Questions, Questions
Have you seen these meme-type thing floating around? Julie at Bookworm has given me five questions to answer on my blog. The first five people who comment on this post get five questions from me. Although not, I must confess up front, in an especially expeditious manner. But I will do it!
[Edited to add: I hereby absolve you of any duty for reciprocity. I was thinking that this little game might seem like a chain letter, and that's just not fun. So, the questions will be yours to answer, with no obligation to come up with five questions for commenters on your blog.]
1. As an editor, what are some of your biggest pet peeves?
Oh, boy, what a great question. All you non--grammar geeks, prepare to fall asleep as I vent my copyediting spleen:
In no particular order:
-- "It's" as the possessive form of "it". Yes, I know English is a spectacularly inconsistent language. And as much as I can sympathize with folks who make this mistake merely because they are following the general rule for applying possessive case, it still sets me crazy.
-- Unparallel lists, like so: "He is studious, kind, and loves animals." No, no, no; you need to stick either an "is" in front of "kind" or an "and". "Is" doesn't apply to all three verbs in the series. And Dr. Author, don't tell me that you see this construction all the time and thus that it's okay. IT'S NOT.
--Dangling participles: "Running down the street, his heart was pounding." Well, a heart running down the street would be quite a sight indeed.
--Dehumanizing or insulting language in medical literature: Words like "subjects", "complain," "denied", and "compliance", while completely ingrained and considered acceptable among physicians, display an unspoken but equally ingrained arrogance among physicians toward their patients. So, if I see "The subjects in the study complained of chest pain, denied a history of drug abuse, and complied poorly with their drug regimen," you can bet your bippy I'll change it to "The study participants had chest pain, reported no history of drug abuse, and did not adhere to their drug regimen as prescribed."
--Think I'll stop now. I'm getting all worked up and it's too late for that kind of emotional involvement over language!
2. What are your plans for your first day as a stay-at-home mom?
I actually don't have any specific plans for the first day. I just want to play with the kids, not rush around anywhere, and MAYBE clean my bedroom. But I'm not promising anything in that department.
3. How would you describe your parenting style?
I like to think of my style as the "Golden Mean" approach. Too much of anything (discipline, permissiveness, TV, junk food) is probably bad (except love, of course), and a little bit even of some things of dubious overall value isn't the end of the world.
4. Why is your blog called Mimilou?
I had no idea what to call my blog. On a lark, I chose to combine two of the nicknames we had for Allison when she was an infant: "Screaming Mimi" and "Chickie Lou". In retrospect, I don't know if I would still choose that name, but it's too late now!
5. If you could get a babysitter for an entire weekend, what would you do?
I'm salivating at the very thought of this! My desires are simple these days: sleep in, read in bed after awakening, have a leisurely lunch while reading the newspaper, take a nap in the afternoon, read some more, go out to dinner, go see a movie, sleep in again, repeat. Now, this is just me. I wonder what Jeff's ideal weekend would consist of?
Any takers for five questions of your very own?
Have you seen these meme-type thing floating around? Julie at Bookworm has given me five questions to answer on my blog. The first five people who comment on this post get five questions from me. Although not, I must confess up front, in an especially expeditious manner. But I will do it!
[Edited to add: I hereby absolve you of any duty for reciprocity. I was thinking that this little game might seem like a chain letter, and that's just not fun. So, the questions will be yours to answer, with no obligation to come up with five questions for commenters on your blog.]
1. As an editor, what are some of your biggest pet peeves?
Oh, boy, what a great question. All you non--grammar geeks, prepare to fall asleep as I vent my copyediting spleen:
In no particular order:
-- "It's" as the possessive form of "it". Yes, I know English is a spectacularly inconsistent language. And as much as I can sympathize with folks who make this mistake merely because they are following the general rule for applying possessive case, it still sets me crazy.
-- Unparallel lists, like so: "He is studious, kind, and loves animals." No, no, no; you need to stick either an "is" in front of "kind" or an "and". "Is" doesn't apply to all three verbs in the series. And Dr. Author, don't tell me that you see this construction all the time and thus that it's okay. IT'S NOT.
--Dangling participles: "Running down the street, his heart was pounding." Well, a heart running down the street would be quite a sight indeed.
--Dehumanizing or insulting language in medical literature: Words like "subjects", "complain," "denied", and "compliance", while completely ingrained and considered acceptable among physicians, display an unspoken but equally ingrained arrogance among physicians toward their patients. So, if I see "The subjects in the study complained of chest pain, denied a history of drug abuse, and complied poorly with their drug regimen," you can bet your bippy I'll change it to "The study participants had chest pain, reported no history of drug abuse, and did not adhere to their drug regimen as prescribed."
--Think I'll stop now. I'm getting all worked up and it's too late for that kind of emotional involvement over language!
2. What are your plans for your first day as a stay-at-home mom?
I actually don't have any specific plans for the first day. I just want to play with the kids, not rush around anywhere, and MAYBE clean my bedroom. But I'm not promising anything in that department.
3. How would you describe your parenting style?
I like to think of my style as the "Golden Mean" approach. Too much of anything (discipline, permissiveness, TV, junk food) is probably bad (except love, of course), and a little bit even of some things of dubious overall value isn't the end of the world.
4. Why is your blog called Mimilou?
I had no idea what to call my blog. On a lark, I chose to combine two of the nicknames we had for Allison when she was an infant: "Screaming Mimi" and "Chickie Lou". In retrospect, I don't know if I would still choose that name, but it's too late now!
5. If you could get a babysitter for an entire weekend, what would you do?
I'm salivating at the very thought of this! My desires are simple these days: sleep in, read in bed after awakening, have a leisurely lunch while reading the newspaper, take a nap in the afternoon, read some more, go out to dinner, go see a movie, sleep in again, repeat. Now, this is just me. I wonder what Jeff's ideal weekend would consist of?
Any takers for five questions of your very own?
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posted by Suzanne @ 9:38 PM
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