Wednesday

[nightdog_barks]

Partly cloudy -- a kind of hazy sunlight. I noticed yesterday when I went to the store that some neighbors' trees were starting to bud out, and our sweet gum tree in the front yard has leaf buds. 54 degrees (12.22 Celsius). Chango decided she wanted on the bed last night -- once there, she cuddled up next to me, fell asleep, and snored lightly. Heh.

Finished Craig Ferguson's American on Purpose. Overall it was a good read, and I'd recommend it. I did notice a few typos, but those appear to be everywhere these days -- it's like publishing houses don't have proofreaders any more. Still, it's very engaging ... Ferguson keeps you turning the pages. There were a couple of times when I wished he'd gone more in-depth, and I suppose it's to his credit that he's not afraid to show himself as a real asshole on more than one occasion (cheating on various wives and girlfriends, an incident with Peter Cook that I won't go into because it would essentially be a spoiler, but which made me say "Oh, Craig, you asshole.").

ANYWAY. Strong recommendation. At the very least a B+, trending up to an A-. *g*

Comments

[misanthropicobs.livejournal.com]

My newest dog, Shiloh (he's a 12 yr old cocker who had been horribly neglected till a rescue group got him) has conned his way into my bed every night. It started when he came into the bedroom, the others had settled on the dog beds there but instead of doing that he came over to the bed, stopped, looked at me, looked at the bed, then repeated that a few times till I got the hint. It's now his routine every night.

Typos in books - yeah it seems that the problem is getting worse all the time. I've not read a new book for the past few years that doesn't have errors like that. I've also noticed that errors of omission are increasing - leaving out words, entire paragraphs, etc.

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

... looked at me, looked at the bed, then repeated that a few times till I got the hint.

LOL! Chango does that with her treats, which are on a kitchen counter. She'll look at them, look at me, look at them. I can tell her "No, not now" and she'll give up, but until then it's like "DON'T YOU SEE THEM? THEY'RE RIGHT THERE!"

And YES on the errors of omission -- words get dropped, and it's not always just a or the or of, short words like that. Wow, is it annoying.

[misanthropicobs.livejournal.com]

Dogs understand us so much better that we understand them. I read somewhere that they understand up to 200 words and that even young puppies can interpret our facial expressions. They've really adapted themselves to living with us, perhaps the only creature on the planet that has done so to such an extent.

[pwcorgigirl.livejournal.com]

The biography of Patricia Highsmith I read a few months back had a line in which the author mentioned her own favorite Highsmith novels, and the title of one of them was mis-spelled. This does not instill confidence in the reader, you know?

Rocket's not allowed up on the furniture because of his bad back, but he does an excellent job of giving us "the corgi eye" to indicate whatever he wants. If we don't get the message, he punctuates it with a very sharp bark. :D

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

I gave up on the paperback edition I have of Douglas Brinkley's The Great Deluge because it was packed with typos, far beyond the usual norm. (Heh, the usual norm -- is that a redundancy or what?)

Chango is an expert at "the doggy eye," and uses it to her every advantage. *g*

[pwcorgigirl.livejournal.com]

Corgiguy was all hot to read that book and was so disappointed by the hardback that he gave up on it.

[perspi.livejournal.com]

Hi Nightdog hi!

I am having the last of the leftover potato soup for lunch, and am feeling otherwise kind of discombobulated, and what I *really* want to do is put up another recipe post.

So what I think I'll do is get a list post going, and then maybe some more tea. :)

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

Hi Perspi!

I was just in the back yard throwing a tennis ball for Chango, and ZOMG it is MILD! I am vaguely discombobulated too -- I need to get a haircut but I think that won't happen until tomorrow.

YAY LISTS!

[elynittria.livejournal.com]

You are indeed right about publishers cutting back on proofreading. When the price of paper started going through the roof in the late 1980s, publishers started looking for ways to cut costs. Proofing was one of the first things to go. I used to do lots of proofreading (along with copyediting); now, my only proofreading clients are a university press (Yale) and a publisher of library reference works (Salem Press).

Nowadays most publishers rely on the author to proofread his or her own book, which is guaranteed to result in multiple errors being missed.

[topaz-eyes.livejournal.com]

Nowadays most publishers rely on the author to proofread his or her own book, which is guaranteed to result in multiple errors being missed.

Huh. I keep reading that fiction editors demand clean copy before they'll accept book manuscripts. Maybe nonfiction editors should start demanding the same?

Of course, proofing seems to be a lost art these days, anywhere you go. True story: yesterday my son brought home a phonics test sheet. "Phonics" was spelled wrong. Yep, that instills faith in our education system. *headdesk*

[elynittria.livejournal.com]

I keep reading that fiction editors demand clean copy before they'll accept book manuscripts.

I doubt that would help. A manuscript can look technically "clean" but be riddled with errors. A case in point is the recently published (supposedly) nonfiction book The Last Train from Hiroshima, which is now being recalled because of a fallacious eyewitness account of the dropping of the first bomb, among other questions concerning its historical accuracy.

"Phonics" was spelled wrong.

That is just too ironic. *double headdesk*

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

I read about that Hiroshima book in the NY Times! I thought the story of the unraveling would make a terrific book by itself, or even a movie.

[romeo46.livejournal.com]

OMG I read about that book. I had seen a review for it in one of my magazines and went to amazon to place an order. A mistake is saying something happened on a Tuesday when it happened on a Wednesday. That book had a man on the Enola Gay who wasn't even anywhere NEAR the bomb.

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

Ferguson's book wasn't so bad (see my reply to Corgigirl about Douglas Brinkley), but I'm one of those people who does notice typos, and it can be really bothersome. And then, of course, there was the novel I read sometime last year about a serial killer. His eyes changed from brown to blue over the course of the story. Hee.

[elynittria.livejournal.com]

I notice typos too, and if I have a pen at hand, I correct them (in books I own).

I wish I had eyes that could change colors!

[hannahrorlove.livejournal.com]

I've found a hot chocolate producer who makes a white chocolate variety that's quite tasty. I've also found the FedEx tracking number for my computer.

I think I've gotten too tired to get frustrated.

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

A FedEx tracking number is a good sign!

*hugs*

[romeo46.livejournal.com]

I rather enjoyed Craig's book. I kind of cheated and got it in hardback and on IPod so I was listening to it and didn't catch any typos :). What I find funny is if you go back and Read Between the Bridge and the River you will see where a lot of Craig's own story is mixed with the character's.