December 23rd, 2011 | by Sara | journalism
Dec
23
For any grammar nerds out there, be sure to check out this rap video that some college students made based on Strunk and White’s “Elements of Style.”
The Elements of Style from Jake Heller on Vimeo.
August 25th, 2011 | by Sara | uncategorized
Aug
25
As Hurricane Irene hurtles its way up the coast, it’s all the rage in D.C. (After the earthquake was all the rage on Tuesday. Darned natural disasters!) So a journalism friend of mine posed the question on Twitter: Do we refer to hurricanes as “she” or “it”? Luckily, the AP Stylebook (style bible of journalists) had an answer: it. But the rest of the “hurricane” entry is the best part:
“And do not use the presence of a woman’s name as an excuse to attribute sexist images of women’s behavior to a storm. Avoid, for example, such sentences as: The fickle Hazel teased the Louisiana coast.”
Priceless. So glad I looked that up.
In the meantime, I really haven’t been too worried about this storm. A few days ago, I read something that said it would pretty much just mean lots of rain for D.C. But now some people are freaking out, so I’m wondering if I’m downplaying it. But really, I’m not overly concerned and don’t think I should be.
February 2nd, 2011 | by Sara | uncategorized
Feb
02
How did I miss this?
In last weekend’s Washington Post magazine, Gene Weingarten’s column referenced Google’s NGram viewer. I had never heard of it, but this viewer could provide hours of fun.
In Weingarten’s words, the tool “lets you see, on a timeline graph, the comparative popularity of any two or more words, phrases or names, judged by the frequency of their mentions in the millions of English language books Google has digitized.”
Genius!
Check it out — but only when you have a couple hours to spare because it’s addictive.
January 26th, 2011 | by Sara | uncategorized
Jan
26
If you want some interesting (and lengthy) reading, check out this New York Times magazine article, which chronicles the Times’ relationship with WikiLeaks and Julian Assange. Intriguing look into how things went down.
January 17th, 2011 | by Sara | uncategorized
Jan
17
I’ve been a bit of a blog slacker lately. I haven’t cooked a ton (though I did make French onion soup last week … but it needs some tweaks before I recommend it), and I’ve been focusing on figuring out parts of my India trip for March.
I do have plans to try a few new recipes this week, but until then I’ll share this Slate article about “Why you should never, ever use two spaces after a period.” In short, it’s entirely not necessary since computers adjust letter spacing based on the characters.
May 16th, 2010 | by Sara | uncategorized
May
16
One in five divorce petitions cites Facebook.
I heard this today on NPR’s “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” and then looked it up. According to an article in U.K.’s Telegraph (and other news sources), lawyers say social networking sites make it easier for spouses to cheat, renew old flames or meet new flames.
I suppose it’s nothing surprising, but the statistic is pretty scary considering almost all of my generation is currently on such sites. What does this mean for our chances of success?
May 8th, 2010 | by Sara | uncategorized
May
08
If you have a little extra online time, you should check out the winners and finalists for the Webby Awards. Websites win the awards based on design, usability, functionality, etc.
As I was looking through the list, I found this Economist link. Since my paper is owned by the Economist Group, I checked it out. And then I realized it was a very unusual and very cool site. I think the concept of showing and explaining individuals’ thinking spaces is a good one. And the rotating, angled, connected photos are really cool.
May 7th, 2010 | by Sara | uncategorized
May
07
Onlinestylebooks.com searches up to 40 different style guides for answers to any style questions (or thorough confusion as to which style you should follow).
March 27th, 2010 | by Sara | uncategorized
Mar
27
My former co-workers at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch approved a new union contract today. Negotiations began before I left last year, and the old contract expired in June 2009 but remained in effect through the negotiations. The offered approved today was the paper’s “last, best” offer to the union members.
March 24th, 2010 | by Sara | uncategorized
Mar
24
For anyone who uses charts as part of their work (or school or play), this is a fun chart to figure out which type of chart you need to make. (Yes, charts galore.)