Category: Random

I love Food Network. I would probably watch it all day if I could. Except Emeril. He scares me.

Last night, we watched a show about a competition to create a new ice cream flavor. Delicious. Five finalists got to go to the ice cream plant and make two versions of their ice cream flavor, then tweak it for their final entry. Got to see a lot of the making of ice cream. Ah….

It seems like every time I watch Food Network, though, I go into a life crisis. Oh, food is soooo gooooooooood. Then, depending on what we’re watching, I want to adjust my career plans accordingly. If it’s a cake decorating competition, I want to become a champion cake designer. If it’s like last night’s ice cream show, I want to be an ice cream flavor technician or brand manager.

I think this all started when I read some Reader’s Digest Condensed Book (ooh, condensed milk—fudge…) about a woman that became a chocolatier. It became my dream job for the week. Then it was pastry chef. Then confectioner again. And now Food Network fuels my crazy dreams. I’ve even looked at classes at colleges in my town to learn about candy- and pastry-making. Seems like it’s always desserts…

I think I’m going to gain a lot of weight if I ever get serious about this.

Well, my cookies are done, so I’m going to go eat some!

Want to drool more? These pictures come from http://www.sxc.hu. Go search for “desserts” and enjoy!!!

I got a mailer from a diaper company today. It claimed that a new feature*

Ahem… WHAT?! Okay, I realize I may be the ONLY person living who gets this anymore (or who cares), but that is completely nonsensical. Sure, it sounds fine when you read it aloud, but it’s NOT. Here’s the difference:

• A baby has sensitive skin. Singular
• Babies have sensitive skin. Plural
• Baby’s sensitive skin chafes. Singular possessive
• Babies’ sensitive skin chafes**. Plural possessive

Or, to put it this way, it’s the different between saying “we sensitive skin” and “our sensitive skin.” Now, doesn’t that sound awful?

And to add insult to injury, they continued:

This is a bit harder to see, but they commit another crime here. Let’s learn commas, shall we?

Correct:

• My husband, Ryan, is wonderful.
• Although I’ve never tried it, I dislike escargot.

You can drop the comma’d words or phrases and these sentences still make sense (My husband is wonderful. I dislike escargot.)

Let’s try it with the ad now. “Swaddlers New Baby ‘Absorb Away’ soft-weave mesh liner, helps wetness and runny mess pass through it and into its super absorbent core.” becomes “Helps wetness and runny mess pass through it and into its super absorbent core.” Hm….

Or, as one of my history professors put it, “Never separate a subject from its accompanying verb with a comma.”

Into the paddywagon, Pampers.

Suspect #2. I have here one of the most awesome marketing direct mailers I’ve seen in a long time. Perhaps ever. It’s an Adventure Passport—a small, very cleverly designed booklet that touts Utah Valley’s attractions. I’d love it more if it weren’t for a few poor copy edits. Among other errors:

Although I don’t like it, I’m not going to comment on the “products produced” part. However, I will comment on the “free ballon.” According to SotallyTober.com, this is a ballon:

Hurray for Utah Valley! Come in and get a free wine glass, kids!

Do you have any open positions for a copy editor, Convention and Visitors Bureau?

Can you tell I’m a member of the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar?

*Apologies to non-moms (and moms) who pale at the thought of “runny mess” in or outside of a diaper.
**Chafes is conjugated as singular because I decided that skin is a mass noun here. Babies’ two skins? No.

Anybody ever tell you that you could be in the pictures?

No?

Well, it doesn’t matter. You can still influence movie people (at least the MPAA, who make movie ratings). I just joined My Movie Muse, the MPAA’s brand new online panel to help the MPAA get in touch with moviegoers. I qualified even though I almost never go to movies!

I have no idea what I just got myself into…

My Movie Muse!

Dr. Donna Lillian of Eastern Carolina University is conducting a survey on women’s courtesy titles (Miss, Ms., Mrs.) and surnames. This is part of a 40-year study to observe change over time. It only takes a few minutes and you get to think interesting thoughts about everyday terms that I know I hadn’t really analyzed much.

Take the survey today!

I got this call as part of the American Name Society mailing list, in case you’re wondering.