Meta tags:
description= A Notebook - Since 2007;
Headings (most frequently used words):
the, of, and, alt, life, photograph, to, an, air, conditioned, summer, coming, toads, manual, style, puzzling, dulce, metallico, swash, backwash, common, reader, plumbing, memory, ascent, man, in, soup, age, blue, hydrangea, blues,
Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (445), and (255), for (67), that (62), with (57), but (57), you (55), not (46), from (43), what (41), one (36), out (32), was (30), chess (30), are (28), like (27), may (26), now (25), july (25), august (25), this (24), art (24), all (24), march (22), there (22), your (22), style (21), january (20), april (20), 2026 (20), time (20), december (19), february (19), june (19), something (19), might (19), september (18), october (18), november (18), new (18), can (18), have (17), about (16), when (16), metallico (16), our (16), writing (15), over (15), their (15), yada (15), work (14), into (14), where (14), green (14), which (14), problems (14), poetry (13), 2019 (13), blue (13), they (13), his (13), she (13), why (13), nabokov (13), reader (12), 2008 (12), 2009 (12), 2010 (12), 2011 (12), 2012 (12), 2013 (12), 2014 (12), 2015 (12), 2016 (12), 2017 (12), 2018 (12), 2020 (12), 2021 (12), 2022 (12), 2023 (12), 2024 (12), 2025 (12), old (12), book (12), said (12), could (12), day (12), down (12), dulce (12), summer (11), poem (11), few (11), see (11), its (11), beach (11), make (11), would (11), them (11), problem (11), should (11), coming (10), other (10), books (10), reading (10), example (10), here (10), some (10), says (10), age (10), how (10), still (10), poems (10), air (10), puzzles (10), get (9), much (9), while (9), life (9), same (9), way (9), who (9), back (9), her (9), often (9), even (9), don (9), most (9), another (9), heat (9), hot (8), nothing (8), these (8), did (8), had (8), too (8), apple (8), white (8), two (8), will (8), bin (8), games (8), alt (8), toads (7), text (7), guitar (7), more (7), been (7), off (7), think (7), only (7), talking (7), were (7), aloud (7), world (7), read (7), morning (7), know (7), write (7), trash (7), filled (7), next (6), has (6), also (6), just (6), around (6), first (6), own (6), again (6), course (6), period (6), use (6), made (6), sometimes (6), else (6), sitting (6), place (6), through (6), must (6), then (6), care (6), readers (6), feel (6), play (6), open (6), good (6), coffee (6), things (6), game (6), maybe (6), woman (6), ants (6), table (6), cage (6), post (6), scum (6), pond (6), puzzled (6), frog (6), startled (6), splash (6), satori (6), idea (6), punctum (6), view (5), 2007 (5), telecaster (5), being (5), late (5), keep (5), jazz (5), going (5), under (5), after (5), 1969 (5), years (5), heinz (5), thing (5), wasn (5), because (5), call (5), any (5), called (5), best (5), waves (5), common (5), perhaps (5), try (5), pause (5), though (5), bottle (5), big (5), four (5), high (5), susan (5), street (5), corner (5), today (5), doesn (5), jumps (5), puzzle (5), cake (5), barthes (5), photograph (5), already (4), letters (4), music (4), page (4), rilke (4), night (4), well (4), metal (4), short (4), played (4), electric (4), paint (4), blues (4), soup (4), didn (4), come (4), become (4), quote (4), playing (4), surf (4), find (4), face (4), ascent (4), between (4), full (4), room (4), word (4), silence (4), writer (4), blog (4), thought (4), found (4), swash (4), anyone (4), argument (4), getting (4), ahead (4), sun (4), water (4), yes (4), feeling (4), bed (4), times (4), appears (4), cool (4), front (4), since (4), lot (4), red (4), walk (4), across (4), john (4), turn (4), debris (4), glass (4), those (4), black (4), photo (4), each (4), solution (4), beauty (4), solve (4), app (4), brain (4), working (4), given (4), rules (4), using (4), purpose (4), stylebook (4), italics (4), manual (4), paisley (4), content (3), wordpress (3), home (3), photography (3), joe (3), tuesday (3), easily (3), lost (3), pocket (3), modern (3), words (3), yellow (3), hydrangea (3), piece (3), edition (3), vintage (3), ago (3), campbell (3), tooley (3), julian (3), project (3), point (3), put (3), memory (3), came (3), young (3), longer (3), heyday (3), works (3), describe (3), afternoon (3), wearing (3), descent (3), kenneth (3), onto (3), waiting (3), notebook (3), mind (3), road (3), ever (3), both (3), past (3), dunes (3), reach (3), contrary (3), never (3), less (3), others (3), angelus (3), bells (3), noon (3), backwash (3), end (3), evening (3), jobs (3), hamlet (3), mother (3), step (3), does (3), persuasion (3), before (3), blouse (3), little (3), pier (3), sit (3), shade (3), sense (3), kids (3), kitchen (3), draw (3), watch (3), say (3), create (3), tree (3), mayle (3), film (3), prefer (3), busy (3), used (3), shopping (3), probably (3), need (3), media (3), artist (3), crows (3), house (3), days (3), yard (3), local (3), drop (3), name (3), move (3), blogs (3), follow (3), happening (3), require (3), spend (3), shall (3), similar (3), having (3), number (3), accomplishing (3), timed (3), composing (3), york (3), phone (3), value (3), reason (3), within (3), comma (3), writers (3), apa (3), space (3), sentence (3), control (3), voice (3), punctuated (3), thy (3), wood (3), girls (3), candle (3), sits (3), viewer (3), making (3), turned (3), process (3), bar (2), log (2), sign (2), subscribed (2), subscribe (2), privacy (2), com (2), account (2), join (2), built (2), favorites (2), penina (2), cartoons (2), select (2), month (2), original (2), weekly (2), songs (2), include (2), fall (2), blaue (2), hortensie (2), translation (2), rhyme (2), than (2), yet (2), messing (2), continues (2), tests (2), raspy (2), pretend (2), monday (2), worn (2), feels (2), weary (2), lower (2), umbrellas (2), wear (2), mode (2), travels (2), aunt (2), published (2), great (2), head (2), penguin (2), bit (2), sort (2), long (2), english (2), pillar (2), boxes (2), love (2), fabulous (2), certain (2), belong (2), culture (2), done (2), structure (2), soups (2), wouldn (2), once (2), tin (2), act (2), greene (2), 1960s (2), series (2), evenings (2), take (2), gypsy (2), riffs (2), taken (2), hear (2), able (2), double (2), image (2), lead (2), confusion (2), look (2), shadow (2), humanities (2), part (2), man (2), ideas (2), compared (2), invention (2), tools (2), produced (2), cosmos (2), bars (2), yesterday (2), famous (2), later (2), every (2), hand (2), against (2), obscure (2), rise (2), dripping (2), tool (2), calls (2), uncommon (2), alan (2), bennett (2), doubt (2), start (2), equerries (2), far (2), literature (2), whether (2), equal (2), apart (2), ending (2), throw (2), duty (2), country (2), self (2), consider (2), dusk (2), clock (2), beachgoers (2), poetic (2), tells (2), cannot (2), judgment (2), flying (2), likewise (2), coy (2), frank (2), hara (2), someone (2), notes (2), bare (2), hopping (2), shirt (2), radio (2), towel (2), talk (2), sight (2), learned (2), walking (2), sand (2), running (2), moon (2), cools (2), fresh (2), breeze (2), bothers (2), curtains (2), awakening (2), side (2), blinds (2), door (2), porch (2), pair (2), passersby (2), baseball (2), william (2), started (2), thinking (2), peter (2), catch (2), elizabeth (2), milk (2), paused (2), finished (2), practice (2), during (2), year (2), fiction (2), dinner (2), following (2), cook (2), winter (2), last (2), pasta (2), sauce (2), cooking (2), playlist (2), peanut (2), butter (2), five (2), block (2), quiet (2), seems (2), moving (2), cabbage (2), butterflies (2), buy (2), order (2), etc (2), simply (2), lately (2), squirrels (2), let (2), sky (2), orange (2), usually (2), dogs (2), trucks (2), looking (2), miles (2), daily (2), tiny (2), cafe (2), box (2), bus (2), cats (2), 1962 (2), terms (2), cup (2), skies (2), distracted (2), couple (2), stage (2), ears (2), falling (2), curb (2), compost (2), waste (2), power (2), wanting (2), eye (2), koch (2), bloggers (2), pop (2), ways (2), cartoon (2), finish (2), saw (2), engine (2), human (2), without (2), argue (2), unlike (2), trying (2), comes (2), approach (2), emphasis (2), riddles (2), insincerity (2), wrong (2), quick (2), mostly (2), verbal (2), versions (2), hardly (2), yorker (2), popular (2), until (2), mentioned (2), cell (2), anything (2), improve (2), gone (2), range (2), really (2), devoted (2), accomplished (2), inutile (2), means (2), puzzling (2), friend (2), went (2), form (2), expect (2), wheels (2), hard (2), want (2), unless (2), outside (2), consistency (2), prompt (2), type (2), marks (2), anyway (2), understanding (2), pickle (2), spacing (2), editions (2), rule (2), easier (2), understand (2), save (2), adds (2), begins (2), blogger (2), puttin (2), doing (2), becomes (2), soon (2), traditional (2), manuals (2), association (2), press (2), chicago (2), wish (2), bill (2), ode (2), cold (2), snow (2), allay (2), blake (2), thus (2), compare (2), poet (2), fan (2), mid (2), thick (2), smiles (2), laughing (2), single (2), reflects (2), seated (2), left (2), party (2), camera (2), novelist (2), inner (2), instead (2), knew (2), mcluhan (2), discussion (2), collapse, manage, subscriptions, site, report, 960, subscribers, website, information, category, categories, archives, search, features, linker, 151, vibe, evolved, guitars, translating, band, discover, digging, german, discovered, slang, drunk, briefly, tempted, lean, jazzy, lured, melancholy, softer, angry, punk, mean, drink, faded, hydrangeas, quite, temptations, fretboard, pissed, blau, slideshow, squier, fender, factory, japan, early, 80s, aftermarket, dean, markley, seymour, duncan, pickups, addario, ecg24, chromes, flatwound, strings, 011, 050, light, amp, crate, gfx, dsp, shocked, refreshens, parasol, touches, rejoices, pale, tired, toolbelt, stains, fly, small, teary, losing, essay, highlights, inky, violets, ballpoint, gray, pencil, drab, palette, wry, leaves, dull, title, week, improvised, borrows, mood, adaptation, takes, impressionistic, britain, bodley, shelf, mix, andy, warhol, told, shape, squat, subjects, annunciation, botticelli, piero, della, francesca, nativities, techno, people, better, nativity, noticed, 108, creates, imitator, seen, sunday, supplement, surely, somebody, middle, aged, retired, banker, henry, met, orient, express, class, 1932, stamboul, train, dining, car, run, explaining, boyfriend, planning, pictures, colours, enourmous, graham, passage, begin, quotes, reminds, expressed, improvisational, guitarists, styles, runs, players, genre, james, bond, clever, curse, such, metaphor, umbrella, patio, spy, pointed, chin, classic, felt, fedora, breasted, trench, coat, natural, sciences, odyssey, 1973, bbc, documentary, selling, jacob, bronowski, wedded, science, technology, focusing, climb, murk, contrasted, biologically, speaking, marked, imagination, clark, civilisation, carl, sagan, 1980, depending, swim, murky, storm, riptides, undercurrents, reefs, smashed, shells, crashing, doctor, office, sketching, homo, sapiens, progress, rudolph, zallinger, 1965, nails, hammered, bent, wrench, twist, bowed, reverse, threads, ledgered, spreadsheet, covered, ground, surface, steel, pots, oil, galvanized, pipe, clamped, ratchet, threading, machine, dreary, jeans, belts, boots, ends, meet, distance, lapped, children, swimming, whose, him, warmth, echoes, plumbing, picador, commoner, tell, 105, help, escape, enriched, expected, 111, empathic, capability, appeal, lay, indifference, undeferring, herself, included, commonwealth, defer, anonymous, shared, led, craved, pages, covers, unrecognized, happen, wishes, dichotomous, staid, queen, egads, bad, enough, habits, spanners, sudden, cat, among, pigeons, choose, pawn, officialdom, awakened, autonomous, absorb, traditionally, prayer, tolling, dawn, signal, labor, reflection, bell, opposite, serving, santa, monica, bay, signaling, freedom, transition, waitressing, bellhopping, fanciful, pure, license, churches, ambient, noise, cities, miracle, blood, tame, humble, waits, upon, scene, shakespeare, robert, herrick, gather, rose, buds, 1648, sustained, peer, andrew, marvel, grows, carpe, diem, seize, mistress, virgins, phrase, commence, sketch, pad, 163, selected, edited, donald, allen, 1974, minded, letting, sleep, pipers, merry, tarry, practically, hairy, tamed, pack, billowed, tee, carried, bag, magazine, tube, suntan, lotion, sandals, surfboard, wax, itinerant, inattentive, surfer, packed, cared, gathering, away, avoided, crowded, spots, wore, modest, swimsuit, placing, parallel, tower, berm, crest, atop, slope, islands, bathers, couples, families, volleyballers, boats, offshore, forth, spill, barnacled, pilings, abutment, ducked, distant, transistor, giant, jet, drowns, spin, bopping, silently, surrealism, slow, makes, nude, lived, near, hide, surfers, standing, flight, wet, salty, boards, pointing, strand, waited, vans, handmade, beds, dashes, cupped, wrinkled, track, tapes, waxmelt, lucky, camping, gear, meant, hands, measuring, talked, slush, foreshore, pull, legs, feet, sinking, washes, tug, sucking, lose, floating, bobbing, sea, dog, towels, castles, bored, lifeguards, towered, noses, painted, zinc, paste, hour, midnight, whisper, ear, strikes, cue, passes, window, hours, watching, strollers, sail, along, dodger, sing, singer, posted, apology, icebox, carlos, williams, decided, reread, barbara, pym, excellent, women, proved, unsatisfactory, list, successful, algorithm, selecting, nutmeg, margery, sharp, eagles, serbia, surprise, lawrence, durrell, entertainment, death, croissants, ian, moore, thief, david, dodge, movie, hitchcock, carr, favorite, hotel, lac, anita, brookner, enchanted, von, arnim, eva, trout, bowen, nine, stories, salinger, easy, smooth, spinners, mary, stewart, disney, tove, jansson, drawings, forster, halfway, beautiful, satire, novella, continuing, nightly, pandemic, recently, provence, capers, stack, paperback, wodehouse, spiffing, close, shades, nap, toddlers, chef, outdoors, outdoor, grill, round, opened, enjoy, cooked, burritos, tacos, spicy, leo, brouwer, eggs, chet, baker, tuna, salmon, pass, jam, sandwiches, beatles, macaroni, cheese, rolling, stones, salads, burgers, hamburger, steaks, baked, beans, corn, cob, chicken, rice, bean, salad, leftovers, pizza, eat, anymore, visitors, town, birthday, split, slices, share, sugarbee, dollops, ant, suddenly, flutter, flutes, grocery, store, dislike, difficult, news, wife, random, hell, washing, cleaning, renewing, supporting, preserving, separately, everyday, flush, consciousness, exhibit, mierle, laderman, ukeles, manifesto, maintenance, chores, perform, latent, performance, forms, folk, tradition, leads, astray, soaps, wildlife, raccoons, possums, pheasants, bats, owls, urban, coyotes, birds, loose, hummingbirds, chickadees, scrub, jays, juncos, robins, finches, flickers, bushtits, hawk, tail, dragonflies, swallowtail, pavement, odorous, live, relatively, respites, mornings, strolling, pulling, bicycling, skateboarding, scootering, driving, cars, occasional, wheeler, woods, freeway, ramp, thoreau, walden, walked, count, steps, ablutions, route, barbershop, corral, owners, parking, century, square, plex, line, stop, hill, pet, quire, requires, lecture, attention, video, youtube, channel, follows, sound, problematic, videos, mercifully, till, persist, reasons, remain, suppose, stuff, toss, rouse, wants, smilin, nothin, squirreling, jitters, raw, caw, accidental, feedback, gargantuan, amplifier, springs, ringing, squawks, fence, business, mates, visit, murder, rejoining, brass, grate, looks, gibson, thunderbird, bass, retrieve, empty, roll, pick, dump, smaller, decide, memoirist, acquired, recycling, grey, returnable, bottles, cans, plastic, bags, disappear, zizek, examined, second, scheduled, rumbles, scooping, bins, stops, ours, battered, squeezed, lifted, forks, thrown, upsidedown, dumping, falls, collective, unconsciousness, community, garbage, visiting, peregrination, grin, emit, meow, treat, hurry, sailing, summery, weather, happens, winters, florida, maple, weed, sip, check, thank, nearby, fishing, reliable, photographs, reviews, germany, flowers, cornwall, california, desert, flower, switzerland, streets, nuremberg, portugal, routes, london, cuba, gardens, france, sweden, slovakia, rattles, truck, driver, bucket, swishing, tossing, contents, jangling, pile, broken, purple, wine, jar, brown, growler, pub, catsup, pulls, redeemable, buckets, sticks, further, houses, reflecting, sunlight, faces, jump, above, rearrange, revision, basho, haiku, below, fame, 1942, disrupting, strata, descending, deep, wellspring, mirrored, besides, computer, examples, dissolving, nothingess, delighting, engagement, enjoyment, ecstatic, despite, themselves, unsolved, tingle, neck, inspire, toward, useless, accessible, joyce, wake, chessboard, elvis, costello, sang, constructed, crafted, shouldn, prose, constructing, manipulating, deceptions, kind, unreliable, narrator, illusion, plot, draws, proves, trap, relaxing, loves, dopamine, nevertheless, seem, hooked, ready, replay, frustrated, epiphany, sure, add, 1010, version, tetris, mahjong, regularly, fast, lane, nowhere, simmers, assessment, test, fun, solitaire, advantage, offered, addiction, rival, spelling, bee, wordle, catalogues, asked, items, shuffalo, letter, added, eight, relies, excels, dispel, staying, merely, solving, wordless, activity, set, accomplish, disappoints, rating, 1200, 1500, brag, average, novice, quarrel, maniacal, manipulation, carved, figures, mental, counterparts, ebullient, prolific, engulfed, adventure, 289, speak, expresses, regret, spent, hearing, perfect, condition, xii, persuade, true, importance, ethos, evaluative, aristotelian, propaganda, claims, demand, composer, virtues, characterize, worthwhile, originality, conciseness, harmony, complexity, splendid, ivory, ebony, comparatively, rare, gift, extravagantly, sterile, occupation, divinely, endeavors, introduction, compares, 1970, samuel, beckett, endgame, 1957, shoveled, win, marcel, duchamp, advised, plays, pool, shark, constant, teens, ping, pong, very, intriguing, poor, amazing, free, source, professional, ads, itself, lichess, function, borrow, architects, skyscraper, mere, shed, together, changing, trip, clean, minimalist, flows, least, distractions, highway, billboards, eschew, unnecessary, consuming, fillers, parentheses, earrings, dress, punctuation, hanging, closet, unclear, figure, occasion, blogging, forget, template, acts, moreover, posts, sent, via, email, conforming, stripped, simplification, design, workarounds, code, imagine, dictating, paris, risk, myriad, detailed, formatting, instructions, periods, quickly, hang, coterie, absinthe, conversation, fret, picked, somewhere, anywhere, ignoring, updates, stuck, requiring, strict, adherence, direct, expectations, regarding, color, lines, reliability, behoove, adopt, stick, consciously, violations, subconsciously, handling, amiss, offs, clicking, offramp, harvard, oxford, happened, wanted, periodicals, titles, nor, somewhat, breath, keyboard, newspaper, necessary, saves, hassle, breaks, flow, highlight, click, exist, establish, uniformity, real, fault, niceties, changed, successive, give, designed, clarity, effort, needed, ink, ribbon, reminded, iconoclastic, idiosyncratic, finishes, places, assume, pen, caught, prerogative, promotes, particular, driven, academic, interest, picture, teacher, penned, faced, striking, commas, pushing, indents, format, correct, citations, references, hallucinated, bibliography, numbers, agony, key, tolerable, unlikely, mergers, anytime, guides, established, identity, branding, institutional, specialties, carry, weight, industries, represented, meaning, editorial, institutions, recognizable, recognized, student, submitting, voices, notice, updated, periodically
Text of the page (random words):
int the punctum as barthes explains it is outside the control of the photographer as it s an unintended consequence the viewer intuits feels even if or especially because one can t explain why the punctum may account for a nostalgic feeling a sense of sadness or loss an unfulfilled wish the punctum is therefore as romantic as music and for barthes the music was mostly filled with minor keys barthes s photography discussion doesn t feature what mcluhan might have called the alt life of the photograph perhaps the great revolution produced by photograph was in the traditional arts the painter could no longer depict a world that had been much photographed he turned instead to reveal the inner process of creativity in expressionism and in abstract art likewise the novelist could no longer describe objects or happenings for readers who already knew what was happening by photo press film and radio understanding media 174 it s questionable of course whether anyone these days knows what s happening that the writers went inside to work only worsened the problem but mcluhan continues the poet and novelist turned to those inward gestures of the mind by which we achieve insight and by which we make ourselves and our world thus art moved from outer matching to inner making instead of depicting a world that matched the world we already knew the artists turned to presenting the creative process for public participation he has given to us now the means of becoming involved in the making process each development of the electric age attracts and demands a high degree of producer orientation the media provides few answers we wonder how things are made and why we co produce the product little is spelled out we need an alt text and the alt text is an existential writing exercise the photographic image becomes a writing prompt we must describe the details but also the moods the passive viewer begins to participate in the making of the photograph there is also of course the alt text purpose of describing a photo for the vision impaired viewer and it s this person we might keep in mind as we write and we may limit or be given limits of our alt texts to a short number of spaces 1 000 or 100 here is an old black and white photo taken with my exakta 500 in 1969 experimental now for its wear and tear but also note how no one s looking at the camera it s domestic and with flair and flare what alt text would you write here is what i came up with caption paisley party having discarded paisley punctum a woman seated at a wood table smiles to her right two young girls seated to her left laughing in the same direction the woman is wearing a paisley blouse in front of her a rectangular cake on a rimmed baking sheet punctuated with a single candle burning brightly the cake is clumsily smeared with thick frosting what might be a box of candy sits under an envelope next to the cake and a big card sits apart the candle reflects off the table top in front of the cake perhaps a punctum see roland barthes for some viewers the table sits in a corner of a room the woman and girls with their backs to bare walls upper left what appears to be the corner of a wall chalk noteboard the black and white photograph appears damaged from age perhaps in contrast to the woman and kids smiling and enjoying the party a shorter alt text woman wearing paisley blouse at wood table smiles next to two young girls laughing a cake punctuated with a single candle that reflects off table august 12 2026 to an air conditioned summer fruit cannot drop through this thick air said hilda doolittle in her poem titled heat and i saw just this afternoon an apple dropped from a listless droop little branch stopped mid air held up by this heat wave the apple falling from the apple tree paused there mid air meantime in the mountains on a summer day li po cools himself off with a fan gently i stir a white feather fan with open shirt sitting in a green wood but what can i do here and now without feathers no poet s work found to cool my brow high 90s and the city smoking choking susan tells me we have the worst air in the entire world today sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines i reply quoting the bard from sonnet 18 shall i compare thee to a summer s day yes susan says compare me to what you will but turn off your laptop it s adding to the heat of my day what did william blake have to say about summer air when things got too hot wondering in what furnace was thy brain who could think this heat blake wrote to summer addressing the hot beast thus o thou who passest thro our vallies in thy strength curb thy fierce steeds allay the heat that flames from their large nostrils i should write something of my own to allay the heat an ode to the electric cool nest but i m too hot to try what am i doing anyway recalling these poems of summer paeans to heat i should be writing something with shade dappled shade of the chinese elm a song with an iced tea within reach when in winter write of heat when in summer write of snow but quick before the snow melts but soon the apple will fall and you ll be complaining of the cold and damp chill again would you rather be hot or cold susan asks either way there s a bill to pay i say ode to the electric bill but for now this late afternoon super high heat the portable air conditioner strains lukewarm across the room a steady aging hum a monotonous drone the mellow soft metal of the cello a wish of river air over a churched organ pedals bellows pumping wind blows a dry air august 6 2026 the coming of the toads manual of style each with a different focus the various manuals of style have the same purpose to dictate how form and content of writing will be organized typed punctuated capitalized cited etc for practitioners working in the style guide s specialist arena most journalists will use ap style a fiction writer will use chicago a social scientist will use apa what stylebook should a blogger use if any there are a few traditional manuals updated periodically with new editions that often bring on a bit of brouhaha most notably the chicago manual of style modern language association s mla style and american psychological association s apa style others include associated press s ap stylebook now in its 58th edition and the new york times manual of style and usage do we need five no but we re unlikely to see any mergers anytime soon for the guides have established over time identity control and branding of institutional specialties they carry weight within the industries represented if not power and they create a voice that s really the meaning of style here editorial voice and institutions want their voice to be recognizable and recognized but unless you re a student or a writer submitting to one of the voices few care or even notice part of the control that promotes a particular style is driven by academic interest picture an english teacher red penned and red faced striking out your commas pushing in your indents messing with your running head these days you can try a i to format and correct your citations and references but you might get back a hallucinated bibliography or page numbers that were there yesterday but gone today one would prefer not to be found puttin on the agony puttin on the style the key is to understand why you re doing something work becomes if not easier more tolerable that way but understanding some of the niceties might catch one in a pickle when apa changed its spacing following a period from one to two to one again in successive editions for example hard to know why at that point some writers of course don t care why just give them the rule and they ll follow it maybe easier to understand where a rule is designed to create clarity or save time or effort or space why place a comma where one is not needed save ink and ribbon and i m reminded of a friend who blogs with what i consider an iconoclastic and idiosyncratic period spacing at the end of each sentence he finishes the sentence adds a space places the period adds another space then begins the next sentence he s done this for years with i assume no one getting out their red pen the period caught in a pickle or the blogger s prerogative what style do i practice here at the coming of the toads over time i ve used something from all mentioned which is contrary to the reason they exist which is to establish uniformity and consistency with emphasis on what their readers and writers value most that s the idea anyway if that doesn t work in real time it may not be the fault of the manual what happened was i was working on a post the other day in which i wanted to type the name of two periodicals i usually place the titles in italics but the ap does not require italics nor quote marks so why should i i had been using quote marks when feeling somewhat out of breath at the keyboard why doesn t ap require italics for the name of a newspaper not necessary and saves time it s a hassle and breaks the flow of writing having to highlight and reach up and click the italics tool yada yada yada and what about that the so called comma in a series often called the harvard or oxford comma would you type yada yada yada or yada yada and yada or yada yada and yada or not wanting to get it wrong you might try yada yada yada most bloggers no doubt don t fret too much over a style using something anything they learned or picked up somewhere anywhere ignoring updates unless they are stuck in a project requiring strict adherence to one style or another or easily moving from one style to another as their purpose might direct if a reader has expectations regarding rules they might get distracted if you color outside the lines if what you value is consistency and reliability it might behoove you to adopt a style and stick to it readers might not consciously care about violations to any given stylebook s rules but a lot can go on subconsciously in a reader s handling of your writing and what appears amiss may prompt turn offs clicking on the offramp imagine you are dictating a piece over the phone in a call from paris to new york would you waste time and risk confusion with a myriad of detailed formatting instructions no the words with a few periods here and there would work and you could quickly hang up and join the coterie in the local cafe for coffee or absinthe and conversation if what you value is a clean page a minimalist style writing that flows with the least distractions a highway with no billboards you will eschew the unnecessary and time consuming the fillers the use of parentheses as if they are earrings on the other hand maybe you like to dress things up with all the punctuation hanging in the closet or maybe you re being unclear for good reason but can you expect anyone to figure out that reason or do you expect readers to rise to your occasion and then again there are wheels within wheels when blogging for one might forget one s template acts like a stylebook moreover when posts are sent via email all your hard work conforming to a style could be stripped out by a simplification engine you could design workarounds but do you want to write or code form should follow function to borrow an idea from the architects though the blog is hardly a skyscraper and sometimes a mere shed purpose and structure can still work together even if changing from post to post and there you find style but don t trip over it august 5 2026 puzzling working chess puzzles advised an old friend a few years ago is the best way to improve your game he plays chess like a pool shark we went through a period of constant chess playing for a time in our late teens chess and ping pong i m not that devoted now to chess games maybe because i m not very good but the puzzles are intriguing and good for your brain it s said my poor brain i play chess puzzles or problems on my cell phone using the lichess app an amazing app free open source professional no ads no problems well other than the puzzles and chess itself nabokov played chess poems and problems 1970 and john cage samuel beckett endgame 1957 and marcel duchamp played chess and shoveled art problems are the poetry of chess nabokov said cage did not play chess to win perhaps puzzling until you get to know cage in his introduction to poems and problems nabokov compares chess problems to poetry chess problems demand from the composer the same virtues that characterize all worthwhile art originality invention conciseness harmony complexity and splendid insincerity the composing of those ivory and ebony riddles is a comparatively rare gift and an extravagantly sterile occupation but then all art is inutile and divinely so if compared to a number of more popular human endeavors problems are the poetry of chess 15 where nabokov says that all art is inutile he means that art should not be an argument that art should not persuade that true art is not an argument of persuasion or that its importance should draw on the ethos of the artist and that art is not evaluative art is not aristotelian art is not propaganda art should make no claims john cage says something similar in silence when he says nothing is accomplished by writing hearing playing a piece of music our ears are now in perfect condition xii not only is nothing accomplished but we spend a lot of time not accomplishing it in speak memory nabokov expresses some regret over the time he spent thinking about chess my only quarrel with it today is that the maniacal manipulation of carved figures or of their mental counterparts during my most ebullient and prolific years engulfed so much of the time i could have devoted to verbal adventure 289 maybe that s why i spend so much time playing chess puzzles on my cell phone it s a wordless activity and since it doesn t set out to accomplish anything it never disappoints there is though the idea that your game might improve and my rating has gone up from a 1200 range to a 1500 range but still nothing to brag about lower average novice i m really accomplishing nothing here might as well be writing a poem which for nabokov was much the same idea or i could argue i m using the john cage approach to chess puzzles chess like poetry and baseball relies on rules and one excels who can dispel the rules while still staying in the game where nabokov mentioned chess problems being like poetry he was talking about composing chess problems not merely solving them chess for most even if played simply with puzzles on the app probably does not rival other popular games the new york times games for example spelling bee and wordle and the new yorker has come up with a few similar games for example catalogues where you re asked to put items in order from 1 to 10 and shuffalo where you make a word with four given letters and when you get the word a letter is added until you re trying to make a word with eight letters add those mostly verbal games to some others 1010 for example a version of the old tetris game or an...
|
