Word Games for Word Nerds
One of my favorite homework assignments in the third grade was using the week’s vocabulary list in some sort of story. I found the assignment to be entirely too much fun. I don’t think I enjoyed the endless repetition of writing the words and their definitions, but I did like using them in sentences. To this day I enjoy such assignments, although they’re never quite as strict. It’s usually some sort of exercise I create for myself in which I have to use a certain word, a type of phrasing, or even a punctuation mark, such as the dreaded exclamation point.
Write Right: A Quagmire of Quotation Marks
I’ve been known to use the quotation mark symbol with my fingers to make a point – usually a sarcastic one – but I’m always amused when I see flagrant abuse and misuse of quotation marks. “Do ‘not’ park here”? I have to wonder what the writer was thinking. Perhaps the writer was trying to add emphasis. Unfortunately, the quotation mark was not the solution to the problem. The quotation mark was not only necessary but also made the entire statement suspect.
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Do You Have an Accountability Partner?
An accountability partner is a kick-ass partner. It’s the person who’s going to tell you the truth even when it hurts. It’s the person who’s going to be there when nobody else is. It’s the person who’s going to hold your hand and, for lack of a better phrase, kick your ass when you need it.
National Poetry Month 2012
A lot has changed since last year’s National Poetry Month post. I now share poems on a weekly basis on the Facebook page, both my own poems as well as the poems of others. I’m not writing a new poem every day. I kept the schedule until my life became the whirlwind known as moving to Austin and starting a job. I’m trying to get back into a regular rhythm with my poetry. I miss the rhythm, and I know I need to be writing poetry more consistently. It’s the only way to become a better poet – that, and reading poetry.
National Poetry Month 2011
April* is National Poetry Month. I wouldn’t have known about it except that I happened to see a tweet regarding the subject in my Twitter feed. As a poet, I probably should be aware of the celebration, but I have to confess that I’m often oblivious to such things.