On one of those eerie, northeast, all-gray, winter days (with the tv
weather weenies trying to explain why last night’s forecasted foot
of snow turned into half an inch), I am very pleased that the newest
edition of frogpond, the Haiku Society of America’s journal, just plopped
onto my desk. Here are a few haiku from frogpond, penned by some of
f/k/a‘s good friends:
winter seclusion
a pinch of cumin
a few whole cloves
his quiet funeral—
a man who did
most of the talking
anniversary
her diamond band
missing a chip
wondering where
they go in winter —
pond frogs and children
[Feb.9, 2005]
Snoop-Dog Parents Get a Hearing in Seattle: There was a lot of disappointment 
back in December, when the Washington Supreme Court issued its silly decision
have decided that a minor child has no expectation of privacy vis-a-vis a parent, and was
outside the Washington eavesdropping statute. Instead, the Washington State legislature
today tells of two bills filed to fix the problem. One would merely let parents eavesdrop without
committing a crime, the other would also allow the information gained to be used as evidence.
A local ACLU spokesperson said they support the former but not the
later bill. Some legislators, including the Judicial Committee chairwoman,
are unhappy with depriving minors of their so-called right to privacy without
meeting a “very high burden.” That’s the kind of knee-jerk rights-talk that
gives liberals a bad name. And, makes a lot of them ineffective parents.
The article points out that “Washington is one of 11 states that requires
consent from all parties involved before a conversation may be intercepted
or recorded. The other states are California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania.”
“Parents who do not snoop become moot” to the biblical maxim on sparing the rod.
That rake Evan Schaeffer offers another chance to learn about and contribute derogatory
Many of the posts will, therefore, be pointers to articles by Sheppard lawyers, focusing
on the antitrust and competition activities of DOJ and FTC. I’m still hoping that its editor,
Bob Doyle, will put the “we” back in front of “blog,” and have written him with my plea. (Bob
was a merger maven and lover of language at the FTC, when I was also employed there.) The
weblog, which was officially launched today, has a good review of California’s Proposition 64.
complaints — this time, using un-explained acronyms and checking email during an in-person
conversation. Thanks, Mon/Mom! Like many other annoying traits that we see too often on
this planet in the Third Millennium, the cause seems to be the belief that so many people have
that they (and what goes on in their own minds) are at the very center of everyone else’s universe.
Which reminds me: Why do so many newspaper websites fail to say where — in what
City and/or State — the newspaper is published?
from frogpond XXVIII: 1
Dear Arbiter of Weblog Nomenclature:
Can the gerund still be “blogging”? Or would it be more proper to say “Yesterday when I was weblogging….. ?” I find the term weblogging to be somewhat cumbersome. Please help.
Simpleton in the South.
PS I, too, hate when newspapers’ websites don’t say where they are published.
Comment by Martin — February 10, 2005 @ 4:31 pm
Dear Arbiter of Weblog Nomenclature:
Can the gerund still be “blogging”? Or would it be more proper to say “Yesterday when I was weblogging….. ?” I find the term weblogging to be somewhat cumbersome. Please help.
Simpleton in the South.
PS I, too, hate when newspapers’ websites don’t say where they are published.
Comment by Martin — February 10, 2005 @ 4:31 pm
Ah, Martin, what am I going to do with you? If you find the term “weblogging” distasteful (and I admit it is not particularly mellifluous), remember that the gerund “blogging” sounds even more onomatopoeic than the noun blog — suggesting that you had a particularly bad stomach flu last night and went to bed hungry.
You’ve been hanging around under-thirty-somethings for too long, it seems. If you were working on a traditional website, would you say that you were “websiting” last night? If you were writing a newspaper column, would you say you were “newspapering” or “papering” last night — much less “columning”? How about “textbooking”? If at home having an evening of leisure instead, would you say you were “televisioning,” “movieing,” “refrigeratoring”?
The problem, as my questions above suggest, is the annoying modern habit of turning nouns — even odious ones — into verbs. Why don’t you and I start our own crusade to rid the verbs “blog” and “weblog” from our lexicon. Surely we could say we were writing, publishing, educating, commenting, or many other fine activities last night, since we were apparently both lucky enough to avoid stomach flu and binge drinking.
Comment by David Giacalone — February 10, 2005 @ 6:33 pm
Ah, Martin, what am I going to do with you? If you find the term “weblogging” distasteful (and I admit it is not particularly mellifluous), remember that the gerund “blogging” sounds even more onomatopoeic than the noun blog — suggesting that you had a particularly bad stomach flu last night and went to bed hungry.
You’ve been hanging around under-thirty-somethings for too long, it seems. If you were working on a traditional website, would you say that you were “websiting” last night? If you were writing a newspaper column, would you say you were “newspapering” or “papering” last night — much less “columning”? How about “textbooking”? If at home having an evening of leisure instead, would you say you were “televisioning,” “movieing,” “refrigeratoring”?
The problem, as my questions above suggest, is the annoying modern habit of turning nouns — even odious ones — into verbs. Why don’t you and I start our own crusade to rid the verbs “blog” and “weblog” from our lexicon. Surely we could say we were writing, publishing, educating, commenting, or many other fine activities last night, since we were apparently both lucky enough to avoid stomach flu and binge drinking.
Comment by David Giacalone — February 10, 2005 @ 6:33 pm
Very nice blog. It is very helpful. http://www.bignews.com
Comment by mirela — August 19, 2005 @ 4:45 am
Very nice blog. It is very helpful. http://www.bignews.com
Comment by mirela — August 19, 2005 @ 4:45 am
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