A guest post by Stephen Altrogge

1. Laughing at the same joke 15-20 times in a row (particularly if the punch line involves the word “booger”)
2. Wearing a fanny pack without embarrassment
3. Fighting with pillows
4. Thinking it’s normal to wear sweatpants all day every day
5. Experiencing “Lucky Charm” euphoria
6. Getting rewarded for doing house chores
7. Owning matching “Star Wars” pajamas, pillow case, and sheets
8. Not having an email address
9. Getting so excited about my birthday that I can’t sleep
10. Stating my age in precise terms (e.g “I’m seven and a quarter years old)
11. Receiving exuberant applause for minor accomplishments, such as learning to use a toilet
12. Eating an entire box of Whoppers without experiencing any serious side effects
13. Watching Saturday morning cartoons…all day
14. Getting cold, hard cash every time I lost a tooth
15. Being proud of the fact that I was gaining weight
16. Having only one goal for the entire day: reach level 17 in “Duck Hunt”
17. Reading books like “The Boxcar Children” and “The Hardy Boys”
18. Wishing I was one of “The Boxcar Children” or “The Hardy Boys”
19. Knowing that Santa Claus isn’t real but not being allowed to divulge the secret to uniformed children
20. Spending all my disposable income on a single item, such as a G.I. Joe
21. Imagining myself as various heroes – Superman, Batman, Martin Sheen
22. Being fully convinced that I would be an NBA star because I could dribble between my legs

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28 Comments so far

After erasing three negative posts written in anti-celebration of The Elements of Style’s 50th anniversary, I decided to write something more positive.

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1 Comments so far

Despite metaphors being occasionally obscure, aren’t they meant to elicit fresh, clarifying imagery in our minds of the literal thing being described?

(In reference to Challies’ question.)

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16 Comments so far

Penelope Trunk:

[F]ocus has shifted toward taking risks with conversation and ideas, and away from hierarchical input (the editorial process) and perfection.

(via John McIntyre)

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9 Comments so far

I came very close to resonating with MacArthur’s annoyance today simply because he respects his readers enough to use paragraph breaks liberally.

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Related:

• Not pressing Enter is rude.
• Thinking about how to use paragraphs.

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35 Comments so far