Oh my goodness! Here are two podcasters who share a lot of interests with me and Prunella. Their names are Grammar Girl and Modern Manners Guy. Their partners at Quick and Dirty Podcasts include Money Girl, Mighty Mommy, Legal Lad, Traveling Avatar, Get-it-Done Guy, Sales Guy, Small Biz Tech Girl, and Make-it-Green Girl. Most of them don’t have to do with peeves and rants (and I resent the use of the word “girl” for the female podcasters), but it is definitely a site worth checking out.
--Curly
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
A Rose by Any Other Name
I have a name problem. Actually, I have several name problems.
1) My name is one that many people find difficult. They constantly mispronounce it or call me by a word that sounds like my name but is not actually my name.
2) I have many different nicknames and some people will only use a certain one while others won’t use one at all. So I have to remember who calls me what and how to refer to myself when signing letters or emails or when introducing myself when I make phone calls.
3) I share a last name with someone who is fairly well known, and I am frequently referred to by his first name, despite the fact that it is a name only for men and I am female. This frequently happens in emails, where my name is clearly shown in the “from” field and in my signature. When I reply to such people using my correct name, many of them tend to call me by the wrong name yet again when they write me back.
4) My name can be for both men or women and people always feel the urge to point that out, as though I didn’t already know that. Some snicker about it and ask if my parents were trying to be “politically correct” or if they really wanted a male child. I don’t find their comments amusing.
Why is it so hard to accept people’s names and to refer to them as they want to be referred to? Naturally, one can be curious about what a name means or where it comes from, but is it necessary to make comments? And can’t we try to pay attention to what people’s names are so we use the correct one?
--Curly
1) My name is one that many people find difficult. They constantly mispronounce it or call me by a word that sounds like my name but is not actually my name.
2) I have many different nicknames and some people will only use a certain one while others won’t use one at all. So I have to remember who calls me what and how to refer to myself when signing letters or emails or when introducing myself when I make phone calls.
3) I share a last name with someone who is fairly well known, and I am frequently referred to by his first name, despite the fact that it is a name only for men and I am female. This frequently happens in emails, where my name is clearly shown in the “from” field and in my signature. When I reply to such people using my correct name, many of them tend to call me by the wrong name yet again when they write me back.
4) My name can be for both men or women and people always feel the urge to point that out, as though I didn’t already know that. Some snicker about it and ask if my parents were trying to be “politically correct” or if they really wanted a male child. I don’t find their comments amusing.
Why is it so hard to accept people’s names and to refer to them as they want to be referred to? Naturally, one can be curious about what a name means or where it comes from, but is it necessary to make comments? And can’t we try to pay attention to what people’s names are so we use the correct one?
--Curly
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Down with Typos!
Here's a crusade after Curly's own heart: the Typo Eradication Advancement League, as profiled in the Chicago Tribune. (Thanks to the New York Times Lede blog for the tip.)
--Prunella
--Prunella
Monday, May 19, 2008
Ewww....
This is beyond creepy. I've heard about purity balls before, but this article really made me realize how gross they are.
Fathers pledge to protect their daughters' purity? Um, what? It is great for fathers (and mothers, of course) to be involved in their children's lives, but this seems to be going too far. Why is this personal decision (about whether to remain abstinent) made into a familial event and so publicly, too? And if it is going to be a family occasion, why aren't the mothers involved and not just the fathers? And what about sons? Is it okay for them to have sex before marriage? And why is premarital sex considered so bad anyway?
One girl interviewed wants to hear that her father finds her beautiful. I think feeling that you are loved for who you are is more important than knowing if your parents think you are attractive. And talking with your parents about your sex life (or lack thereof) just seems unnecessary and, well, gross.
--Curly
Fathers pledge to protect their daughters' purity? Um, what? It is great for fathers (and mothers, of course) to be involved in their children's lives, but this seems to be going too far. Why is this personal decision (about whether to remain abstinent) made into a familial event and so publicly, too? And if it is going to be a family occasion, why aren't the mothers involved and not just the fathers? And what about sons? Is it okay for them to have sex before marriage? And why is premarital sex considered so bad anyway?
One girl interviewed wants to hear that her father finds her beautiful. I think feeling that you are loved for who you are is more important than knowing if your parents think you are attractive. And talking with your parents about your sex life (or lack thereof) just seems unnecessary and, well, gross.
--Curly
Friday, May 16, 2008
Time Keeps On Slipping
People so often don’t recognize or value the time or effort other people’s jobs take, nor do they often see the importance of other people’s work. For example, some time back, a customer asked me to edit a book. I’ve been editing books for close to a dozen years now, so I do have some experience looking over a text and judging how much time it will take and how much work is required.
The book had around 60,000 words, so it wasn’t terribly long. But I do have many other customers, so I couldn’t begin right away. However, I was told this was a rush job. How much of a rush, I asked? Well, the project was first mentioned to me on a Sunday and the next day, which happened to be my birthday, was when I was told that the editing needed to be finished by, well, Tuesday. In other words, the publisher wanted a book edited in a day.
I didn’t tell them that I wasn’t working on my birthday. Instead, I politely explained that there was no way that this was possible (even if it hadn’t been my birthday, I wouldn’t have agreed to the job) and that I hoped they would find someone else. In the end, they decided to skip the editing process, because they were so anxious to get the book out. The book has now been published, but I haven’t had the time to look at it, to see what the language is like. If they couldn’t spend the time (and money) to make sure the book was as good as possible, I can’t waste my time to check it out now.
--Curly
The book had around 60,000 words, so it wasn’t terribly long. But I do have many other customers, so I couldn’t begin right away. However, I was told this was a rush job. How much of a rush, I asked? Well, the project was first mentioned to me on a Sunday and the next day, which happened to be my birthday, was when I was told that the editing needed to be finished by, well, Tuesday. In other words, the publisher wanted a book edited in a day.
I didn’t tell them that I wasn’t working on my birthday. Instead, I politely explained that there was no way that this was possible (even if it hadn’t been my birthday, I wouldn’t have agreed to the job) and that I hoped they would find someone else. In the end, they decided to skip the editing process, because they were so anxious to get the book out. The book has now been published, but I haven’t had the time to look at it, to see what the language is like. If they couldn’t spend the time (and money) to make sure the book was as good as possible, I can’t waste my time to check it out now.
--Curly
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Whining About Libraries Again
I have complained here before about behavior in libraries. So I sympathized with how difficult it must be to work in the British Library now, as described in this article.
--Curly
Friday, May 9, 2008
Keep Your Shirt On
As the weather warms up, I appreciate the fact that people want to wear fewer items of clothing. People pull their shorts, skirts, and tank tops from the closet and slip on flip-flops. Fine.
But why, why, why do so many men feel the need to go shirtless? I don't mean on the beach or while playing soccer in a park. I mean walking around the city, going into restaurants, visiting people, and so on. And far be it for me to criticize other people's bodies, but most of these men are rather, ahem, rotund, and frequently sweaty as well. Sometimes their shorts are hanging so low that going topless makes much more than their chests visible, too (let's just say that the old plumber's line is way more than I need to see). Is it too much effort for them to keep their shirts on?
And not only that, but recently, I saw a man walking down the street in sandals and his boxer shorts! It isn't that hot!
Please, keep cool, but have some sense of modesty and decency too!
--Curly
But why, why, why do so many men feel the need to go shirtless? I don't mean on the beach or while playing soccer in a park. I mean walking around the city, going into restaurants, visiting people, and so on. And far be it for me to criticize other people's bodies, but most of these men are rather, ahem, rotund, and frequently sweaty as well. Sometimes their shorts are hanging so low that going topless makes much more than their chests visible, too (let's just say that the old plumber's line is way more than I need to see). Is it too much effort for them to keep their shirts on?
And not only that, but recently, I saw a man walking down the street in sandals and his boxer shorts! It isn't that hot!
Please, keep cool, but have some sense of modesty and decency too!
--Curly
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Information, Please!
Dear Correspondent:
Yes, we've corresponded before--we might even be considered friends of a sort--and so I am therefore perfectly willing to consider your most recent request to post a link to your new story/poem/essay/interview/commentary on my blog.
But please, can you make it just a tad easier for me to do you this favor?
Yes, you're quite right to give me the title of the ezine or blog that has published your magnum opus. But, my dear correspondent, you haven't quite gone far enough.
So, as I told you in my last response, I would appreciate some additional information. Specifically, I would like you to send an actual link I can click on to see the piece myself. Then I can paste the link into my own post, too. Just so you know: I'm much more likely to post something you send me than something you tell me to look up on my own.
Similarly, and just to avoid the problem we encountered the last time this situation came up, I am not asking for a link to the blog/ezine's home page so that I can then search for your work myself. I am asking for a direct link to your work.
Am I asking for too much?
Sincerely,
Prunella Peeve
Yes, we've corresponded before--we might even be considered friends of a sort--and so I am therefore perfectly willing to consider your most recent request to post a link to your new story/poem/essay/interview/commentary on my blog.
But please, can you make it just a tad easier for me to do you this favor?
Yes, you're quite right to give me the title of the ezine or blog that has published your magnum opus. But, my dear correspondent, you haven't quite gone far enough.
So, as I told you in my last response, I would appreciate some additional information. Specifically, I would like you to send an actual link I can click on to see the piece myself. Then I can paste the link into my own post, too. Just so you know: I'm much more likely to post something you send me than something you tell me to look up on my own.
Similarly, and just to avoid the problem we encountered the last time this situation came up, I am not asking for a link to the blog/ezine's home page so that I can then search for your work myself. I am asking for a direct link to your work.
Am I asking for too much?
Sincerely,
Prunella Peeve
Monday, May 5, 2008
Eau de Achoo
One of our loyal readers once mentioned something that peeved her – the perfume samples often included in magazines. It is true that the samples come in sealed paper, but often the smell leaks out anyway. As my friend points out, this can really bother people who are sensitive or allergic to smells.
I am not sure what would be a better solution, though. How can perfume-makers market their goods without offering samples? Still, I agree that it can be very annoying to have to deal with stinky paper, especially if it makes you sneeze or otherwise bothers you.
--Curly
I am not sure what would be a better solution, though. How can perfume-makers market their goods without offering samples? Still, I agree that it can be very annoying to have to deal with stinky paper, especially if it makes you sneeze or otherwise bothers you.
--Curly
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Where the Customer Is By No Means King
Of all places for customer service to be an establishment's evident lowest priority, why must a pharmacy rank so "well"? I mean, why is it that a place you often visit when you are feeling pretty awful (as I was today), has the most indifferent (better than rude, I suppose), and apparently utterly untrained staff? I have a hard time tolerating incompetence when I'm at my best; when I'm ill, watch out!
Today's pharmacy visit also peeved me since it came on the heels of the usual frustrations at another place of importance--the post office--and just a couple of days following a visit I could no longer postpone to the copy shop. Writers depend on functioning post offices and copy shops, and unfortunately, those in my neighborhood don't quite meet the standards of the ones I frequented (oh-so-fortunately, I now realize) in my last hometown.
What a powerful combo for a rant--a bad post office, a bad pharmacy, and a bad copy shop.
--Prunella
Today's pharmacy visit also peeved me since it came on the heels of the usual frustrations at another place of importance--the post office--and just a couple of days following a visit I could no longer postpone to the copy shop. Writers depend on functioning post offices and copy shops, and unfortunately, those in my neighborhood don't quite meet the standards of the ones I frequented (oh-so-fortunately, I now realize) in my last hometown.
What a powerful combo for a rant--a bad post office, a bad pharmacy, and a bad copy shop.
--Prunella
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