More writing and reading

FRIDAY: I have a new notebook, and I LOVE new notebooks. I don't really like to write by hand. Well, I don't like to compose by hand. This morning, I had to write a note for my son, who had been home sick from school on Thursday (the first day of school he's missed in three years of high school), and all I could think about was how agonizing it was to write a whole letter by hand, on paper, with a pen.

I'd rather clean a toilet. Not even kidding. I hate to write notes by hand, and don't get me started about checks. I'll complain for an hour if I have to write a check.

But as much as I hate to write some things by hand, I like to write things down. There's a difference.

So I love notebooks. My handwriting, as you'd expect of someone who doesn't like to write by hand, is not very good. But a new notebook is a new start, and I always make an effort, during the first few pages, to write neatly, date pages clearly, and keep my notes organized.

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I went to a conference today, and didn't think to bring a computer, so I took notes by hand. The notebook being new, the notes are clear and neatly organized, with headings and dates underlined in red. I'll actually be able to read them later, which is not always the case with my handwritten notes.

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The conference was quite good; much better than I expected, in fact (but the session that I'd looked forward to the most was the least interesting of the day).

As at any conference, the air was thick with business jargon. I used to react to corporate jargon of any kind, from touching base to reaching out to stakeholding to paradigm shifting, with utter disdain. I say "used to," but that's not to suggest that I now use business slang, or even that I approve of it, but I've grown more tolerant and less judgmental. I almost misspelled judgmental right there--I keep wanting to spell it with an "E." So who am I to judge?

See what I did there?

Anyway, the boots on the ground and the level setting aside, sometimes business jargon (or jargon in general) arises from a genuine creative impulse to express an idea better--more clearly, or more vividly. Words like "administrivia" or "generica" start out as rather clever ways to express ideas for which a single word does not exist. They only become jargon when overused or misused. 

But some corporate slang starts out silly and stays that way.  For example, if you're planning a meeting, and you need a record of everything that happens during the meeting, then what you need is a note-taker, and not a "content capture guru." I mean, really.

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SATURDAY: I'm thinking about buying a Microsoft Surface. I need a computer that travels, because even the best notebook can't do everything. My son has a Surface, and I'm writing this on it now, just to see if I like the keyboard. So far, so good. It's not quiet, like my keyboard. But it's accurate, and there's a satisfying clicking sound as I type. I type pretty fast, so the clicking is pretty fast. It's fun. I'll have to try it a few more times. It's fun now, but it might get annoying.

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Regarding David Horsey: Yes, I'm late to this party. Yes, I know that he has already taken a well-deserved collective Twitter beating. And yes, I know that he has already apologized. But I'm going to pile on anyway.

Few people dislike Donald Trump and his snotty, supercilious lying liar of a press secretary more than I do. But I'm heartily sick and tired of hearing and seeing women attacked because they're women. Clever little trick, Mr. Horsey, of contrasting Ms. Sanders' appearance with that of the leggy model types that Trump would be expected to prefer over a "chunky soccer mom" like Sarah Sanders as a way of letting us know that your mean and stupid little column was really an attack on Trump, and not on women, especially the kind of women who have the nerve to take up space and to act and dress and look like mothers. But everyone with a brain knows what you really meant.

As the Internet says, we see you. I see you. A misogynist by any other name, even that of a Trump-resisting crusading journalist supposedly calling out the President's sexism is still a misogynist. And congratulations, too, on bolstering the narrative about the biased media. When my conservative friends point out the rampant sexism and misogyny of the left, using you as an example, then I'm going to nod my head and agree with them. Because they see you too.  Jerk.

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SUNDAY: Chunky soccer/swim team/band moms don't have all day to hang around blogging, so I'm going to wrap it up. Some weeks I think about a million things, but this week, I thought a lot about words; about reading them and writing them and reacting to them. It's good that I have a new notebook.