"The Elements of Style"

More from the "Sacred Diary."

In this excerpt, Adrian is talking about his son, a teenager in a band called, "Bad News For The Devil." Here 'tis:

"Went to Unity Hall tonight to hear 'Bad News For The Devil' practising. When I got there, stood outside for a moment listening to a noise that sounded like a piano falling down a lift-shaft with someone trapped under the lid.

Turned out to be a number called 'Peace Will Come'.

Privately thought a better name for the group would be 'Rather Encouraging News For The Devil'."

I have an on again/off again enamoration (is this a word?) with a little book called "The Elements of Style" by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White. It's a grammar handbook we were required to have at AACS, but I like to read it for pleasure sometimes when I'm bored. Before you judge me, let me explain that it is sardonically clever and really good entertainment if you like that sort of thing.

Since I am in the middle of a book excerpt phase, here is one from "The Elements of Style":

"Inexperienced writers not only overwork their adverbs, but load their attributives with explanatory verbs: 'he consoled,' 'she congratulated.' They do this, apparently, in the belief that the word said is always in need of support, or because they have been told to do it by experts in the art of bad writing" (p. 75).

Ha!

Found this picture on my camera yesterday:

They're looking at Dorothy.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

(You should be getting higher in pitch as you finish awing...)

The Sacred Diary of...

As it turns out, it's quite a good feeling having a clean range.

The other day, Cristina lent me "The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass" to read. She obviously knows nothing of my addictive reading problem. It's a short book, though, so not too much time has been wasted on my part. I read it rather quickly, which, as anyone who knows me will tell you, is quite unusual. "Fast" describes virtually nothing I do. (Unless you've had the rare opportunity to witness me playing the piano after 2 glasses of Mom and Dad's iced tea.)

I started the book Saturday after my friend was gone and was finished by Sunday evening. Bursts of late-night whooping laughter characterized my experience with this book. (Sorry neighbors......By the way, I have an ongoing love relationship with parenthesis.)

To give you a flavor of the book, here is what I read on the opening page:

"Our church is getting like an auction room. One blink and you get ministered to. Sit still and keep your eyes shining-that's my motto. This morning was Edwin Burlesford's fault. Forty-five minutes on 'sin'! A record nine-fruit-gum talk. Halfway through, I was checking supplies when Edwin suddenly shouted 'LUST!', and made me drop the packet under my chair. Put my head down between my knees to locate it, then couldn't get up because Doreen Cook pressed her hands down on the back of my head. She prayed that 'our despairing brother would move from darkness to light'. I was all for that-I couldn't see a thing. When she let me get up she had one of those roguish Christian smiles on her face. Came very close to really giving her something to forgive me for. Everyone thinks I've got a big lust problem now..."

As predicted by Cristina, I love it.

(In other news...Dorothy took a bottle on Friday!)