Obligatory Tebow Post

Twitter lit up with Tim Tebow news this morning. The first thing I did was avoid ESPN. Apparently, I did it wrong.

Everyone else in America seems to have turned on ESPN, so they could rail against the machine. Everyone else in America counted the number of times ESPN said the name Tim Tebow, adding fuel to their rant by pointing how long it took them to mention Jason Collins’ coming out, the other big sports news of the day. And clearly, the more game-changing of the two.

Just turn the channel.

Face it: ESPN is no more obsessed with Tim Tebow than we are of their incessant coverage of Tim Tebow. They practically write our columns and blog posts for us. We knew what was going to happen, but  couldn’t look away from the wreckage.

Pick up the remote and turn the channel.

Top Ten topics not under consideration in the Sistine Chapel

Wikipedia image

#10. Who do you want to see ousted from The Voice

 #9. Does pineapple belong on a pizza?

 #8. Should Derrick Rose come back this season?

 #7. Gluten

 #6. Jelly beans or Skittles?

 #5. Dave or Jay?

 #4. When this is over, want to ban the word “conclave”?

 #3. Do we just let Texas go off on its own?

 #2. Who’s ready for a new ceiling?

 And the #1 topic not under consideration in the Sistine Chapel:

Hey guys, wanna make a Harlem Shake video!?

Chi Phone, The Gallery

I’ve said before that having a blog doesn’t make me a writer, anymore than having a bat and glove makes me a baseball player.

Having an iPhone doesn’t make me a photographer. But for the first time in my life, I carry a camera with me wherever I go. And it’s made for some wonderful photo ops.

There’s a spot on the Chicago shoreline, where Fullerton Ave would extend to the water. There are rocks, pylons, and in the winter, ice. And it all makes for some gorgeous shots, even with nothing more than an iPhone and a few filters.

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They’re they’re now, it’s just another grammarant

The there/their/they’re struggle has been widely addressed throughout Grammardom, perhaps to the saturation point. Problem is, we’re simply not getting the message. I’ve even embarrassed myself by sending out the occasional tweet with a there where a their belongs, without paying enough attention. And while it’s inexcusable save for the ignorance alibi, a transgression on Twitter seems pale in comparison to a grammar faux pas on the big stage.

This gem appeared on the mlb.com homepage yesterday. Not buried in a blog, and not as a rant in the rarely-safe-to-read comments section, but right smack dab in the center of the baseball universe. I don’t know how such things make it through on sites as big, as important (to some) as mlb.com. I have a theory that editing can’t be done effectively and efficiently on such a broad platform as the internet. But that’s only my opinion.

I have enough social grace to allow such errors to pass from an individual user, especially someone I know. But I couldn’t let this go.

I checked these two tweets at least 62 times for errors before sending them out. And though it took several hours, much longer than it should have, mlb.com had corrected the mistakes by late Saturday evening.

On Hyphen Usage: Grammarant for March 9, 2013

I haven’t grammaranted in quite awhile, but the issue of hyphen usage has become an aggravation for me. Someone tell me I’m wrong, or help me educate the masses.

Image from chicagoweathercenter.com

I strongly contest the hyphen usage in the above example. When merely stating “The temperature is 40 degrees”, there should be no hyphen. It should be used to say “There will be a 40-degree drop in temperature.” or “Expect temperatures in the 40-degree range.”

The same news site seems to struggle with the difference between a 50-foot hole, and a hole that is 50 feet deep, choosing to place a hyphen between ’50′ and ‘deep.’ And I’m unable to track down an example, but I’ve noticed many “30-years-old” mistakes (not from WGN) around the interwebs as well. Someone who is 30 years old has earned no hyphens. However, a 30-year-old man, woman, or tree deserves 2.

Something tells me editing internet postings doesn’t get priorities the printed word once received. Perhaps there are simply too many of us writing here than can be policed.

A prisoner to my parking space

I’m having Wheat Thins for supper again, because I can’t leave the apartment.

I live in the city now, where parking can be a nuisance at best, and a nightmare when it’s normal.

Get home from work after 6:00 pm, and it’s not unusual to spend 20-30 minutes circling Uptown hoping someone moves their car before anyone else spots the open space.

When I’m frustrated enough, there’s a pay lot right across the street, but I can’t tell you how much it pains me to spend $5.50 just so I can go home. I would have scoffed at the idea of having to pay to park overnight on a regular basis a year ago; now, I grudgingly accept it as an alternative to leaving my car a mile away and walking home.

So when I get a good spot, the car stays. I used to go out to eat because I was too lazy to do the dishes; now I happily do them so I can eat at home and not have to move my car from its precious prime space.  Want to go see a movie? Can’t take my car, I’d have to give up prime curb real estate. My willingness to take a CTA bus or the Red Line is directly proportional to where my car is parked, and what time of day I’d be returning.

It’s a horrible way to live, this city life.

The 5 writers you meet on Twitter

Twitter is full of authors. Some accomplished, others not so much. For the most part, they don’t sneak around. While you can usually find their credentials prominently displayed in the bio section, if not on their sleeve, they are generally easier to spot by their tweets.

The Word Counter is always amazed they’ve been able to knock out 5,500 words about fire fly habitats or tile grout. They’re not just convinced you want to read their blog post about cherry blossoms; they’re convinced you want to read their 2,600-word blog post about cherry blossoms. Tweets usually culminate in “I could have written more…” Thanks. I couldn’t have read more.

The Martyr has given up their entire evening/weekend/vacation to finish writing that article that absolutely has to be done by Monday. What you may not have known, until they tell you, is that articles like theirs “don’t write themselves.”

The Reminderer can’t wait to remind you who they write for, what they write about, and how long they’ve been writing. “I have so much writing to do today” and “I should be writing instead of tweeting right now” are staples. Don’t be alarmed if they ask for guidance, as they often “have no idea what to write about today.” All writers tweet links to their posts; The Reminderer sends you links to what he wrote 2 years ago.

The Updater insists on keeping you apprised of their progress, knowing you’re on pins and needles, waiting to hear they’ve finished Chapter XXVII and are moving on to Chapter XXVIII.  Hopefully, by the time their book is finished, someone will still care.

The Insomniac uses too much punctuation, because they were “up all night to beat that deadline!!!!!!” The deadline they tweeted about all day yesterday, when they could have been writing.