). I try to refrain from teeth gnashing on matters of a grammatical nature; but when it comes to matters of clarity, peeps, this stuff is important.

From a comedy perspective, though, I am glad that many omit the Oxford comma.

Comedy, like success, has many fathers (& mothers) but I saw this via the grand Nina L. Diamond, journalist & writer extraordinaire. She is a one-woman news bureau with entertainment division on Twitter. (Here is her Facebook Fan page for more information.)

(illustration credit is not easy to pin down via tumblr via the fabulously-named Edith Wharton Wants Your Shoes)

Alice Under Waterland

Try to stay cool & calm if you're under the same weather as here - that is, very hot & beyond-belief-humid. Trying to catch up with much & the internetz are not cooperating. Check out the underwater photography of Elena Kalis. I'd love to be standing there right this minute.

Update - Tuesday. I'm having trouble w/internet at housesitting gig. It comes & goes w/out rhyme, reason. I am a jinx:( But I am able to hang out on Twitter. Join me, won't you? Lots of blogger peeps are there.

Tuesday - 16 August 2011 - I have hopes for internet access at home tomorrow (Wed.)

Wednesday - 17 August 2011 - My hopes are dashed. Leaving coffee shop dejected. Growl.

Sunday - 21 August 2011 - As the kids say, OMG. I've been here all day trying to post & cannot form cogent thought out of swirling mini-thoughts. Plus: Julie the Cat has been very sick. Verizon is on strike & I cannot get the internet re-installed. I am hoping that news this a.m. re: strikers returning on Monday while talks continue bodes well. I shall return tomorrow.

(photograph by Elena Kalis via Tangerine Tangent as seen on automatism)

Faute de Mieux

Travel, trouble, music, art,

A kiss, a frock, a rhyme-
I never said they feed my heart,
But still they pass my time.--Faute de Mieux by Dorothy Parker

Sigh.

Lots of people who stop by here take terrific photographs. There's a contest held by J Peterman, here. Upload the ones you like the best by 15 April in the 3rd annual travel photo contest. Nothing to lose but a few minutes & you might win some cash or a gift card.

I'm trying to return & write something worth reading. Meanwhile...there's a person tweeting as the Bronx Zoo's missing cobra & it's more entertaining than I ought to admit. Sigh. Again.

Update - Beginning of May or bust. I'll be baaaack.

(photograph by Cristin Moritz, first seen on Cup of Jo)

Revolution of Snow

Today we woke up to a revolution of snow,

its white flag waving over everything,

the landscape vanished,

not a single mouse to punctuate the blankness,

and beyond these windows...Snow Day, Billy Collins

Update - Saturday, 5 Feb 2011. Twitter re: Egypt. Feeling way under-the-weather. Even quite ill. Oof.

If you don't have access to Al Jazeera English (very rare in the States - though I can access it just fine), watch here.

In Ombra - Monday Blues

In ombra is (in the shade) in Italian. Two more beautiful shots by Olga. Now, I'm going to go lie down & see if the world is a little better after that. As ever, I ask to be allowed my delusions. If you are part of the Twitterati, please go to juliethecat & follow or tell me to follow you. I'm pretty easy that way. I need to build a bit of a following so that I can harangue people in 140 characters about upcoming events. I'll try to be entertaining.

Other matter at hand, yesterday was Holocaust Memorial Day (& there was a lovely PBS production of Anne Frank's Diary on last night; it shall be repeated, don't miss it. This production--no offense to others--is when I finally thought: That's Anne, the writer). April 11-18 are the Days of Remembrance. Here's the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum with activities & online virtual stuff if you're not here in DC. This year's theme is an elaboration on last year's (What You Do Matters). This year: Stories of Freedom: What You Do Matters. Here's last year's Giulia Geranium post on what would have been Anne's 80th birthday in June. Darling photograph of Anne & Margot at the beach.

With gratitude to Olga for her generosity.

ciao

Bird On The Wire

When I wrote don't-endanger-bloggers-in-Iran message to well-meaning FB/Twittering birdies, I did not mean/nor say 'cork it' when people have been arrested. I said 'be careful. It's so easy to feel brave & live vicariously from where most of us sit. You don't get medals of bravery for clicking 'pooh on [insert cause]' on FB, etc. Wow, nuance is a lost art. So in case any confusion...go to right sidebar, or to GG blog. Re: missing bloggers & assorted.

Like a bird on the wire,/
Like a drunk in a midnight choir/
I have tried in my way to be free.../-L. Cohen

Fume.

[Nina Leen photographs from LIFE archives; undated]