My News & Views

Sunday, July 24, 2011

A Few Conjunctions and Indefinites that Can Be So Wrong or Might Work So Well (in spite of themselves or us)

by Jean Purcell

It is time to consider a few words and phrases that might, or might not, work for you, the writer.

To begin: Why--as the first word of a work, a theme, or a chapter--is SO so very irritating, annoying, and grating to the reader's mind and ear? After all, it is grammatically correct, say most wordsmiths and grammar gurus, to start a sentence with SO.

Another example: Why was Snoopy's oft-quoted phrase, "It was a dark and storm night" so welcomed, given that such expressions have been labeled as "florid prose"? (Bulwer-Lytton also coined, for example, "the great unwashed and the pen is mightier than the sword, which some critics note as having "literary value."

To summarize: It is not good, say I, to start a piece of writing, whether essay, letter, book, chapter, or any other main division of a work or genre...with So. It is not advisable to begin a work or a sentence or a chapter with the word It, yet sometimes it works, as in "It was a dark and stormy night..., " the one time it was memorialized, thanks to Snoopy.

And, to end this topic briefly, I will say that I try to catch and delete any beginning of a work or a chapter with the word And.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Helpfully Falling Into Shakespeare Again

You cannot help falling into Shakespeare again if you read Harold Bloom's Anatomy of Influence. Soon after I started Bloom's book, I signed up for a program luncheon in Washington, DC, Carol Levin speaking about Shakespeare's use of dreams for two sub-themes in Winter's Tale and Macbeth. As soon as I arrived I met two other early arrivals, and we started what would turn out to be an on-going conversation and, I do believe, a new friendship.

Our acquaintance started when I overheard one of the two comment that she wanted to sit near the speaker, and they walked toward the other end of the long dining table, and sat. I'd already had a conversation with the sound man, before they came into the meeting room. After a few moments' reflection where I'd perched, nearer the entrance, at a corner seat, I decided to walk down to where the two ladies had taken places already at the luncheon table. "Excuse me, but I think she'll speak from the other end," I said. "I'm not sure, but that was the last plan I heard." They decided to move, and thanked me very kindly as they gathered their things.

Immediately, I thought, Uh, oh, they're getting up and moving; what if Carol Levin has changed her mind about where to stand, to deliver her speech?

"I hope it will help," I said a bit uneasily, as they slid out of their chairs; "It could flip-flop on us." They went to the other end, where I was, nevertheless.

Before they were fully settled in their new seats near me, I leaned in to ask: "Does either of you read Anne Tyler?"

"Yes!" they cried in unison.

Oh, these two could be my best new friends! I love Anne Tyler's work.

I continued: "Do you remember her characters who habitually try to help, and it so often backfires?" Thinking especially of the woman in Breathing Lessons. "I have similar experiences all the time."

They understood. Perfectly. And, fortunately for us all, the speaker stayed with her plan. After the presentation and questions, we had dessert. A third new friend sitting on the other side of me used to act Shakespeare roles. She commented during the meal, "I had a decision to make today: Go to Emergency with an injury that's acting up again, ...or come here."

The show must go on. I offered something she might want to try next time, as I'd learned that she'd taken nothing to help ease pain. Then I thought, Let's hope nothing else she may be taking conflicts with ibuprofin...!

After lunch with Shakespeare and friends, I now want to see Branagh as Henry V. At least the movie.

Monday, June 06, 2011

SEND A KID TO CAMP

John F. Kelly photo from washingtonpost.com/staff

Commentary
Inspired by 6/6/11 John Kelly's Washington, Washington Post print edition.

John Kelly's Washington column for years has energetically reminded readers of kids ready for help, especially during summer. Nothing has changed. On Monday, June 6, 2011, as it does every summer, the column focused on Send a Kid to Camp.

Today's column includes a description of how one of the first children in the Washington area came to get involved as a summer camper in the early 1960s at the first location: Mike Shirley. He later helped clear the second site, property bought just for the camp, the project led by George Greene, who located Mike Shirley years before. "George Greene passed away this year," writes Kelly, "but his legacy remains in the cabins and trails of Moss Hollow and in people such as Mike Shirley, who, after graduating from Springarn High, went to Columbia College of Art and Design...and now teaches art at Crossland High in Temple Hills. And he still goes to Moss Hollow every summer, now as a director." Mike said of WWII veteran, George Greene: "He talked to us about becoming strong members of society...about doing right in our family...The camp was to create an atmosphere where the poorest of the poor had a place to come. And it's not just throwing out a ball and playing with them. It was a place to prepare us for the American dream, a place we can call our own...."

Because of this information from John Kelly's Washington, readers may choose to enjoy Wednesday lunches or dinners at any of Clyde's restaurants. This week's special Wednesday menu to benefit Send a Kid to Camp is Alaskan salmon. According to the restaurants, echoing John Kelly, "proceeds will benefit Send a Kid to Camp." The camp is Moss Hollow in Fauquier County, Virginia.

"Greene thought that kids like Mike would benefit from getting out of the city and into the great outdoors," wrote John Kelly today. Mike Shirley and others have proved him right.

(After Mr. Greene's death, Mike wrote on the Legacy page for veterans:

"...if George Greene never came
to my house in Kenilworh to ask me to join the
Ivakota program in 1963 I would not
be the person I am today. he taught me..."
- Michael Shirley).

This summer's Send a Kid to Camp goal: $500,000. To donate online, click here.
To send by post, Kelly wrote, make check payable to: Send a Kid to Camp
and send to
Send a Kid to Camp
P. O. Box 96237
Washington, DC 20090-6237

Dear Reader, If you do not live near Washington, DC, and won't be visiting this summer, then why not give online or send a check, for any amount? And I hope you can also find a similar camp operating near you. There are likely big needs needing big hearts and ideas and help. Summer should be much brighter for it!
Stay cool.

About John Kelly's column: "John Kelly's Washington" appears Sunday through Thursday online and in The Post. He started at The Post in 1989 as the deputy editor of the Weekend section. Since then he's edited Weekend, founded KidsPost and been a general assignment reporter in Metro. He drives an old sports car and plays the drums--though not at the same time. He lives in Silver Spring, where he has one wife and two daughters.(source: Washington Post)

Note: The famed Old Ebbitt Grill in DC, across the side street from the Department of the Treasure building, is also part of this summer's Send a Kid to Camp, along with the 13 area Clyde's restaurants. If able, wouldn't you love to dine at Clyde's or at Old Ebbitt's Grill every Wednesday this summer to help a good cause? If you go to Old Ebbitt instead of, or in addition, to Clyde's on a Wednesday this summer, if you've never been there before, consider that it's just steps from The White House and museums in downtown Washington. Established in 1856, it was a favorite of Presidents Grant, Cleveland, Harding and Theodore Roosevelt...."

Inspired by and quoting from John Kelly's column, The Washington Post, topic "Send a Kid to Camp"
(c) 2011 Opinari Writers

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Gerald C. Primm and Charles H. Spurgeon

In Appreciation of the Life of Gerald Caudle Primm (1922-2011)

World War II Distinguished Flying Cross
Died on Memorial Day Weekend 2011
A devoted son, brother, husband, father, and grandfather
A devoted Christian and pastor

Faith takes the telescope, looks beyond the narrow range of time into the eternal heavens, and sees a crown laid up for the faithful.

C. H. SPURGEON, THE MOURNER'S COMFORTER

"...what God has done with one life totally committed to Him whose power is unlimited!"

GERALD C. PRIMM on C.H. SPURGEON

Gerald C Primm (1922-2011) To me, sister of Gerald Primm, the quotes above apply to my dear, oldest brother of my two treasured brothers, Gerald and Bud. Gerald Primm was a co-laborer for Christ and across time with Charles Haddon (C. H.) Spurgeon, and he was an expert on Mr. Spurgeon's life, works for the poor, preaching, and writing. Gerald went to be with the Lord early on the morning of May 28 at Moses Cone Memorial Hospital in Greensboro, NC. His sons were with him. Gerald was a beloved son (of Waldo Primm [d. 1984] and Treva Caudle Primm [d.1995]), husband (to Ethel Brown Primm [d.2006]), father (to John, Mark, and daughter-in-law Sandy), grandfather (to Carly, Caleb, Corrie, and Connor), brother (to Bud, Jean, brother-in-law Jim), uncle (to Deirdre and Carole), and friend; he was a pastor, mentor, preacher, and scholar; a WWII P-38 Lightning fighter pilot and veteran with many combat awards, he received the Distinguished Flying Cross, an award that most of the family knew nothing about until near or after his death.

Capt. Gerald Primm

Mr. Primm greatly admired the person and works of 19th century London preacher C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892), possibly above all other Christian men and preachers. He drew much strength from Mr. Spurgeon's perseverance of faith. Mr. Primm's new wife introduced him to Mr. Spurgeon not long after they married and through one book she suggested he read during a time of boredom when he wanted some good reading at a retreat. "Where can I find more books by this man?", Mr. Primm asked his bride after he finished the first book by Charles H. Spurgeon. Thus, the journey of a lifetime began. Mr. Primm even revived Sword and Trowel, a periodical Mr. Spurgeon published for many years.

In his later years, Mr. Primm noted that his birth date, January 31, was the same as Mr. Spurgeon's date of death, and that Mr. Spurgeon's birth date, June 19, was the same birth date as Mr. Primm's sister, with whom he published the second US edition of The Mourner's Comforter.


Charles H. Spurgeon age 23	(Wikipedia)

In 1975, the book's centennial year, Mr. Primm published the first U.S. edition of C.H. Spurgeon's 1875 publication The Mourner's Comforter, seven discourses on Isaiah 61:1-3; he compiled selections from Spurgeon's works in Paradoxes, Mysteries, Riddles, and Comfort for Christians (2002), which he edited; and he co-released a new edition of The Mourner's Comforter in 2007, based on the original,, with his Acknowledgments to Errol Hulse (UK) and others.

One of the two largest collections in the world of Mr. Spurgeon's books and other works, including consecutive editions of "Sword and Trowel," were in Mr. Primm's personal library in his home. Mr. Primm collected the works gradually during decades of correspondence and book exchanges in the U.K. and elsewhere with rare book finders and dealers. Information about Mr. Primm's C.H. Spurgeon collection may be found, in future, through the library archives office (present archivist, Mr. Jim Lutzweiler) of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary-SEBTS, Wake Forest, NC.

Paradoxes, Mysteries, Riddles, Enigmas, and Comfort for Christians: A Compilation of Selected Charles H. Spurgeon?

The Mourner's Comforter: Isaiah 61 Explained

The Sword and the Trowel; Ed. by C.H. Spurgeon

Friday, May 20, 2011

Don't Lose Your Online Writing!

This image is attributed to NASA, a government...

Image via Wikipedia

This is a NASA photo that resembles
my memory reacting to a lost blog post.

I should have paid serious attention to the page that popped up, saying that Blogger was having some problems the day I was writing about trends of political language in Washington, DC. I should have saved the draft as a Word document. The blog post appeared to be saved. I was assured it was saved. So, I did not protect the article elsewhere, and it disappeared!

My time spent scrambling to find the document yielded no threads to pull. What was left was little bits and pieces in memory...my brain, which had to go with me to other work of the day.

I hear you wondering, Did she look in her Blogger drafts file? Did she search Word?

The answer to the first is Yes, and it's not there; to the second, ...come to think of it, I've not looked in Trash. However, the document was never named and saved. I doubt that it's there. I'll look again, though, and see if it's there. If so, I'll update here.

Protect your favorite online writing by saving it somewhere not online.

(c) 2011 Opinari and Jean Purcell {OWN}