Skip to main content

Bapak borek, anak rintik

Dad has finished that Playboy article he had been writing and has e-mailed it to his children for comment. When he says 'comment' he actually means 'praise' because it doesn't matter what you say, my dad never listens to advice. All the changes I recommended he make, he basically ignored, except for one sentence. One. Sure, he put in my recommendations while I was standing over his shoulder but he's erased nearly all of it. When I was correcting his essay, I pointed out several areas where he should break down his points into shorter sentences and use simpler and fewer words.

Dad grumbled and said that he can't do that, and that I don't understand that this is a technical essay and I don't understand technical stuff. Fine, I don't understand anything about fossil fuels and pollution indices but it does not matter because it is the grammar and clarity of your article that I am trying to mend.

"Look," I say, "you are not writing for your science boffins. You are writing for the lay person. Yes, your opening line is catchy and will reel your audience in but you will lose them by the end of the first paragraph. You are not getting your point across by being long-winded."

Dad mumbled something but it looked like he understood what I was telling him. Until I got the e-mail attachement and he so obviously has not.
Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
Some people would rather than listen to people other than those that care about them.
03 May, 2007 01:10
Kere said…
Do I detect a hint of bitterness?
03 May, 2007 03:07
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

You gotta stay sharp

This week I celebrated my 28th birthday. This week I was accidentally stabbed with a needle contaminated with the blood of a patient with Hepatitis B. It was all going so well, I thought. The patient had already been screened for HIV and venereal disease and she was in the clear. What are the chances that she would be positive for Hepatitis B? Well, 100% as it turned out. I wasn't terribly upset at first. It was a small nick that didn't bleed much, though it surprised me enough that I yelled in the operating theatre. Everybody froze when they realised what had happened. My colleague felt bad for accidentally stabbing me with the suture needle. As I pointed out, it was an accident. I was double-gloved and we were all following the correct procedures, so it was unfortunate that I got a needlestick injury. What pissed me off was the attitude of the staff when I was trying to get all the various forms filled out and sent off to the correct persons. Their primary concern seemed to b...
3 comments
Read more

Me gusta

It's funny how looking at some things make me inexplicably happy. I'm looking at a picture of him grinning and I'm grinning myself. I can't even remember how or when I developed a crush on him. I mean, he wasn't even my favourite *NSYNC-er back in *NSYNC's heyday - I thought JC Chasez was too cheesy, too earnest, too typical of the blue-eyed, all-American boy bander to be attractive to me. I preferred Chris Kirkpatrick with his dark eyes, dark hair, scowly face, ripping sarcastic comments but surprise, surprise, oh so angelic voice. At some point in the last month, I was hit by a bout of nostalgia and spent my time trawling through You Tube and listening to my old records and BAM! It hit me - JC Chasez is frikking hot. Like pour cold water on me now kind of hot. Even hotter when he had the longer curls instead of that awful crew-cut military do in the beginning of his career. He is sex on legs, and I bet he knows it. Ok, so he's less sexy now but he...
Post a Comment
Read more

January's list

Music I have been listening to a lot of Pentatonix lately. I stumbled upon them on You Tube (where else?) a couple of years ago when their Evolution of Music video was making the rounds. I enjoyed it, thought they were pretty talented and that was the end of it. They popped up on my recommended list a few months ago, along with their performances when they were on The Sing Off...and I've been hooked. My playlist has been mainly Pentatonix for the past 3 months or so. Some of their songs are a miss for me, but overall they are a really talented, unique bunch, and there is no doubt that they will go far. Because of a Pentatonix cover of a song by Belgian artist Stromae, I've discovered other artists and music that have been a regular on my playlist. 1) La La Latch (Sam Smith/Disclosure/Naughty Boy mashup) - Pentatonix https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsVeQnBmp70 2) Black Is The Colour of My True Love's Hair - Peter Hollens & Avi Kaplan https://www.youtube.com/wa...
Post a Comment
Read more