Sad to report that an editing class I signed up for has been cancelled. *sniff* Thwarted in my quest to learn and grow. No worries. I'll keep an eye out for other classes and such things.

Went over my romance novel notes last night. I wish I could find time to get them into the computer, but for now I keep scribbling in an old notebook.

Also been thinking about getting back to submitting poetry. Oh, and writing it. Damn, I gotta do that before October!! ...

JUST DISCOVERED the Web site Freelance Switch, which seems to have a good blog and some cool freelance posts and info. My favorite part is N.C. Winters's strip Freelance Freedom, which is just great. Perfect encapsulation of the freelance life!!

Ah, the comma ... my nemesis and friend. Probably what I adjust most often in my fiction work. Most authors leave them out, crafting their work using the most open of styles. Despite the open style of most publishers I know, I insist on using my commas—although perhaps not liberally, grammatically appropriately.

The Sad Fate of the Comma
Robert J. Samuelson

Through an editing listserv I was directed to this posting about journal editing and repositories. Rather interesting, especially the editing statistics. In my experience, no errors should be ever be "introduced," as (a) queries are directed to the author regarding changes in context or data (if the CE is even halfway decent), and (b) the author reads over a proof set prior to final publication, thus any printed changes are "approved." Further, most articles are peer reviewed and assessed by the journal editor, so there should be little need for substantial editing. Of course, I have never worked for Blackwell, so I cannot speak for them. But I doubt their freelancers and production process are (or were) terribly different from most.

I also smiled at the statistic that about one-third of editing was "minor syntactical or grammatical changes." As I have a hunch that the label "minor" is subjective, I would guess that any CE would consider the grammar changes they make to be necessary (e.g., I must change "data is" to "data are" twice a day; that might be minor to some, but it's major to me and if retained would make the author look careless at very best).

Does this mean that another version is not appropriate for a repository? That's not for me to say, perhaps. But I'd like to think that one would want to put forth the best (and often more correct) version wherever it is placed. (Especially after references and citations are corrected. It is a research article, after all, for others to use for their own research. Why put a version out there with four citations without references and two references without citations??) I'll always say that's the version after the experienced journal CE got to it.

Although not scholarly, I will never forget the one journal article that insisted that the Yankees had not won the World Series since the 1970s. Whew ... this Yankee fan had a good time making that correction!

Getting things done to one of my awesome Pandora stations today ...

• Sailing - Christopher Cross
• Through My Sails - Neil Young
• Mother Freedom - Bread
• Nights Are Forever Without You - England Dan & John Ford Coley
• Sister Golden Hair - America
• Massachusetts - Bee Gees
• Lady of the Island - CSN
• Please Come to Boston - Dave Loggins
• A Man I'll Never Be - Boston
• I Don't Want to Live Without You - Foreigner
• Sentimental Lady - Bob Welch
• Lonesome Loser - Little River Band
• How Much I Feel - Ambrosia
• Biggest Part of Me - Ambrosia
• Cool Change - Little River Band
• Keep on Loving You - REO Speedwagon
• Stone Cold - Rainbow

Reason 220 why Microsoft Word is inferior and why I keep pulling my hair out while editing:


Article 284897 from Microsoft Help and Support page:

SYMPTOMS
When you insert hyphens in text in Microsoft Word, some of the hyphens are converted into long dashes (also called en dashes).

"cause and effect hypothesis" becomes "cause—and-effect hypothesis" after typing the second hyphen - Ed.

WORKAROUND
To work around this issue, use one of the following methods:

If you want to use hyphens before and after your text, click AutoCorrect Options. This appears when you move the pointer over the corrected hyphen. Then, click Undo Dash.

When you use AutoCorrect Options, you can also click Stop Automatically Creating Dashes, or click Control AutoCorrect Options to open the AutoCorrect dialog box.

If you want to use en dashes instead of hyphens, insert a space before the hyphen. Word will automatically convert the hyphen into an en dash.

STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

In other words, take more time out of your day for some extra keystrokes. Yeah, thanks for confirming it's a problem.

****
In case anyone is wondering, Reason 46 is that the Replace All button is (in my opinion stupidly) placed between the Find Next and Replace buttons in the Find and Replace box so that I have a great chance of accidentally hitting it. Reason 115 is that the damn Find and Replace box is so large that it has to automatically move itself all around to avoid blocking the text that you need to see.

Putin and Bush were catching fish (well, Putin, actually) a bit south of where we were eating fish just a few days ago. Our favorite restaurant was Yellowfin's in Ocean Park. The interior was beautiful, open, and soothing. Large sails of white fabric were hanging waves on the ceiling, and the walls were a pale yellow (of course). The large fishtank with dark purple algae and Finding Nemo-like fish kept O entertained all night. :) The rare tuna with wasabi soy sauce was the best we've ever eaten, and my cedar plank salmon was excellent. (And oh, the garlic mashed potatoes!!)

We also loved Joseph's by the Sea. R and I shared a bottle of a New Zealand sauvignon blanc. My sister shared her lobster potato pancake, and she and I had great haddock. R had his lobster, and T got surf and turf. We had a perfect view of the low dunes and the calm Atlantic.

I can say that the DennyMike's BBQ up there leaves a lot to be desired. They were the saltiest, sharpest, most impossible ribs to eat (for me, anyway!).

Hmmm ... what is it with Maine and possessives?

Last night I did a review and trace of my finances (yes, trace, as I have multiple lesser accounts that I often forget exist) and I realized that I had forgotten about an IRA. Turns out it has made some money since last I checked it. I joked with my girlfriend today that it's a good thing I uncovered it because now, in my old age, I'll be able to pay for one more week of assisted living care. (My girlfriend: "Don't pull the plug yet, we found another IRA!")