Browsing Month July, 2007
Fighting Cancer, Anyone?
I’m proud to say that on Thursday, I’ll join tennis great Pam Shriver as emcee at this year’s breast cancer fundraiser at the Acura Classic Tennis Tournament. Unlike a lot of charities, particularly fundraisers for breast cancer, every single cent raised goes directly to breast cancer screening and care. Proceeds benefit the Scripps Polster Breast more…
Sneak Preview of “Anyone & Everyone”
I’ll be moderating a panel discussion at KPBS on Thursday night after the sneak preview of the new film, “Anyone & Everyone.” It’s a documentary by bestselling author Susan Polis Schutz. See it before the rest of the nation does. Deets here. UPDATE: The response to this invitation has been overwhelming! The event’s free, but more…
Comma Cropper
See? I’m not the only one upset about commas. Newsweek’s Robert J. Samuelson is, too. He doesn’t seem to share my angst specifically about the serial comma, mind you. But still, in this week’s column, “The Sad Fate of the Comma,” he observes: Commas are disparaged as literary clutter. They’re axed in the name of more…
You Can’t Judge a Book By Its . . .
Now, don’t get me wrong. I LOVE my readers. But don’t ever let me even think of doing this, okay?
Making Sense of “Like”
Patricia T. O’Conner writes in today’s New York Times column about the bane of so many sticklers’ existence — the word “like” — and makes a lot of sense.
Name that Kid!
Geez, maybe Grant and I should get into the baby-naming biz. After all, he and Sarah did a fine job naming little Guthrie. Well, here’s a long article in the Wall Street Journal about the growing business of baby-name consultants. Or maybe we should have a section on “A Way with Words” where prospective parents more…
Today’s Term: “Weird Life”
Really interesting article in Saturday’s New York Times about stepping up the search for “weird life.” That’s what scientists call organisms that lack DNA or other familiar molecules — maybe even carbon or water. The writer of the article, Carl Zimmer, keeps a cool blog here.
GB + MB on BBC
Grant and I had a great time last night on the BBC program “Up All Night.” We spent an hour talking with the host, Dotun Adebayo, and author/broadcaster/indefatigable polymath Graeme Donald, about the differences between American and British English. They don’t archive their shows online for more than a week, but for now you can more…
Palindromes Galore!
Welcome, podcast listeners! Here, as promised, in my most recent summer podcast of “A Way with Words,” is a link to the lyrics of the Weird Al Yankovic palindrome song. You can also download Yankovic’s song from iTunes. While you’re there, I’d appreciate it if you’d take an extra moment to go to the podcast more…
Word Lovers’ Summer Reads
The good folks at Thinkmap, creators of the popular online tool, Visual Thesaurus, (and proud sponsors of “A Way with Words”) are offering a whole beachbag-full of great summer reads for word lovers. You’ll find recommendations from me, including books by David Sacks and Kristin Espinasse, as well as from logolepts Erin McKean and Nancy more…
