Comments

When I set up Orient Lodge, many years ago, one of the key purposes was to provide a central repository for my writing. I was sharing stuff on a lot of different blogs at the time. Since then, sharing online has changed a lot. Now, many of my comments go on Facebook posts or other places in social media.

Recently, I’ve written a few longer comments, which I’ve saved her.

Sweet Briar

I'm following this from afar and have not researched the story closely. Yet things that stand out to me is a profound lack of disclosure by the current board of directors and its interim president, a reliance on outside consultants, and not engaging the alumnae, faculty, or students, and a history of problems with endowments by the current interim president.

It is hard to say what the real situation is, or outcome will be, most likely until this proceeds in the courts. However, it is worth noting that SaveSweetBriar appears to have some heavy hitting lawyers working on their side, state and local prosecutors are looking at the situation, partly at the request of certain state legislators.

People looking for more context may also want to look at James F. Jones’ tenure at Trinity College which declined in rankings considerably while he was there as well as allegations that he misused endowment funds there.

Punctuation and Emily Dickinson

When I think about punctuation, I think of it as a rest in music. Is it a quarter note rest, an eighth note rest, a half note rest? It is about how it is read aloud. Yet I also think about punctuation as a computer programmer or mathematician. What does it say about the grouping of operations or the grouping of thoughts.

To me, I view the Dickinson dash as a short rest, perhaps an eighth note. I view it as a way of grouping together a phrase, part of a thought.

If I were editing the poems, I would use very short dashes.

Two spaces after a period

For some reason, this four year old article is making the rounds on Facebook again. On a different post, I made a comment to the effect:

I wonder what e.e.cummings would have said about the no double space rule? I grew up with it and still use it. My use of double spaces may annoy a few anal typographers, but really? It's not like the Oxford comma, which can change meanings of sentences. It's not like it will effect whether people get to vote, or eat, or walk down the street without fearing being shot.

No, grammer, punctuation, and syntax should be descriptive, not prescriptive. It needs to help us communicate more effectively, and not merely reflect the aesthetic whims of a small group of typographers.

Title for a Dissertation on Dickinson dashes and double spaces

The correlation between the preferences towards the en dash or em dash among Dickinson scholars, their preferences concerning the number of spaces after a period, and the use of the Oxford comma in early twenty-first century online communications.

Fiona and the SBAC test

Today, Fiona came home complaining about headaches which she attributes to taking the SBAC tests. In discussing the matter, it appears as if she believes she will be yelled at for looking away from the computer screen during the tests.

I said that I believe this is a misunderstanding and told her that it is essential that she look away from the computer screen at least every 20 minutes. This is based on the 20-20-20 rule doctors recommend for dealing with eyestrain caused by computers. Every twenty minutes, look away from the computer screen at something at least 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds.

Ideally, teachers or test proctors should instruct all students to adhere to the 20-20-20 rule. Lacking that, I have informed Fiona that if she is not permitted to observe the 20-20-20 rule she should cease taking the SBAC test and if there is any issue contact you immediately.