After the first few weeks of blog publication, and the start of a new year, seems like a good time to mention a few blog housekeeping matters, in no particular order. Feel free to comment on any of these or add your own points. I'm quite open to suggestions.
There is a description of the blog, under the main title, but for a reason I cannot figure out, it does not show up when I view the blog with Internet Explorer, but if I drag the mouse over the space it will show up. I use Firefox and it shows there. If you can't see it in your browser, it says "A place to share movie memories and thoughts about movies, past and present."
Anna recently informed me that I have been following the archaic practice of putting two spaces after a period. I have tried to cut that down to one, but there may be occassional lapses. If youi are interested in the history of the practice, check this article.
I have chosen not to make movie titles in the blog articles active links, because it takes extra time and busies up the look. Let me know if you would like links and what site you would prefer to be taken to for information on movies mentioned. The IMDB has comprehensive info and does not requre membership or registration for the link to work.
I have been putting Blogger labels at the end of some articles, to facilitate search of the blog by labels. I can see where that would become more useful as the blog archive grows.
I think the date and time of the comment postings is confusing but I don't see how I can change it. The information is posted at the end of a comment, following a blank line. Then the next comment begins with the name of the next commentator without any spacing, so to me it looks like that is the date and time of the second comment.
The box for writing comments is quite small and does not enlarge on preview either. Other than for a brief comment, I suggest writing it in your word processor and pasting it into the coment box, so you can see it better and so you don't lose it if there is a glitch at the Blogger end.
You can be notified of new postings of articles and comments if you like. You can subscribe to new article postings through services like RSS, and if you want me to add your e-mail address to a notice list for new comments, I can do that.
I have been looking into adding some action to the blog, whether animations or videos, but am somewhat disinclined to make it distracting. Content is what I want to offer and what we all look for in your comments, and that does not need to be literally flashy.
Finally, my picture came originally came out much bigger that I expected, so I have just reduced the size.
Tom,
ReplyDeleteI like the smaller picture of you. I no longer feel that you are in my face when I am on your blog.
I was blown away by your report from Anna that you were using the "archaic" practice of two spaces after a period. I have always put two spaces after a period, a practice that was taught to us in our hated typewriter classes at O'Dea High School. Archaic indeed! That was only a few decades ago.
Nevertheless I was sceptical that a writing revolution of this magnitude had taken place under my nose and I had not noticed it. I grabbed the Dormouse library book you recommended to me off the shelf and counted spaces: one. I went into the kitchen and looked at a cookbook Jan had left opened on the counter and counted spaces: one.
I asked Jan how many spaces does she put after a period, and she answered "two". I was comforted by her answer as the generation following us is comforted by a dinner of macaroni and cheese.
After some more thought, I have decided that this is an example of computers making life better for us. Back in the O'Dea typing class we did not question that the space required for the numeral 1 was the same as the space required for the letter W, because it was self evident given the tools we were using. Now we have fonts that are much more pleasing to our eyes than the two choices we had then: elite and pica.
Still, I will have difficulty breaking a five decade habit of putting two spaces after a period, as you can see in the sentences above. But I will start soon, maybe this can be my 2010 resolution.
One more thing: the article you referred us to had sentences beginning with numerics! Egad! The catechism of grammar we were taught said never to do that, and I haven't. Now I read, "22 2nd graders and 22 5th graders read 2-nd and 5-th ..." Ugly, ugly. I will try to put one space after periods (after finishing this writing) but I will never start a sentence with a numeric.
After I posted my previous writing, I noticed that the computer gods have removed my extra spaces after periods. Should I be outraged that they have vitiated my writing, or should I be grateful that they have tried to make me look less "archaic"?
ReplyDeleteOk, just for the record, I myself was following the "archaic" (pop's term, not mine) double-spacing practice up until a couple of years ago! I was surprised, actually, at how easy the habit was to break. I'm sure it would be much harder to go back to hitting "return" at the end of every line.
ReplyDeleteAs for the rest of the housekeeping, sounds good. Are you up to posting your own video creations?
John and Anna, it sounds like we should be commenting on a blog about writing. I remember typing class as a sophomore and not being able to get the hang of it. I thought I must have gotten a D in the class, but my old report card shows quarterly grades of three Bs and a final quarter grade of A. They must have had some low standards. I still cannot type without looking at the keyboard. I mostly use both index and middle fingers and rarely add a ring finger. My thumbs handle the space bar. I have tried computer programs that teach typing, but don't have the patience to stick with it. I have also considered switching my keyboard to Dvorak.
ReplyDeleteI am finding breaking the two space habit easier than I expected. I am intrigued by your comment John that the computer gods have removed your extra spaces. Is that when you posted your comment here? I have lots of computer notes and documents that have the two spaces, and I would like to have a program that would quickly convert those to one space. I agree a sentence should never begin with a numeral.
Anna, you are correct that I am the one who applied the archaic label to the old two space rule. As for posting my own video creations, they have to exist before I can post them. But I will give it some thought.
John, I am disappointed to hear that you like my picture being smaller. I had been thinking about offering autographed copies for sale at a reasonable price - plus shipping and handling.
I guess I'm old school... I still do two spaces after the period at the end of a sentence. I guess I'm officially old now. :)
ReplyDeleteAbove post was from Rake.
ReplyDeleteRake, I started trying to put just one space a couple weeks ago. It was awkward at first, but now is coming naturally, and two spaces is starting to look strange. Times change.
ReplyDeleteI used two spaces throughout college -- which wrapped up a decade ago for me.
ReplyDeleteThe exception, and where I think the one space rule might trace its origins (I haven't read the link above), was in journalism classes. Of course journalism has a completely different style -- extending far beyond sentence spacing -- to that of normal academic writing and having to remember both was a bit annoying.
Once out of school it was one period all the way as most of my writing was for the news -- including the five years of having to spell like a Brit -- but I hadn't realized that it had become common practice throughout the written world.
Chris