Writing to me is by far the worst thing I can think of. Matter of fact it is a constant struggle just to write simple paragrapghs and spell. Now I know this is blog is probably on the exact opposite end of most people in the class but just thinking about the papers I have to write in this class and my other has already had me grabbing from a brown bag to breathe into.
English has so many rules I get lost. For example, am I putting enough commas, to many commas, or even the right comma. They are words like eight and ate, or three different verisons of there, blue is a color and a feeling, i before e except after c, and don't get me started on silent letters. My son who is seven years old, has asked me why do we have letters that are silent, at that point I feel like he just asked me about the birds and the bees. So I do what any responsible father would do and say ask your mother. Most of my papers have a very christmas feel to them as microsoft highlights them in green and red and usually take hours and multiple verisons to get them to a point where I can send them in. I'm sure that I'm not the only one who is frustrated when Microsoft Office totally gives up on what I am trying to spell. "No suggestion available" I mean am I really that far off that a computer can't even give me a suggestion, just a hint, something. Computers can win Jeopary, but doesn't know I wanted to spell the capital of California. That totally destroys any confidence I had rolling into that sentence.
Growing up I would ask my parents how to spell something. The most common answer given....look it up. Great that makes a ton of sense to me. How do I look up something I have no clue what it looks like. Say I figured out the word started ch, okay whats next? Do you know how many words start with a ch, and god forbid I sounded it out wrong. Looking up a word for me as a kid was the equivalent to me now planning a vacation; block out a week, set up my out of office reply, let someone know if you dont hear from me call for help.
Now knowing this is my weak spot I will and do put a ton of effort into my papers that I submit.
Peer Blog Response to Keith Jarvis
ReplyDeleteI loved your blog, I was laughing out loud at the points you made. For someone who claims writing makes them want to grab a brown paper bag to breathe into, I thought your blog was well written and funny! I am in total agreement with you about the commas though…am I putting it in the right spot, am I putting too many? Don’t forget the “to” and “too”. Seriously, why do we need the other “o”? I also agree with you about Microsoft Word, I get the “no suggestion available” often, and I do not understand why it cannot just know what I am trying to type. Today, kids are being told “google it”. That is a little more helpful than looking it up in the dictionary, because it will ask you, “did you mean…” and try and fix whatever it was you spelled wrong with the correct spelling. My three year old asks me all the time, “Mommy, how do you spell your name or the dogs name”, god help me when the words she is asking me to spell get more complicated. I am not the best speller either and I will be referring to google for help as she gets older. Overall, I loved your blog, you were very funny and your blog was well written! Good job!
Keith, like Vanessa, I'm loving your post and laughing out loud! It's soooo true! I often think that MS Word thinks it's soooo smart, but it isn't. And hey, I've got a PhD in English, half the time when I get the green squiggly line, I know that I'm right! :) You just keep writing like this and you'll be fine. No worries, man.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh how I loved this blog! I couldn’t agree more with the title, “Just one drink to numb the pain” because it seems to fit right in with how I feel every time I sit down at the computer to write. It seems like the words flow a lot easier after the first one (drink). I agree with Vanessa and you too about the commas. There is no end to all of the rules for the English language. I laughed the entire time I was reading this blog because it really hit home on so many things: Microsoft highlighting, Microsoft spelling tool, etc. Yes, spelling should be easier because of these tools, but really? How many times do you need to go back and correct no capital on the beginning word of a sentence of a new page, or correct the unusual name of an author of a book?
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain Keith because it is my pain too! No matter how much time I spend writing, it feels like I could keep correcting myself forever. I think I try very hard to get a good product by the time I am ready to turn my paper in, but I always doubt myself and almost break a sweat before I can hit the submit button on the drop box. Writing is not easy for me, but at least I know there are those of you out there that may just have the same problem. Hopefully we can keep our sense of humour (oh, there’s that red squiggly line) humor (that doesn’t look right), and keep on trying until we get it right! This was very entertaining reading Keith!