Showing posts with label say. Show all posts
Showing posts with label say. Show all posts
Say Hello to My Read of the Week
Say Hello to My Read of the Week
Also ordinarily, I do not write book reviews, but Centsational Girl is hosting a linky asking for book recommendations, so I am adding this post to the party.
Lynne Truss is the British author of a book with the improbable title of Eats, Shoots & Leaves. If it sounds familiar, that’s because the book’s been around since 2002. Shes a self-professed stickler for proper punctuation, who obsesses over misplaced commas, and toys with the idea of forming a party of vigilantes to remove superfluous apostrophes from green grocers signs and movie marquees.
Who would have guessed then -- or even now -- that a book whose subject is punctuation and the abuses it suffers in contemporary England would be so entertaining? Not most of us, and not the author either. But it’s become a best seller with over three million copies in print.
Does a book that reviews the when and where of placing dashes, hyphens, colons, apostrophes and semicolons, sound boring?
Trust me, it’s not. I hung on every word and re-read some sentences for the sheer pleasure of savoring the style and content. Call me crazy, but first listen to Ms Truss talking about the exclamation mark.
Ever since it came along, grammarians have warned us to be wary of the exclamation mark, mainly because even when we try to muffle it with brackets (!), it still shouts, flashes like neon, and jumps up and down. In the family of punctuation, where the full stop (what we call the period in this country) is daddy and the comma is mummy, and the semicolon quietly practices the piano with crossed hands, the exclamation mark is the big attention-deficit brother who gets over-excited and breaks things and laughs too loudly.
Or what she has to say about the two ways a Biblical quote is punctuated:
Now, huge doctrinal differences hang on the placing of this comma. The first version, which is how Protestants interpret the passage (Luke xxiii, 43) lightly skips over the whole business of Purgatory and takes the crucified thief straight to heaven with Our Lord. The second promisesParadise at some later date (to be confirmed, as it were) and leaves Purgatory nicely in the picture for the Catholics, who believe in it.
In this sample, she provides proof of the power that punctuation holds, and how it can change the meaning of a simple sentence:
A woman, without her man, is nothing.
A woman: without her, man is nothing.
While Ms Truss is a stickler for punctuation, she is not a strict grammar snob. She’s not averse to breaking the rules of good writing for the sake of clarity. So, relax. She’s not going to hound you about using the Queen’s English, or sticking to obsolete restrictions from the last century.
Although I learned some new rules and tips about how punctuating properly can enhance the clarity and rhythm of my writing, there’s not much I can do about my envy of Ms Truss’s writing talent. There is no way I could train myself to write with such acerbic wit, such frisky spirit, such off-the-wall vocabulary.
The Wrap: Eats, Shoots & Leaves is a brisk read, casual, personal, funny, and spiced with just enough historical trivia and literary quotes to make it meaty.
If you are a writer (and if you blog, you are) and you haven’t put your hands on Eats, Shoots & Leaves yet, please add it to your must-read list. My local library had two copies of it -– always a good sign that it’s a book worth reading.
Even if it doesn’t change the way you punctuate, you’ll have spent a few hours (it’s only 200 cute pages) in the company of a delightful individual.
Say Hello to My Read of the Week
What Your Outdoor Seats Say About You
What Your Outdoor Seats Say About You
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| Any outdoor seating speaks to buyers. Whats your message? |
You might think you can forget your landscape for now, at least until the forsythia starts putting out her little yellow blossoms.
But if your home is for sale, youd be wrong.
Wintertime is when you can get a handle on your landscapes hardscape.
Hardscape is all the man-made, fixed-in-place stuff that doesnt go away no matter what the weather -- stuff like patios, walkways, edging, walls, fencing, and arbors.
And seating, even if it is portable and living in your garage or storage unit for now, is part of hardscape, too.
Just like the furniture inside your home, outdoor seating conveys messages to buyers checking out your home on the market.
What? You didnt know that furniture could talk? Here are some of the things your outdoor seating can say to prospective home buyers.
- You will have fun here! Here is where you will entertain your friends and family."
- "Slow down and take a good look. Come sit here and see what your could own."
- "This is a home where you can kick back. When you live here, youll have time to relax in comfort."
Five Tricks of the Trade
Follow these pointers to make the most of the power that outdoor seating has.
1. Keep furniture in good condition. Shabby chic may be charming indoors, but can look downright neglected outdoors.
Outdoor furniture doesnt have to look new, but it does need to be free from mildew and dirt. If anything needs repairs, nows a good time to take care of them. If what you own cant be repaired, and often plastic pieces cant be, get rid of it.
Although a brand new, high end, patio table and chairs for six gets pricey, there are inexpensive alternatives, furniture that youll likely use to feel immediately at home in your next house.
2. Place seats where it makes sense to sit. Dont be guilty of the crime of Settee Showoff. Thats my term for the placement of a bench or table and chairs plunked in the middle of a front lawn, facing the highway.
Its not a garage sale youre creating. Its a place to unwind, rest, socialize, or observe nature in private.
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| Whether front yard or backyard, a sense of enclosure is comforting. This bistro set matches the old world style of the home. Photo: Plow & Hearth |
- 3. Match the furniture to your homes style. A cottage sideyard could feature an old wooden table and chairs painted in bright colors.
- The restored, mid century ranch home needs something more sleek.
- And the McMansion almost demands matched sets of metal or composite patio furniture.
Ive written about staging your homes exterior in my ebook, and blogged about how to stage your outdoor spaces as well.
5. Use furniture as a focal point to capitalize on your homes best features.
Thats what good staging is all about! A dining table and chairs on a patio or balcony gives the impression of additional, usable square footage.
Comfy chairs on the front porch remind buyers that yours is a friendly and safe neighborhood. A lounge chair in the backyard says that the climate is comfortable.
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| Benches come in all styles, all of them qualifying as seats. Hammocks, porch swings and stools are other possible seats. |
The one exception to staging your homes exterior with outdoor furniture would be if your home is unoccupied and there is a risk that vandals would claim the furniture as their own, like in the middle of the night, for good.
Otherwise, let your outdoor staging say all the right things about your home, like,
Otherwise, let your outdoor staging say all the right things about your home, like,
"Welcome!"
"Ive been pampered."
"Love me."
"Buy me."
Outdoor seating -- done right -- is one of the best ways to get all those message across to potential buyers. Find more advice about selling your home in my $4.99 home staging eBooks you can download right now!
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| Seating should look comfortable and inviting. You can make these cushions by following my tutorial for covering cushions. |
What Your Outdoor Seats Say About You
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