Writers' Bloc - Creative Writing Off Topic Thread

coffee_cake

Oryx wrote: »

Stationery. Stationary. I have a mental block with these two words. No matter how many times I look them up I can never remember which one is pens and paper and which one is standing still.

You could think of pap-er station-er-y, or 'pen' has an 'e' as well. or some kind of acronym of n-a-r for the stationary one... now at rest?

Oryx

bluewolf wrote: »

You could think of pap-er station-er-y, or 'pen' has an 'e' as well. or some kind of acronym of n-a-r for the stationary one... now at rest?

Car. StatioNARy. Yeah? Thank you. I'll sleep tonight.

pickarooney

Nary a movement.

FewFew

Oh otay. Never noticed that before. Possibly one of the more common spelling errors, I'd imagine.

Ectoplasm

Oryx wrote: »

Stationery. Stationary. I have a mental block with these two words. No matter how many times I look them up I can never remember which one is pens and paper and which one is standing still.

I always use the "a for automobile" and "e for envelope" thingy on this one. Works for me!

viadah

Stationery, stationary. At least it's not a mental block on the phrase 'dressing gown', which was a 'robe' which was in the 'wardrobe' which my mind could never process as a child (and still gets hung up on sometimes - no pun intended, don't want to make things worse for myself). I'm sure it sounded fruity if I'd announce I wanted to go try on a new wardrobe when I was eight.

Blush_01

I used to work in an office where I ordered the stationery.

I used to have my spelling of the word stationery corrected by a dimwit each month.

I pointed out I had the English degree and she had managed to fail spectacularly out of her first year of a Business Diploma course to my very amuse WBB (work best buddy).

Those were the days...

coffee_cake

Blush_01 wrote: »

I used to work in an office where I ordered the stationery.

I used to have my spelling of the word stationery corrected by a dimwit each month.

I pointed out I had the English degree and she had managed to fail spectacularly out of her first year of a Business Diploma course to my very amuse WBB (work best buddy).

Those were the days...

One of the lads at work orders the stationery each month; the email he sends round asking for any requests says "stationary". I said jokingly to him one time "maybe sometime you'll put 'stationery' in the subject line instead..." only for him to retort "maybe you'll put capital letters in your emails sometime"

zing! :pac::pac:

FewFew

bluewolf wrote: »

One of the lads at work orders the stationery each month; the email he sends round asking for any requests says "stationary". I said jokingly to him one time "maybe sometime you'll put 'stationery' in the subject line instead..." only for him to retort "maybe you'll put capital letters in your emails sometime"

zing! :pac::pac:

That's the problem with correcting grammar and spelling... people are always on the look-out to get ya back!

pickarooney

What are the chances that the murder of an Israeli tourist in a South American capital would make international news? Or do the likes of Fox or CNN do news broadcasts in English tailored for specific countries?

FewFew

pickarooney wrote: »

What are the chances that the murder of an Israeli tourist in a South American capital would make international news? Or do the likes of Fox or CNN do news broadcasts in English tailored for specific countries?

Don't think they do tailored news. Was the death grizzly? Was it a person of note? Part of a trend?

pickarooney

Not particularly, but there are suspected links to neo-Nazi activity.

Antilles

pickarooney wrote: »

Not particularly, but there are suspected links to neo-Nazi activity.

If they media haven't made the Nazi link (or don't know something else to make it more newsworthy than "man killed on holiday") then no.

Antilles

Also depends on what you consider "international media". The Jerusalem Post is available in Eason's on O'Connell Street in Dublin and they covered this story:

http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=217407

Antilles

I've finally finished A Dance With Dragons!!!

But no I have no excuses for not writing. Damn it.

coffee_cake

im on book 2 of this
http://www.amazon.com/Darkness-Comes-Before-Prince-Nothing/dp/1585675598

and still on middlemarch
i am so frazzled from work and study lately i cant focus on reading, nor do i really have time

FewFew

I'm on book two of this series...

http://www.amazon.com/Thirst-Ava-Delaney-1-ebook/dp/B004E9U9AY/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1315482904&sr=1-2

It's quite enjoyable. Irish vampire tale, easy to get into and read without thinking. A few nice twists elevate it above the usual vampire story, but there are plenty of dodgy moments dotted throughout. Grand for a free ebook.

Blush_01

Was trying to read a few books recently, got bogged down in life and I think that's where my ability to get over my absolutely poxiness when it comes to writing is hiding at the moment - in other people's books.

I just want to reach the back cover of a book that isn't work related please.

Kinski

Reading a tremendous zombie novel at the moment - The Reapers Are the Angels by Alden Bell. Bell is a pseudonymn; his real name is Joshua Gaylord. Wonder why he felt the need to change that?

pickarooney

Kinski wrote: »

Reading a tremendous zombie novel at the moment - The Reapers Are the Angels by Alden Bell. Bell is a pseudonymn; his real name is Joshua Gaylord. Wonder why he felt the need to change that?

He changed it to an anagram of Al Bell-End. Good move.

Kinski

Poor Joshua has no luck with names.

Kinski

This is quite amusing. Kurt Vonnegut talks about story structure:

Antilles

That video has been doing the rounds for years, but in the past fortnight it's suddenly everywhere. What gives?

Kinski

Happens sometimes. Or else Vonnegut is spreading it from beyond the grave.

Antilles

Kinski wrote: »

Happens sometimes. Or else Vonnegut is spreading it from beyond the grave.

So it goes.

pickarooney

I'm struggling to read Slaughterhouse Five at the moment. Boring as hell so far.

Antilles

pickarooney wrote: »

I'm struggling to read Slaughterhouse Five at the moment. Boring as hell so far.

Hrm, that's strange. It's a great book so if you're not enjoying it the problem may be in your brain. You should try rebooting it.

Kinski

Yep, Slaughterhouse must be one of the least boring American novels of the last fifty years.

pickarooney

I think I'll give up on it. I'll just end up resenting it if I plough on with a book I'm not enjoying.

Is there a word for when someone whispers but does it so loudly they might as well be shouting? Shisper?

Antilles

Stage whisper?